Planning the Wedding

Looking back at the last several months, there are a bunch of little stories that keep coming to mind.  And since many of my friends and family have no idea how this transitional planning period went down, I thought I'd share some of my favorites...  Starting with Barbara.

Barbara is an incredible woman. She has an incredible amount of joy and energy all the time, and I absolutely love being around her!  She was one of my fantastic YoungLife leaders in high school, and we've kept in touch over the years.  Well, Barbara got engaged to a pretty cool dude not long before I got engaged, so we spent quite a bit of time talking about planning and marriage counseling and relationships, and I was lucky enough to get to be at her wedding to celebrate that wonderful day :]  But one of the best things she could have told me was that this time didn't have to be stressful.  It could be completely enjoyable - a crazy adventure - I only had to choose to see it that way.  My kinda girl!  Often I'd be reminded of her words, especially when things weren't working out and I was getting stressed and overwhelmed by the thought of all that was left to be done.  It seems so small, but it made a world of difference for me.

Which brings me to the planning.  Most of the time, I really enjoyed planning our wedding.  I loved looking for creative ways to decorate, for ways to make all of my decorations, sifting through some of my favorite songs to pick out what music we'd use in the ceremony.  That was fun.  What wasn't fun though was searching for venue.  That was stressful.  Jeff's family was so kind in driving all over the place to take pictures and look at venues and report back to me.  One week got really bad.  I thought I had found the perfect place - it was secluded, this beautiful chapel with floor-to-ceiling windows all the way around, so you could see the woods surrounding the chapel... It was breath-taking.  But so was the price.  I just couldn't justify paying that much for the chapel, so I had moved on and was looking for a new place to hold the ceremony.  After nearly a week though, I hadn't found anything that looked the way I imagined, or that was within our budget.  I was frustrated and stressed and didn't know how to solve this problem, so I decided to take a break for a while.  One of the things I did on my breaks at that point was to look through the blog of this AMAZING wedding photographer - Geoff Duncan (www.geodun.com).  He does really beautiful work.  I loved looking through his posts and getting ideas for my own wedding.  That day, he posted pictures from this little historic square in McKinney - Chestnut Square.  It looked so charming and tucked away, exactly what I wanted in my venue.  I started looking into it more, called up the place to talk about prices, and got more and more excited as time passed.  It looked perfect, it was an intimate setting, within our budget, and available on the day we wanted!  So we went ahead and put down the deposit, and began to plan our wedding around this little historic square.  It may sound kind of silly, but I totally attribute finding this place to Geoff, and I'm really grateful for that post.

outside of the chapel

Chestnut Square was the perfect place for our wedding - we had a small group of people there, so we didn't need a lot of space.  There was a beautiful indoor/outdoor setting, so we could hang around outside, surrounding by budding plants and historic buildings... The chapel was simple and beautiful, and we got to use an entire historic house as the bridal suite.  It was a really fun experience for me!

Dusting off the ol' machine

When Jeff and I signed the lease for our apartment and moved my stuff in, we made a list of things we wanted to fix and change in the apartment - things like put up curtains and a curved shower rod...  At this point, we've accomplished most of things on that list, crossing yet another project off that list today.  In the kitchen, there's this counter top, and beneath it is one of the few storage places available.  But stacking things under there just looked  bad.  I wanted to sew fabric panels to hide the storage area out of my leftover fabric from reupholstering the couch.  So this afternoon, I dusted off the ol' sewing machine, took measurements, and sewed us some panels!

 yes, sewing on the floor... :)

the completed project

I really wanted to hide the one leg behind the panels, but there was no way to put a pole up and hide it, that I could figure out at least.  I think it turned out really well!  Love me some craft time...

A New Adventure

Almost two years ago, I wrote my "final" post, wrapping up one of the craziest, most action-packed, never boring chapters of my short life. My time in Jordan is something I will never forget, and my experiences there have shaped the way I view things and react to things today. I still love to talk about my adventures there, from taxi marriage proposals to 36 hour trips to Syria. But that chapter came to a close, and upon arriving in the States, I stopped writing, presumably for good.

So why start writing again? Why now?

