Talk about high turnover

It's the Baha'i World Centre way. Every month there are people arriving and others departing, some who have been here for 12, 18, 30 months, or even longer.

Just days after my orientation week ended (the first picture is my orientation group), Corrine, Katherine and I had a going away party at our flat (second picture; mostly neighbors in the Blum) for three of the coolest Brazilians I've ever met and unfortunately had only a few weeks to get to know.

We'll miss you Thomas, Ivan and Milena. Thomas, I'm sorry I beat you at Hokm the first night I was here!

By the Numbers

I'm here, y'all! I've said fervent prayers for each of you at all the Shrines and you've been with me as I've gone through miraculous experiences here. I can't describe them, but you do the math:

25 new staff members in the December orientation group

12 different counties represented (they counted me as Guatemala)

9 members of The Universal House of Justice greeted all of us today

8 hours time difference from Haifa to Central Time Zone

10 hours difference from Haifa to San Diego

1 very excellent view (that's right, the Dome of the Shrine of the Bab and across the bay to Akka and Bahji)

0 jet lag

17 hours traveling from New Orleans to Chicago to Madrid to Barcelona to Tel Aviv

4 seats all to myself to stretch out and sleep on the transcontinental flight

8 a.m. dawnbreak?! in Madrid

2 very cool flat mates (and neighbors!)

30 minute walk to the Seat of the Universal House of Justice

Passing of my Maman Bozorg (Grandmother)

Dear Friends,
Please keep in your thoughts and hearts my grandmother, Marjan Greengani Rahmatollahi. She passed on to the next world yesterday. My family is grieved, but we remember also to be thankful that, after 27 years of being far from home, my mother was able to visit her family in Iran in September of this year. Although my grandmother was in advanced stages of Alzheimer's and hadn't seen my mother since she was 18, my mom felt that her mother recognized her.

Know thou of a truth that the soul, after its separation from the body, will continue to progress until it attaineth the presence of God - Bahá’u’lláh

Also, at 11 a.m. today I fly out of New Orleans. There are people I should have called, letters I should have written and probably bills I should have paid. But what ever I've forgotten, I promise I'll take care of it when I get back in two and a half years!

You heard it here first

No surprise here that UNC freshman soccer player Casey Nogueira (No. 23), who graduated high school a year early because coach Anson Dorrance couldn't wait another year, led the Tar Heels to national title No. 18. With a header goal and a left-footed assist in yesterday's 2-1 win over Notre Dame, Nogueira, only 17, is fulfilling what I wrote back in August.

"At 17, Casey is the youngest player on the U20 roster. She graduated from high school a year early to join coach Anson Dorrance at the University of North Carolina, just like Mia Hamm.

Sockers legend Brian Quinn likened Casey to Hamm in other ways, saying the rising star will be part of the next crop of elite players.

Another similarity Casey shares with those players who rose from the 1999 World Cup to be household names is playing their formative years of soccer with the boys. Quinn said there is a 100 percent correlation between playing against boys and being one of the country's top female players."

To read more about Nogueria's stellar performance in the NCAA Women's College Cup and her game-winner to help UNC advance from the semi-finals, click here.

Packing a car is like a puzzle

The master behind this car-packing job credits years and years of doing puzzles.
If this doesn't win a world record, I'd like to see the packed car that did.
For the 1,800 miles we drove in three days we were actually comfortable. Our snacks were easy to reach, our overnight bags were right on top and there was leg room on the passenger's side. And, no, I didn't ride shot gun and let my Baba drive the whole way. The first day, I drove the full eight hours until we stopped in Lordsburg, NM. The second day we split a 14-hour drive, then stayed in the outskirts on the east side of San Antonio. That left about another eight hours to drive to Baton Rouge. It would have been less, but we hit the city right as day-before-Thanksgiving traffic let out.

So, if y'all ever need advice about how to cram a 2-door Honda Civic with all your belongings, or how to actually enjoy a cross country road trip on I-10 - through (gulp) Texas- you know where to reach the experts!

Written while groovin' to Changes by David Bowie (essential road trip music)

Top Ten Goodbye Songs

From somebody who has moved 14 times in 24 years, these are the top ten songs that express the tears, fears, aches and laughs that come with leaving or being left behind...

10. I Will Remember You; Sarah McLachlin
9. Time in a Bottle; Jim Croce
8. Send Me On My Way; Rusted Root
7. Leaving on a Jet Plane; Peter, Paul & Mary, John Denver, Chantal Kreviazuk, take your pick
6. Wild World; Cat Stevens
5. Gone 'til November; Wyclef Jean & Canibus
4. Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye); Steam
3. The Promise; Tracy Chapman
2. Graduation (Forever Friends); Vitamin C
1. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life); Green Day

Feel free to add your own!

Neda's props

Dear Fam-lay,
The inspiration behind this blog is my sister Neda. During the past year while she served at Louhelen Baha'i School in Michigan, she posted pictures, updates and stories on her blog that she thought only my dad read. (But I read your posts too, Neda Sue!) Well, he was the only reader posting comments. So, at the risk of sounding hypocritical, please leave a shout out or add your two cents when you visit this page. If not, Neda will tell you how lonely blogging gets with a small audience. (No offense, Baba)

Naming this Blog

Dear Friends,
If you know about this blog, then most likely you know already about my upcoming adventure to Haifa, Israel to serve at the Bahá’í World Centre for two-and-a-half years.
This is a photo of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, the center of the Administrative Order of the international Bahá’í community, that stands atop Mount Carmel in Haifa.

Coming up with a name for this blog, a medium to keep us connected and share the wonders of the Holy Land, wasn't easy.

So I turned to the words of Bahá’u’lláh.

Searching through the Writings on reference.bahai.org, I thought I'd never find an attribute or image fit for this unworthy blog, but then I read "the utterance of God is a lamp..." and "Say: He hath kindled the lamp of utterance, and feedeth it with the oil of wisdom and understanding..." and one of my favorites, "Verily God hath made adversity as a morning dew upon His green pasture, and a wick for His lamp which lighteth earth and heaven..."

Friends, though this blog will share all my encounters during these travels - from sights and sounds to new friends and learning experiences - I hope it will be enlightening and interactive, nonetheless.