House of Betqa

What's your coffee ritual?

2011-04-14T21:11:00.002+02:00

Roba asked this question... unlike her, I have nothing against rituals.
Anyone who knows me also knows that I consume huge amounts of coffee. Here's my coffee ritual (which varies slightly from day to day):
Workdays:
5:30am - get up, put 8 heaping scoops of Brazil coffee house blend into filter + 7 cups of water, turn on machine, go do some yoga
5:50am- pour cup of coffee, add a touch of milk so it looks like mud (no sugar or any other sweetener), drink coffee while packing stuff up for work and Katja's daycare
6:15am - wake up Katja and give her breakfast, pour my second cup of coffee and drink while getting dressed
Since I start work a tad later on Mondays and Tuesdays, after dropping Katja off at daycare, I usually go to Cups & Kilos and get a latte (to go) (at around 7:40am).
If I am lucky enough to have a break during the day, I either a) get a latte at R'n'B, b) get a latte at Café des Artistes or c) in the office--> two teaspoons of Nescafe & two teaspoons of CoffeeMate.

Weekends: same coffee I make workday mornings, but bottomless cup for as long as I am at home :)

Sunday nostalgia, episode 4

2011-02-06T13:47:00.001+01:00

Sunday nostalgia, episode 3

2011-01-30T08:37:00.002+01:00

Sunday nostalgia, episode 2

2011-01-23T15:50:00.000+01:00

Sunday Nostalgia, episode 1

2011-01-16T13:27:00.000+01:00

Katja's first plane ride

2010-06-23T03:55:00.003+02:00

I wasn't sure how it would go... The flight from Amman to Montreal takes 12 hours, which can even be rough on most adults. She was great! She slept for about 8 hours; while she was awake she was in such a great mood. She only cried a bit while the plane was descending to land, since the pressure was a bit much for her little ears to handle. People kept coming up to me and saying what a great baby she is. Even the cabin crew was crazy about her :)

Katja with the Royal Jordanian flight attendants

Inspiring... (I wonder if something like this could be organised in Jordan?)

2010-04-18T08:16:00.003+02:00

I had been hearing about this campaign to clean up Slovenia in one day, mostly from former students of mine. I thought it was an excellent idea and was very sad that I am no longer in Slovenia to participate in something so wonderful. The idea was inspired by a documentary about a similar campaign, which took place in Estonia in 2008. It was organised by the organisation "Ecology without Borders" and took place yesterday. The most inspiring part of it is that about 250,000 volunteers showed up, removing about 80,000 cubic metres of garbage!
Now, I wonder if it would be possible to organise something like this here in Jordan?
Here are some articles about the campaign:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3 (in Slovenian)

Chat Roulette

2010-03-29T07:30:00.002+02:00

My dear friend Tara sent me a link to this article. To be honest, I had never heard of chat roulette. At first, I assumed it was like on-line speed dating or something. Maybe it's something I would have tried out had it existed 16 years ago, back when we'd run to the McGill computer labs at 3am to go on IRC. It doesn't seem like something I'll be getting into anytime soon.

A WALK TO REMEMBER: 60 MINUTES IN AMMAN

2010-01-09T10:01:00.017+01:00

Ok, so it was much longer than 60 minutes….but that’s besides the point…
When I heard about this event, I was extremely eager to attend. I hadn’t ever been to a Fastwalk event, though I do walk with Katja on what is almost a daily basis. Luckily, I live near the Sport City complex, which allows me to take these daily walks. Otherwise, I might not be as eager to do so.
You see, although I’ve had my driver’s licence for 20 years now, when I am in a city, I much prefer to experience it either on foot, by bicycle or public transport. Unfortunately, none of these things are at all pleasant in Amman. Sidewalks are pathetic, rendering Katja’s stroller useless for anywhere but a shopping mall. Good luck crossing the street, as drivers here might stop if you’re lucky; quite often they won’t.
Anyhow, back to the event… As I mentioned earlier, the walk lasted much more than an hour. It was a great way to observe the city and seeing pedestrians claim back the streets.
Here are some pics I took before and during the walk:

Me & Roba

Roba & Moose :)

Nice to see I wasn't the only one who brought a baby

The crowd

Michael Sorkin, author of 20 Minutes in Manhattan, encouraging us to reclaim the streets

Scenes from the actual walk:

Amazing...

2010-01-05T12:25:00.003+01:00

Farewell to the noughts...

2009-12-31T21:24:00.007+01:00

It seems like yesterday I was bidding farewell to the 90s. My buddy Jovan & I were at a party in Trnovo…DJ Gaby was setting the mood with Goa trance; DJ Kesma came on later. It seemed like no other decade could be as “action-packed” as the 90s were for me. After all, it was in 1990 that I graduated from high school and began expanding my horizons… Marianopolis, McGill…Those were amazing times. Montreal had so much to offer young adults then. I lived life to the fullest, did the whole interail/backpacking through Europe thing. I spent the first half of the 90s in Montreal, the second half in Ljubljana, where I awaited the noughts.
Looking back at this decade, it may not have always been as fast-paced as the previous one, but it contains many moments I’m fond of and will never forget.
So here’s to the noughts and the best thereof:

2000: Ljubljana trance parties
Summer trip to Montreal: crazy nights at Unity, Café Sarajevo, tam tams..
Second summer trip to Split: nights on the beach, a group of us singing “Zenica Blues” on the beach as Jovan played guitar
Fall trip to London
2001: Grad studies in Ljubljana…had to balance the trance parties with the books
First time on Triglav (in new hiking boots...ended up with blisters the size of pancakes)
Summer trip to French Riviera and Provence
2002: Started to get sick of the trance scene, extremely involved in translating at the Centre for Slovenian literature
Summer trips: Montreal, Toronto, Paris, Stuttgart
2003: Finally bought flat in Ljubljana after 7 years of renting and moving 9 times,
Summer trip to Lago Maggiore,
visit from elementary & high school classmate Caroline & friends (saw her for the first time in 10 years)
2004: No major summer trips, but 2 visits from old friends Tara and Julie
2005: First trip to Jordan in February, reunited after 14 years. Love is in the air. Second trip to Jordan in October.
2006: Summer trips: Sarajevo & Mostar
Montreal: tam tams are still there after so many years, picnic electronique
2007: New Year’s in Amman,
Summer visit to Ljubljana by my mother and bro and Omar, so he got to meet the family
Ended off the year by getting hitched :)
2008: Ended teaching contract in Ljubljana, moved to Amman
2009: The greatest gift of all, the birth of our sweet little Katja.

