or monday5…. either way- my weeks keep zooming by as I chase my CRAWLER and pack up our house to move by the end of this week! So I am thinking for now this may be an ‘every other week’ project till we are more settled, or a ‘whenever I a get around to it’ project, but nonetheless I want to keep it going.

1. summertime

Watermelon is sold on almost every major street corner during this time of year. So tasty!

2. life lately

I know I have said it lots on here, but we have one busy bee! I love it, but it leaves me one tired momma at the end of the day. She is crawling everywhere and now starting to pull up. She looks so big peering into toy boxes (even if its the wrong toy box- this one is for older kids that come over..) and picking out which toy she wants to play with…

3. whole fruit 

Fruit is served at almost every visit. Usually whole fruit sits in a basket next to a bowl of water, an empty plate, and a knife. After the greetings and small talk the host sits down, washes the fruit and then begins to cut the fruit in front of you and places it on a plate. Once way too much fruit is cut they begin to tell you to eat, eat while pointing at the plate, they will continue to randomly tell you to eat though out the entire visit. This is their way of honoring and serving you, their guest. Very different from our culture of “my house, is your house”, serve your self, eat when you want and however much you want.

4. lipstick kisses

This is Lydia relaxing after about 8 local women kissed, hugged, “mashallahed” (praise be to God- a phrase they use to compliment you without sounding jealous or like they want what you have), and photographed her. This is a common occurrence when we are out and about. I often walk by a group of women who, in Arabic, comment about Lydia and how cute she is and so I stop and greet them and start talking to them in Arabic (which 9 times out of 10 they are shocked that I am speaking to them in Arabic) and then proceed to let them plant big kisses on my baby’s cheeks. Luckily Lydia eats it all up and just smiles and lets them, at least for now.

5. gates 

I want to share two things about gates… one, I love the way the look here. They are so ornate and beautiful. This one happens to be the gate to our new house! Two, inside these gates and outside these gates are two different worlds. Inside, is my “safe place”, my home, my little America and outside the gate is a foreign world, although much more familiar than two and a half years ago, but still a world that is so very different… a world where people speak differently, where I have to cover my arms and legs in 110+ weather, one where I have to choose to enter into- some days are easier than others. Even though I love the people here and feel much more comfortable than when we first landed it is still a daily choice that I have to make to enter into the world outside my gate.

I often wonder if there are women here that never step outside their gates, not because it is a foreign world to them, but because culturally it used to be the men that did all the errand running, carpooling of kids, working outside the home, etc. Times are changing now and more and more women are working and doing daily tasks on their own, but I still wonder how many of the older generation are used to just staying in and tending to the home. What a different world than the one I came from.