empire state building celebrates

The Empire State Building is celebrating Eid al Iftar. I think that's
great- and was a little surprised to hear it. Apparently it wears a lot of dresses it wears:
http://www.esbnyc.com/tourism/tourism_lightingschedule.cfm.

Check out the little footnote:
During spring and fall bird migration seasons and particularly on cloudy, humid and/or foggy nights, when large numbers of birds are seen flying near the building, the tower lights are turned off. Observatory personnel on the 86th floor outdoor deck notify the engineers. The birds are attracted by the lights and there is a danger they will fly into the building and be killed.

Eid Mubarak.

Introducing Bayaan

Here she is at one month. Precious! Big eyes, apparently blond highlights. She looks a lot like Iman did at her age.

Rawan wanted to eat and was told to wait just a minute until my sister finished feeding Bayaan. Rawan says: Bayaan is always eating. She's more important to you than I am.

Wow, a 5-year-old who can so easily express her feelings!

When Rawan was born, Iman (2.5-years-old) just said- we don't need her, why don't you throw her away...

birthday wishes

My 5-year-old niece and I have been having a funny little exchange over the phone regarding her birthday present. Her birthday was planned as an outdoor party, and because of rains from Hurricane Ike and the challenges of having a newborn in the house (her new little baby sister!), the date of the party was uncertain. So, it was difficult for me to plan to be there, and I tried to convey this to her on the phone.

Me: Rawan, I'm going to try to come to your birthday party, but I am not sure I can make it because you don't know exactly what day it will be.

Rawan: That's OK. If you can't come, you can just send me my present in the mail.

A practical solution. But it's not that she didn't really care either way...

Me: OK, but I'd really like to be there with you on your birthday.

Rawan: Yeah, me, too.

Me: Rawan, what would you like?

Rawan: Anything!

Me: Did you ask your mommy and daddy for anything specifically?

Rawan: No. You just get a present, and you open it, and you see what it is.

Me: OK, so you want it to be a surprise.

The follow-up conversation where we talked about the details of the present exchange after her party.

Rawan: You can just send me the present in the mail or you can bring it when you come for Eid (the Islamic holiday). But you can send itin the mail- that way I don't have to wait for it.

Giving me options, but sharing her preference.

Me: OK, tonight when I get home, I'll go online and see how long itwill take to send it to you.

Rawan: OK, but you can just go to the store, and buy it, and, and,and put it in the mail. That way you don't have to wait for it.

A pause as I think how funny she is in her subtle ways.

Rawan: But you can go tomorrow because today when you go home you maybe tired.

Me: Oh, Rawan, you are so sweet.

Rawan: Why? I didn't do anything.

when to touch people

During orientation, HR says there are two times it's OK to touch someone at work.

One, with a firm handshake.

Two, when someone falls, you can ASK them if it's OK to help them up.

That's more like one and a half times. Since we don't greet our co-workers daily with a handshake, here's hoping for more falls at work.

New Jersey

A few more thoughts on Hoboken, New Jersey. I'd say it's not as polished as DC/Bethesda. Of course, this has to do with what part of DC you compare to, and so I'm comparing to the areas that I've lived in- Georgetown and Bethesda.

- There are a lot of people who smoke. Young people,young mothers, deep voices. It fits my idea of "new jersey culture", but it's pretty sad to see.

- There are a lot of parents (particularly mothers) YELLING at their kids in the street. Not for anything that needs yelling- no kids running into high-traffic streets. No, this is just communicating through YELLING instead of talking. Wow, almost makes me turn around and tell the mother to zip it- if you can't use your indoor voice, keep it shut.

- The upside of less polished are lots of family-run stores and restaurants. I've already mentioned the Italian population, and there are Italian delis/bodegas/ba'alaat (in Arabic) on the corners of streets in the middle of the neighborhood. You see signs written on posterboard "On vacation until August XX". There's one Indian store that looks like it's run by a band of sisters, and I can imagine that it's just them sitting around deciding what to add to their merchandise. I think I've already mentioned the coffeeshop I like- a young woman who made the price list at home with sticky stenciled letters (she told me in confidence- don't spread it around). Some chain fast food places, but mostly mom-and-pops and independent places.

It turns out it's hard to maintain the mom-and-pop even in Hoboken. There's a Barnes and Noble (kind of in keeping with the atmosphere of Hoboken, it's kind of cute and compact and cozy). There is also an independent used bookstore. However, in order for this independent bookstore to survive, the mayor's office or family or something actually helps support it financially- it's subsidized. Kind of funny, kind of sad.

Still likin' it!

Oh, and didn't even realize there was a tornado warning- never thought of tornadoes in NYC!!

Hoboken

Now in Hoboken. It seems everytime I say Hoboken, I get a comment on what a funny name that is. Turns out, according to the source of all knowledge (the internet), it is either from the name of a Flemish town or from a Native American (sorry, can't remember the tribe) word meaning something about peace pipes or something.

