No-Good Clothes Shop and Pancake House

Open letter to all who like burning things.

2007-09-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

Dear world,

Please send one of your most subtle flamers to set fire to my lab. Then maybe my school will finally grant me my Master's because my thesis experiment can't be repeated for the third time because we'll have no lab. Then I can go back to Canada, move on with my life, and stop coming dangerously close to destroying all glassware in an uncontrollable rage.

Signed,
Me (from the lab)

P.S.--I hate science. If science were personified, I'd set fire to him.

Update and stuff for Nancy

2007-07-31T08:48:00.000-07:00

Since this is the blog for people in real life, I don't feel obligated to state that I'm alive despite how long it's been since my last post. In case it wasn't obvious, writing useless crap here isn't my top priority in life.

I'm currently back in Toronto with Rebecca, living with Emily and Ana in a sweet bachelorette pad. Ana moves out any day now (a month earlier than we expected her to), which sucks, but she's got her own life to lead and we'll simply have to bribe her back to us with SWEET CUPPIN' CAKES. Becca got a job at the world famous comic store "The Beguiling," which is both teaching her about comics and letting her build up her upper-body strength (comics are heavy). I spent pretty much all of July getting a much-needed vacation and am now back to the usual--freelance comic book editing, which, when not combined with several other jobs and full-time school, is quite a relaxing profession. Things are definitely an improvement over the first half of 2007.

My migraine/dizziness/vomiting problem is much improved, although what proved to be the main source of the sick--a chronic neck problem--has a long way to go before it's fixed. I officially can't afford regular therapy anymore, so healing has to take place via home stretches, ice/heat packs, the occasional visit to a doctor or chiropractor (when I have money), and simply knowing when I have to sit differently or walk around or lie down with my head propped in a certain way. It's definitely a pain in the ass, and the aches and pains with my neck are worse now than they were before, but knowing what the problem is and having some control over it is a huge relief. I'm not dizzy or vomiting nearly as much anymore, which is what I hated the most. I can deal with my neck hurting for half the day if it doesn't mean I'm also going to be hunched over a toilet. (Although, of course, I look forward to the day where NOTHING is hurting or coming up. I actually think good health is a possibility now, so I'm going to stay positive.)

Also! I'm visiting West Hartford at the end of this week, for about a week. I should be coming in Friday night at, like, 9 pm, and hope to see the usual kids when they're free. I have a lot of things to do while I'm home, but at the very least I'll see Nick + Adam + Nancy + Lily + Jay while I'm there and can do another stuff swap (they still have stuff of mine and I still have stuff of theirs).

Speaking of stuff, I have something for Nancy:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/975xge

It's that music I promised, albeit very very late. Sorry! I figured you were busy preparing for, going to, and then recovering from Otakon, so I sat on that file for a while. I included in the zip file an "I'm sorry" comic addition, which is not to be looked at while someone could be looking over your shoulder. You know what that means.

My sister-in-law is now officially 5 days overdue to give birth. That means I expect to be an aunt within the week. Yessssss.

Toronto again.

2007-05-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

Life is pretty good right now. I have no major complaints.

Also! In extremely fun news, Becca and I are coming up to Toronto this weekend. It's a sudden trip, but we need to deliver some stuff, so we'll be up Thursday (May 31) night and will stay until about lunch on Sunday. We'll do the next chunk of the Emily Starting The Renaissance girl game, for the girls who are interested. I also suspect there will be reckless eating.

Hope to see most or all of you.

Confirmed: Toronto

2007-02-17T09:06:00.000-08:00

Becca and I WILL be coming up to Toronto next week. We'll arrive Friday evening, Feb 23rd, and will be leaving around lunchtime on Monday, Feb 26th. We hope to stay with Emily and Ana and Sarah please? I'm now doing the "I gotta pee" dance, but I don't have to pee--I JUST WANT GO TO TORONTO. I'm thinking this trip will be very fun, and very full of food. Korean BBQ, yes? The Beguiling? Girls hanging out? Me trying my best not to make fun of Jae and failing miserably? Oh, 'twill be a fun weekend, and I hope to see you all.

...And in case it's still not clear, going to Toronto doesn't make me have to pee.

Lady Emily insists I post again!

2007-02-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

In case anyone's been following the Trouble in Paradise (read: angst in West Hartford) lately, the matter was solved last night. I felt a giant weight lifted off my back, went out to dinner to celebrate/relax, and then promptly vomited up everything I ate. I think the stress and lack of sleep finally caught up to me. After sleeping 10 hours, now the world looks newer and considerably brighter.

Why do I get the feeling this blog is becoming my Sick Journal?

Anyway, my birthday came and passed this weekend, and all things considered, it was pretty good. The parties were rather poorly attended due to logistical problems and stress, but there's not much you can do about that. (Thank you, Nick, for staying until 5 in the morning to entertain me after everyone left at midnight. Thank you, Jay, for bringing flowers and a friend. Thank you, Lily, for showing up both that night and the next day for Dim Sum. Thank you, Babette, for leaving a cake to attend when you couldn't that first night.) Becca wined and dined (and baked cheesecakes!) for me, which was excellent, I saw most people at least once, which was good, and I forced everyone to geek out with me for two hours, which was funny. And I got a pink Nintendo DS! I'm trying to decide what to name her and what Hana Kimi stickers to plaster her with. Actually, I made out like a bandit, present-wise--the DS and a new computer chair were from my parents (and a delayed sushi dinner, which is coming up this weekend), a 250 GB external hard drive filled with anime was from my friends (yes!), and birthday money bought me a cool DS game and cords that let me watch anything on my laptop on Becca's huge-ass TV screen. We spent the actual day of my birthday watching anime and the live-action Taiwanese Hana Kimi drama in her basement. Much love to Becca.

There's a lot of traveling/travelers coming up, so let me post some details:

THIS WEEKEND (2/8-2/11): Bennie's coming home to WH.
NEXT WEEKEND (2/15-2/18): Cat's coming home to WH.
NEXT-NEXT WEEKEND (2/22-2/25): Becca and I go up to Toronto maybe.

We'll have to see about the Toronto thing, but if it turns out we can't free up our schedule that weekend, we'll probably just push it off a few weeks. Come hell or high water, we're visiting again soon.

On that note, I'll also be forced to post again soon. Talk to you then.

In the maw of the beast.

2006-12-12T11:53:00.000-08:00

Warning: post of anger/angst/upset.