2009 was also a year of special gifts for some other old friends of mine... Congrats to Sylwia, Tracy and Emmanuel on becoming first-time parents!

And all the best in 2010!

Happy 1st Anniversary to Enas & Jamal

2009-12-05T19:42:00.003+01:00

On this special day

Love touches two lives so sweetly,

Warms you with a gentle joy...

Makes you one completely.

Happy Anniversary To A Wonderful Couple

I also wish you many more years of happiness with your bundle of joy that will be arriving very soon! All the best!

Happy Wedding Anniversary

Making me feel old: Sesame Street celebrates 40th b-day!

2009-11-05T08:47:00.004+01:00

Some claimed it was an educational show....others claimed it was the reason for our short attention spans... Either way, it's 40 years old and Google's celebratory doodles definitely put a smile on my face :)

Blasts from the past and new beginnings...

2008-09-18T12:33:00.007+02:00

I have been completely neglecting this blog for about a year now. So much has been going on, so much has happened that I just could not find the time to type it all out. I guess I’ll get back on track by telling a story…

Twenty years ago, a bunch of kids from around the globe decided to attend a summer language school in Ljubljana, known as Poletna šola slovenskega jezika. Most of us were second generation Slovenians born abroad, or half-breeds like myself (though I prefer the term hybrid). There were some cases of people learning Slovenian because they had a significant other from Slovenia, a couple of people who just happened to like learning Slavic languages.

So anyways, it was 1988 and I was 14 going on 15--the youngest person attending the school. To be honest, in my case it was an excuse to be allowed to go to Europe on my own without having to stay with relatives. A bit sneaky on my part, but I am not sorry I did it. It was an experience like no other. I made friends from all over North America, South America, all over Europe, Australia and even Jordan. I kept in touch with a lot of them as pen-pals. I knew after spending the summer there, that I wanted to live in Ljubljana.

I decided to go back to the school in 1989. There were more students that year, from even more countries. My friend from Jordan has returned that summer as well. As two teenagers, we got on each others nerves. We probably never thought that we would be reunited almost 20 years later, fall in love and end up as husband and wife.

Back in the late 80s:

and Omar and I 20 years later, right after our wedding:

As another sign of good karma, we were reunited with another classmate a couple of days before our wedding. Milena attended the school with us in '88. She just happened to be in Slovenia for the Christmas holidays and took us out to dinner as an early wedding gift. Here's an old pic from back then...My we've aged gracefully:

left to right: Irena Fele (from Brussels), Milena and I (what was I thinking with that hair?!!)

And Milena and I 20 years later:

So much has happened in these 2 decades. I left Montreal in 1996 to follow my dream of living in Ljubljana, found a nice teaching job and side-career as a translator, bought myself a nice flight right next to the Ljubljanica River and ended up staying there for 12 years.

As of July, I am now in Amman, Jordan to be with Omar. Starting a new chapter in my life is not easy, as I surely never thought I would end up here.... but here I am. I hope the next 20 years are as great as the last ones were!

Picture I took of the Cops

2007-09-16T18:54:00.000+02:00

Saturday Walk through Ljubljana, Checking Out the Art Market

2007-09-16T07:34:00.001+02:00

Some pics taken on a hike around Dovžanova soteska

2007-08-28T14:22:00.000+02:00

Happy 24th of June to all Jordanians & Quebecois...

2007-06-23T18:53:00.000+02:00

Happy 24th June to all Jordanians....
And Bonne fete nationale to everyone in Quebec!

Nice that someone has figured out a system that makes sense ;)

2007-04-28T12:17:00.000+02:00

"Women's town" to put men in their place

Catherine Tate-Translator

2007-03-31T17:00:00.000+02:00

What's Your Personality Type?

2007-03-29T12:59:00.000+02:00

You Are An ENFP

The Inspirer

You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends.
You are also unconventional, irreverant, and unimpressed by authority and rules.
Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives.
You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're qutie the storyteller!

You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist.

What's Your Personality Type?

Me & Snakes

2007-03-28T18:53:00.000+02:00

Snakes

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?

2007-03-24T07:09:00.000+01:00

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie!
...

Opening Credits:
Bizarre Love Triangle
New Order

Waking Up:
The Emporer's New Clothes
Sinead O'Conner

First Day at Highschool:
Smalltown Boy
Bronski Beat

Falling in Love:
We'll Take Manhattan
Ella Fitzgerald

Fight Song:
Mestnye
Sektor Gaza

Breaking Up:
Ta Bom Demaio
Luiz Gonzaga

Prom:
Rat In My Kitchen
UB40

Life:
Possession
Sarah McLachlan

Mental Breakdown:
Monaya-EuroDance Remix
DJ Vega

Driving:
Soledad
Gipsy Kings

Flashback:
Razzia (Hände hoch)
Beatheadz

Getting Back Together:
Nomadic Knights
Yves Larock

Wedding:
You Make Me Real
The Doors

Birth of a Child:
Nostoros Nostoras
Geraldo Azvedo

Final Battle:
Confusion
New Order

Death Scene:
A Loop In Time
Wally Brill

Funeral Song:
Dont U
Era

End Credits:
The Dope Show
Marilyn Manson

Some pics from last weekend at Rogla

2007-03-15T14:47:00.000+01:00

Some of my coworkers and I had a fun anti-stress weekend at Rogla. Some of us hit the spas, some of us hit the slopes. I chose the latter, as till now, I hadn't had the chance to ski yet this season. Here are some pics I managed to take that weekend, both on and off the slopes.

Rogla
skiing

Carnival in Ljubljana (maškare, kurenti & anti-fur demonstrators as an added bonus...)

2007-02-18T07:54:00.000+01:00

Ljubljana
Pust
Kurenti
Carnival

Pictures I Took On a Sunday Walk In Ljubljana

2007-02-05T06:25:00.000+01:00

Ljubljana

The last few days in Amman...pt.II -- Downtown with Lina

2007-01-10T19:08:00.000+01:00

Last Thursday, I finally had the pleasure of meeting Lina in person. Just over a year ago, I had sent an e-mail to Jordan planet asking about interesting things to do in Amman. Lina was kind enough to reply, which was when I began reading her extremely interesting blog Into the Wind.

