51st post (I missed the milestone)

Let's call this post

a round-up.

* Our flat will soon have hand-made, interior-designed curtains (complete with sheer and solid drapes!) Abi helps me cut--the hardest part--and pin them, then Carol stitches the seams with her sewing machine. This photo is a look at our progress half-way through...

*Since the wedding preparations are over, I've had time to read BOOKS! :)

I make Anis listen to me as I read out loud. heh heh. I wasn't going to tell anybody, but now I know I can because Anis did in our Covenant class and got a lot of laughs :P

*All the signs pointed to bed bugs... but turns out we may have just had mosquitoes that were biting us, well mostly Anis... but Carol still saved me a Calvin and Hobbes strip about bed bugs from the Sunday comics.

*We met Anis' cousin and his new wife who came in the first group of the pilgrimage season. I hope we'll get copies of their photos once they return to Australia from a trip to Europe!

*Check out my flickr to see pictures of pre-wedding festivities that I just got around to posting.

To prove they're worth it:

BRIDAL SHOWER GAME

Thank you, that's enough pictures now...

We made this slide-show clip using Photo Story 3 for Windows software. The idea is/was to attach it to thank you e-mails to guests and people who mailed gifts or sent them with our parents... but now I'm not sure... maybe it's just me because I've been sorting through the photos for so long now, but most likely I'm not the only one who's saying, "aight, enough with the Glamour Shots already." ... which is why those who have been the recipients of our virtual album and links to posted photos on flickr and facebook should have found that we're sharing more pictures of other people!!

Since I've had to pass up so many priceless pictures, and already I've had forehead-slapping moments of "why didn't I include THAT in the album" (hey! YOU try sorting through a bizillion photos...) our next--and final-- move is to share them all, ALL, on Picasa. I know, I know, enough already!! Don't worry, tho. I shan't be sending the link in a mass e-mail. But those of you who can't get enough, well by all means, just ask!!

Anis and the train; the little engine that could

You have no idea how many hours it took, but finally...

Wedding photos are ready!
Originally uploaded by gigialford.

The release date of our fancy, schmancy PhotoBook is any day now. In the meantime, I'll be posting outtakes (the unflattering, height-of-laughter kind) on my flickr, facebook and blogspot. In true ginous & anis fashion, most of the photos from the wedding are of this persuasion, so goofy ones made it into the formal albums as well. Sorry, Grandmother!!!

It's pay back, Jared

Office pranks

JARED! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.............

Hunt for "photo of the happy couple"

Friends and family all ask the same thing when they learn the news

that I'm getting married.

"Why haven't you sent us pictures?"

Well, be-cuuuzzzz....

If you haven't heard yet...

...you clearly don't know my sister Neda! :)



I'm getting married.

My fiancé is Anis Mungapen, from Mauritius; a half-bred Persian on his mother's side, like me!

This photo-- taken Tuesday night in Nahariyya (a town North of Akka) where we went to celebrate our friend Mona D.'s birthday-- is part of an ongoing series of photos we have taken in aim of having a few nice, smiling ones to send to family and friends who keep demanding "when are we gonna get pictures of the happy couple?"

To follow, as soon as I get my act together and-- between all the planning, coordinating and arguing lovingly over the invitations, programs, menu, etc.-- find time to upload the Kodak moments I have on my camera, you will see the crazy expressions we've managed to capture!

"Ginous has met someone"

I'm going to break this news gently.......

A courtesy I wasn't able to bestow on many of my friends and family!

For Baba on his birthday: Part II

Back to the topic of how full my dad's stay in Haifa was:

besides taking care of me in the hospital and when I was at home resting, he had the privilege of volunteering his language skills to the Institution of Huququllah. I couldn't have picked a better service for him to do! :)

To conserve water during the summer months, the gardeners remove nearly 70% of the grass on the Baha'i properties, which meant my dad could walk where the grass once was to pick for his co-workers petals that had fallen from the trees in the gardens surrounding Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum's resting place. They were the same petals that his co-workers gave him his first day of volunteering.