This week will go down in my personal history as one of the worst weeks of all time. The following has happened to me in the past three days:

1.) My great uncle, the priest who married my parents 30+ years ago, suddenly passed away without anyone in my family getting to say good-bye--because we were informed after he passed, not during the two weeks he was on his death bed. He lives 45 minutes away, so if anyone had bothered to tell us during those two weeks, we could've come to visit immediately. This upsets me pretty severely.

2.) My grandmother is in the hospital. She's fine because she called my mom when she wasn't feeling well and they caught her problem in time, but had she passed out or something, I think she wouldn't have made it. Now I'm really anxious about my grandmother living alone.

3.) I was this close to getting fired from one of my most favorite jobs. My boss is cool, and I think she forgives me, but I really disappointed her and that makes me sick to my stomach.

4.) I had to ditch out of my second job--college tutoring online--during the last weekend before finals because of all of this. My boss and co-workers had to pick up my slack, and that sucks really hard considering how much they cover me on a regular basis.

5.) My knee problems have come back with a vengeance, and now I'm in constant pain that gets severe in the evenings. My doctor doesn't know what's wrong with me, and since it's been 6 months, I have to go to someone in orthopaedics (sp?) to get checked out. I'm probably going to have to go into physical therapy or surgery to get fixed...although I'm hoping for some magic needle cure.

Most of these things happened Sunday through Monday morning, and I only slept 2-3 hours Sunday night, so I spend Monday afternoon in a state of walking dead. I wanted to vomit, cry, or sleep, but my body couldn't manage to do any of those. I settled for blankly working on a deadline while dry-heaving and massaging my knees.

And now I have a funeral on Wednesday, a hellish amount of thesis research/writing for Friday, and a deadline for Monday. And a friend of mine who was trying to comfort me just found out that her parents are getting divorced after 30+ years, so she's in the emotional dumps with me.

I just hope X-Mas goes smoothly this year, because I don't have the strength for it not to.

Thank you, Torontonians!

2006-11-15T15:05:00.000-08:00

Becca and I had an awesome time during our tiny trip to Toronto. In particular:

-Thank you Emily, Ana, and Sarah for letting us stay at your place. It's lovely, and we got to sleep on things that were actually soft--we love you, and not just for that.

-Sunita, the ballet was awesome, and we must do it again.

-Julia, we're very happy that you dragged your diseased body downtown to come see us. That really means a lot.

-Alicia, thank you for letting us mess up your place. And now that you've started sliding down the slope of YOU-KNOW-WHAT, Becca and I will be there to grease your route down.

-Happy birthday to Joe.

-Hello and thanks for good times to Alex, Jordan, and Andrew.

-Ben...I'll see you in two weeks, so there's not much to say.

-And Jae, as usual, I'm sorry I'm so horrible to you. I'm sure some nice strong man is more than willing to comfort you.

...I did it again. Dammit.

Coming to Toronto this weekend.

2006-11-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

We got confirmation today--Becca and I are coming up to Toronto next weekend (woo!). We'll be arriving Thursday night (11/9) and leaving Sunday morning (11/12). This coincides with Ben's trip up to Toronto, so I'm sure there will be excessive fun and more eating than is healthy.

Becca and I do need a place to stay (Thurs night, Fri night, Sat night). Emily said we can probably stay at her/Ana/Sarah's place, and if that's really possible, we would be very grateful.

And now I'm full of make-me-crazy sickness drugs to combat my flu, so I'm off to bed before I type anything humiliating. Good night.

...I still wet the bed.

Emily commands it!

2006-09-07T02:40:00.000-07:00

And thus I have a new post.

I would write in this thing more, but my life isn't terribly exciting as of late. I'm making up missed fasting days from last Ramadan before this Ramadan begins, and am thus doing lots and lots of fasting these next six weeks. I have a busy publishing schedule this fall and winter, and have the bad feeling I'm going to be without sleep most of November. School started again this week, so advanced inorganic and organic chemistry are back to haunt me.

But overall, I can't complain--I'm really happy these days. I love being surrounded by friends and family, and am finding more and more as I grow older that the people who surround me are responsible for 80% of my happiness. If I'm with people I love, I'm happy no matter what. If I'm away from the people I love, I can be miserable even in the face of enormous personal success.

So friends and family, love to you! You make me happy.

On a less stupid note, the doctor gave me a med today that's supposed to fix my knees! I hope it works, because my knees are FRICKIN' KILLING ME.

P.S.--Em, I heard about you guys getting the new apartment, and I'm dying to see it. I'll talk to Becca about making a trip up to see you guys (she's got no class on Fridays, so maybe she can skip a Monday). And hi, Sunita!

Syria Trip #2, Day 19 of 20: Today sucks

2006-07-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

I theoretically get on a plane tonight to go home, just so long as nobody sold my ticket for a bribe in this mass exodus from the area. In prepping for my practically unending, 3-stop trip across the world, I also just got the worst e-mail I've ever gotten.

My sister-in-law miscarried. I'm not going to be an aunt anymore.

This is a really bad week for life in general.

Syria Trip #2, Day 14 of 20: It's hot over here

2006-07-14T08:08:00.000-07:00

But that's what the indoors are for. That, and hiding from bears.

As is probably obvious, I'm in Syria again for a few weeks. There were a few important weddings, and I promised my Arabic half of the family (back in January) that I'd be back in the summer, so I'm currently here with my dad. Happily, we managed to fly the whole way here without getting into a major fight on the plane. Unhappily, a day after we landed, I ended up with my head in the toilet for 12 hours. I always get sick when I travel, sometimes ridiculously so. This time I was fortunate enough to make one of the weddings I traveled thousands of miles to be at, but unfortunate enough to vomit in a bag in the car on the way home from it. In related news: I hate my body.

And no, I'm not dead, and my life is probably in no danger. I can't say the same for hundreds of Lebanese innocents, though.

I'm in a net cafe right now, so I'll end this here before I spend too much money. By the way, I'm updating because Jaecyn Rodgers told me to. And I do everything he tells me to do--because he's my best friend.

Toronto Trip

2006-06-06T07:10:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry this is sudden, but I only got confirmation yesterday.