Lina is someone that I'm sure everyone loves when they meet her. People sing her praises all the time (Kinzi, Sandmonkey)
and it isn't surprising! She truly is a wonderful person and no words could do her justice. This is why I'll keep the rest of mine simple...
Some more reasons why Lina is cool:

She'll take you to those hidden urban treasures that show you a part of Amman's soul...

Her smile brightens up a room...

She knows where to find good books... and from what I gathered, calls everyone "uncle"She knows where to find excellent knaffeh...

And cozy places to enjoy a nice warm beverage (Jafra Café)

She doesn't make fun of me when I make mistakes in Arabic :) And according to Omar, she's very good at bargaining (thanks for getting me a deal on the scarves...)

And I'm sure that everyone who knows her will agree that she's great to hang out with; you can't help but be in a good mood around her.
And she gives amazing tours of downtown... Thanks Lina :)

Some more pics I took that morning:

The last few days in Amman... pt.I

2007-01-08T15:19:00.000+01:00

Back in Ljubljana now, back to work, back to the routine, back to procrastinating... Two weeks passed by so quickly and so much happened that I need an extra week off. I'm already being hit with translation deadlines, but prefer to take a break and share with you some of the nicer moments of my last few days in Amman...

Like having a coffee and smoking a shisha with my friend Sona...

Trying the best hummus in town :)

Seeing something that Slovenians could learn a lot from: a mosque and a church, side by side...

Meeting up with Mira, Rania and Hind at Wild Jordan. I absolutely love this place! The company was great....

and so was the view :)Ok, back to work... coming very soon: Downtown Amman with Lina :)

Amman
Wild Jordan
Jordan

Some pics taken in and around Amman

2006-12-31T12:06:00.000+01:00

Amman
Jordan

Amer, you crack me up....

2006-12-31T11:39:00.000+01:00

Ok, some might see this as offensive, but it's a joke ok!
These pics represents what you get when you cross an Arab with a Slovene:

A drunk terrorist!
The guy in the pic is my significant other's brother Amer. Dude, you are hilarious!
drunk
Jordan
Slovenia
terrorist

Never thought I'd have to go to the Middle East to see snow this year...

2006-12-27T22:12:00.000+01:00

Back home on the sunny side of the Alps, Christmas was a green one this year. I had been complaining about missing the snow since the beginnning of December. Who would have guessed I would have to go to Jordan to see snow this winter?
Here are some pics:

Amman
Jordan
snow

On My First Day in Amman and Jordan Planet Quiz Night

2006-12-24T10:33:00.000+01:00

I arrived in Amman early yesterday morning, though a couple of hours later than expected. It is wonderful to have a change from my routine and relax a lot more than I'm used to. I feel so much better to be back with Omar after such a long time. Long distance relationships are a pain to say the least.
Roba had invited me to the Jordan Planet blogger meet up. I was not sure exactly what to expect. I didn't really know anyone there. I originally discovered Jordan Planet, right after my bf moved back to Amman and I was going to visit. Since he hadn't lived there in many years, he wasn't up to date with what to do and where to go. I began browsing and found Jordan Planet and wrote an email asking for some info. I immediately received a wonderful and very informative reply from Lina (who I unfortunately did not meet yesterday). Slowly I began to discover other interesting and amusing blogs like Mira's, Khalidah's, Roba's, Hal's (Hal, where the hell were you last night?), Moey's, Qwaider's and many others.
This quiz night was a good time overall. The only complaint I have was the dudes at the table next to us made it hard to hear what was going on. Yeah, you know who you are... I have nothing against you guys otherwise and actually think you're cool, but playing the music on the cell phones and overdoing it with the yelling was a bit much. Smart-ass comments are amusing, but there's a point when it's just not funny anymore.
Our table came in second place, after being asked the tie-breaking question. Turns out we need to brush up on our knowledge of history. Or maybe it's because Roba was cheating (ok, you had to be there for this to make sense).
I'll end this with a few pics I took.

Some more pics from the evening available at Qwaider's and Hala's (plus a very thorough description of the evening -- in Arabic)

Amman
Jordan Planet

Pre-holiday Madness...

2006-12-21T20:41:00.000+01:00

I'm leaving for Amman tomorrow. Though financially speaking, taking a trip isn't the brightest move I could make, but it's one of those things that has to be done. Today was my last day teaching till I get back; I tried my best to get all of the translation work out of the way, but it seems that I'll be taking some work with me. I am so looking forward to getting away, away from the routine. I also can't wait to get out of this year. Yes, even though it wasn't all bad, most of 2006 did suck for me. I don't remember having such a lousy year in... well, I think 1999 came close...
Anyhow, this week was particularly insane. One incident that particularly pissed me off was getting my visa. I had called the Jordanian consulate last week to schedule an appointment. The consul told me to call the following week. I reminded him that this was the week I'd be travelling, but he assured me not to worry. Ok, fair enough.
So I called back on Monday from work when I had a break. I explained to the guy who I was and that I had called on the previous week and that I'd like to make an appointment. So the guy says: "Come now". I explain to him that I am at work, that I work at a school and that there's a group of kids expecting me to open the door to their English classroom in 5 minutes...short notice to get a substitute... I offer to come after work, when I finish at 2. He explains that he only works till noon (how nice). Luckily on Tuesdays, I have a free period and since the consulate isn't too far from where I work, 10:30 on Tuesday works. I explain to him that I'll only have an hour and will have to get back to work. He assures me not to worry.
Tuesday, right after teaching a class, I rush to the consulate. I arrive there at 10:25. I enter the building, walk upstairs and ring the bell. A woman opens the door and explains to me that the consul hasn't arrived yet. She gives me a form to fill in. I do so and hand it to her along with my passport. She tells me to wait in the hall. After 20 minutes of waiting for him to show up, I was pissed off something fierce. Why the hell even bother to make an appointment then?!! Finally he shows up at 10:55... I was desperately trying to keep my cool, as he took his sweet time... I couldn't help but think to myself: "Nice that you only work till noon....and get to work at 11..." ... He asked me why I was so nervous... I explained that I was late for work...His response? "That's not my problem!" I couldn't believe it! Not my problem? No, idiot! But it's your fault! (Ok, I didn't say that as he still had my passport in his hands)Seriously, though, is this guy for real? On top of everything, he was extremely rude and arrogant the entire time. Not very diplomatic at all.
The guy totally stressed me out!
Ok, enough about that...
On a brighter note, this year I will be spending New Year's in Amman. It'll be my 1st New Year's outside of Slovenia in 10 years. Though I must admit, Ljubljana is beautiful this time of year. Just like something out of a fairy tale. The only thing missing so far is the snow. Here are some pics I managed to take this evening while running some last-minute errands.

