Well I know it's been long since I've written but man has it been crazy here.  We had a great Thanksgiving celebration here and I even got to watch my first turkey be prepared; which was interesting to say the least.  My roommate and I also put up our Christmas tree the other day (lights, ribbons, ornaments, tree skirt and the rest - all of which we got at the market).  After we put up the tree we then watched Elf (my holiday tradition) and then A Muppet Christmas Carol (my roommates holiday traditions).  It feels weird that Christmas is almost here and I can't wait to start baking Christmas cookies and maybe even some bread.
So there is now a new addition to our family here.  My roommate and I have adopted a little kitten that we found in our farm a month ago.  We were going to name it The Dread Pirate Roberts but then we found out it was a girl so we changed the name to The Dread Pirate Roberta aka Little Bit.  She is the cutest thing and we decided to keep her inside with us.
It snowed the other day and even though it didn't stick it made me feel like winter really is on it's way.  We've had a lot of challenges here lately but it's still been good being here.  We met some new people the other day and had some interesting conversations about this month's special events and celebrations; it was amazing to have that discussion.  My language is coming a bit better but it's still hard sometimes to find the right word.
I know have a few more things to add to my list of things I never thought I'd do.  One is wash my clothes by hand in a bucket then dry them on a rack because our washer is broken.  The washer is broken here so we wash them by hand then put them in the washer to rinse and spin (because our washer will do that much which honestly makes me laugh).  Our power has also been out here lately so now we only have power for about three hours everyday (which I heard is normal here sometimes - so I'm glad that we have had this much time with full power).  I think I can now say that I am fully living in a different culture :)

We have had a lot of fun here going to the bazaar, hanging with friends, and meeting new people.  Well that's all for now more to come with more pictures coming soon.

I realized the other day it has been a long time since I posted any new blogs.  It’s hard to believe that November is half way over and this year will soon end within a little over a month.  It’s been a crazy yet exciting year and while I’m fairly certain that at the beginning of the year if you’d told me I’d be living here I would have laughed.  But even through all the ups and downs that have brought me here I wouldn’t change it for the world.
With Thanksgiving soon approaching it made me realize how different my holidays are going to be for the next couple of years and how much I’m going to miss the crazy traditions I had back home; like waking up at 3am to go shopping or watching Elf the day after thanksgiving, but I’m excited to begin new traditions here and then take them back with me.
This month has been fun and full of new experiences.  Remember that list from the previous blogs?  Well add watching a live turkey get prepared for Thanksgiving and dance at a Tatooine wedding to the list.  I don’t know if I mentioned it the other blog but I went to the women’s salon type thing the other day and got an amazing pedicure and my first ever facial (it was so relaxing…..add those to the list too; I never thought I’d get those done once I left home).  I’ve included some pictures in this blog (hopefully they show up correctly). The one of my hand is from an Eid visit we went on a couple weeks ago.  The girls did henna for our hands and I got my first ever real henna on my hand.  It’s a local tradition here to do henna for holidays, weddings, or really any special occasion.  Speaking of weddings, the other picture is of me in my wedding outfit for the wedding I went to.  While I was there my roommate and I, along with a few other friends, were actually taken to the dance floor and we danced for the first time at a wedding here in Tatooine and it was so much fun.  I also got another henna design for my hand while I was there.  At weddings the family walks around with henna and they put dots in the middle of the hands of the single girls ( supposedly it means you will be married within a year; so I’m not sure how that will play into my life personally J but it was fun to get it done none the less). 
Tomorrow I officially graduate from the first month of language and then I begin the second part where I begin to talk a lot more.  Language has been hard but I feel like I’m learning a lot and I’m trying to remember it won’t all come at once (but you guys probably know how I am with patience).
Well that’s all for now; as always there’s more to come (and next time I won’t wait as long to post).