BECCA AND I WILL BE IN TORONTO THIS WEEKEND. We'll be staying from Thursday evening (6/8/06) to Sunday morning (6/11/06). Jay Smith, Alex's evil twin, will be with us. We girls and Jay will be staying with Alicia and Ben, respectively. We're planning to treat Emily to some birthday fun, but I'll also buy dinner for any friends who are graduating (off the top of my head, that's Ben, Sunita, Andrew, Sarah, and Maria). Ben can be called for further details, or I can be e-mailed at liannesentar@yahoo.com.

There will be fun. There will be games. Someone may lose an eye.

All Toronto friends, please come. Make sure to bring both eyes.

Animal husbandry!

2006-04-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

And now that I have your attention, time for a post.

Things are going pretty well down here in W of H. Becca and I have been working really hard lately, but we've also been parting really hard, so it evens out in the end (until the lack of sleep catches up with us, that is). By the way, BECCA'S BIRTHDAY IS NEXT FRIDAY, April 14th. You can e-mail her that day at nothayama@hotmail.com if you want to pretend you knew that and remembered.

We started up a new girl game about a month ago. It has 4 girl PCs and Adam, but since he's practically a girl, that makes 5 girl PCs. Becca is a girl dressed as a boy, Nancy is a boy dressed as a girl, and Cat is a boy going through a "sexual experimental stage." Anyone who's played a BESM girl game knows just how filthy a combination like that can get. Adam, on the other hand, is in-game dating a celibate Catholic. The whole thing is very strange.

Since everyone's starting to make their summer plans now, Becca and I want to figure out when's the best time for us to come visit Toronto again. We're out of school by no later than May 20th, but Emily was coming down to CT at some point, some of you may be vacationing...if you Toronto people could, please post what times in May (or even June) are best for us to come see and subsequently PARTY EXTREMELY HARD with all of you.

By the way, Basara 17 is to die for. Get to it, Sunita. (Just the reading, not the dying.)

Updating should happen every once in a while.

2006-03-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

I have a disastrously difficult organometallic chem take-home test to do, so I'm putting it off for a few minutes. Justification!

Things are good down here in West Hartford. I hate being in school again, but that was to be expected. My job workload is pretty heavy, but Tokyopop has been kind enough to give me tons of extensions. Essentially, I now have many things to do, but enough time to do them and still sleep at night and go out on the weekends. This was not the case January through early March.

Becca and I are pretty sure we're moving back up to Toronto in May '07. True, that is WAY later than planned, but this way we can both graduate from our respective programs and save some money beforehand. We'll be sure to visit Toronto many times before that, though; our next expected trip to the Great White North is mid-May. And anyone who wants to, um...visit WEST HARTFORD is welcome. Emily is doing just that pretty soon.

If anyone (of age) is reading Banana Fish by Akimi Yoshida, keep doing so. I just got Volume 12 recently, and it is unbelievably good. I count the days until Volume 13.

That is all.

Is the world getting more depressing, or am I just getting old enough to realize it's always been this way?

2006-02-08T09:11:00.000-08:00

So. A newspaper prints some nasty cartoons, and thousands of rioters start burning down embassies. I really don't have the time, or patience, to give a long and detailed account of everything that's wrong with this picture, so here's a short summary of my opinion:

1.) There's a fine line between freedom of speech and hate speech. You can criticize the way people warp religion into hate or violence or intolerance, you can even criticize aspects of the religion itself, but when you start making fun of the religion in general, that's the equivalent of making fun of culture. Here we go: "People who like cats are stupid. People from Russia are stupid. People who are Hindu are stupid." Those statements are all pretty much equivalent to what was printed in that newspaper. Are those statements okay? No. Is saying "Muslim extremists pick and choose verses of the Koran in order to justify killing innocents, and this is stupid" okay? Yes. Is saying "I don't agree with Islam and what it preaches" okay? Yes. Is saying "Islam is stupid, and hence the people who believe in it are stupid" okay? No.

And yes, religion and culture and race go hand-in-hand a lot more than people would like to admit. You don't have to be Indian to be Hindu, just like you don't have to be Arab to be Muslim. But countries were changed drastically because of religion, and religion is oftentimes a strong facet of culture (or is more culture than actual faith—see Japan for details). So you can't just bash a religion and hide behind, "People choose religion, so I'm just bashing their choice!" The entire world is not a mix of cultures and religions and choices like America and Canada—if one of the major facets of someone's culture has been Islam for 1500 years, that is a very strong piece of culture, and even if she doesn't choose to be Muslim, her family may be Muslim and town may be Muslim and culture may be heavily influenced by Islam. Can't bashing hurt her, too, even if she's an Arab without being a Muslim? So keep in mind that when you start bashing Hindu in general, or Islam in general, or Judaism in general, you're starting to bash culture and even race. That is not okay.

2.) There's a THICK line between peacefully protesting and burning down buildings that are symbolic of entire nations. A word to all you Arabs/Muslims/dictatorship governments/whatever out there who think burning down embassies is a good call—every time you're pissed for being made fun of or marginalized or treated like a nutcase, RESPONDING WITH VIOLENCE IS NOT GOING TO GET PEOPLE TO LISTEN TO YOU OR RESPECT YOU. Seriously, I'm getting so sick of trying to argue "the other side" here in the West, because this "other side" is always in the news for Violent Response Of The Day.

Me: "A lot of Arabs, Iraqis, Muslims, etc. have plenty of reason to distrust and dislike the West, since America picks and chooses its Middle-Eastern targets based on complete self-interest. What's the difference between Saudi Arabia and Syria? One has an asshole government that plays nice with the US, the other has an asshole government that doesn't. Guess who's getting nailed in 'the name of freedom and what's right'?"

Someone else: "Yeah, but does that make it okay for freedom fighters to kidnap and behead members of the press?"

…NO! NO, IT'S NOT OKAY! IT'S NEVER OKAY! EVERY TIME SOME NUTCASE MUSLIM EXTREMIST KILLS ANOTHER INNOCENT, MY JOB GETS HARDER! ISLAM ISN'T ABOUT KILLING INNOCENTS! STOP RUINING MY LIFE, BIN LADEN ET. AL! NOBODY'S GOING TO DEFEND YOU IF YOU KEEP KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE, AND TRUE MUSLIMS EVERYWHERE ARE PAYING FOR YOUR INSANITY!

Hey, let's have a (translated) quote from the good book itself:

"And make not God's (name) an excuse in your oaths against doing good, or acting rightly, or making peace between persons; for God is One Who heareth and knoweth all things." Koran, S. II, 224

Thank you, Koran! I couldn't have said it better myself.