Ljubljana
Amman
holidays

On the fears we face...

2006-11-12T11:41:00.001+01:00

While enjoying my Sunday morning coffee and reading blogs and the like, I read a post on Bakkouz's blog about Parthenophobia, the fear virgins or young girls. I have to agree with him. This is a rather strange phobia for a person to have. In my life I have heard of or read about various types of phobias that human beings suffer from. After having done some browsing, and seeing lists of phobias that have been documented throughout the years, I know that many of them are more bizarre than I could have ever imagined.

In my opinion, the weirdest one has got to be:
Arachibutyrophobia - fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.

Here are some others I found rather amusing:
Geniophobia - fear of chins
Peladophobia - fear of bald people (I suppose this makes sense if it's a group of skinheads chasing you with baseball bats)
Consecotaleophobia - fear of chopsticks
Nomatophobia - fear of names (So do these people spend their lives walking around calling others "Hey you!"?)
Bibliophobia - fear of books (I suspect that some of my students suffer from this one)
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia - fear of the number 666 (I'm not even sure how to pronounce that one)
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - fear of long words (And then they give it a threatening looking name like this?!!)
Barophobia - fear of gravity (Ok, and how are you supposed to deal with that? Go live in space?)
Phronemophobia - fear of thinking (Not quite sure how one would deal with this either...)
Linonophobia- fear of string
Ithyphallophobia - fear of seeing, thinking about or having an erect penis
Xanthophobia - fear of the colour yellow or the word yellow
Lutraphobia - fear of Otters (huh?!!)

Here is a list of phobias that people suffer from. What phobias do you have?

phobias

Exploding Phone Charger (enough to ruin my day)

2006-11-10T07:26:00.000+01:00

I had never thought about this before. I had never even heard of it happening (though apparently it does).
Had you asked me about mobile phones before I moved to Slovenia 10 years ago, I would have just rolled my eyes at you. My friends and I would actually make fun of people we saw talking on their cells. I suppose the fact that phone calls from landlines and pay phones are much cheaper in Canada than they are in Europe had something to do with this. After coming to live here and witnessing the mobile boom in the 90s, I eventually gave in after receiving several complaints that it was impossible to get a hold of me. Since then, using a mobile phone and everything that comes along with it has become daily routine, every day stuff… not really something I think about twice. Well, until now…

I recently purchased a new charger for my mobile. What happened the first time I plugged it in? It exploded! Seriously! There was this loud pop sound and the thing blew up! I couldn’t believe it!

This was on Sunday and unfortunately, the shop where I had purchased the charger was closed. I immediately looked up the manufacturer’s website and wrote them a letter strongly suggesting that they do something about quality control. They still haven’t responded. After taking a more careful look at their packaging, I also noticed that their English and German instructions really don’t make any sense. For example: “Vor dem laden ist die Cebrauchsanweisung zu lessen” Huh? This means absolutley nothing! Millenium, you people suck!

On Monday, I went to the shop with the remnants of the blown up charger. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: I bought this charger here on Friday and when I plugged it in, it exploded.
Guy: That shouldn’t happen.
Me: No shit, Sherlock. Did you accidentally give me a model from the “Suicide Bombers’ Series” or something?
(Guy gives me a perplexed look…)

The guy didn’t give me any hassle to exchange it. I also made him plug the new one in the shop before I agreed to accept it.

Just as a warning to all of you… these things do happen. From now on, I’m always going to have things tested/plugged-in at the shop before I take them home and they blow up in my face!

exploding mobile charger

The Autumn View

2006-10-31T05:15:00.000+01:00

Kids are off from school this week over here, which means that I also get a vacation by default. If only it were that! My boss at the agency I translate for is on the ball and figured out that I won’t be busy with teaching this week, so my e-mail keeps getting flooded with new documents to be either translated or proofread. Then there’s this freelance job I took on (big mistake) and I have kind of been ignoring it (perhaps hoping that when I wake up in the morning, the work will magically have gotten done). Some vacation!
It’s nice to take a break and enjoy the view…

It was such a beautiful autumn day that Mica had to check it out too!

autumn
cat

A Video of Great Social and Political Importance

2006-10-18T20:08:00.000+02:00

Muppet Show

Sushi in Ljubljana (@Sushimama)

2006-09-30T23:59:00.000+02:00

Ljubljana
Sushi
Sushimama

Five years ago today…

2006-09-11T15:21:00.000+02:00

This post is not about politics. It’s not about conspiracy theories. It’s about what I was going through, 5 years ago on this day, at this time.

September 11th 2001 began as any other workday had for me. I woke up, went to the primary school I teach at, taught my classes… It was the beginning of the school year and early on that particular evening, there were going to be the first parent-teacher meetings. After my last class had ended, I had a couple of hours to kill before the meetings. Three coworkers and I decided to go get a coffee and snack at a nearby café to pass the time. It was 3:20pm when one of my colleague’s mobiles rang. It was her daughter, freaking out: “I don’t believe it! America is under attack!”. My first reaction was to look at my co-worker and say “Umm… your daughter has obviously been smoking some strong shit again… She’s probably watching some freaky movie…”
Well, I decided to give my mother a call; I assumed she’d know what was going on since Montreal isn’t that far away from NYC. My mother confirmed the story we had heard and I was suddenly overcome with horror! Julie! Oh my God! Julie! She only lives a few blocks away from the WTC! She works there!
Julie was my classmate and best friend all through high-school. We stuck by each other through everything and anything, shared many fun times, many tears.
After university, I moved to Europe. Julie moved to NYC to attend law school. She had been working as a corporate lawyer for less than a year; it had been her first job. I couldn’t believe what was happening.
Julie’s parents still live in Montreal. I immediately told my mom to call her mom to see if everything was ok.
It was time for the meetings. I didn’t know whether my friend was alive or dead and I was shaking.
I was like a zombie during the entire meeting. I can’t remember a damn thing I said to those parents. I don’t even remember which road I took to get home. I remember going into my room, turning on the TV and staring at the images on the screen as tears streamed down my cheeks. Until came the call of relief…
My mother called me back. She had spoken to Julie’s mom. Julie had called her parents to let them know she was still alive. It turns out she had pressed the snooze button a couple of extra times and was running late. So rather than already being at work, she was just leaving her apartment when the first plane hit, and that was what saved her.
She would have to evacuate her apartment, she was covered in soot and was having trouble breathing, but she was still alive!
I am and always will be thankful that Julie was spared.
To all of those who have suffered because of what happened on that day, my thoughts are with you.
9/11
NYC
WTC