For my Baba on his birthday

This post is all about my dad's visit to the Holy Land. My fellow staff members here at the Baha'i World Centre, who enjoyed my father's presence here for 28 days as much as I did, agree with me that never has a family visitor had such a full experience here!

During Baba's first week here, my grandmother and aunt were also visiting. We traveled to Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, the River Jordan and the Dead Sea among other sites to see in Israel. While the three ladies were content to be hitchhikers, my Baba drove all of the nearly 1500 kilometers, in just in four days! Well, I navigated, which was difficult for the first hour or so, until my dad all of a sudden figured out how to read Arabic and Hebrew!

Baba had the opportunity to meet Anis and give us his consent in person! :)


We were able to visit places that during our pilgrimage six years ago we hadn't been able to because of time restraints or the opportunities weren't available then.

For example we visited the Baha'i cemetery near the Sea of Galilee where Baha'u'llah's faithful half-brother, Mirza Muhammad Quli, is buried with his family.

This was our amazing view from the kitchen and bedroom where we stayed. On the other side there was a marvelous view of Haifa Bay from the living room windows.

Long-awaited Bahji post I promised

The Bahji Day program combines two or three of the most recent orientation groups and provides a fun-filled and spiritual day that reminds the staff members of the bounty and privilege we have to be serving in the Holy Land.

OK, maybe that isn't the explicit purpose, maybe the House of Justice simply thought it would be enjoyable to organize an excursion for 50-60 new staff members to visit the Ridvan Garden, the Mansion in Mazraih and the Shrine of Baha'u'llah in Bahji together, but I know I was reminded of my purpose for being here.

Abi, Anis and Ginous

Filming peacock in a tree in the Ridvan Garden,

My surgery

Part of my excuse for not blogging for the past century is my bout in the hospital. I was rushed to the ER and everything with severe abdominal pain. Turns out I had two large cysts on my ovary, which had to be removed by laparoscopy (basically surgery where they only have to make three small cuts; one for a video camera, one for the laser and one for air!)

Feeling the effects of Valium before the procedure!

I was so blessed that my father happened to be visiting at the time and took good care of me for the five days I was in the hospital and for the week that I rested at home and for the week that I tried to be tough and get back to work and full activity!!!

Aaaaahahahaha! They hadn't even put me under anesthesia yet!

Bahji Day

I'll write more about my Bahji day visit soon, but I just wanted to share this photo of one of the peacocks in the Ridvan Garden.

On another note, of which I have no documented photographs (only the ones in my head), when Abi and I went to the Haifa Zoo yesterday... we saw an albino peacock. No kidding, a pure-white, male peacock. Gorgeous. I want one, and a colorful one too. One of each. :)

River Jordan Park- 12th Day of Ridvan Excursion

Katherine, Enas, me, Sogand and Corinne (and my lis) ready to take on the "rapids" of the River Jordan.

In the river, which is actually more of a trickle (if not a dribble), Jared and I took the two-person canoe and the girls and Mike paddled the raft.

The lazy current and tangled shrubs on the banks reminded me of "tubing" or "float trips" along the Bogue Chitto River in Bogalusa, Louisiana, or the Black Creek in Tombigbee National Park in Mississippi or Chickasabogue Creek in Alabama.

River of Jordan

I traveled the banks of the River of Jordan

To find where it flows to the sea.

I looked in the eyes of the cold and the hungry

And I saw I was looking at me.

I wanted to know if life had a purpose

And what it all means in the end.

In the silence I listened to voices inside me

And they told me again and again.

There is only one river. There is only one sea.

And it flows through you, and it flows through me.

There is only one people. We are one and the same.

We are all one spirit. We are all one name.

We are the father, mother, daughter and son.

From the dawn of creation, we are one.

We are one.

Every blade of grass on the mountain

Every drop in the sea

Every cry of a newborn baby

Every prayer to be free

Every hope at the end of a rainbow

Every song ever sung

Is a part of the family of woman and man

And that means everyone.

We are only one river. We are only one sea.

And it flows through you, and it flows through me.

We are only one people. We are one and the same.

