The Starbucks Tour of Paris

You know it's vacation time when the Kindles, iPads, and e-books come out!

One of the awesome aspects of life during this season is the opportunity to travel (usually out of necessity) to some really amazing places. The only down side is that 2 nights is never enough to explore one of the world's most famous cities. However we packed in as many sights and as much Starbucks as was possible.

After some not so surprising delays at the airport and having to switch hotels, we were finally off to see the city and eat lunch at about 4 pm. Oh and it was nice and chilly...very chilly.

Our first stop: Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

After searching the streets of Paris for a decently priced meal in this major shopping district, thunderclouds were rolling in. We found a great table at the Pizza Pino situated along the sidewalk on Champs - Elyssess just as it started raining heavily.

Enjoying delicious French cuisine!

After lunch/dinner, we began our search for the illustrious Starbucks with full bellies. A few hours, several poor direction givers, more rain showers, and three pair of wet socks later, we found the fanciest looking Starbuck ever!

Isn't she a beaut!

The next we had a schedule full of sightseeing!

Notre Dame!

The Lock Bridge and Notre Dame

Once we'd explored the Notre Dame cathedral, we found a nearby American based bookstore called, "Shakespeare and Company." It was a quaint, old bookstore that was home to many expat writers like William Faulkner and Scott Fitzgerald. After another Starbucks run, we enjoyed some rock and roll music over our Hard Rock Cafe American food!

Next Stop: Tour Eiffel

For dinner, Beth treated us to an appetizer of escargot and I got to eat my words. You see, Beth's made escargot here before and after watching the snails crawl around in flour for a few days, I had absolutely no appetite for them. So I said, "If I'm gonna eat snails, it'd have to be escargot in Paris or something!" So, it happened!

Parisian escargot! Lots of flavor!

My first taste of escargot caught on tape!

We had a great trip to the lovely city of Paris, it was just too short!

Local Wedding: 3ris

*All photos are courtesy of Jordan!

"All the single ladies" take a pre-wedding picture

We wore modern clothes to this event. Thanks sis for sending the lovely blue dress!

The big day has finally arrived! hehe! Wedding services are more similar to a normal wedding reception in America than an actual ceremony. This particular wedding was scheduled for 3 pm on Friday afternoon. We'd finally learned our lesson and arrived around 4:30, which was perfect timing, because the refreshments were just being distributed. ;)

The event was held in a beautiful, and exceedingly ornate event hall with a live band, dance floor, stage for the bride and groom, and round tables for all the guests. The music only lets up when the band needs a break, but there are no exchanging of the vows.

The stage

Maybe I like food a little too much or maybe everyone thinks like this, but I remember the "order of service" (read in very sarcastic quotation marks) by what foods we were given.

To begin, we were offered traditional mint tea or Arabic coffee. As the guests enter, they greet the bride and groom and their respective families and people they know.

Then a round of traditional sweets are offered while the couple poses for pictures under some intense lighting.

About the time the fruit cocktails come around the dancing usually starts. This was the first wedding where we weren't forced to dance awkwardly in front of all the other seated guests.

More yummy sweets.

The families of the couple give jewelry and display it proudly, signifying that their marriage is official Hors d'oeuvres (of sorts) are served at the end and allude to the fact that they wedding is over. Then everyone goes for a goodbye kiss.

A pic with the lovely bride

goodbye kisses

It may sound simple, but it lasts hours. Our friend's wedding was so beautiful and we are so thrilled for her! Sahalik!

Local Wedding: Nzul

After our interesting time at the henna party, where we learned so much, we attended the Nzul on Wednesday evening. Nzul is also known as the "bride's wedding." We were told the party started at 9 pm, but knowing how time is viewed in this country, we didn't arrive until 9:30, yet we were still too early. The bride didn't arrive until at least 10 and the party was still rocking when we left at 1:30 am.

The nzul is quite similar to the actual wedding, but with fewer guests and few odd rituals. As is typical, there was a live band, a small ornately decorated stage with a couch for the bride and groom, and sweets abounding. This one happened to take place in the bride's backyard.