Me & Mat' Kurja (Mother Hen), Ljubljana

2006-09-09T19:56:00.000+02:00

Ljubljana

Some pics from Saturday's Antique Car Show, Ljubljana

2006-09-05T07:27:00.000+02:00

Ljubljana

Picture I Took of a Turtle, Ljubljana

2006-08-29T21:07:00.000+02:00

Ljubljana
turtle

Pictures from Plitvička jezera (Plitvice Lakes), Croatia

2006-08-26T15:27:00.000+02:00

On Wednesday my coworkers and I took a day trip to these beautiful lakes to officially end our vacation.

Flash Slideshow

Plitvice
Croatia

And a few more random scenes in Montréal

2006-08-25T22:21:00.000+02:00

St-Joseph's Oratory

View of Montréal at night from 26th floor at La Cité

View from Mount-Royal

A bunny-rabbit I saw in a park in St-Henri

And this is the front wondow of a wonderful little Turkish restaurant called Avesta (on rue Ste-Catherine, just east of Atwater) . What you can see here is a woman making bread. Quite charming. Their spinach börek is quite tasty!

Montreal
Avesta
St-Joseph's Oratory
Bunny Rabbit

More Scenes and Fun Memories from Summer in Montréal

2006-08-20T17:22:00.000+02:00

Back in Ljubljana and I've taken the time to get back into sync with things. It was an enjoyable summer which passed by so fast (as they always do). I am already back to my translation work and I get back to work at the school on Wednesday.

The jet-lag took a while to wear off this time. The trip back was extremely annoying due to the supposed terrorism plot... The line-ups at security checks were insane and as careful as I was with packing, I still managed to completely forget about my lighter and get it confiscated. Obviously the same thing had happened to everyone else as well. Upon arriving at the Zürich airport, the first thing you saw was a huge crowd of people from various flights run to the nearest bar and begin asking each other for a light..And nobody had one! (annoying while it was going on, but now seems like something out of a Seinfeld episode). My flight had been delayed, but luckily so had my connecting one, so I had time for coffee. My friend Marie-Claire had taken the same flight to Zürich and had missed her connecting flight to Rome, so I had some company to go with that coffee.

What a summer! Wonderful moments spent with family and old friends after so many years, while turning on the news, I was constantly reminded that things were not so wonderful everywhere else.

Back to reality.

I'm glad to be back in Ljubljana, though there are so many things I miss about Montréal, but I'll write all about that in another post. Till then, here are some recorded moments from the summer that I haven't written about till now:

Olivia had a get-together at the Copacabana on St-Laurent before going on vacation, so I at least got to see her once while I was there.

Tara & Olivia

Olivia, David, Sam & Dan
Dan & Me

Koala
On 27th July, Carole had a get-together at Shaika Café to celebrate the one year anniversary of her editing, writing, design business : Silvertree Media

Carole & her mom
Carole & Me

Rok & Karl

Pietro & Marie-Claire

Pedro

Marie-Claire & Danny

The Cake: notice the single green leaf, representing one year. Baked by Carole's mom & it was simply delicious!

On Mondays and weekends I got to hang out with my four-year-old nephew André, who is just the sweetest boy you could ever imagine!

More pics of this fine visit to come soon... I have to clean the flat up and other boring stuff like that...Back to reality indeed...
Montreal

2006-08-09T02:08:00.000+02:00

Montreal Peace March for Israel out of Lebanon

Lebanon

Sushi #2

2006-08-09T01:31:00.000+02:00

Sushi

Cooper the Chameleon and Me at Shaika Cafe, Montreal

2006-08-09T01:19:00.000+02:00

chameleon
Shaika Cafe
Montreal

Picture I took on the terasse at Le Drug Store, Montreal

2006-08-08T05:46:00.000+02:00

The Art of Begging in Montreal

2006-07-29T04:19:00.000+02:00

There is an extremely large amount of panhandlers in Montreal, so you have to be creative...

Montreal

Sushi

2006-07-29T04:03:00.000+02:00

Sushi

VIVE LE LIBAN!

2006-07-19T23:14:00.000+02:00

Some pics from yesterday's demonstration that I went to with Rok and Danny...

Lebanon

Scenes from Montreal...

2006-07-19T22:44:00.000+02:00

Montreal

Back in Montreal

2006-07-19T21:41:00.000+02:00

Well, I'm back in Montreal. I haven't blogged since the airport, as I'm staying with my mother and at the age of 71, she really couldn't care less about the internet. I managed to get one of my brother's old computers and modem, so I have a dial-up connection just for checking e-mails and stuff, but for posting any pics... well, you all remember how it used to be.
I arrived on Friday, spent the afternoon and evening with my family. On Saturday I also spent the day with my mom, then went out for dinner with Tara. We went to a Turkish restaurant then went to a place on St. Denis for a shisha... What struck me as interesting was that despite the no smoking law and not being able to smoke cigarettes indoors, smoking a shisha in the cafe was not a problem (I guess the inspectors don't know what to classify it as or something).
Tara and I got together again on Sunday and spent the day on Ile Ste Helene, where the have an outdoor party every week called picnik electronik. I had read about it before, including some bad reviews. I honestly thought it was pretty good. There was a mixed crowd, young, old, families, a bit of this and a bit of that. We danced, went for a swim, walked around the island. Overall a fun day and I'll definitely be checking it out again during my time here.
Here are some pics from that day...

Airports...

