العربي

So... I'm enrolled in an Arabic class right now. It's killing me, but I love it. It's an intense course, and it eats up every spare minute of my life, but I really couldn't be happier. I listened to a recitation of the Qur'an today, done by a child, and the sounds of this language are starting to be so beautiful to me. It just gave me chills. 

I'm very proud of myself this week, because I have now learned (after four weeks of too much of studying) the entire arabic alphabet. I can sing it and I can write it... 

connected: 

and un-connected:

"It's only 28 letters," you say. "Surely it couldn't be that difficult." Well, I'm here to tell you that it is. It's very difficult. And very fun. I recommend it. 

yesterday i turned 24. today i started a blog.

Unlike past birthdays, I really feel my age this year, and I like it a lot. I really feel like my life is next to perfect right now... more on that at a later date. I had so much fun at my Birthday Party (it was good enough to be capitalized) that I'd rather write about that right now.

A little background first... After four months in living in what I'll call Palestine, I fell in love with the Arab world. From hummus to il-hammdullilah, I'm completely and totally obsessed. Mother decided to have a theme-party. Theme: the Middle East of course. Two words mom, brilliant idea. We all showed up in costume, the girls in genie pants...

And the boys in kefiyehs.

Dinner was provided by a little restaurant in Salt Lake called O' Falafal. The owners of this fine establishment are Palestinian, and were apparently very excited to hear that I had been living about a mile from their home. I think I'll go become their friends. The food was amazing... like a dream. 

We ate until we felt like stuffed little sultans and then we ate cake. We're all trying to be healthier, so we had a little tiny cake, but it was amazing. This was my last birthday in which only one box of candles was needed. And what cute candles!

 After we had eaten and danced to an assortment of Jordanian, Egyptian and Palestinian dance music, I got to open presents, all of which I love a lot. Mom & Bruce framed some of the prints and papyrus I got in Jerusalem and Egypt, and also a painting mom painted for me of the town of Bethany. They also gave me a ton of fun stuff for my new apartment: knives and pans etc.

Andrew and Janelle gave me the most wonderful aluminum water bottle. I used to have one, but I lost it in Galilee, so I was very grateful. I LOVE it!

Brooklyn and Ned gave me all the ingredients for this delicious salmon, and just a lot of really good groceries... seems strange to give groceries, but it was the best gift. It was all this stuff I had a hard time justifying buying myself. Oh, they also gave my a cute little dish to cook my salmon in. I made it tonight and it was amazing. 

Brittany and Chase gave me an Arabic Book of Mormon! I've already read about half of a verse. So far, so good. They also gave me tons of fun flavors of herbal tea, a quaint little teaspoon and a little tablecloth. 

Thanks guys! It was an awesome birthday.

But wait, it gets even better. I went on a date last week (which was so fun!) and played the most ridiculous game I've ever played. It was so much fun, that I convinced my family to buy it and play it on my birthday. It's called Cursed. I recommend it. We all had various curses placed on us. Here are just a few images of the outlandish fun we had:

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All in all, I'd venture to say that it was one of my favorite birthday parties yet. Out of 24 birthdays, that's saying something. I think from this day forth my birthday parties shall be themed. Yes, yes they shall. 

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