Thanksgiving Part 2

To read about the first part of my Thanksgiving you can click here --> read me first. Because some Lebanese friends invited us to dinner on Thursday we had our more traditional American meal on Friday.

We planned our dinner for 3 which meant I got to sleep in :)! Me and all three of my roommates needed to use the world's smallest oven which meant I actually had to get up a little earlier than I wanted to start cooking. Luckily we made it work and got all of our food ready on time.

Our meal was so delicious! Everyone made their favorites from home. Here are some pictures of the food.

We ate the dessert to quickly to get pictures! We had apple pie, pumpkin pie, turtle cheesecake, apple cider, pecan pie, and a lively conversation about how to pronounce pecan. 

Ready to eat!

The kids table 

After dinner we played a game my friend Jackie created for us called "Thanksgiving Olympics," a series of games based on some of each of our family traditions. It was so much fun! The game based on my tradition was called cousins. Each team had to write a skit about cousins getting to together for Thanksgiving.

We all watched "Madea Goes to Jail" and then spilt up the leftovers and headed home. After cleaning up and talking to my dad and Liz I finally got to bed. It was another great day!

Thanksgiving Take One

Hi Friends! It's been a long time since my last blog. The past few weeks have been crazy. Because of that, I have tons of things to write about but no time to write about them. I am so thankful for a low key Saturday where I can drink vanilla tea, wear my South Carolina t-shirt (Go Gamecocks!), and tell you about my Thanksgiving in Lebanon.

*Thanks to Christi Farley for all of the great pictures!*

Thursday November 22nd

10:00am Woke up, got dressed and met some friends at Krispy Kreme!

Elam quickly decided on the doughnut he wanted...a plain glazed. I think Hudson ate two chocolate ones with sprinkles! 

11:30am American Football! Well, 4 on 4 two hand touch football. 

1:00pm A very American lunch at McDonalds.

Some Lebanese friends invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner (Thanksgiving is an American holiday so our friends put this dinner together just for us) so over the next few hours, my roommates and I cooked and got ready to go. Thanksgiving turned out to be an emotional day for me. I think I cried a little during this time.  

6:00pm We arrived at our friend's for Thanksgiving. A lot of the dinner ended up being more Lebanese than American but it was a fun blend of the two cultures. 

This is one of our Lebanese friends carving the turkey that is sitting on a bed of Lebanese rice. My favorite quote from the night. "I like dipping my turkey in the hummus."

10:30pm Stuffed and finally home. Using skype I got to call my family that was at grandma's house. I was able to say hello to everyone there!

It was such a great day but my Thanksgiving is not over! On Friday my American friends and I had a more traditional Thanksgiving meal. 

Eid Mubarak!

It's Eid al-Adha! Eid is a fun and important holiday here in Lebanon. School is canceled, stores are closed, families get together, and sheep are slaughtered. I actually saw a sheep being slaughtered on my way to breakfast this morning!

Eid al-Adha (festival of sacrifice) is a Muslim holiday that honors Abraham who was obediently willing to sacrifice his son. This story is found both in the Koran and the Bible. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son but before he lowered the knife, God provided a ram to die in the place of the son. After understanding the basis of Adha you can see that the slaughtering is really an important part of the celebration.

The Lebanese also celebrate this holiday with new clothes and giving gifts. Families gather and have a big meal. Some families pray and read from the Koran together. They also celebrate with fireworks and gunshots into the air. I can hear music from my room right now! Another important part of Adha is giving to the poor. Families often give meat to poorer families. Happy Adha!

My New Nephew!!!

So, this post has almost nothing to do with Lebanon...but everything to do with my life. Yesterday the most amazing baby was born! My sweet nephew was born October 4th at 2:42pm. 6 lbs and 3 ounces.

Meet Boone Allen Massey!

It has been really hard to be away from my family and I wish I could be there to hold him! Thankfully Skype helps out a little. While everyone was waiting at the hospital and talking to the doctors I was able to sit and wait and listen "with" them. After Boone was born, I even got to hang out with my sisters, mom, and Boone in the hospital room. Amber set me up in the corner so I could listen and talk to them from Lebanon.

My roommates and I decided to celebrate Boone here in Lebanon with a birthday party for him. We got cupcakes and balloons and all wore blue. We played some games and listened to baby themed music like Justin Bieber's Baby as we waited for Boone to arrive. After he was born my roommates all took turns praying for him. I am so blessed to have such incredible friends!

Here is a picture of me and Tabba a few months ago, a picture of Tabitha, Brady, and Boone, and some more pictures of sweet baby Boone!

What a beautiful family! Hamduallah (Praise be to God!)