We are all one spirit. We are all one name.

We are the father, mother, daughter and son

From the dawn of creation, we are one.

We are one.

-Peter, Paul & Mary

Respect: A Musical Journey of Women

In this photo, I am standing directly behind one of the most creative, insightful and pioneering playwrights around. Her name is Dorothy Marcic and her play, Respect: A Musical Journey of Women, is the first expression of the progress women have made in the past century through songs by women. She found an untapped wealth of lenses through which to look at the changing attitudes, roles and expectations of women.

Our smiles are so radiant because we had just finished screening a video recording of a performance of the play. Dr. Marcic used songs from some of my favorite soundtracks, which I think Neda and my Baba will be especially excited about: "You Don't Own Me" (First Wives Club), "Tell Him" and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" (My Best Friend's Wedding), "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" and "Something Good" (The Sound of Music), and much more.

The story behind the birth of the play is a classic one of stumbling upon a good idea, then realizing it is a great idea from the reaction of others, following your dream and having faith in yourself. Far better than I can tell it, the Web site for the show explains how it came to be. Please, if you have an opportunity to catch a performance, GO! Buy your tickets now because they sell out quickly.... Oh, and did I mention Dr. Marcic is my friend Roxanne's mom?

http://www.respectthemusical.com/about.html

9th Day of Ridvan celebration

Originally uploaded by song tuyuri.

The program was held in the gardens surrounding the Haifa Pilgrim House! It was a beautiful day, matched with a beautiful selection of prayers and readings and with smiling, beautiful, diverse people. This photo was snapped by Leila, my favorite photographer and blogger here (among other things). Follow the links to her flickr album of more photos she took this day. Then follow the link to her blog to see what I aspire to be.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/songtuyuri/sets/72157600155989068/

http://www.lovefromleila.blogspot.com/

The hush-hush dinner that went from a quiet party of three to a boisterous feast of 13

Haifa, Betmarvah
Originally uploaded by Soraya Papaya.

The story behind this not-so-secret-anymore Indian restaurant hidden away in a top-floor flat of a residential building is a classic tale of amazing coincidences. My friend John, speaker of approximately 72 1/2 languages and who is teaching himself Hebrew, received a flier the same day he just so happened to learn to read the words for "food" and "Indian". Understand that there are few to no places to find the delicious spiciness, the curries, the samosas, the naan and masala chai, so you can imagine John and his wife Natascha's gleefulness at their discovery. A common instinct upon finding one's self in this position, privy to a one-of-a-kind restaurant with only a handful of tables to seat guests (two in the living room, one where the dining table would go and one in each of the bedrooms), is to cherish the few days that it remains under the radar and you still can easily make reservations. This phenomenon was underscored by the fact that the restaurant is only opened on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Friday lunches. This is why I felt so privileged to have Ana (on the right in the photo) invite me along one evening and eagerly agreed to be sworn to secrecy. Come the Tuesday we had our reservation we find out in the table next to us would be 10 of our Baha'i World Centre friends. Of course when we arrived at the restaurant with Abi (on the left) we were quickly assimilated into the larger party and found our spots around the low table, sitting cross-legged on plush floor cushions. We dined with John and Natascha so Simon (that's the chef) showered us with special attention in addition to the yummy food. He even brought me dairy-free dessert and sage tea.

Naw Ruz 2007 (Dinner and games)

Naw Ruz 2007
Originally uploaded by Soraya Papaya.

Roxanne and Anis slaved away in the kitchen to nourish hoardes of people hungry from circumabulating the Shrine of the Bab (among the many other Naw Ruz activities that day which spent energy that needed replenishing) especially considering that the breaking of the Fast induces a slight degree of over-indulgence in Baha'is revelling in the "Yawmullah" (Day of God). After our fill of Persian food and several rounds of extraordinary desserts (all deserving of a medal), the diverse invitees--- ranging from 3-day-visitors to pilgrims, rookie staff to seasoned staff, and even a few wise, long-surviving staff members--- enjoyed a classic ice-breaker game: Two Truths and a Lie. I am unhappy to report that no bought my lie that I'm a trophy-winning surfer....