All dressed up in our traditional robes for the nzul!

The bride dressed in traditional clothes on stage

The beautiful bride and her sister

We're slowly melting in the mid summer evening heat...

The bride meets the groom and they walk in together...

One of the bride's 3 gowns of the evening. Her attendants walked her onto the stage and around her several times with candles, then she stood in these heavy clothes while her future mother-in-law swayed her back and forth from behind. We're still trying to figure this one out exactly.

Of course, there's always Arabic dancing!

During the course of all these events, we were served fruit cocktails, several types of traditional sweets, and fried shrimp! It was a tasty, beautiful,  albeit long evening.

Local Wedding: Hamam & Henna

Hamam
The first wedding event starts multiple days before the actual wedding. In the case of our friend, she started the wedding week on Monday and sealed the deal on Friday. Traditionally the bridal party including the bride, her "attendants", her mother, future mother-in-law, future sisters-in-law, and any other important woman on either side of the family attend the Hamam. The word, hamam, is actually an Arabic word for bath. The women gather in what is similar to a communal sauna, where they pour warm water over themselves and sit as long as they can bear it. When its as hot as they can stand, they leave the sauna and lay on a (generally) a stone table, where a worker literally comes at 'em with a loofa. The lady scrubs all the dead skin (and some fresh skin if she's good) off, leaving the bride and attendants fresh and clean for the big day. Many times the bride must also have a full body wax and endure an inspection from her future mother-in-law also.

Returning to the bride's house, woman wear a long white or cream colored shawl (notice the video of the ladies in the carriage).

Henna
In the evening, a woman comes to the bride's house to apply henna and harkoose. Harkoose is similar to what we in the States call henna, as in where you put the dye is where the temporary tattoo shows up. Henna here is a very different story:

First they heat a type of wax over a small bed of coals, as pictured above.

Then the hot wax is painted onto the skin, typically the hands or feet, to create a design.

Then they apply the henna, which is generally a powder mixed with water (or motor oil to make it appear redder) that is then pasted onto the area.

Working hard on the henna

Once the henna has been applied, it must be wrapped in a glove or sock like thing to dry. 

I just got a small henna tattoo on my foot, like the bride did.

In hindsight, I should've gone with some harkoose, because this mostly just looks like I stepped in something.

Beth and I in our traditional outfits for the henna hafla.

During the henna party, all of the groom's "womenfolk" return in their dressy garb and then the singing and partying begins. Everyone gathers around the bride and the henna ladies grab their tambourines and start singing loudly. We were enjoying the entertainment, when suddenly everyone starts throwing money into a tray in front of the bride. At the end of the song, everyone then takes their money back and gives change to the henna ladies. We repeated this process two or three times in as many locations before we realized that whatever amount someone puts into the tray, they're expected to give 10% to the ladies who applied the henna. It's certainly a cultural experience, enjoy a few small glimpses:

The festivities continued to include three wardrobe changes for the bride and dancing well into the night.

Local Weddings: A Preview

Wedding season is upon us here along the Med! Weddings, Engagements, and the entire "dating" process in general is one of the things that's most different from my home culture. It's taken me some time to figure it all out...and I doubt I actually know as much as I think I do. :) But for this week's blog series, we'll start at the wedding week and maybe one day soon, I'll get around to explaining all that's involved in the dating and getting engaged process. 

Instead of one large wedding ceremony and reception, here they have what I like to call a "Wedding Week." Which can be different for everyone but generally involves 3-4 large parties. One of our dearest friends recently got married, so I'll walk you through each of the ceremonies this week. Her events took place on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so check back on each of those days for a new blog post on local weddings!