Today is my weekend and it's been a great day.  My roommate and I decided to have a relaxation day, so we went to a women's center and I got a facial and a pedicure, while she got a pedicure and manicure.  After our relaxing morning we came home and since today is Thursday we had our traditional chicken tenders and french fries Thursday lunch (very cultural......not, but still delicious and our staff loves it).  Last week we went on Eid visits to people's home and while at one of our friend's house her daughter drew henna on mine and my roommates hands for the Eid holiday.  It's funny I went from carving pumpkins, decorating trees, and hiding eggs for holidays to drawing henna on my hands for holidays.  My roommate and I did find some holiday movies we can watch as we put up the tree that was left for us to use this December.  We're already making plans for combining old holiday traditions with new ones as well.  For example watching Elf the day after Thanksgiving (and maybe even making a trip to the market even though there won't be crazy sales or people) then putting up our tree, and watching Ralphie in Christmas Story billions of times and baking peppermint cookies and peanut butter kiss cookies. 
This morning as we drove into town there was snow on the mountains and it made me realize winter is on it's way and I can't wait to make a snowman and snow cream.  My roommate has never lived in a place with snow so it's going to be fun to introduce her to all the joys of snow.  We both realized the other morning that this Saturday will mark one month we've been in Tatooine. Strangely enough it seems longer since we've been here, but in a good way.
I don't know if we mentioned before but we have turkeys in our garden area and the male doesn't like me and my roommate for some reason so every morning he tries to chase us.  I don't know about you but a huge turkey chasing me with a beak and claws on its feet scares me to death.  Our gate guard always comes and saves us from it and then laughs while we run away.  It's been a great week and while I wasn't feeling good earlier this week and I am feeling better and am excited about all this week has in store.  Well more to come soon.

It’s been almost three weeks since I moved to Tatooine (wow that’s a weird sentence to say – it’s hard to believe that I moved here and this is my new home for the next few years but it is and I’m not looking back).  It’s been great getting everything settled and getting into a routine; I still have days where I come home exhausted and just want to curl up and watch movies with my roommate but I still love living here.  Over the past two days I went to orientation for language and culture and got to learn some culture tips, eat national food, and get more familiar with the country.  I’m still learning about the culture and so far I have made a few small cultural blunders but fortunately the people have been very gracious about it. I love the language and even though it makes my heard hurt some days and I still get some words mixed up I love learning it and look forward to going to class every day.  My classmates are great and we have all meshed well and are experts at laughing at our own mistakes as well as making one another smile when we mess up.  Our classes are five days a week and last for four hours and each day I learn new words and look for ways to apply them (correctly – because I have used them incorrectly which also makes for some interesting conversations). 
The other day we went to a French restaurant and I had a Thai salad – oh the joy of multicultural cities.  I also went to the market today and got some fabric and “bling” to make some authentic Tatooine clothing.  It’s amazing how quickly things become normal here that would otherwise be considered out of the ordinary in other places – for examples look back to the previous blog at my list.  There was snow on the mountains the other day and I am getting so excited about the idea that I’ll get to see snow again soon when it begins to fall.  I may even try to make a snowman or some snow cream once it falls.
One of the greatest little surprises my roommate and I have are when we go to the market and we see products (even if they are sometimes expired or a bit expensive in this country standpoint) that are from back home.  My new favorite things are pop tarts (man do I love those things for breakfast) and Nutella – my roommate and I are always keeping our eyes open for those two things in the market because they remind us of home and usually aren’t that expensive and act as a nice “home” treat after a long day.
My roommate is amazing and we have slowly begun to learn each other’s routines, likes, dislikes, and quirks.  I’m really glad that it worked out that we knew each other a bit before coming here and so far we’ve hit it off great – even though we are complete opposites on some aspects of the spectrum of personalities.  Well I think that’s all for now but as always more to come.  Thinking of home and am so glad I know I’m loved and in peoples’ minds daily.