Dinner celebration, Ridvan and Roxanne's birthday

24 Hamanal, Haifa, Israel
Originally uploaded by Soraya Papaya.

Even in Haifa, Israel the adage rings true that the best restaurants are often in the sketchiest neighborhoods. Down by the port, among the abandoned warehouses, you'll find 24 Hamanal (both the address and the name of the restaurant.) You have to walk there, as the taxi drivers can't seem to navigate the maze of construction detours, and the chunky gravel road running in front of the building tells you this alley is not yet friendly to cars, much less high-heel shoes... but it's worth it once you walk up the steep, narrow staircase and find yourself transported somewhere... European.... From the Tuscany-inspired decor (note the window flower boxes, crumbling stone walls and wrought-iron railing in the background) to the absence of hummus and zataar in the fusion cuisine, you just don't feel like you are in Haifa anymore, or a back-alley restaurant in the dodgy wrong part of town, for that matter.

New photos on flickr

Obviously, I let myself get behind on my blog posts.

Predictably, I plead the Fast! :)

I direct you to my flickr account

http://flickr.com/photos/59433089@N00/

for the highlights of the past weeks that I've been silent, including:

our paintball excursion

our Run for the Border taco and burrito night

our breakfast the second morning of the Fast for the more than 20 Baha'is in our building

etc.

Twin Holy Days

One cool thing about the timing of when I arrived at the Baha'i World Centre is that I was able to celebrate the birthdays of the Bab and Baha'u'llah for the year 163 B.E. a second time! That's because in the Holy Land the lunar calendar is used to observe the Twin Birthdays, called such because with the lunar calendar the Holy Days fall back-to-back. Compared to the solar calendar, in which the Birth of the Bab is on 20 October and the Birth of Baha'u'llah is 12 November, the Twin Birthdays move up the gregorian calendar about two weeks each year.
With Jared in the Concourse of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice before the program for the Birth of the Bab.
With Katherine in the Bahji Visitors' Centre before the program for the Birth of Baha'u'llah.

Naw Ruz

Abi, Maryam and me in our Indian garb, posing outside the Pilgrim House after circumambulating the Shrine of the Bab at the end of the Naw Ruz celebration. Maryam and Abi are wearing Saris and I'm rockin' a Salwar Kameez, known to some as a Punjabi suit!
Sojand, Enas and the three flatmates, Katherine, Corinne and me. Later that same week, we all went to the beach, but it was a bit premature for beach weather. I say give it another month.
I love the contrast in our outfits. Enas is half-Egyptian, half-Afghani, born in Saudi Arabia, raised in Canada, now living in Haifa... and I don't think she's even half done moving around. ;)

Baha'is celebrate community in Escondido - North County Times

Baha'is celebrate community in Escondido - North County Times

Yea for the Baha'i community just north of San Diego! Now the Union-Tribune can run the follow up story when the Fast ends and we celebrate Naw Ruz!! I especially liked the writer's attention to the Persian refugees who are thrilled to be able to celebrate with many Baha'is because in Iran the oppressed community cannot gather in large groups

Baha'is in Egypt fight for recognition as people - washingtonpost.com

Baha'is in Egypt fight for recognition as people - washingtonpost.com

Had I written this story, I would have gone with the same lede. Ask my friend Vafa, I said so yesterday before I read it!

Mapping our tracks and treks

This map, courtesy of Michelin Tires and besides being great decor, helps keep count of the number of countries my flatmates and I have visited.


Current tally:
Ginous 10
Corinne 9
Katherine 8


Central America gets credit for boosting me into the lead.
Kathy has a strong showing in Europe.







And Corinne's travels to China and Singapore let us represent the Far East.

Ladies' Night

For a photo essay on the great time we had at ladies' night yesterday, go to my flickr site. I think the photos uploaded backwards, and since the chronological order is important for many of them, try to go in reverse!

Yes, the fondue tasted as good as it looked :) and yes, we were that cliche to paint our nails!