Well, yesterday morning, I arrived at work a little before 8am. I was scheduled to work an all-day conference, and I had to be there early to set out the coffee and bagels and such, so I ran in, hopped in the elevator to put my things in the offices upstairs. Big mistake. The security guard, who was the only other person in the virtually empty building, had not yet switched the elevators to public access; it was still keycard-only permission. Guess who doesn't have a keycard. The door of the elevator slid shut, which is when I discovered that the button wasn't working. None of the buttons were working. I was trapped. No way out. Pulled out my cell phone - no signal. Go figure. I'm not claustrophobic, thankfully, but this was not my idea of a good time. I had no idea what to do, and no idea if the security guard even knew that I was in the building. So I just get pressing buttons, hoping they would magically start working and let me out. I debated for a few minutes about pressing the emergency button, but decided not to for a while, maybe after 10 or 15 minutes. But luckily for me, after 6 minutes in the elevator, the security guard switched it to public access and up I went. The rest of my shift was largely uneventful.

The reasons I tell this story are a) because this is the kind of stuff that happens to me, and I think it's funny and b) because as I was walking down the stairs (no more elevators for me for a while...), I was composing a blog post in my head of how to describe what had just happened to me. I do it without thinking. It's a habit that started back in Jordan once I started writing about my adventures - something would happen, and I would think of ways to write it. On many occasions in the last year or so, I've found myself walking somewhere, thinking of how to write about my adventures, how I would want them to be read.

Many times, I get into a lull, I feel like living in the States just doesn't hold as many adventures for me, like there's not as much to be experienced here as there was overseas. I find myself longing for the days of unpredictability, when there was so much to learn about a culture and a people from my day-to-day interactions. I get bored by my academic life, by the same routine, day in, day out. I want to travel, I want to see new places, to meet new people. But then there are days like today that remind me of how much there is to be experienced here. I live in a melting pot of people and cultures, and there are so many opportunities, if only I would venture out of my comfort zone again and find them.

Which brings me back to my question - Why now? I feel that in ways, writing about my adventures caused me to notice and appreciate them more, which I think is really important. So I think it's time to start writing again, to pay more attention to the great opportunities I have in front of me rather than spending my time wishing I was someplace else. Plus, it will give me a chance to write about some of the crazy stuff that's gone on in the past several months - like how I got married two weeks ago!

To sum up where I am now, I am finishing up my second semester of my sophomore year, majoring in Global Studies with a concentration on the Middle East, working at a Middle East Area Studies center, and getting involved more in my church community. I'm newly married to an incredible man who is also my closest friend, and I could not be happier! And so it begins, a new chapter of life - a new adventure.

The Last Month

With just a month left in the country, there were quite a few people I needed to see and things I needed to do. And I was in desperate need of a vacation. Frankly, I was burnt out. The few weeks before the Germany trip had been packed and stressful, and while I had thoroughly enjoyed being in Germany with the choir, the trip itself was draining.

I got back from the airport at 3:30 am, crashed, debriefed with my roommate, then cleaned the house up a bit. We were having our small group girls over for an all-nighter. We made brownies, served them with ice cream and sprinkles, then settled down to watch a few movies. We served them pancakes for breakfast the next morning, talked, laughed, and said goodbye to the few girls who were traveling for the summer. The rest of that week was relatively quiet, with several dinners with friends who were also leaving the country.

The next week, I started volunteering at a local store that sells handmade crafts and gifts. Karis Krafts is owned by the parents of one of my small group girls, and that family would be traveling in the States over the summer. The things they sell are made locally, many by refugee women. It's a really cool shop. I would be working there twice a week. It was always quiet, never more than one customer coming in during the day, at least while I was there. So the days I worked served as scheduled quiet time - I would read books or play Sudoku. My 20th birthday came, spent with friends.