Syria, Day 83 of 85: So very much packing

2006-01-11T14:14:00.000-08:00

I guess my last, giant post (I've been working on it for a while--it's about Syrian marriage and Syrian weddings) will have to wait until I'm back in the West, lamely enough. I leave for the airport in 24 hours and I have more family to visit, many things to pack, and some sleep to theoretically catch. Ah well, at least I'll be able to upload the accompanying pictures with said post when I post it.

To review:

1.) I arrive in NY around 4 PM Friday, Jan 13th. I should be back in WH by 7 or 8, God willing.

2.) Becca and I leave for Toronto by no later than noon on Monday, January 16th. We stay there until lunchtime on Sunday, January 22nd.

3.) I stay in CT at least until May, since I need to be there for the full spring semester. Looks like I'm going to be a Masters student in a week (sigh).

4.) June-August 2006, I go back to Syria...maybe. That's the plan, but we'll see.

Adios, and see you next in the West!

Syria, Day 79 of 85: Some stuff I just need in writing somewhere, so I won't be a slacker the next time I get a week off and a big bag of Cheetoes

2006-01-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

I recently decided that 2006 is going to be THE YEAR I STOP SUCKING. I'm not much of a new year's resolution person, but I was suddenly struck by a desire for self-rejuvenation the other day, and almost as suddenly realized that this desire coincides with a new solar year. I believe in efficiency, so I combined the two.

I've been having the nagging sensation that I'm going to die soon. It's not a strong enough foreboding that I'm really worried about it or anything, I just keep seeing ways I could die--like all the traveling I do in the winter months, and the fact that my body has pretty much been on self-destruct the past two years (and especially the past two weeks…seriously, I've been so damned sick it's not funny). Maybe this pressuring sense of mortality is my subconscious' (or God's) way of pushing me into improving myself, so I'm taking the hint. I'm using 2006 to fix the squeaky wheels of my life and install a new productivity…transmission, I guess, although I shouldn't be using car metaphors when I know nothing about cars.

These are the things I have to do for 2006:

1.) I need to be a better Muslim. This may require yet another new wardrobe (sigh).

2.) I need to lose the weight I gained after puberty was done with me. I've been complaining about for it 7 years, so it's time to shut up and get rid of it.

3.) I need to take better care of my hair/skin/teeth before I look like a bag lady for no good reason.

4.) I need to find out why the hell I'm so unhealthy and fix that. And if my family's reading this, before you say anything I can guarantee it's not just because I don't exercise (although I should start doing that more). Something is fundamentally wrong with my body--it's possibly a chemical imbalance, a weak digestive track, cancer, blood gnomes, whatever. I have to find it and fix it. I've had it with feeling like crap for no better reason than "I've felt good for a whole week, so it's time to pay my dues."

5.) I need to get more science edumacation. I'm starting to forget what differentiates an acid from a base, and I just got my degree a year and a half ago. (Bronsted and Lowry say a Hydrogen donor vs a Hydroxel donor, and Lewis says a proton donor vs a proton acceptor…before you can jump in with your snarky comments, Bennie.)

6.) I have to write a new complete novel, and it has to kick ass. If I can get it published, schweet, but if not, that's a separate goal for 2007. This is partially fueled by the fact that I picked up my old book Rain the other day (my cousin was showing it to someone, I think) and I had to close my eyes against it it was so painfully bad.

7.) I have to get an out-of-house job in addition to my Tokyopop work. It doesn't have to be more than a few hours a week, but I need a reason to change out of my pjs other than "Becca wants to go out for soda." Not that I don't enjoy soda trips with Becca.

8.) I have to be less hateful/angry. I don't know why, but 2005 was surprisingly hateful/angry. Naruto and Jae Rodgers ended up soaking up most of that (apologies to you both).

9.) I have to decide on a career path. I either try for med school one more time, or give up and make my Renaissance lifestyle a full-time thing. If I go for the latter, I also have

9b.) I have to find a good way to break that to my father. I'm thinking of the diversion technique; secretly getting married to someone who needs a US citizenship, then telling my dad "So, I ditched the doctor plan and instead plan to be a lab money while working in the comics industry in the evenings. But hey, check it out--I made you a grand-daughter!"

10.) I have to beat Ultima: Quest of the Avatar. Dammit, no stupid piece of 16-bit crap is gonna tell me I don't have what it takes to be a Holy Knight. Bring on the blind beggars--I'll give them all the gold I took from the lady-kidnapping dragons I slew while babysitting sick orphans and memorizing the Bible!

I need to get back to work. I'll post my final Syria blog post sometime within the next few days, seeing as how I'm coming home to the States in less than a week (yessssssssss). Oh, and for the Canada folks: Becca and I are coming up Jan 16th through Jan 22nd, in case you didn't hear yet. She and I would appreciate a few floors to crash on, preferably in non-boy households so my father doesn't follow us over the border and drag me back home by my ear.

Additional note to any readers: Please don't post comments like, "But Maggie, you don't suck!" Because positive reinforcement only makes me eat more Cheetoes.

Syria, Day 44 of 85: Living conditions, and the fact that I have a couch in my room

2005-12-04T13:58:00.000-08:00

Describing the basic structure of my life here in Syria is probably a post long overdue, but I can't imagine anyone really caring (other than my parents and the friends who are polite enough to pretend they care). At any rate, here we go.

I'm currently staying with my father's youngest sister and her family in Damascus, which--trivia--is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. In a few weeks I'll be moving to Aleppo, a city about 4.5 hours away by bus, to live with another sister of my father's, but for my now my life is all Damascus. I've been told that my aunt's apartment is in a prime location here, and I believe it--anything you could need is in walking distance, and her balcony has an amazingly cool view over the city and the mountains (which have their own cities). I'll take a picture and post it once, again, I can find an FTP program that doesn't hate me. I obviously spend a lot of time with this particular aunt and her family, and they are as follows:

-Eldest daughter (lives about a 15-minute walk away): a perpetually-happy English teacher in her mid-30s with three daughters, the youngest of whom looks and acts exactly like my baby sister.

-Middle daughter (lives a 5-minute walk away): a pharmacist in her early thirties with three young daughters and a fat, very squeezable baby son. She lets me observe in her pharmacy so I can put that on my med school resume, which is very cool.

