Blogs from Middle East - page 900

My husband, Lance, was presented with a unique opportunity to teach a course on the valuation of marinas and golf courses to a division of the Cyprus government. This was a much more exciting destination than the typical mundane business trip, so I opted to join him and go on a historical wander. Since our two children were too young for us to survive a 24+ hour journey to a place that wouldn’t register on their undeveloped radar screens (i.e., no roller coasters, hamburgers or pizza, video games, etc.), we imported a grandma to stay with them. As I researched Cyprus, my excitement about our upcoming journey to this Mediterranean country increased. Cyprus has been inhabited since 8,500 B.C., beginning with a society of hunter-gatherers who came to the island by sea from the surrounding mainland. ... read more

Welcome to Hour 23 of the Laundry Marathon. I’ve now had a load of whites in the combo washer/dryer for almost a day. They look exceedingly clean right now, but they’re still damp. I thought I figured out how to get the dryer to work, but I guess I was wrong. If I knew Arabic, maybe I could read the instructions on it; as I don’t I’m left with the words “On”, “Off”, and a series of symbols that appears to correspond to one of the three dials. It reads like the Rosetta Stone: 1. Raindrop, (40), double raindrop, (90), circle, circle, circle, flower, double circle 2. Space, Space, Space, Space, double raindrop, (90), circle, circle, circle, flower, double circle 3. Twelve spaces, three circles, flower, double circle And so on and so on. I’ve figured ... read more

“Fifteen dirhams, sir.” “Ten dirhams, no more.” “Sir?” “Ten dirhams is my best price.” “No, sir. Fifteen dirhams, please.” “Fifteen dirhams? I have sat here and talked to you for fifteen minutes. This has taken too long. Why will you not give me your best price?” “Because this is a taxi, not a souk, you silly American! Now pay your fare or I will drive you to the police!” So maybe I’ve gotten a little carried away with the haggling. Great Shiva on a Zamboni, what’s happened to me? It’s a Saturday night, and I’m shopping like a kept woman! Where did it all go wrong? I blame to booze. More specifically, I blame the lack of booze. The only attempt I’ve made at entering a bar was when my co-worker decided to go find some ... read more

My friend Lipika once asked me, “So what’s it like being a transportation planner? Is it glamorous?” Glamorous?! I work with public transportation, that wonderfully consensual hallucination we subscribe to that states that if transit is fast enough, cheap enough, and convenient enough, enough people will use it that I can drive to work faster. Moreover, I specialize in bus networks, a form of transportation grudgingly funded to that the poor huddled masses can get to work. My job is to come to cities, ride their rattling, diesel-drenched buses, and see if anything can be done to make them work better. No, it’s not a glamorous job….except for days like today, when I get to ride a bus to a building full of gold. A little bit about this lovely economic miracle called Dubai. How do ... read more

Keinginanku dikabulkan sekalipun aku tidak memintanya Junjungan semua orang Kisten ialah Yesus. Yesus adalah figur laki-laki dan gambaran umum laki-laki ialah keras, tegas (keputusan tidak berubah), yang jalan pikirannya, anti menangis. Sedangkan gambaran perempuan ialah lemah (lembut), fleksibel (keputusan mudah berubah), yang jalan perasaannya, mudah menangis. Yang menjadi pemikian orang, Yesus adalah laki-laki sehingga sifatnya sebagai laki-laki, kurang sifat keibuannya. Padahal sebenarnya sifat Yesus lembut sekali. Yesus kasihan melihat banyak orang yang tentunya lapar, sehingga orang-orang itu diberi makan. Pada waktu menghidupkan anak yang meninggal, setelah anak itu hidup lagi, Yesus menyuruh agar anak itu segera diberi makan. Yesus menangis pada waktu Lazarus meninggal. Tetapi sekalipun kelembutan dan sifat keibuan Yesus besar, bagi sebagian besar orang Katolik, gam... read more