I would be spending the next 4 days with friends, sight-seeing around Jordan. Ruth's aunt and cousin had flown out to visit. After grabbing Starbucks for the road, we set off on the 4 hour drive down to Wadi Rum. Wadi Rum is one of my favorite places in Jordan. Miles of red sand, broken up by huge rock formations and sage bushes. It's a nature reserve, protected and well cared for by the locals. But what really takes my breath away is the night - the temperature drops, the silence is almost heavy, and when you look to the sky, there are millions of stars, as far as the eye can see. I could lay there for hours, simply drinking in the beauty of the night sky. So I was really excited when I was invited to go down with Ruth, her aunt, Cheryl, her cousin, Ali, and Joanna, another friend of ours. I had volunteered to drive the whole way. The drive down was filled with laughter, stories, and loads of music. We got down to the visitor's center, met up with Obeed, the guy who owned the camp we'd be staying at. We were out on the edge of the reserve, the only ones at the camp. We dropped our stuff, ate lunch under the open-air tent, then piled in the back of a jeep for a 4 hour tour through the desert. It was beautiful. We got back to camp in time to climb up one of the rock formations to watch the sunset. Sunsets in Wadi Rum are stunning - The rocks and sand look like they're on fire, turning brighter shades of red as the sun sets. We drank tea (with sage, a Bedouin tradition) as we took it all in. We then sat around the fire as we waited for dinner to be ready. They had put the chicken and rice into a large metal drum and buried it with coals to cook under the sand. Tasty! We turned in for the night, Cheryl and Ali got up early to see the sunrise. We then spent some time enjoying the views and each other's company before eating breakfast and heading back to the visitor's center. We had decided to take a slightly different route home, taking the King's Highway, which winds up and down and around the mountains instead of the Desert Highway (a straight shot back to the city). It took almost 2 extra hours, but the views were awesome. I dropped everyone off, then sped over to see Aisling, who had arrived in Jordan the night before. She'll be out there until late August, working with an insurance company. The next day, I took Cheryl, Ali, and Aisling up to Jerash to see the Roman ruins. Ruth had left early that morning to return to the States. Afterwards, we went to Jara Market, where vendors line a street every Friday for the summer, selling everything from watermelon juice to antique Bedouin jewelry. We went to get henna - Cheryl and Ali got it on their wrists, Aisling on her ankle, and I on my hand. On Saturday, I took Cheryl, Ali, and Joanna down to the Baptismal Site on the Jordan River, and then picked up Aisling for lunch at Hashim's. Hashim's is a small restaurant in the balad that sells the best falafel and hummus for your money - the five of us ate for 3JD. Helena also graduated from East Chapel Hill High School that day, so Aisling and I called her fairly early to congratulate her.

The next week, I got to see Janelle play with the Amman Symphony. This was the first concert of Janelle's that I was actually able to attend, most of her concerts had been the same time as my rehearsals for choir. They did a cello concerto and Beethoven's 3rd. It was a lot of fun! The week after, I visited more friends, hung out at the pool, watched a ridiculous amount of soccer... I got together with a fellow choir member to make scones with dates, apricots, and brandied kumquats from scratch.

My last week in Jordan was packed. I started packing and ate out with friends for the majority of my meals. On Wednesday, Janelle, Jeff, and I went for one last day hike through Wadi Manshala. It was stunning, as always. We started much earlier, hiked much farther, found waterfall after waterfall. We climbed up to the top of the ridge to get out, which ended up taking far longer than expected, so by the time we got back to the car, we were out of water and had been hiking for 9 hours. We stopped at a nearby shop to get more water, and while reversing, hit a parked car next to us. The paint was a little scratched, but other than that, there wasn't damage. We talked with the guys from the other car for a while, talked to the police for a bit, and finally, maybe 45 minutes later, sorted it out and headed back to the city. We got back just before 9 pm, hit up McDonald's, then headed home. I did the majority of my packing on Thursday and went to my last youth event. Friday started off wonderfully, with an early breakfast with a good friend of mine. Then it got a little rough. After weighing my bags, I discovered that both of my suitcases were overweight. I had to unpack and repack with a 3rd bag, which was cheaper than 2 overweight bags. Slightly stressful. Afterwards, we had a late lunch of pate (brought back from Chimay) and fresh rolls, then cleaned up the house in preparation for the party that night. We were having a going away/ice cream party on the roof with a few friends. We decorated the roof with string lights, served up mint chocolate ice cream, and enjoyed the evening. It was a wonderful way to finish up my time there.

On Saturday morning, I said goodbye to Janelle, put all my luggage in the van, and headed off to the airport with Jeff and Aisling. I checked in, ate some breakfast, got on the flight, and talked my way into 3 seats to myself. It was a long but uneventful flight. Once I got through immigration, I had to pick up all my luggage, go through customs, and re-check my bags. Doesn't sound too difficult, except all my luggage didn't fit on the ridiculously over-priced smartcarte trolley. After 5 minutes or so of rearranging, I finally got it all on the cart, re-checked it, picked up some dinner, and sat down to wait for my next flight. It was also an uneventful flight, although it came in half an hour early. Luckily for me, my dad and sister came early to meet me. I arrived back at home in Chapel Hill in one piece.

