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