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Eid!!!!! Which means....new clothes! And a rare opportunity to take a picture of Shahed. Though I see her pretty much every day, and photos of the rest of her family fill my camera, she has deleted almost every one I have taken of her. On this occasion, however, she made me take a whole series of her in her favorite outfit ever. Mostly because I was the only one who liked her outfit. Everyone else said she looked like a man. I said she looked like an American. Guess who was her best friend for the day?

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Gutiyef. The nastiest most delicious desserts this side of Ramadan. They are little sweet, and slightly anise-y, pancakes, folded around either smooshed dates, or cream, or sugar and walnuts, then deep-fried, then soaked in a simple syrup for a few minutes. The result is a completely delicious treat that actually drips a mix of oil and sugar when you bite into it. I can usually stomach about 4 before I feel like I will explode; your entire body starts to feel thick. Nasty. Delicious.

Meh still on The Clarks. Watch while they fool you with a happy beat then smack you with Brucie's depressing-as-hell lyrics: The River.

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Oh Ramadan, so exciting. Typical day: wake up at noon (edit:wake up at 9, reconsider, wake up again at 10, pull tshirt over my face to block out the sun, wake up again after noon and figure that's about all I can justify), roll over and watch whatever happens to be in my disc drive (30 min), make coffee (10 min), drink coffee(ongoing), stare at wall (time unknown), eat leftovers from break fast the night before (20 minutes), complete movie I started so that I can eat without just staring at a wall while doing so (2 hours), press random keys and watch what comes up on the internet (30 min?), read (2 hours), watch Futurama while playing online backgammon (2 hours), go down the street to get fed and interact with humans (3-5 hours), return home and eat ice cream or other chocolately treat picked up at the ducan on the walk home (30 min), watch something on the computer, forget that I was watching something then suddenly close the browser window and find that I have missed the last hour of a movie, try really hard to remember what I was looking at online, fail, sit and ponder the uselessness of it all, come back to awareness playing online backgammon (1-3 hours), read (30 min), put on movie and wrap my head in a tshirt twisted around like a turban to keep my hair from blowing in my face all night and giving me dreams about spiders/waking up and slapping my own face hoping to kill a mosquito that is in fact my hair, brush teeth, plug in fan, stare at movie until I fall asleep around 5 am.
Repeat EVERY DAY for a month.

The Clarks are calling me home Highwire and Hell on Wheels

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For your viewing pleasure: a series of photos of the cutest child alive.
Just waking up, straight into mugging for the camera.

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Just laying around, stealing my heart. A common saying here, when you are trying to convince someone to do something, is "(because) you love Allah," when the family wants me to do something they say "because you love Tamer." I'm in negotiations with his mom to let me take him back to America with me.

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His cousin Hamudeh was doing headstands and everyone seemed impressed, so Tamer demonstrated his prowess.

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Slightly pouty. Upset about having to eat mansef (who could be upset about that? though I must say this mansef was sub-par). Though if only he could see how cool he looks in that shirt he would cheer right up I'm sure.

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Photoshoot on top of the family's new truck! Give us a pose that shows how you feel about your new 'big car.'

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Oh...I was just lounging here in my dress...with my arm like this...not because it looks glamorous...want to take my picture?...TAKE MY PICTURE!

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This is what I have been doing while I have been not posting to this vunderful blog. Becoming a semi-permanent fixture of my neighbors' couch, watching American movies and TV shows that were are so bad they were probably never seen by most Americans, fasting, then gorging. For Realz this time I'm getting back on track.

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Water!

Sun bathing (shade bathing Hah!)

Our home pool, that's our building on the other side of the pool, and the pool bar on the left.

Sigh...anyone want to pay for me to go back and live there?

Haven't posted for weeks. Let's move past it. Came back from vacation, failed to take more than 5 or 6 pictures there because we spent absolutely every minute in the pool, where my camera can't go. We changed pools occasionally, one of them had a few real waterslides in it, and both had in-pool bars. As in, you need not leave the comfort and happiness of the pool to imbibe alcohol, or eat ice-cream, or both (failed experiment). Also our stay there was all-inclusive (note the wristbands displayed in the final picture) so I ate and drank more than I would have thought possible. All in all, a good trip. I'll try to get back on track from here.

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Day 2 Ramadan. Maglooba (my favorite) with moukheya (sort of like spinach soup, sort of), lentil soup, salad, yogurt, and pickled carrots (yuk). Of course dates and tamarind juice on the side.
Death Letter by The White Stripes (RIP)

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Ramadan Kareem! First day of Ramadan with all the fixins. Mansef, dates, and tamarind juice: Delicious.
Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers

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A wild hedgehog!! Did you know such a thing existed? Picture is bad; when I turned on the light he ran away.

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Change in location does not mean much of a change in activities. Too hot to move.

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Our gracious host, and world renowned cribbage player, losing at Kings. Spent a few days playing cards and video games at a friend's house in the south, soaking up some fun before Ramadan starts.

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Dance party on the roof in Amman, view wasn't too shabby.