2006-07-14T10:01:00.000+02:00

I'm at the Zürich airport waiting for my flight to Montreal which leaves in just under three hours. I've been here all night and am exhausted and irritated beyond belief. Wishing I had managed to get a better connecting flight, wishing that a certain special someone was with me...
Well, other than that, I actually love airports. I always have, ever since I was a kid. When we'd go to visit my grandparents and relatives in Slovenia(then Yugoslavia), there weren't any direct flights (still aren't except charter), so many hours of my childhood summers were spent airports in London, Paris, Zürich, Frankfurt. I love watching the screens and seeing where all those planes were coming from and going to. So many people who looked so different than what I was used to. All these cultures, personalities, languages in one place, a half-way point for some... I was fascinitated with airports back then.
Well, as dear as they were to me, yesterday was my birthday and I seriously could think of much better places than I could have spent the night than sleeping in the waiting area. Airports feel different at the age of 33 than at the age of 3. People no longer seem foreign, no matter where they are from. Instead of visiting Slovenia from Canada, it's the other way around.
It has been four years since I visited the city I grew up in. This should prove to be an interesting summer.....

Mostar...

2006-07-12T16:04:00.000+02:00

Picture I took of a man painting, Sarajevo

2006-07-09T18:25:00.000+02:00

2006-07-09T01:29:00.000+02:00

Man with the musical suit

Ok, this is really weird... a Russian, some breakdancing, some dogs, a pig.... and what's up with the fat guy in the cape???

Sarajevo....

2006-07-08T19:53:00.000+02:00

On an emotional level, Sarajevo was a lot for me to handle.
Bosnia itself has always had a special place in my heart, its warm atmosphere, the blend of the orient and the west. These elements are still there, yet since my last visit to Bosnia, another element has been added: the reminder of war.

The "old" part of Sarajevo (Barščaršija) is still as charming and cozy as ever (if you don't let the beggars get on your nerves too much). While sitting there, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying my "kahva", I felt so at home....

I continued to enjoy the sites, the beautiful architure of Sarajevo's mosques and churches.... My heart sank when I saw the library, which is now being renovated due to damage sustained from the war... more and more such buildings kept appearing, but that wasn't what broke me...
What were once sports fields in the Olympic village are now resting places for the dead. And as I looked up at the beautiful green hillsides that completely surround Sarajevo, hillsides that are now overgrown with white obelisks, I began to cry...

Picture I took of a man smoking, Barščaršija, Sarajevo

2006-07-07T08:16:00.000+02:00

The Tunnel of Life

2006-07-05T00:22:00.000+02:00

During the war this tunnel was Sarajevo's only connection with the outside world.

Nostalgia and Bosnian Pyramids

2006-07-04T08:24:00.000+02:00

This weekend I took a bus-trip with coworkers to Bosnia and Herzegovina. A short trip it was, but I saw several lifetimes' worth of beauty, passion, strength and tragedy.
I hadn't been to Bosnia since before the war and I wasn't really sure what exactly to expect. Now that I'm back in Ljubljana, I wish I could go back...spend a few more days in Sarajevo... a couple in Mostar, then come back in time to leave for Montreal....tempting... No, no...I can't do it. Though the school year has ended, I still have a few translations to submit before leaving... kind of limited financially too *sigh*. Anyhow, about the trip...
First of all, I'd like to say that Boban was kind enough to lend me his camera for the trip (Thanks Bobo!). Yes, I'm one of the only losers left on the planet who does not own a digital camera (time for me to make a wishlist...), so I usually borrow one at work. Ok, back to the trip....
We left in the extremely early hours of the morning, almost 3am. I passed out at some point right after crossing the Croatian border. When I woke up, we were in Slavonski Brod, not far from the Bosnian and Serbian borders. We stopped there for a while and had some coffee, breakfast. We still had a long day ahead of us. Sarajevo was still far away.
I was still rather sleepy when we crossed the Bosnian border. I faced the window, daydreaming, became a bit more aware of things when I realised I recognized the place. It was Gradiska. Well, back when I visited it in 1990, it was still known as "Bosanska Gradiska". I had gone there to visit a friend, Dragana Dojcinovic She had spent a couple of years living in Montreal with relatives. I'm not sure why she had to go back.
I wondered what had ever become of Dragana as I continued to stare out the bus window. Now this is part of "Republika Srpska"... A lot more Cyrillic than I remember there being 16 years ago. As the drive contued, I felt nostalgic...
I fell into a bit of a daze until I began noticing all the signs of the war. I began to cry. Until I looked up and saw a pyramid.
Well, I don't know if it's really a pyramid or just an oddly-shaped hill. I had read something a while back about a recent claim of finding pyramids in Bosnia. Hmmm, so this was Visoko. It would be nice if it turned out to be true. After what these people have been through, they deserve a break. And whether the theory is bullshit or not, pyramids in Europe would be extremely cool :)

Our next stop was at Ilidza, where we had a look at Vrelo Bosna, the source of the Bosna river. I was extremely enchanted by the park's beauty and took a long walk and tried to soak up as much of its energy as possible.

Ok.So much more to say, but I have to get some work done..Enough procrastinating. I'll be writing more about this wonderful trip in my next post, which will probably be later on today... (yeah, I'll need a break)

World Cup Humour...

2006-06-24T17:43:00.000+02:00

A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway in Germany.
A man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down his window
and asks, "What's going on?" The man tells him, "Terrorists
have kidnapped three England fans for a 10 million euro ransom
or they're going to douse them with petrol and set them on fire.
We're going from car to car, taking up a collection."

The driver asks, "How much is everyone
giving, on average?"

The man replies, "About two gallons..."

And on the eighth day, God created Lego!

2006-06-23T19:06:00.000+02:00

Apparently this has been covered by all kinds of media over the past few years, but it's news to me.
Bible stories illustrated with Lego blocks!

The Brick Testament is a project created by th e "Reverend" Brendan Powell Smith, who is not an actual reverend, but rather an atheist. He began this project as a website back in October 2001 that featured six stories from the book of Genisis. The popularity of the website has also spawned a Brick Testament book series. All stories are retold using direct quotes of passages from the Bible, with chapter and verse numbers cited. Smith claims that he created The Brick testament to increase people's knowledge of the Bible, whether they are believers or not.

The website and book series have become popular both among religious believers who often use its material for evangelical and instructional purposes and among non-Christians who view The Brick Testament as pointing out what they consider to be absurdities in the Bible.

Funny? Disturbing? Creative? You decide!

ALERT FOR METELKOVA!

2006-06-18T21:20:00.000+02:00

It was a topic in a recent post of mine and I'm so pissed off at myself for not having gone to the demonstration to protest its demolition. Hopefully it isn't too late. To all of you out there who support the arts, take some time to read this and help out!
Thanks!