-Youngest daughter (lives about a 30-minute walk away): the epitome of badass. She's a government accountant in her late 20s who works 30-hour weeks, raises a 3-year-old daughter, cooks and cleans at our house if she's not cooking and cleaning in her own, excels at styling the hair of her mother and sisters (I got in on this, yessssss), and leads group Islamic sing-alongs and such (since, y'know, she has MEMORIZED THE KORAN). She is what every good girl strives to be.

-Youngest son (lives in our apartment): a young man just a few months younger than me who's finishing up his university studies. He's basically the Arabic version of my brother Taurek--they look the same, dress the same, and have the same general sweetness. He's very fun to hang out with, and takes me out at night to wireless DSL net cafes and shops with cheap movies and video games (yessssss). He also gave up his room for me while I'm staying here and instead sleeps in the living room, which is incredibly nice of him. His room is awesome--spacious, aesthetically pleasing, and featuring (as mentioned in the title of this post) a COUCH in addition to the bed and two sofa seats. There is one word for this room, and that word is choice.

I'm currently halfway through a 4-week, 20-hours-a-week intensive Arabic language course which occupies me from 8:15 am to 1:45 pm (including the commute) every weekday. On the first day of my weekend (Friday--weekends are Fri and Sat here) I volunteer at a hospital from about 9 am - 11 am, and on the second day of my weekend, I enjoy every sweet moment of SLEEPING IN. In the afternoons and evenings of almost every day I fit in my computer work, which usually averages to about 2 hours a day…but since this schedule is pretty fragile and I'm bad at managing my time, last week was hellish and I ended up sleeping so little that I got sick. I'm now attempting to keep that 2 hours of computer work a day to an actual 2 hours of computer work a day, as opposed to my poorly-thought-out plan of 0 hours-0 hours-0-hours-8-hours-10-hours-death.

I also spend a lot of time hanging out with the family, which is another reason I'm bad at getting everything done. My aunt babysits her youngest grandchildren in our apartment at least 3 days a week, and there are usually big family get-togethers once or twice on the weekend and once or twice during the week. Since I want to be polite, and since I like my family, and since the babies are disastrously cute (and teach me Arabic, since we're about on the same level speaking-wise), this is what my brain becomes:

Do you really want to go spend a bunch of hours editing something? Because your cousins want to talk politics with you, and the babies want to sit in your lap. Oh, and they're all eating cake.

And this is what my work schedule becomes:

0 hours-0 hours-3 hours (socializing!)-2 hours (socializing with cake!)-12 hours-crying.

Anyway, I think I'm getting the hang of it now, but I very much look forward to Arabic class ending and my weeks becoming substantially less crunchy.

The weather here is really nice--we had a 25 degree (C) day this week, in December, while everyone back home was expecting snow. There's also absolutely no humidity, so not only is the heat pleasant, but I can straighten my hair and it will stay straight. On that note, I now wear my hair straight.

As Dave M. intelligently pointed out, there's one very distinct aspect of Damascus life that is pleasantly unique and I'm enjoying immensely--the city-wide call for prayer. 5 times a day, between approx 5 am and 6 pm (at this time of year), a bunch of guys go on loudspeakers at their various mosques and chant for a few minutes, which signifies the beginning of the time for Muslims to pray. Once one prayer time period is over, the men go on the loudspeakers again and chant for the next prayer time period. The chanting isn't loud enough to really bother non-Muslims--it's not loud enough to wake up someone who's sleeping, for example, unless maybe that person lives right next to a mosque--and it reminds those of us who don't wear watches to "Hey! Get off your ass and pray, lazy." It's not only convenient, but it's comforting; I distinctly remember one of the early days I was here, sitting in a room with all my cousins wearing headscarves, watching Syrian sitcoms where characters casually throw in terms like "By the grace of God," and seeing a news program about Muslims in China, and getting tears in my eyes. I spent my childhood in the States feeling like the only Muslim in the world...but there are a billion more, and I'm finally starting to see them.

Besides the .00001% who blow themselves up on TV, of course. I always saw plenty of them in the States.

Syria, Day 37 of 85: I need more hours in the day

2005-11-27T14:24:00.000-08:00

This is my day.

*places pie*

This is what portion of my day is dedicated to work.

*removes half of pie*

This is what portion of my day is dedicated to eating and sleeping.

*removes quarter of pie*

This is what reading manga on my computer does to what remains of my day.

*takes hammer, smashes remaining quarter of pie repeatedly*

Just so you know what to blame. I’ll begin updating regularly again later this week, when work takes a break from kicking my ass. Unfortunately, I can't even finish this post with the pictures of babies and kitties I've taken...I need an FTP upload program that I can actually get to work.

Syria, Day 24 of 85: A very tiny post

2005-11-14T06:03:00.000-08:00

Good news! I've now officially been told by too many sources to ignore to stop talking politics here. Like, because it's best for me to stay apolitical. *cough* For all of you who wanted to debate, I'm sorry, but this ends the poli talk. I'm sure I'll hear about this from Ben at a later date. And by "hear about," I mean he'll come armed with graphs.

In far more exciting news, guess what I saw on TV the other day? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dubbed over in Arabic. Not even the new season--the old one, some episode about gypsies and a train heist. It was one of the greatest things I've ever seen.

Syria, Day 23 of 85: More political anger

2005-11-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

Here's an English translation of Assad's speech. And some Syrian stats. And I'm sorry, but I'm not done talking about this...I'll post pictures of babies and kitties the next time I post, I swear.

I've been a news junkie the past few days, absorbing almost anything I can find on Syria and reactions to the speech. You know, one thing I haven't seen mentioned much is the fact that Syria isn't just being cornered by America, it's (at least unofficially, if not officially) being cornered by the Islamic militants. In case, uh, EVERYONE hasn't noticed, if you're a Middle Eastern country that's trying to get along with America, some terrorist comes and blows you up for being a traitor. Didn't Jordan suffer like that? The "new" Iraq? And although it's less clear who's behind the Lebanon attacks, they're no stranger to bombings, either. Syria has been mercifully spared terrorist attacks, and I don't doubt that's at least partially because Assad is staunchly against Israel and hasn't let himself become an American puppet. He's helped fight terrorism before, and he's complied with America on many occasions, but he's not America's lapdog.

