The Cities

Well...I am happy to report that despite an extremely busy Friday last week, I managed to FINISH my scrapbook by 2:50pm before the chaos preparations even began!! This was indeed a huge feet since we were worried I wouldn't finish at all! :)

The weekend was full of family, friends, baseball, baby shower, drinks and lots of food! It was an exceptional weekend I'd say! The Rox (John's baseball team) won both their games and are going to the big play offs this next weekend! I think they are in first even! I started to re read Harry Potter 3 in hopes to jog my memory and begin book 4 when I return home...however in the cities it has been difficult to schedule in Harry time...although maybe after tonight I canone speed read the rest...hmm.

We (Kelsie, John, Sonia, Lynn-and later after a baseball meeting Ron) came down to the Twin Cities Sunday after the ball game. On the way down we enjoyed the BEST burgers ever at a joint called "5 Guys" I am addicted. Since then we've had an exciting stay! Monday Sonia and I went to school with Kelsie (which doesn't sound exciting but it was a good thing we went)...I got a TON of research done for my Model UN topic outline that is due at 11pm tonight and printed some good sources. Then during her break we went to a great cheap store Plato's Closet and spent too much money, but got great deals on name brand clothes that would be triple the price in stores! And I got fall/winter stuff in preparation for Lebanon...it all worked out well! Then Kelsie scanned Sonia and my heart for practice, I admit it was pretty cool!

Yesterday (Tuesday) we spent the whole day at the amusement/waterpark ValleyFair!! It was SOO fun! Despite rumors about being Thunderstormed out, only one hit us and it lasted a mere 20 minutes! No big!! We did all the rides and some multiple times! We were there from 12:30pm-9:30pm so we got our moneys worth out of it for sure!!

I am up finishing my outline, well the annotated bibliography for it anyway and Kelsie is at school and John and Soni are sleeping. We are going to go hang out with Jim, Stacy and Lynn today! Should be fun!

Much love,

Sasha

Busy day ahead...

With Finn's baby shower quickly approaching and the family coming up from the cities this weekend, oh and 2 baseball games to attend! The weekend is not only just around the corner but we have TONS to do to prepare for the occasion!!

Lynn is doing a cool decoration for Finn's shower (shouldn't give it away in case Stacy reads this since Im not sure if its a surprise) that we need to take care of in the early morning. I need to finish my LONDON pictures (yes I have FINISHED my Lebanon part of my scrapbook and am on London!!) tomorrow so we can clean off the table tomorrow night before everyone arrives! We need to run Tiko to the kennel tomorrow afternoon, and strip, wash and replace the sheets in the beds before everyone needs to play musical beds and sleep Friday night!! whooo long day!!! I am doing some pre-tomorrow things as well as starting a little research for my National Model UN background guide right now, but am getting tired so probably will be asleep soon! Scrapbooking is tiring!!! I have seriously gotten into this thing!! haha I am planning on turning this scrapbook into my "summer adventures" scrapbook and will hopefully be able to scrap book last years 21st birthday extraveganza which includes a big trip to Vegas, Disneyland and Mexico before I head back to Lebanon this fall...we'll see. Since I also want to read Harry Potter books 3-7 before I go too!! hahaha How many weeks left?!!

Well I better get to bed!!

Much Love,

Sasha

Time flies when you are....

SCRAPBOOKING??!! Yes, Scrapbooking, I Sasha Sleiman am scrapbooking with my Auntie. AND BONUS I am enjoying it!! hahaha wow!!! (this is where you oo and ahh) I have 12 pages done already, which is exciting but I have SOOOO much more to go! I brought over 200 pictures from Lebanon and London (which was just a fraction of what I have on my computer!) So needless to say Auntie Lynn and I are VERY busy!! Just to give you an idea of our days here is what we've been up to:
Yesterday I woke up around 10, had a bagel and got right into my scrapbook. At 12 we went out to lunch with a friend of Lynns to a new cafe which was really delicious! We got so wrapped up in conversation we were there until 2pm! By 2:30 we were scrapbooking again (well Lynn is working on thank you cards and graduation cards, but shes near by for crisis and creative help). We took a grocery store then dinner/Harry Potter #1 watching break around 5:30. We got right back into scrapbooking again (any pattern here?) and by 9:50 pm we were off to pick up a girl from the neighborhood Amy and went to wait 2hrs for the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blooded Prince!! It was SOOOO GOOD!!! (yes grandma she was fine and in fact it was Lynns idea!! We slept in though this morning to get energy back up). We are planning on seeing it with Kelsie and Soni either this weekend or early next week in the cities! Since Kels NEEDS to see it ASAP!
Then today, I slept till 12...shocking. After "breakfast" and dishes Lynn and I picked fresh rasberries (yuuummm) and as a reward for our work we had a bowl of ice cream with our rasberries!! Then...you guessed it...back to scrapbooking!! This is our first break since then and it is 5pm now. We're waiting for Ron to come home to bbq for us then Lynn is going to get Granny and go to a church thing. I think Ron and I will be watching a movie or two. And yes, I didnt just skip details or thing it was too much info to write it, its true, I haven't showered at all since the scrapbooking began. Discusting! Tonight before starting the movie I am vowing to myself I'll get in! :) hehehe I am sure I smell great!