ALERT FOR METELKOVA

"On Wednesday, June 14th 2006, at 6am, the government Inspectorate for the Environment and Spatial Planning brought an excavating machine to the Autonomous Cultural Zone Metelkova, Ljubljana, to tear down one of the buildings of the converted ancient army barracks which they consider to have been erected illegally. The cultural workers and supporters of Metelkova prevented the action. This attempt to destroy one of the liveliest cultural and intellectual locations in Ljubljana was the third in these past few months. Various inspections have recently intensified their interventions during cultural events at Metelkova.

The government of Slovenia is acting in accordance with a recently passed law on catering industries. Under the cover of its strict provisions regulating commercial activities, which cannot be fulfilled by the non- profit associations and NGOs of Metelkova, the executive might as well put an end to the largest agglomeration of alternative cultures in the country. Metelkova provides 40% of the non-commercial music events in the city.

Its attendance can favourably be compared with that of the established Ljubljana Festival. It is the second largest provider of cultural events in Ljubljana. Metelkova is the only location in the city, and one of the few in the country, where youth cultures and alternative cultures are systematically produced and presented to a large and active audience. It is also a forum of impressive intellectual irradiation. During each academic year, it organises the Workers' Punkers' University where the most urgent dilemmas of the contemporary world are discussed by competent international speakers.

Metelkova recently hosted the annual meeting of TransEuropeHalles. During the 13 years of its existence, projects at the Autonomous Cultural Zone Metelkova have been supported by the Ministry of Culture and by the City of Ljubljana, as well as by many international sponsors. Producers from Metelkova have been participating to Documenta, Manifesta, Sao Paolo Biennial, Venice Biennale, Wiener Festwochen? Many international festivals held in Ljubljana locate part of their activities at Metelkova: The City of Women, The Other Music, Jazz Festival Ljubljana, Trnfest? Metelkova has been presented as an outstanding phenomenon by international media: ARD, Arte, BBC, Belarus' State TV, Die Zeit, Falter, Feral Tribune, Los Angeles Times, ORF, Russian State TV, Seattle Times, ZDF? Metelkova is a squat initiated in 1993, when a group of alternative producers and activists occupied the ancient barracks of the army headquarters near the centre of Ljubljana in order to prevent its illegal destruction, which was launched by still unknown agents presumably led by speculative real-estate interest. Although it has never succeeded in achieving a proper legal status, the location was registered as national cultural heritage in 2005. ACZ Metelkova is under attack. Its people are ready to defend it. They need support. Please circulate this information.

If you want to express your support, please write to the Prime Minister: Janez.Jansa@gov.si and to the Minister of Culture: vasko.simoniti@gov.si"

Back after another long pause...

2006-06-11T09:49:00.000+02:00

After a couple of months of being overworked, things are starting to calm down again. The hard work did pay off, as I was able to get enough cash together to get my ticket to Montreal. This trip is a much needed one for several reasons. I haven't seen Mom in almost 4 years, nor my brothers, my nephew André was a month old the last time I saw him. My neice is 15 now... Of course, it'll also be great to visit the old hang-outs and catch up with old friends that are still there.

More good news, this year the union organised a little weekend staff trip for those interested, to Sarajevo & Mostar. It'll be at the end of this month. I'm anxiously awaiting this trip, yet I know that some of it will be difficult for me, as I haven't been to Bosnia since before the war.

Today will be busy enough, there's laundry to do, some e-mails to write, meeting Boban and Matija for lunch later on, a couple of translations that are due tomorrow and some tests to correct. (Procrastinating right now...)

As my workload has become lighter, I'm faced with several decisions to make, which would mean extreme change in my life. These issues had been stuck in limbo for quite some time now since my relationship with my dearest became a long-distnce one. I now have one month to decide: stay in Slovenia or give living in Jordan a chance. In ten years and starting from nothing, I have managed to build a life for myself here. I have a lot to think through, though this has been made easier by the fact that I have the best boss in the world, who offered me a "safety-net" in case I do decide to give Jordan a try for a year and things don't work out. Somewhat reassuring and makes giving it a shot seem less scary. The thing is, I have to let her know before I leave to Canada, which will be 13 July. For some decisions, plenty of time.... for this one, not nearly enough.

I love Ljubljana. I love this neighbourhood. I love how the river is close by,how there are many bike and walking paths, how green everything is, how the building is surrounded by trees and playgrounds.

As I look out the window, I know these are things I'd miss greatly. Though probably not as much as I miss him...

Amateur graffiti contest at Metelkova Mesto, Ljubljana

2006-04-27T17:07:00.000+02:00

Metelkova Mesto happens to be one of my favourite places in this town. For those of you who are not familiar with Ljubljana, until 1991 Metelkova Mesto was the location of military barracks of the Yugoslav People's Army. After Slovenia declared independence and the Yugoslav army left, the place was squatted by several artists, musicians, students, etc. and became somewhat of a centre for underground/alternative culture. It is also the location of a wonderful youth hostel called "Celica" (The Cell), which is a former military prison (each prison cell was converted into a bedroom-- you can read more about the place here.)
Anyhow, I won't get into anymore of the place's history in this post, as you can all see by the title, it's supposed to be about a graffiti contest...
I saw some posters announcing this contest that was organized by a secondary school students' association. I wasn't quite sure exactly what to expect as I've never attended a graffiti contest before.
I arrived there a bit late, the contest had already started. From what I found out, each contender was given 8 cans of spray paint and 3 hours time.
Well, I'm not an artist, nor am I an art critic, but I'd have to say, that some of these young artists have a lot of potential. Here are a few shots of them at work:

While this was happening, some other kids tried to demonstrate their breakdancing skills (or lack thereof) to various rap and hiphop tunes....

Finally, the 3 hours were up... The judges walked around, rated the work and made their decision....

Here are the winners :

First prize

Second prize

Third prize

Oh, and here is a possible contender for the 2016 contest, getting an early start! ;)

These and the rest of the pics from the contest can be seen here.

As it is Metelkova is already the host of lots of interesting and unusual graffiti and other works of art... I'll end this post with some examples...

The Poem Lasting Fifteen Minutes

2006-04-21T13:58:00.000+02:00

Count to sixty,
fifteen times.
(I might have been famous then.
You might have missed it.)

New addition to the blogging world...

2006-04-16T09:41:00.000+02:00

I would like to announce that my dearest has officially joined the world of blogging... sort of an on-line gallery of his photographs. There's some really great stuff here and I'm not just saying that because he's someone I love like crazy.