Oh, and let's be clear--Israel is a huge, huge issue over here. And if I hear one more person write it off with, "Oh, the Middle Eastern countries blame Israel for everything," I'm going to tear out my hair. Yes, plenty of people blame Israel for more stuff than it deserves to be blamed for. Yes, far too many Palestinians have blown themselves up to kill innocent Israelis (and killing innocent people for any cause is never okay). But y'know what? Israel pulls so much shit--SO MUCH SHIT--that countries like Syria have every reason to be pissed at it. Do you want Syria to accept you and Israel, America? Because they're not buying Israel, with their illegal settlements, their tanks running down neighborhoods, their convicted-war-criminal Prime Minister. They have every reason to hate it for moral reasons, and since Bush is so bent on "doing the moral thing," he should understand that. Oh, wait! His morals are the only ones that count. Because trying to slip Christian values into a religion-free government and making everyone do what he, a born-again, thinks is right has nothing in common with the religious fundamentalism he hates so much.

We can't let terrorists run our lives. We can't let people think terrorism is a valid way of getting a point across--remember Spain, and how a bombing changed the outcome of an election? A little piece of me died that day, and I think the world is now a worse place because of it. But at the same time, we can't ignore the fact that terrorism is terribly prominent these days. Since 9/11, for all of Bush's efforts to "stop terrorism," things have gotten far, far worse. Putting a new government in Iraq? Oh, that's worked. America's plans and goals and missions to make the Middle East a better place have worked about as well as throwing a chunk of sodium and a gallon of chlorine into the local lake to make it saltier.

So pretend you're Assad. You don't do what the UN wants and what America keeps yelling at you to do, and you risk sanctions...and a possible invasion from America down the line, since they've been known to pull that crap. You do whatever America says, let them spread their influence in Syria, let them push for government reform...and you've got BORDERING COUNTRIES potentially pissed at you for selling out. Bush keeps yelling at Syria for letting terrorists pass from Syria to Iraq, so he obviously believes terrorists are on Syrian territory a fair share of the time. Doesn't he realize that Assad has to think of that? That Assad can't just do everything America says, because these terrorists despise the American government and pass right on through Syria? Giving America too much too soon puts innocent Syrian people at risk for retaliation from angry psychos.

It's easy to talk about clean-cut justice from the air-conditioned White House. But the reality is that terrorists are running around the Middle East, and it doesn't take much these days to get them to come after you. Assad has to balance the West crushing him from one side with the militants crushing him from the other. Oh, on that note, a fun little fact--Assad isn't a fundamentalist, nor is he even Muslim.

Assad's already said he wants to cooperate with the Hariri investigation, but he wants to compromise. The White House, of course, is pissed that he's not just bending over. Can the US please, PLEASE at least tone down its international bullying and its condescending language? I don't know Assad's intentions, obviously, but I wish the White House would get its collective head out of its collective ass and realize that pushing any Middle Eastern country into reform can lead to a lot of blood and a hell of a lot of hate. Why do you think the US is so scared of Iran? Why do think Iraq is on the brink of civil war?

God, these posts are making me angry.

Syria, Day 20 of 85: Assad's speech, and Reason #265 for my hating George W. Bush

2005-11-10T12:48:00.000-08:00

I had a really happy little post to put up today, but I think it would be inappropriate to go with it and thus ignore the significant political activity of the past 12 hours. And since politics are never happy...I now have a less-than-happy post.

About 10 hours ago, President Bashar Assad addressed the Syrian people in a highly-anticipated speech about Syria's role in the international community. For those who don't follow foreign politics, here's the best run-down I can give without double-checking my facts (so please forgive any inaccuracies and post corrections if you have them; I'm not the best at following international news):

-6-8 months ago, an explosion killed Rafik Hariri, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon. A lot of people--but most especially Lebanon--thought Syria was behind the killing.

-Bush jumped on the bandwagon, using Hariri's murder as a springboard for ordering long-standing Syrian troops out of Lebanon. Syrian president Assad said, "Working on it." Bush said, "Now." Assad pulled out all the troops.

-An investigation began to find the truth behind Hariri's murder. The UN got involved, Lebanon and America got itchy...and then, maybe a month or two ago, one of the Syrian intelligence members who was scheduled for investigation suddenly "committed suicide," taking all his knowledge with him. Bush, Lebanon, and the UN were not pleased.

-About 3 weeks ago, Bush and the UN started pushing Syria harder, demanding they cooperate with the Hariri investigation. Notably, said investigation started cornering Assad's incredibly powerful brother-in-law.

And then, today, Assad spoke to his people about all this. The streets of Damascus were crowded and throngs of students (as young as high-school-aged) filled the University of Damascus to hear their president speak. To oversimplify, he said this:

"We'll cooperate to an extent, but we won't roll over and die."

It was a more aggressive speech than I think a lot of people were expecting, and even had some pretty unusual criticism of the Lebanese government. Assad said that various powers are trying to divide Syria and continue the already-underway destruction of the Arabic culture. He pretty much said that the Syrian people need to stick together against this outside aggression.

I'm not going to take a side in this--I'm just a bystander with limited information. If you want more educated commentary on this whole thing, I direct you to syriacomment.com. But there isn't a doubt in my mind that America is using the whole Hariri murder as an excuse to get the world to turn on Syria. Hell, it's a powerful Arab country that Bush hasn't either chained to his administration or blown the hell out of yet. Time to move! And Bush's international policy bullshit--aka treating every other country like the kid who kicked over his sandcastle, his evil and insubordinate underling, or the mentally-retarded step-son he keeps locked in his attic--has been particularly bad with Syria. For example:

-Bush says Syria is letting insurgents and militants and other nasty people into Iraq, so they have to put a stop to it. Syria puts in an effort. Bush says it's not good enough...despite the fact that the area between Syria and Iraq has LOTS OF DESERT FILLED WITH WANDERING PEOPLES WHO AREN'T REGISTERED IN ANY NATION. "Spend all your time and money doing a ridiculously hard thing because I say so, and because I started a war I can't handle!...That's not enough time and money! BAD SYRIA!"

-Bush says Hariri's murder just brings up the fact that Syrian troops should be out of Lebanon immediately. Assad pulls out the troops, surprisingly close to immediately. Bush continues to push the Hariri investigation whilst trying to demonize Syria. "Look, my American people! Syria's not cooperating with us! WHY AREN'T THEY COOPERATING WITH US?!...Although ignore all the cooperation thus far."