Here's the place (pre-moving in).



Livin' on Park Ave...



Here are some things I've noticed about Hoboken:
- There are a ton of funeral homes. There seems to be one on every other corner, practically. Considering Hoboken is a mile squared (that seems to be something everyone here is very proud of), that makes for a LOT of funeral homes. That might be related to the next point...

- ...which is that there are a LOT of old Italian babushkas (yes, I know that's Russian, but you get my meaning) wearing cute floral print cotton dresses and sitting on their doorsteps and cute little old Italian men wearing all sorts of great hats and belts up towards their necks.

- There is a shortage of good coffee shops. There are two (and a half) Starbucks- the one closest to me is the half- it's not open yet. Not sure what's going on- it's been in the same state for the past month. I've found one excellent coffee place (great espresso foam that makes you melt), but it's at the other end of town (yes, I know, it's only a mile squared) and, more importantly, doesn't have any tables. So, you can sit along the windowsill, but it's hard to spend a lot of time there reading or writing.

- The aforementioned coffeeshop is owned by an actress/artist want-to-be, apparently, which turns out to be a good part of the population here in Hoboken. So, the next point is about the diversity of the population here. I'm not sure how to say this in a PC-appropriate way, but it's obviously not just white-collar (like I'd say Bethesda almost exclusively is). It's different socio-economic classes, different colors, different religions...

- There are a TON of Christian churches of all types. Seventh Day Adventist in Spanish, for example, which I'm not sure I've seen before. And all sorts of Christian scenes on people's doorsteps and in their front windows- there's one I need to put up a picture of. Stay tuned. There are virgin Marys in a bunch of gardens, etc. There are also a good number of synagogues, but as far as I can tell, no mosque. Well, unless it's in a regular building, definitely no mosque.

Settling in... Cute place, amazing views of NYC. Check it out...

why Guatemala

This should be the last Guatemala-focused email. Then I'm ready to move on to the newer things in my life.

People asked me "Why Guatemala?". (Note that with slightly different punctuation, it could be "Why, Guatemala?", in which case I'd choose my nickname to be Guati.)

Simple answers:
- I could get the visa quickly. When I got my visa, it was the simplest process ever (second only to not needing a visa). The embassy is near Dupont Circle (easy metro ride). The website did not work, nobody answered the phone, and the email bounced back. So, I headed off to the embassy to inquire, taking with me my anticipated necessary paperwork. I showed up at the desk, was not asked for any of the just-in-case paperwork I had brought, and I was told to come back tomorrow to pick it up. Oh, and super cheap. And in the end, I told her I wasn't sure when I wanted to leave, so she gave me the visa starting that week for up to three months. Easy caneezy.

- The country was relatively cheap, making it more affordable to spend two weeks without many restrictions (any restrictions?).

- Spanish-speaking, which meant I could at last practice my Spanish. And the Guatemaltecos speak slowly and clearly, relatively to many other Spanish-speakers. It made it pretty easy to get around.

- Spanish classes are cheap and are one-on-one instruction with a teacher. Doesn't get much better.

- Never been to Central America.

Well, you get the picture. It's actually hard to pick a country to go to out of a hat- although affordability does really make half the decision for you in the end.

take that, martha

Beth, Juliana's mom, has this trick for serving potato chips straight from the bag- scissors only required to cut a hole. It was a hit, for sure.

civil war

The effects of the politics of a place on its people interests me, not only because I am Palestinian, but because I'm fascinated by how it affects the psyche of the people, the culture. In Guatemala, I think much of the violence and the crime are remnants of years of military rule, of the recent civil war, and of course, poverty.

I asked my host family if they knew anyone affected by the civil war. It turns out that their daughter-in-law's parents were killed. They lived in a town near Antigua. Both of her parents were teachers and were leftists/relatively involved in the political situation. They were missing for a few days, and then the mother of the woman found them in the woods behind the house, only their hands showing through the ground. Were they buried that way so they could be found? Or because of negligence? This is how I imagine them in the ground.

This was one thing I was not used to. Others included the landscape- I am from a land in which you can see far and wide without even trying. When we were going from Santa Elena in Tikal, in the subtropical rainforest, the rainforest had been cleared (slash and burn) for agriculture near el lago Peten Itza. And then we got into the rainforest, into Tikal park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (check out the list of 851 properties here). And then my view was obstructed! I remember feeling claustrophobic after a few days in Asheville, NC because I couldn't get a view over the tree line. Well, in Tikal, we did get some excellent views- either from the tops of temples (maybe the Mayans also felt claustrophobic and decided to build high) and when we went zip-lining. On the way back to the airport, I loved the open space- as sad as slash and burn is for the ecosystem.

themes

Some obvious recurring themes.

Flowers:











                   




Fruits/vegetables:







            


Breakfast/lunch/dinner:




                              

Drinks:

            



Dessert:





Yum!