Gotta get back to my scrapbook! Lots to go!

Much love,

Sasha

Minnesota

So I had thought I wouldn't write on my blog again now that I am stateside, but it dawned on me today, technically I am still traveling! :) I am Minneapolis this weekend and off to Ortonville this afternoon for a wk then back to Minneapolis next Monday! I am here visiting my mom's side of the fam this time! I have been with cousins Jim, Stacy, baby Finn and Kelsie. We have had a great weekend already!! I met Finn which I have been waiting 6 months to do and he is just the most precious child I have ever seen!! He has been such a good boy this weekend despite a recent stint of colic which has been tough on Jim and Stacy. He seemed to take a little break with it this weekend though. I have decided we are best friends now because we had a few good long holding moments and I even changed a diaper and put on his pjs once! I am not nearly as coordinated while holding him as his mommy so I mostly just sat with him unless he was squirmy and wanted to walk around...being the clutz that I am I didnt dare "multitask" with him, which I told Stacy I think is an art only known to parents!
Saturday was a lazy day turned epic. Kelsie and I got up early (despite our mind and bodies desires) to go shopping at a second hand store that only sells name brands. They had this $10 bag sale and anything you could fit into this small plastic bag you could buy for 10 dollars!! We did pretty good too, we both rolled our clothes up tightly and got a lot in there! Kels got 2 pairs a of jeans and like 4 or 5 shirts and I got a pair of American Eagle sweat pants and 6 shirts!! So basically everything I got was just over a dollar!! And I got a really great silk, nice shirt thats good for going out AND work! BONUS! and some wintery shirts that will be good for fall in Lebanon! YAY We were pretty tuckered out from our shopping trip and our Friday night drinks with Jim the night before so we came home and layed out in the sun trying to catch a tan then watched Enchanted (well "watched" is relative since we slept thru most of it). Before heading off to Jim and Stacy's place Kelsie cooked us a great dinner of grilled corn, pork chops and tator tots!! YUMMY! Stacy's sisters came over Saturday along with her mom and all of us and Kelsie and Jim went on a "walkabout" as they call it! It was really fun, walking from bar to bar for a few hours! We got to have a good "grown up" night while Jim's aunt and uncle Les and Deann baby sat Finn and Stacy's nephew Austin for the night! Sunday I spent the day with Jim, Stacy and Finn since John was still playing ball in Ortonville and Kelsie had to work. We had a bit of a lazy day watchin movies and hanging out with Finn. We took a nice long walk to calm Finn down and return our movie too! Finn LOVES walks outside! He is so precious!! Well, Kels just got home from school! Time to go to Ortonville!!

Much Love,

Sash

Home

Hello everyone! At the request of my grandma I just thought I'd let everyone know I've made it home safely and am glad to be here!! The summer is going to go by super quick! I am headed out on Friday to spend 2 weeks with my Auntie Lynn and Uncle Ron and my cousins John and his wife Kelsie and Jim and his wife Stacy and their beautiful baby boy Finn! I am really excited! Then its back to work for a month and a half then I am off to NYC for 3 days in September followed directly by Lebanon!

I am going to keep this website up and start a blog about living in Lebanon when I get there and start my M.A...so keep checking it starting in October!! Thanks for everyone's support!

Much love,

Sasha

Despite a previous post....