No, Syria isn't doing everything America says, but would you? The concessions Syria makes--serious concessions, mind you--are never enough for America. America went to an unjust war with a Syrian neighbor. America's given money and weapons and power to Israel for years, when Syria's been at war with Israel for years. If you were Syria, would you do everything America says? Would you do anything America said?

I'm just honestly sick of the way America picks and chooses its evil Arab nemeses based on the "Do they agree with us or not?" test. America: "Disagree with us? We'll use your scandals as a reason to threaten and/or invade you. Think America is a-ok? We'll ignore all your shit." *cough*saudiarabia*cough* Bush does the same thing with his staff. "Agree with me? Then here, here's an extremely important job you're not qualified for." *cough*FEMA*cough* At least his own party called him on that when he tried to put his right-hand lady friend on the Supreme Court.

I haven't seen the American news in weeks, but I sincerely hope Syria's protests have been broadcast there. The people aren't blowing things up, they're not burning effigies...it's been students with signs chanting in the streets. I drove by a crowd of students--both Syrian and foreign--setting up station at a busy street intersection and drawing honks from pleased drivers. I read protest signs on Arabic TV, noticing the painted English words were things like "Illegal" as opposed to "Die." If American media hasn't completely dropped the ball, they'll show their images of burning cars in Iraq next to the peaceful, educated political protests in Syria. God knows the Americans need to see it's not all death and destruction over here.

When my aunt picked me up from the airport 20 days ago, the first thing she said--with a sad smile--was "We're afraid Bush will kill us." I told her there was no way Bush could justify a war just because he didn't like the way a government operated...but, then again, that's what I said about Iraq.

Syria, Day 12 of 85: Everything about me is starting to make sense.

2005-11-01T19:44:00.000-08:00

Today's the last day of Ramadan, so in 11.5 short hours I'm done with fasting for a while. I say "a while" because I have to make up 17 days I missed this season because of poor health, traveling, and girl stuffs. 13 out of 30 days is a weak Ramadan, Maggie. Weak! And I had an awesome 20 days last year. Sigh...but since I have until next Ramadan to make up those 17 days, I'm going to enjoy my regularly scheduled eating for at least a few weeks.

I was dying to do some geeky posts on my livejournal about manga I'm currently in love with, then reminded myself that I'm in a thousands-year-old culture right now and haven't posted anything about that. Now I'm prioritizing. On a related note, why am I such a loser?

My trip getting to Damascus was about 25 hours door-to-door, and involved a 9-hour layover in Russia. I had Euros on me, but I know 2 things in Russian: how to say "good-bye," and how to say "bless you" when someone sneezes. My spectacular language skills necessitated my communicating via pointing at the airport eatery, and thus I spent those 9 hours enjoying sustenance in the form of a small bag of pistachios and a coke. Before I make the return trip, I'm learning how to say in Russian, "I would like an enormous meat sandwich."

I had my fully-charged laptop and Gameboy with me as well as a slew of new games, but I barely touched them during the trip. My hours in the airport and waking hours in the plane were mostly spent contemplating the universe (read: fantasizing about ridiculous things, like Tokyo street gangs and How Awesome Is It That My Left Thumbnail's That Long?) and listening to the 4 CD mixes Becca made me as a going-away present. The mixes were so awesome, so filled with nostalgia, I just...didn't need anything else. She is awesome, and her awesomeness is reflected by her music collection.

On the last plane--the one from Moscow to Damascus--I was crammed into a tiny piece of scrap metal Aeroflot figured could make it the 3.5 hours to Syria. Neither of my two reasonably-sized carry-on bags could fit in the overhead compartment, so they went under my seat and on my lap. I lost most of the feeling below my waistline, but I guess that's what I get for...having carry-on bags for an international trip. I was on the aisle seat next to a nice Russian woman and her adorable 9-year-old son, and about an hour into the trip I figured a little Gameboy might be in order. When I turned it on and started playing, the lady and her son talked in Russian, then switched seats so the boy could be next to me and look over my elbow. Since I'm an adult and he's a child, I offered the game system to the boy, but he shook his head. His mother explained, "He doesn't play--only watches." This pretty much broke my heart, so I went through my games in the hopes of finding some universal game he could play without any real gaming experience (or knowledge of English). And then I remembered I was in Russia. Needless to say, he spent the next 30 minutes playing my Tetris.

Since arriving in Syria, I've discovered that every unique quality I have, every strange desire or inexplicable compulsion, can be traced to my heritage in this place. My study is only qualitative so far, but I'm working on a graph.

1.) Babies are everywhere. EVERYWHERE. And if there's a baby, you pick it up and shake it and kiss it and make it kiss you back because you're in charge. Then you put it down, wait until it's doing something, poke it until it's annoyed with you, then revel while it attacks you with its squishy baby fists. My God...I thought only I did that.

2.) Wild kitties roam freely in the streets. They stare at you, come when you make kissy noises at them, circle you a bit if they think you're cool, then go back to slinking under parked cars. There are no filthy, stupid dogs. Maybe...maybe they're all dead.

3.) The stinky, awesome foods here can rival the stinky foods of any nation. I've had grape leaves wrapped around nuts and croissant filled with olives. I've washed down goaty cheese with coffee you can chew. Please keep in mind that despite these foods, my body itself is still as fragrant as a rose garden in the dewy morning.

4.) The boys touch each other here in platonic love. Like, a lot. Two guy cousins in their 20s will high-five, pull it into a hug, then kiss on both cheeks. Two boys will walk arm-in-arm in the streets, or sit next to each other and drape arms over shoulders. I was nearly killed by a college-aged boy who wanted to dive and grab his friend on the street in a headlock/head rub, regardless of the bystanders in his way. It's so very entertaining.

5.) Nobody here seems to stress about much, and they party whenever they have a free moment. They go to work, they come home, they eat, then they party at night. Oh, they love the night. "You're going to bed?" asks my aunt, who's in her 50s. "But it's only 11 pm!" "You're doing work at 1 am?" asks my cousin, fully dressed and smelling like Axe. "Why aren't you out on the crowded streets partying with me?" I watched my cousins give their young children chocolate on a school day at 10 at night. The Fat Baby (a cousin--he literally has a onesie that says on it, in English, "FAT" for no discernable reason) played with me after dinner one night, watched me fall asleep on his couch, then woke me up three hours later by slapping on the pillow by my head. "What?" he asks with his sinister baby eyes. "I'm not done trying to eat your precious things yet!"