Check it out here!

photo by Omar N.

Happy Birthday Ata....

2006-04-04T21:23:00.000+02:00

You know I would never forget your birthday. You would have been 78 today. I miss you. I can't believe it has been it has been 7 years since I lost you. I can't believe it has been over 7 years since our last conversation over the phone. I can't believe it has been almost 8 years since we last sat together face to face in the car on the way to the airport. I remember that converation so well. We cleared a lifetime's worth of stuff up during that talk. When I said we'd continue it on my next summer break, you looked at me and said: "Mucka, naslednje leto me ne bo." ("Kitten, I won't be here next year.") I didn't want to believe it. I still don't.
I'm sorry I wasn't there with you the last days. I'm sorry that we played answering-machine-tag that week after the New Year's... I'm sorry that I only found out before it was already too late to be with you; the phone call I got from Mom saying: "Your father is very sick and the doctors can't do anything." The second phone call I got 3 hours later, saying that you were gone.
I'm sorry you weren't there the day I bought my first apartment. I'm sorry you never got to meet the love of my life. I miss how you somehow always knew when I was feeling depressed...like ESP or something...even though I was several thousand kilometres away, whenever I was feeling down, the phone would ring. I'd would answer to hear your voice asking me what was wrong.
Happy Birthday Ata! I will always love you!

Tvoja Mucka

Maria-Consuela

2005-12-04T16:58:00.000+01:00

The secrets of a flagrant momento....

2005-11-27T23:31:00.000+01:00

Once again it is Sunday, otherwise known as laundry day. I've pretty much managed to get over that cold that had been lingering in me all week. At work, it's the end of the first term so there was a lot to do, lots of paperwork, grading papers... December will be a much more fun month, or at least I hope so.
Yesterday I went to a demonstration here in Ljubljana to protest reforms that the goverment plans to make. Most of the unions were there from all over the country, pensioners, students. It was a huge demonstration for Slovenian standards. 40,000 people sure doesn't sound like a lot in terms of a metropolis like London or NYC... But for a small country like Slovenia, it's huge. It was wonderful to see such solidarity and that the huge snowfall didn't keep people from coming out and speaking out.
Today I spent the morning editting and correcting a text I got from one of the agencies I translate for. This afternoon I have to correct the rest of the papers from the English competition that took place on Friday. I need the cash, so I won't complain.
December is almost here...I'm happy and depressed. It's usually a gorgeous month here with so much going on and the town is always so charmingly decorated. But alas, my love is in Amman and neither of us has the money to visit the other at the moment. How cruel and unfair...
I'm already in so much debt as it is.... I wish I knew what to do....
If anyone out there is reading this, I would welcome some suggestions...
Cheers,
Beti

Home on laundry day....

2005-11-20T21:39:00.000+01:00

Already the weekend is almiost over....If nothing else, I can say that at least I'm relaxed... The last week was extremely busy at work and I must say that lack of sleep caught up with me and by Friday morning I felt rather feverish. It didn't stop me from going out though. One of my coworkers Denis managed to reserve us a place in Kras and we had a nice party there....plenty of food, plenty of drink. The music was kind of lame though, but I guess you can't have everything. The teran made up for the crappy music...
When I got home in the early hours of the morning, I was extremely feverish and completely out of it... I stuffed myself with vitamins and after a brief chat with my dearest, I went to sleep. I slept most of yesterday as well...woke up at noon, made some soup, chatted a bit, went back to sleep till 6, more soup, vitamins, some tea... I supposedly chatted with him again in the evening but I was so out of it that I really don't remember... I fell asleep just after 8pm and slept straight through till this morning. I feel and sound much better though I'm still not at 100%.
As usual, Sunday is laundry day, so I've been doing that, went to do a bit of groceries and made myself a much needed coffee, to counter balance that herbal tea I've been drinking. I chatted with Tara earlier, it was 5am in Montrealand she'd just come in drunk as a skunk but in an extremely good mood. She'd been dying to show me how her place looks now that she's had it repainted and the like. Looks pretty good. My place could use some repainting (at least)...the whole thing needs renovating, but finances are keeping me from getting into such a project at the moment...
Jovan is getting married this spring. I'm happy for him, though I think he may be rushing it. Considering how his last marriage turned out, maybe he should take more time to think this over... But hey, it's his life. Who am I to judge.
So as for me...how to get out of this financial rut? My dear Omar seems to think giving the stock market a chance is the thing to do. I personally can't be bothered...Maybe that's my problem...too lazy...
Anyhow, time to get some cleaning done as the place looks like a dump. Tjaša is coming over in a bit. There's another one who's going thorugh an existentialist crisis.... but aren't we all?
Peace,
Beti

Why Must There Always Be a Title???

2005-11-13T05:21:00.000+01:00

I've been meaning to do this for a while now. As I haven't been disciplined enough to keep a diary in ages, some sort of outlet is needed, I suppose.
I arrived back in Ljubljana very early Monday morning and luckily my boss was kind enough to let me take the day off. I had spent 6 days in Amman then Sunday, my dearest and I left for Aqaba, since that's where my return flight was leaving from. After a wonderful dinner, we walked around Aqaba till it was time to go to the airport...the flight left just after 1am and by the time I reached Ljubljana, I was ready to slip into something more comfortable (like a coma).
On Tuesday I managed to go back to work but was somewhat lost... My entire life has just become so chaotic over the past year, almost like it's out of one of those stupid soap-operas. Too many decisions to make, life altering ones...
I love living in Slovenia, he hates it. He wants to be in Jordan, I'm not sure I could get used to it. After almost 10 years of being here, buying a condo, I love my job and coworkers and love living here, it hurt so much when he said that he couldn't stay, that it was driving him crazy... Should I give Jordan a try?
The explosions in Amman this week didn't make me feel better.... Not that it makes me afraid to go there...I have in places while wars were going on and as much as I hate violence, it isn't something that would scare me enough so I wouldn't want to leave the house... I was so relieved when I called to see where he was and heard that he was safe, visiting a cousin...
Long distance relationships aren't all they're cracked up to be.... but for some reason I've always been somewhat of an incorrigible massochist who is always drawn to things that are anything but simple...
Enough babbling for now as I'm sure this will seem like a bunch of crap for anyone who decides to read it...
Cheers,
Beti

2005-11-12T21:03:00.000+01:00

Betqa