Trashy Cats...We Can't Get Enough!

My daughter has spent 5 of her 7 years living in the Middle East.

She has done her schooling in the Middle East up to this point.

She always responds to us with a smile on her face if we talk to her in Arabic.

She will eat seconds and thirds at dinner ONLY on the nights I cook Middle Eastern food.

So, she had some adjusting to do when we moved back to the States.

Her comments after her first day of school here were just so funny.

Mom, everything is organized. You have to raise your hand. Kids stay in their seats at lunch! There is a police man {playground safety person} on the playground. When he blows his whistle...everyone stops and listens to what he says!

Well, after a few weeks I would say she is adjusting just fine. I am so proud of her. Last week she was so excited to take her first trip to the school library. She got to pick any book out of the thousands of books our well stocked school library has. And I just could not contain my laughter when she came running off the bus last week and showed me her prized library book:

Yup. An entire children's book about a trashy cat {eats felafel scraps, sleeps on a torn off piece of Persian rug, lives in the veggie market...this trashy cat is legit!} living in Cairo who tries to sneak into the museum to see the famous Egyptian cats. {Here is a look at our visit to the cats at the British Museum}

I was frankly appalled that someone would write an entire children's book about a trashy cat, but I may have to put this one on her Christmas list.

And...We're Back...Again

Well Apricots Today followers...
I have some news.

I just love packing. Sometimes on boring days I just fill suitcases with clothes. {NOT!}

We are back in the boring ole USA for a while. We transferred back to the States just a few weeks ago and since then I have been mulling many options over in my head about what to do with this very fun blog. At this point, I have decided to end it on a high note. I will do a few more posts that will wrap up my thoughts on our recent life in Jordan...but stay tuned. We may have many adventures ahead that will spark another blog.

We have enjoyed settling back in the States and seeing family and friends. Culture re-adjustment has not been too bad this time around {so far!}, however...

1. I am continually shocked at how much food is available EVERYWHERE and have had to ramp up my yoga efforts a bit because I won't fit into any of my clothes if I don't do something drastic! {because I, of course, can't NOT partake in the food available EVERYWHERE!}
2. We have done a ton of driving and I find the driving very mundane and non-exhausting. I always know where we are. I always know where we are going. I always know what side of the road to be on. I can always count on everyone around me to know what side of the road to be on. I stop at stop signs. I use blinkers. And people around me do the same. It really is a nice system {but boring}!
3. I was forced to taste test all the new flavors of M&M's {see point one}. So far I have tried coconut, peanut butter, dark chocolate and pretzel. I also found that if you consume a large amount of the different flavors {all at the same time}...you will get a stomach ache. You should try it.

Our Neighbors

There is an old Arab proverb that has given us some food for thought...

We have some 'interesting' neighbors in our building.

I'll just list the highlights:

It started at 5:32 am one morning.

Gunshots.

Outside our bedroom window.

Upon further investigation {after I was revived from my heart attack}, we discovered that the city came by and shot the neighbors dog.

At 5:32 in the morning. With a high powered rifle.

In front of our bedroom window.  Left a blood trail on the front walk.
Here are the facts we collected:

• their dog got pregnant
• their dog had a puppy
• the puppy ran loose and started snapping at people
• the puppy got shot {in front of our bedroom window}
• the mom dog got pregnant again
• the mom dog had puppies
• the mom dog got poisoned
• the mom dog died
• the new puppy tried to eat our daughter on our front porch
• I was tempted to report the puppy to the city {but was worried about the gunshots}
• meanwhile, during all the puppy drama, the guy next door got married again {a second wife who interestingly, his son who was at university in Russia, brought his father a second wife as a gift upon returning for a visit}
• the guy got divorced {from the second wife, she couldn't learn Arabic fast enough}
• they crashed a taxi from their taxi company
• they made the crashed taxi into a yard ornament
• his poor first wife walks everywhere, even though they own a taxi company
• and his son travels via roller blades everywhere
• they own 15 cars

And this was all in a three month time period.  We should have interviewed the neighbor prior to renting our apartment.

Note to self: memorize more Arab proverbs