So yeah, that pretty much explains...my life until this point. I never figured I'd get an explanation.

Oh, and I already have a favorite Arabic TV show. It's a comedy about a Muslim farmer and his godless wife getting into really strange situations. They even had a Very Special Episode where they learned that communism is a bad idea. Oh, how I’m so happy that I'm not kidding about that.

Would someone please put some love in the Toronto water?

2005-10-31T19:31:00.000-08:00

Y'know, I think one of the worst things about not being in Toronto this year is hearing how half of my friends up there are miserable and not being able to do a thing about it. When a friend is upset, there are a number of things one can do: listen to him/her cry, let him/her sleep over, provide comfort foods (most notably cake of the chocolate variety), plan a fun outing...or provide a little physical affection, such as a hug or head rub. I can do none of these things right now, and can barely even grab an hour of Internet each day (thus even hindering my "MSN chat your way to comfort" ability). Sigh.

God willing, Becca and I will be in Toronto for about a week in the middle of January. And God willing, we'll be moving back to Toronto for a good while this coming summer. If everything works out, mark my words: I'll be beating the angst out of Toronto with my Love Stick.

I'll start my Syria posts in a day or two. There are stories...already, which doesn't bode well for whoever reads this blog.

A winner is me.

2005-10-21T03:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not in Syria yet. On October 11th, I was packed up and in the car, ready for my million-hour trip, when I started feeling a little carsick. The trip to the airport (in Newark) was a long one, so I lay down...and 60 minutes into the 150 minute trip, I started vomiting into a baggie. 45 minutes later, I was still vomiting into a (third) baggie. Carsickness? No no. Probably the most ill-timed stomach bug I've ever had in my life (and I've had some ill-timed stomach bugs). So we turned around and drove home, thanking God my ticket had re-scheduling insurance. Barring any more projectile disgorge mishaps, I'm leaving for Syria this Saturday evening (about 36 hours from now).

But whatever, I have an even better story. Ever read the movie/DVD reviews on The Flick Filosopher? She writes amazing reviews. Becca and I don't usually see a movie unless she approves of it first. We love her, for she is awesome.

She ran a little contest for the very cool movie Serenity. You can see the description of said content and the list of winners here.

Do you see that name? That "Lianne"? That is me. That is ME. *fans self Emily-style* Like, oh my God.

This may sound really big-headed, but I've entered four online, skill-based writing contests in my life, and I got first place in three of them. I know I shouldn't need continuous positive reinforcement regarding my career path, but this sort of thing is still, like, mind-bendingly exciting.

I'm aware that winning the Flick Filosopher's silly contest (which is notorious for getting crappy entries) isn't really positive reinforcement regarding my career path. Neither were those other two writing contest wins, since they were for fanfiction--and for the Sailor Moon and Digimon variety, respectively. But I rarely win raffles or under-the-cap soda games or whatever. Having a much better record winning skill-based contests as opposed to luck-based contests makes me feel a little better about life.

I've recently discovered that I'm sketchy.

2005-09-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving for Syria on October 11th. My laptop was shipped out today. I'm almost done with all my paperwork. It's like...my world is coming together. It feels kinda like a horizontal moving escalator thing.

Cat turned 23 this weekend (happy birthday, Cat!). She had her birthday at her friends' lakehouse. She warned me: "These are my sketchy friends. Is it okay that there will be sketchy friends?" And I was like, "I know half of these people. No worries about sketchiness." So we drove, like, half an hour to get out into the boonies of Coventry, then marched through a pitch-black foresty place lit by nothing but the light of our cell phones, then saw a beacon of light ahead of us: this giant industrial flashlight, held by one of the kids at the party. We followed it to this crooked lakehouse with Batman and porn on the walls, and the owners told us: "This is the last year for this lakehouse. Apparently it's too far out on the lake, so it has to be destroyed." Indeed, we went out onto the porch by the lake, and the porch pretty much sagged INTO the lake. "Don't go to the edge," we were told. "You'll end up in the lake. See those beer bottles out there? Those are mine from last night. See that sunken canoe out there? It's called the Mighty Penis. We're going to make a better one, and sink it at a better party."

So we all spent a while talking and eating, the other kids drank, and then Becca and Jay and I went home after an hour or two (since I needed to be home at a decent hour). In retrospect, I did know most of the kids at the party, and they were as friendly and cool as they've always been. But...the whole thing was really sketchy. It was fun, and I'm glad I went, but I think I may be sketchy by association. I'm thinking of growing a goatee to celebrate.

Becca and I have been watching "Lost" for the past week or two. It displeases us with its crappy characters and complete lack of little payoffs. No, you can't just be "mysterious" for every single episode and never explain anything. That isn't mysterious, that's lame and cheap and pretentious. We're also displeased because we were told my many, many sources that "Lost" is the best thing ever. It is by no means the best thing ever, despite any positive qualities it may have. Sources of particular distaste: all-American hero Jack, Mr. and Miss O.C., the crazy French lady, and unbelievable, crowbarred-in love stories that serve no purpose other than to show how politically correct the creators can be by showing multi-racial couples. If you're so damn politically correct, why is the only Asian guy in the show a domineering misogynist? Like that stereotype isn't pervasive enough in our society. Sources of particular pleasure: the oldest character kicking the most ass, and a hobbit strung out on heroin. Also of note was a boar peeing on the stupid racist Southerner. Oh, and that guy's not exactly breaking out of our country's stereotypes, either. Why is it always okay to assume Southerners are uneducated, small-minded hicks?

Anyway, I'm done. Sorry. Perhaps I should watch fewer DVDs.

Personal lives are generally not exciting for other people.

2005-09-13T01:00:00.000-07:00

In the hopes of being more organized, this blog is now for personal posts--boring for all who don't personally know me and also for many who do personally know me. In other words, this place is just to keep in touch with friends. Posts regarding my professional work and my geek stuff (anime/manga, which is linked to my profession) are now limited to my Lianne Sentar livejournal.

And...that's pretty much it. I don't yet have the exact dates for when I'll be in Syria, but once I do, I'll post them (exciting no one!). My world-hopping for the next year should be somewhere along the lines of:

October 2005-January 2006: In Syria
January 2006: In Connecticut
February 2006-April 2006: In Syria
April 2006-August 2006: In Connecticut/Toronto
August 2006-Several Years Later: In Toronto (hopefully)

My passport. She cries from exertion.