Since then, I've been able to spend lots of time with my family. We're moving at the end of the summer, so I took apart my old furniture and moved it into the garage. We had a quiet 4th of July, grilled out burgers and baked an apple pie and a yummy layered treat of chocolate, graham crackers and cool whip. I'm still going through a bit of culture shock, but for the most part, I'm adjusting well to life back in the States.

You can see pictures from our Wadi Rum Trip here.

Aisling at Jerash

Getting henna

Ali and I show off the finished work

Aisling got a butterfly

Date, apricot, and brandied kumquat scones. Delicious.

My 4th of July apple pie

Musica Sacra International Festival

7 days in Germany, 3 days in Belgium. Our time was packed, with 9 concerts in 8 different towns.

Thursday/Friday

I arrived at the airport around midnight, after a delicious congrats dinner with friends. Everyone looked kind of tired, yet excited to start the trip. We were given goody bags made by other choir members that couldn't come, filled with sugary treats and sweet notes. We counted off, then went to check in. We had time before our plane would board, so while some went duty-free shopping or napped on benches, others played Apples to Apples, drawing strange looks from people around us as we laughed. We finally boarded the plane around 2:30. It was a 4 hour flight to Frankfurt, after which we would take a shorter flight to Munich. Most of us didn't get much sleep. We had time to kill at Frankfurt, and were in high spirits once we found a free coffee machine in our departure lounge. After our flight to Munich, we had a bus ride to Marktoberdorf, where we would be staying for the festival. When we arrived, we had a short rehearsal and sound check, met out host families, and were instructed to be back on time for the opening concert that evening. Rula and I were staying with Hermann and Helga, a retired couple who had been hosting participants of the festival for over 25 years. They were really nice, and so excited to have guests from Jordan. We were given a tour of the house, then settled into our room and got ready for the concert. Going on 36 hours without sleep, some of us were struggling to stay awake during the concert. All of the groups were performing that evening - we were each given 5-7 minutes. After the concert, we went back to our houses and passed out.

Saturday

After a good night's rest, we woke up to birds and lots of green and the Alps on the horizon. Hermann and Helga made quite the breakfast - eggs, fresh bread from the bakery, bacon, sausage, smoked ham, an assortment of cheeses and fruit... It was delicious! We went back to the music academy for rehearsal, lunch, then went on walks around the area, and had naps on the grass. We packed up the bus and headed off for Isny, where we would have a 25 minute concert in the St. Maria Catholic Church. This church was probably my favorite church of them all - it was simply decorated, beautiful, and I loved the way the music echoed. We had our sound check, then had dinner at a local restaurant. We had our concert, and it was so touching to see how moved people were by the music as we performed. After the concert we drove back to Marktoberdorf.

Sunday

One of the other alto's host mom was singing at Mass that morning, so a few of us decided to go. The church next to the music academy was big and the decoration ornate. The mass was all in German, so I had no clue what was going on. The choir was singing Laudate Dominum (I sang this with the YWCA choir last semester), and the Hallelujah Chorus and a few other pieces I didn't recognize. Trying to sing the hymns in German was pretty interesting... Afterwards, we had a short rehearsal, then piled on the bus to go to Lechbruck for a sponsor's concert. We would be singing in an empty swimming pool. We had our sound check, then went outside to play in the fields while we waited for dinner to arrive. We were right next to a lake, and close to the Alps. It was stunning. We went down to the lake and ran through the fields and basically enjoyed the sunshine and green. We were given sandwiches for dinner, then a bunch of us decided to walk into the nearby town. We stopped at a small cafe for dessert, then walked back to get ready for our concert. We had a 40' program that night. I was part of a quartet for one of the pieces, called Atini Nay, which is beautiful. Rula played the qanuun (it's like a really big auto-harp in a way) for a few of the pieces. Singing in the pool was really interesting - we were singing from the shallow end, and there were chairs set up for the sponsors in the deep end. We had a quiet drive back, there was a long day ahead of us.

Monday

We had an early rehearsal and sound check, and would be performing as part of the church service that morning. (This performance made the local paper!) It was a shorter concert, only 15 minutes, but the people really seemed to enjoy it. A bunch of us then went into town for a fantastic lunch of various white asparagus dishes, bratwurst, schnitzel, and pork shoulder. Afterwards we had another rehearsal, some free time to nap on the grass, and then we got on the bus for another concert that evening in Altenstadt. The church we sang in was hundreds of years old, and had a quiet beauty in its simplicity. We had dinner nearby, then had time to hang out a bit before we sang, a 25' concert that night. The music brought people to tears. We get so used to singing these pieces that we forget what an impact they can have on people who have never heard this kind of thing before. We went home exhausted, with just one more concert in that area.