I am staying in Lebanon for two years as previously planned!! It has been nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster ride of life decision making. After making my first decision to back out of my M.A and come home I was really upset and regreted such decision. So after having a conversation with a friend of my dad and trying countless times to explain to family and friends why I wasn't coming back, which I couldn't quite do well, I decided I really wanted to stay. There are a lot of things that I struggle with here but I've decided instead of dwelling on them in boredom I would use them to become a stronger person. Learning Arabic as well as I hopefully will over the course of 2 years will be a huge lifetime benefit for me that is priceless. Also I have a lot to look forward to with my studies and hopefully the opportunity to meet politicians here through a family friend. I think I finally made the right decision, but as my best friend's older sister Natalie said, sometimes its just a relief to make a decision at all! :)

I will be home soon!! We land in Seattle July 2nd around 5pm! See you all very shortly! OH For those of my friends/family in WA, if you are able we need to get together before I leave Sept 16th. Email or call me if you're in the Wenatchee Valley or whatever!

Much Love,

Sash

Things I've Learned on my Journey....

Now that things are winding down on my stay here in Lebanon I have been thinking a lot about all the things I have learned during my stay. Now, there is a laundry list for sure. Some are silly, some are too personal to share but some are big/interesting so I thought I'd share them.

1. I DETEST Mosquitos. I seriously hate the little things. I mean do they serve a purpose? Besides causing itchiness and spreading disease...yuck.

2. I learned I have a deep passion for women's issues and that Feminism isn't just a crazy bunch of nonsense for women who hate all men. On that line I also learned I like to write and share both my experiences and experiences of others and that maybe I had it right with the first major I declared....Journalism....oops! :)

3. I've learned a bit about what it takes and what it means to be a good Lebanese woman...and that I don't quite fit that mold. The importance of hospitality and service. While I didnt end up learning how to cook, I learned the importance of food and the rituals of cooking. I learned how much labor it takes to keep a house clean when you dont have 'help'. That men are most of the time served first and if a man is at the table in a restaurant regardless of who is ready to order the waiter will look at him first. That Muslim women here "chose" to cover their heads, they are not forced by the government like in Saudi Arabia or Iran, and while many people do, many others dont. And of those who do 1/2 of them bedazzle their head scarves to make them fancy...

4. I learned what its like to have brothers...and have the bruises to show it

5. I learned the difference between Lebanon as a vacation spot and Lebanon as a place to live....thats a big one.

6. I learned the difference between the sounds of gunshots, bombs, thunder and fireworks (important)

7. The value and importance of family...and the drama that can ensue when you live to close together...

8. That Arabic is much more difficult than expected and you don't just "pick it up" around the house. The formal Arabic taught in classrooms and the spoken language are worlds apart...

9. Turns out I actually get homesick...this is something I did NOT expect

10. And most important, I learned that I am through and through an American! There are many many things I love about Lebanon but I learned that my home is in America and that I truly value the rights and freedoms we have in our country. Although to people here in Lebanon it seems like we have too many rules to abide by (aka laws....something that are just suggestsions here) they are in place to protect our way of life and our laws are nothing compared to the social laws they have to abide by here. Independence is something I have strived for since I left for college and that is exactly what being an American is about (well partly I mean). Independence is not something many women my age have here, and it is something I need to be happy.

All in all my two months here were an excellent experience. I truly learned a lot and thought long and hard about what I want out of life and who I am. I have realized I know neither, completely! :) Not in a bad way, but in a "I need time to grow up a bit" way. I am excited to come home to the States and work for my own money and live a life of appreciation for my country while maintaining a curiousity and a thirst for knowledge of how other people live in other countries. In the last couple of weeks I have changed my mind once again on the path that life is going to take me down and I will be coming home in July for "good". (I will never stop travelling so Im not sure what "for good" actually means!) While I wont pursue an MA in the states immediately after returning home due to deadlines of universities and such like I could if I were here in Lebanon, I am planning on working and saving money so that perhaps I can afford by this winter to take an unpaid internship in DC or NYC to get my foot in the door with the UN or the Federal Government. One important thing I learned is that I need to just be Sasha and I need to figure out just what being Sasha means before I throw myself into a culture that requires so much personal adaptation. :)

Thanks for reading my blog! If something exciting happens in the next week I'll report it. We are leaving Lebanon June 30th then spending a few days in London with Mara and we'll all be home July 2nd! I am looking forward to seeing everyone! I have missed home quite a lot! But what I am most excited for is my 2 week trip to Minnesota to see my moms side of the family and meet the newest addition to our family Finn who has become quite the blessing and the most important miracle our family has seen for sure!!

Much love,

Sash