I'll leave you with this caravan of wedding attendants, a sight that is seen quite often and all over the city this time of year:

And a preview of our friend's Wedding Week:

#69 Senior Citizen's Day

#69 Senior Citizen's Day
August 21, 2013

Apparently, we are close enough to being senior citizens that we were given some anti-aging moisturizer! haha. So kind and thoughtful! We were also given the movie, Up, to watch and, y'all, that movie is just so sad...especially in the beginning. Although I'm not sure I've ever been able to watch it all the way through...I'm too old to watch a movie without falling asleep. ;) 

#70 See ya tomorrow Day

#70 See ya tomorrow Day
August 22, 2013

Surprisingly enough, out of all the celebrations we enjoyed this summer - this was the only "made up" one! And it's probably one of my favorite because it meant that our amazing friends returned! We are so glad to have them back and to be able to live life with them again!

And speaking of our dear friends, here's a picture of us with them (compliments of Jordan's camera) This will also serve as a sneak peek from next week's topic: local weddings. Stay tuned.

#67 National Potato Day

#67 National Potato Day
August 19, 2013

Who doesn't love a good potato? Baked, fried the French way, or if you're like my mom and sister, just sliced and salted will do! Luckily, we had already planned a "Potato Bar" for our meal.

It looks like I'm about to lose some potato here, but believe me, no potato was lost. ;)

#60 Middle Child's Day

#60 Middle Child's Day
August 12, 2013

A day to celebrate the "forgotten or overlooked"middle children. Since I'm and oldest child and Beth's a youngest, we got to make the day special for the middle kids we knew. So we took our friends twins out for ice cream. It took us forever to find a place, but judging by the size of the ice cream scoops, it was well worth the wait.

I think Sammy was mostly excited about going "bye-bye"

I scream you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

#57 National Book Lover's Day

#57 National Book Lover's Day
August 9, 2013

No special pictures or anything on this fabulous holiday, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to share a few "funny because it's true" sayings.

1. The Inspirational Reading Quote:

2. The Oddity of a Young Reader:

Ok, I didn't have any cats growing up, but I'm expecting my Mom and sister to laugh at the reality of this cartoon. ;)

3. The Sad Reality of a Devoted Book Reader:

Admittedly, I have to stop myself from starting "a good book" when I know I don't have the time...

4. The Way I Should Respond to the Uneducated (but seldom do):

In other book-related news, I just started reading Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief ( That's right J and H, get ready for a project). It's a great read! Everybody loves an easy, first person book. But I'm currently in the market for "must reads" to add to my reading list. Please let a comment and give me you favorite book titles and why you love them!

#48 National Cheesecake Day

#48 National Cheesecake Day
July 30, 2013

Another holiday that's hard not to love. ;) Our friends gave us an easy Oreo (something that's hard to find here) cheesecake box mix. It was quite delicious...it looks like even Chess is crouching the background, waiting on a slice.

#46 National Milk Chocolate Day

#46 National Milk Chocolate Day
July 28, 2013

To celebrate such a tasty holiday, we cooled down with homemade milkshakes!

#44 Aunt and Uncle's Day

#44 Aunt and Uncle's Day
July 26, 2013

A few weeks ago our friend told us that her 3 year old daughter was trying to ask if we were coming to their house that day, but she got a little tongue tied and instead of calling us friends or family she's says, "Mom is our framily coming to our house today?" It's surprising how accurate that expression is, because we are friends yet a lot like surrogate family - so framily is actually the perfect term for it.

For Aunt and Uncle's day, we gave our friend's a night out while we babysat. However, since the fasting holiday was in full swing over here, we also prepared a dinner and movie night at our house for them to enjoy.
Beth make crockpot chicken tacos and a cheesecake!

A night complete with popcorn making kit and everything. ;)

And we got to hang out with these cuties (and one more not pictured):

#39 National Hammock Day

#39 National Hammock Day

July 22, 2013

This has to be one of my favorite holidays ever! I love hammocking! Here's a shameless plug for a favorite hammock that my sister and the friend got me a few birthdays ago: http://www.eaglesnestoutfittersinc.com/ love their hammocks!

This holiday also reminds me of a time years ago when I spent nearly a month sleeping every night in a hammock along the Amazon. Those were hot, yet life changing, good times.

Beth had her hammock set up in her room for a while, so I took advantage!

LIKE the hammock!

Throwback: a view from my hammock in Colorado