Well week one is done and over with now.  The night before last we made smores or as I called them "chewies" because the marshmallows were a bit old and chewie even when we roasted them.  Last night we had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup (it was one of the best meal we've had since we've been here and the comfort meal was much needed).  After dinner we had lemon and chocolate pie and it was so good to have that comfort food after a long week. So over the course of the last week I've been working on a list of thing that I never thought I would do and then I moved here.  Not that they're bad things but I just never thought I would do them.  So here are the things on my list:

1. Eat stale expired cereal for breakfast because most of the dried canned products are expired here
2. Throw away toilet paper instead of flushing
3. Filter all my water before I use
4. Ride with ten people in a car
5. Make smores in Tatooine
6. Learn another language and try to speak fluently
7. Burn wood to keep warm at night
8. Use gas to cook all meals
9. Drink tea at almost every day
10. Dry clothes inside my house because there are no dryers

I'm sure I'll have more to add to this list later on but for now that's it.  So today we went to meet some new people and it reminded me of when I went to hang with some friends from H2O-ville.  It was great to meet new people.  Hopefully we will go to the market later this week and get local clothes made and do some local grocery shopping.  Well that's all for now; more to come later.

Well my first day of language school is over.  We started today and already I remember why learning language was always hard for me.  The course my teammate and I are in is an interactive intense 6 month language course.  The first two weeks you don't talk at all (except for learning greetings) but instead you listen to your teacher the entire time while they repeat the same words over and over and point to things.  After the teacher has said about 5 or so items (5 times each) they then ask you to point to them, pick them up, put them down, or give them to someone (all in a different language).  They then add more words and some commands like stand up, walk away, come back, sit down to this.  At the end they put all the objects on the table and tell you different commands involving the various objects and places you've "learned" in the room.  Needless to say my head is hurting.  I did make several mistakes but as my teammate keeps telling me I know I "can't take it personal it comes with learning and it's only my first day I'm bound to make mistakes and don't have to be perfect at it."  Which I know I just want to learn the language; at least I'm ok with looking silly.  Oh i forgot to mention the other day our power has technically been out since we got here but we've been using a generator, which I am so thankful for.  We also got to see our first wedding last night and man was it interesting we left at 11pm but I was told that technically we left early since they usually last until 1am or 2am.  We went to the market the other day and I got two free gifts from the shop owners because I agreed to do all my business at their shops and bring other friends there.  I got a gorgeous handmade rug and a beautiful necklace made out of stone in the shape of a heart.  Well that's all for now.  More blogs to come, but for now it's back to studying for language class tomorrow.

Landed safely in Tatooine day before yesterday.  We got through all the different aspects of moving here at the airport and then headed to our new home.  We had dinner then semi unpacked and then went to bed/  I slept for over 12 hours to try to beat jet lag and so far it's seemed to work pretty well.  Yesterday my roommate and I stayed around the house for a while just relaxing and then after lunch we went to the market.  The people here are so friendly and are always concerned about appearances with honor.  At the market once our supervisor introduced us to show us how pleased they were that we would be bringing them our business my roommate and I received a gift from the shop owners at every shop we visited pretty much.  It was so interesting.  After the market we came back and I began to make the apartment my home for the next few years.  I am now officially unpacked and have my room arranged just how I want it but I will no doubt change it again sometime soon.  Today we have the day off and will probably hang out at the house.  Later today we have a wedding to attend for one of our local staff members.  Tomorrow we begin language study which should be interesting.  We also get to talk more with our driver who has already made sure to let us know how much he loves Great Britain because his family is from there even though he himself was born here.  He is so funny and I am excited to get to talk to him and the other staff members.  I'll try to post pictures as soon as I can from my new life here in Tatooine.

Well I'm just one step closer to Tatooine.  We landed the other day in Naboo (a similar country) to have a small break, get over jet lag, and meet new people.  It was great we went to this mall where you can actually ski inside and man did I soon see what I would be doing on vacation. Now I just have to make sure I don't break a leg.  I am realizing as I type this many of my friends are already in bed and I am just now starting my day.  I'm still getting my sleep pattern adjusted which should be interesting once I change my sleep schedule yet again.  We hopefully will be in Tatooine by the end of the week and I am so excited to see the hut people and begin to just submerge myself in the culture.  Well better go get ready for a new day.