Tuesday

We had a rehearsal that morning, followed by a sound check in the next town over for our closing concert. We came back for lunch, then split up to enjoy the couple hours we had before we had to leave for the concert. Some of us found quite shady bits of grass to sleep under, others went to find wireless internet, others went into town for snacks. We hung out chatted, enjoyed the sunshine, and finally got on the bus to go to the concert. We weren't going to be on until around 9/9:30ish, so we could watch a lot of the other performers. I had a really bad allergic reaction to something, unfortunately, and spent a large chunk of time trying to get antihistamines and keep the skin cool. It calmed down by the time we went on, thankfully. We did a 10 minute compilation of several pieces, thanked all the volunteers and organizers, then headed back to the music academy for a large dinner and after-party. We chatted with other performers, ate, and danced around as people played well-known tunes on the piano. I packed it in at 2:15, relatively early for my choir, and was looking forward to our day off.

Wednesday

Half the choir left early to spend the day in Munich, while the other half decided to enjoy our surroundings. We got together around 11, drove towards the Alps, rented bicycles for the day, packed a picnic lunch, and headed towards the lake near Hohenschwanstein. We settled down at a quiet spot on the edge of the lake, had sandwiches with delicious cheese and meats, croissants, sausage, wine, chocolate, and various other foods. Afterwards, we biked back to return the bikes in sudden downpour, some went to see the castle (Cinderella's castle in Disney is based off of it), while myself and another took a long walk around the lake. I loved being able to walk through the woods and enjoy the green and the mountains. I could live there! We met up with the rest of the group, went to see a large waterfall, then headed back to Marktoberdorf to enjoy a wonderful, homemade meal of soup and a traditional meatloaf kind of thing. Delicious.

Thursday

We bid farewell to our host families early in the morning, then piled on the bus for a 7 hour drive to Worms. We were staying in a youth hostel that night, so we got settled into our rooms, then got ready, went to the sound check, dinner, then prepared for the concert. The church name makes me laugh - it's called Dreifaltigkeitskirche. We would be performing two of our pieces with other performers, improvising. It ended up sounding really cool! One piece we did to accompany a Hindu raga, the other with a traditional Tibetan chant. It was a 25' concert, but because of the improvised pieces, we ended up performing for much longer. We packed it in early, we had another travel day ahead of us.

Friday

Myself and another were all packed and ready to go fairly early, so we took some time to walk around Worms a bit. We got to see little bits of history, from Roman walls to a synagogue and Jewish quarter, preserved from the war. We went to see the big cathedral there as well, and it had some gorgeous stained-glass windows. We got back on the bus, spending the next 6 hours driving through the countryside to Belgium, where we would spend the next few days. When we arrived in Macon, we were taken to a large B&B where we would be staying, surrounded by farms. Oh the smell of cows... We got ready, went to dinner, where we would be performing a piece or two. We were served grilled steaks and veg, probably the best meal we were provided by the festival. We were also served Chimay, which most of the choir considers to be the best beer around. We got to meet the head of the brewery as well! We performed, and after dinner, we danced with the Indonesian choir a bit, then started our own jam session, the Arabs singing traditional songs, some of the Indonesians on their drums, people learned some belly-dancing, and after a while, we packed it in. Or so it seemed. We went back to the B&B, where the majority of the choir continued the party until the morning.

Saturday

We had breakfast, an early rehearsal, followed by lunch. Afterwards, we went on a "nature walk" through a small nature preserve that was really quite bizarre. There was a large statue thing of a shopping cart, and another of a gerbil wheel... Strange. Afterwards, we went into the town of Chimay, did some shopping, had some coffee, then headed back to Macon for our sound check and concert. We did our full program that night. We then went back to the B&B, some stayed up, I turned in for an early night.

Sunday

Our last concert. We had the morning off. Another alto and I went to see if we could find a place to go horseback riding, but no luck. Instead, we walked 3km into Macon, enjoying the countryside and the light rain. One of the pastures had some crazy cows who thought we were going to feed them. They came galloping over, kicking each other as they went, then stopped short of the fence and stared at us. We shocked ourselves on the fence by accident, but being slightly crazy, we climbed over to hang out with the cows for a bit. After a while we continued our walk, laughing at the crazy cows, and made it into town in time to grab some breakfast. We hopped another fence to pet some horses and give them some apples, then had lunch, and went for our sound check. We had dinner, got ready for the concert, then drove back out to Chimay. We had our final concert, ending with a improvised piece with all of us singing. My head wasn't doing that well, so I skipped the after-party and went back to the B&B to pack and go to bed.

Monday

We got up early, brought our things down to the bus, and a few of us went on a walk near the lake while waiting for everyone else to be ready. We had breakfast, said our farewells to the other performers, then packed up the bus for the 7 hour drive to Frankfurt. We stocked up on pork and cheese products before checking in at the airport, then did a little shopping and walking around before we met up again to enjoy our last dinner together on the trip. There were a few people staying behind to travel around the area for longer, others were going back to the States for a bit. We ate and laughed, said goodbye and headed through security. We did some last minute gift shopping before getting on the plane, sad to leave the countryside, but happy to be headed back to the friends we missed. The flight was pretty empty, so several of us got rows to ourselves, making sleeping a bit easier. We went through customs, picked up our luggage, hugged each other goodbye, and went home, getting back at 3:30 in the morning.

I'm so glad that I got to go on this trip. It was packed, stressful at times, but definitely worth it. I loved being able to see how this music moved people, how much they enjoyed it and were fascinated by it. I got to know a lot of people better, spoke loads of Arabic, and was refreshed by the beauty of the countryside.

Hopefully there will soon be audio and video clips up from the performances. At the moment, there are only pictures up from a few concerts, which you can see here. The links at the top are the dates of performances, our group was called "Aswatuna".

Coming up: my vacation begins, my sister arrives from the States, a trip to Wadi Rum :]

Goodbye, Kelsey!

Today, a chapter of my life came to a close. Almost two years ago, I moved to Jordan to study Arabic at Kelsey, intending to complete the two year program. Things got a little rough, and there were times when I wasn't sure I would actually be able to finish what I started. But I made it to the end - this morning, I graduated from Kelsey, completing all four semesters.

It still hasn't quite hit me. I feel like I'll be back at school for another day of grammar, translation, and laughter about our difficulties with broken plurals and masdars. Though my time at Kelsey is over, I still have far to go with Arabic. It takes years and years of study and constant speaking for most people to get good at this language. But one thing is for sure - as much as Arabic drives me crazy, I absolutely love it. I love speaking it, I love hearing it, and I really love being able to read and write it.

So I bid a bittersweet, yet fond, farewell to Kelsey, along with 15 others that I've spent so much time with over these 2 years. I hugged my teachers, laughed with friends, ate delicious Arabic food, then walked out the door with a sense of accomplishment and a smile on my face.

Coming up: I leave tonight for a 10 day trip to Germany with the choir for the Musica Sacra International Festival!! We've spent almost every night of the last 2 weeks rehearsing and preparing, I can't wait :]

Beirut, Lebanon

Not long after my last post, I decided to spend 3 days in Beirut, Lebanon with a some good friends of mine - Becky and Ekkardt. They lived there five years, while Ekkardt was studying. So I bought my plane tickets on Wednesday, and got on a plane on Thursday morning.

Becky and I flew out together, but since she had to work, I had the afternoon to wander around on my own for a bit. I set off with a map in my bag, in case I got really turned around, and no plans for where I would go. After a while, I ended up at American University of Beirut (AUB). I had considered AUB in passing when I was looking at colleges, but never really thought about it much. I wandered around the campus for a couple hours, and it was beautiful. Hands down, it is one of my favorite campuses yet. On the Mediterranean coast, the campus is filled with trees and flowers and winding paths. It's quiet, even though it's in the city. I could've spent the rest of my weekend there. But instead, I walked down to the Corniche, kind of like a boardwalk, on the coast and enjoyed the smell of the sea. It began to look like it would rain, so I made my way back to where we were staying, sat on the balcony with a cup of tea and enjoyed the downpour while waiting for Becky to finish up with work. Afterwards, Becky and I went out for dinner (at a small Lebanese restaurant), walked by the sea, then turned in for an early night. Ekkardt's flight was delayed, so he didn't get in until after midnight.

On Friday morning, we slept in, talked to former teachers of Ekkardt's, then headed off for coffee and croissants. After breakfast, we walked downtown, passing shelled out buildings, beautiful schools with elaborate rose gardens, stopped to talk to some adorable kindergarten-aged girls in a mixture of French and Arabic, making our way towards St. George's Cathedral. We found out that it was actually St. George's day, celebrating St. George's defeat of the dragon. We stopped first at an orthodox church, where we got a tour through the church, learning about recent excavations and the different levels of previous churches underneath the current one. While most of the interior paintings had been restored, you could still see bullet holes in one of the panels, left over from the civil war. From there, we headed towards the Place des Martyrs, a former gathering place for large demonstrations. The most famous demonstration there was held on the 1 month anniversary of Hariri's murder (the former prime minister), when over a million people came out to protest the presence of Syrian troops in Lebanon. There's a big statue in the middle which still stands, filled with bullet holes. We then went to look at some ruins next to a big parking lot, and afterwards saw Hariri's grave. Next to the memorial site is the Mohammed al-Amin mosque, where Hariri is buried. Becky and I were given garments to cover up, and we went in. The paintings on the ceiling were beautiful, and the chandeliers were massive, in true Arab style. This was the first time I had ever been inside a mosque. Afterwards, we stopped at St. George's Cathedral, passed by the Senate building, the Roman baths, and began to make our way back towards Hamra, where we were staying. At one point, I pulled out my camera to take a picture of what used to be the Four Seasons, now a shelled-out building. You can still see bullet holes and where grenades hit. All of a sudden, this guard crosses the street, yelling at me in Arabic about how I'm not allowed to take pictures. It turns out that we had just entered a really private residential neighborhood, home of a lot of very wealthy and influential people. There were guards posted every 100 yards. After some conversation and joking around in Arabic, we promised not to take any more pictures there, and were allowed to walk through the area. We stopped and chatted with all the guards, who would then smile and welcome us, promising to help us with anything we needed. We walked past the former Four Seasons, a stark contrast to the thriving Inter Continental right next to it, then past the memorial where Hariri had been killed. You could still see the impact of the bomb on the building next to it, which had been left as-is since Hariri's death. We passed the Yacht Club, the Hard Rock Cafe, and groups of old men huddled over games of backgammon before we stopped to enjoy the sunshine on the Corniche for a bit. After a late lunch, we walked back towards Hamra, stopping at the building that Becky and Ekkardt used to live in, now luxury apartments. We hung out for a while, then headed out for a really late dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

On Saturday, we got up a little earlier, stopped by a grocery store, then went out to the Pigeon Rocks for a picnic breakfast. We had donuts, croissants, and fresh strawberries. The view was beautiful! The rocks themselves are really cool - they're large arches that you can take a boat through, and apparently one of the only natural features of Beirut. After breakfast, we walked back to the Corniche for some Starbucks, then grabbed a serviis to Ashrafiyya, the Christian quarter. We walked through an open-air mall for some shoe shopping, played with the new iPad, then walked down to see a church we had passed. You walked in through a row a trees, surrounded by grave sites and monuments dating back hundreds of years. We then took a taxi back to Hamra, I packed my things, then got in a taxi back to the airport.

Though it was a packed weekend, I absolutely loved it. The city is so different than Amman - I could walk around and blend in. There are loads of foreigners there, so I didn't stick out like I do here. I could just walk around the city. I miss that. The Arabic was also a lot easier for me to understand, maybe because I took French for so long. I had several really good conversations with locals, completely in Arabic, and understood what was going on, which was really encouraging for me. I could definitely live there.

A lot also changed over these three days. First of all, I received a phone call right before I got on the plane Thursday morning from the choir, asking if I would go to Germany with them, and that I would have to decide by Saturday. I also found out that morning that Aisling, my older sister, was taking an internship here in Amman and would be moving out for the summer. With my original orientation dates being in the middle of June, I was upset, because I'd miss out on being here with her. So on Friday, I called up UNCG, got my orientation dates moved to August, and decided to go to Germany. This obviously changed all my summer plans. I was supposed to leave on my birthday, but am now staying here. I leave in 2 weeks for a 10 day trip to Germany for the Musica Sacra International Festival, and am now working really hard to memorize all this music in Arabic.

Coming up: another long, detailed post on the epic 3 day hiking trip through Wadi Hissa. You can also see my pictures from Beirut here