Thankful for Tuesday

Last night I sat in my Beirut apartment in the dark for the third straight night. We're having electricity problems in our building and some days the power is out for hours during the day and most of the night. This means we frequently climb the seven flights of stairs to our apartment with no AC. It's easy to have a bad attitude about all of this. Last night as I lay on the floor, trying to keep cool and stop myself from complaining (even more than I already had), I was reminded that, although using my phone as a tiny flashlight to find the bathroom really stinks, I have so much to be thankful for. I can rejoice even though I can't see the faces of anyone in the room (which is probably good because they can't see how bad I'm sweating.) :)

Here are ten things I am thankful for today:

1. I am thankful to be in Lebanon.
2. I am thankful for my family at home that I miss and love so much!
3. I am thankful for a great group of friends at home who love and support me.
4. I am thankful for all of the restaurants in Beirut that will deliver food right to my door (including McDonalds...it's really amazing)
5. I am thankful for this video and all of the laughter it brought to me and my roommates today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7PQggB12cY&feature=youtu.be
6. I am thankful to serve a God who is the same yesterday, today, and always will be.
7. I am thankful for amazing Lebanese friends who put up with my bad Arabic and dumb questions.
8. I am thankful to live by the sea.
9. I am thankful to be loved beyond compare by the creator of all things.
10. I am thankful for Tuesday and the reminder that I am blessed.

Lebanese Lunch!

Almost everyone I know loves Lebanese food. There are a few exceptions though, and I am one of them. Last year I decided I was going to learn to love Lebanese food by making myself eat it. I can't say that I love it all now, but there are definitely things that I like. My first week here several Lebanese from my program took me and some friends out to have Lebanese Mezze. Mezze is basically just a meal made up of a lot of small dishes (that keep coming and coming). Its a great way to get a good sample of a lot of different Lebanese foods. Here are a few pictures from our meal. 

First here is the view from our restaurant. It was such a beautiful place!

 Most Lebanese meals start with hummus (حمس) and a salad. We had tabbouleh (تبوله), a salad made up of bulgur wheat, tomatoes, parsley, mint, onion, lemon juice and salt. The Lebanese eat tabbouleh wrapped in lettuce or cabbage. 

This is chicken liver and a few chicken hearts. The taste wasn't bad but the meat was really soft so I wasn't a fan. The hearts were a little better. 

This is fried kibbeh (كبه ), ground meat usually beef or lamb with some spices and fried cheese rolls.  

Next comes the raw meat!!! We were severed raw chicken liver, beef, and pieces of fat. I tried it all. I actually liked the beef. I usually eat steak rare so it tasted about the same. 

Shrimp. They were kinda cute...and delicious. 

Finally we get to dessert and I am already stuffed. For dessert we had an array of fruit: watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, pears, and plums. 

I almost forgot...here's a picture of my coke.

We started this lunch around one and I think we finished at four. Haha. We even had a 30 minute break in between dishes. We had A LOT of good food and conversation with some great friends!

Back to Beirut. A Travel Diary

Last week I traveled back to Beirut, Lebanon. This post is about my experiences that day. It's a long post but it was an even longer day!

Monday September 3rd

2:00am

Woke and loaded the car to head to the airport.

I couldn't tell if I was excited or afraid, happy or sad. It's really hard for me to feel anything but tired at two in the morning. My dad and I loaded his car and left for Atlanta at three. This was the start to a very long day.

6:00am
After getting to the airport, checking my bags, saying bye to my dad, and going through airport security I was finally starting to wake up. After a little while of tears I pulled myself together and started to get excited about what's to come this year in Beirut. (I repeated this at least three times).

9:00am
I arrive in Newark :) my next flight leaves at 5pm :( . Luckily my friend, and incredible travel buddy, Kim arrives at 2. So after 8 hours of reading, That 70's Show, and catching up, Kim and I leave on a 9 hour flight for Frankfurt, Germany where we have a short layover (or so we thought).

Tuesday September 4th 
7:00am (Germany Time)
Until now, I've had pretty seamless travel and a great time with Kim. As we are unboarding deboarding getting off the plane we learn that many Lufthansa workers were on strike and most of their flights in Europe were cancelled. Our flight, not landing in Europe, was scheduled to leave to as planned at 10:20am....until 9:50.

9:50am
Time to find another flight. Two thirds of Lufthansa's flights flying out of its biggest international airport were cancelled. You can imagine the chaos. After being directed from one line to the next and then back to first line we were in, and even leaving the airport once, we finally found the rebooking line and took a number. 511. The board had just called 320.

I've now lost track of time
So now we wait and wait. Kim and I took turns napping, well laying on the floor with our eyes closed, finding bathrooms, getting food, and looking for Euros to use the internet. About 5 hours later our number was called. We got rebooked and now were headed to DUSSELDORF, Germany.

6:40pm
Kim and I were so deprived of sleep at this point we were laughing at everything. Also we were on a plane to Dusseldorf which is just funny.

You can tell were pretty delusional at this point. I think I'm singing a song about Dusseldorf into my seatbelt. I really thought we were going to be kicked off the plane but there weren't many people on our flight.

9:45pm

Kim and I leave from Dusseldorf and head to Beirut!

Wednesday September 5th

12:55am
We arrive in Beirut. Our bags do not.

After filing a claim about our lost baggage, which was much easier than I expected, Kim and I found our friends who welcomed us water, my favorite Lebanese cookies, and m&ms (Thanks Tim, Ty, and Matt!)

Middle Eastern Airlines (great airline! not their fault our bags were lost) gave us a toiletry bag and a t-shirt!

Saturday September 8th

All of our bags arrived in Lebanon and Kim and I were able to go get them! At the airport all of the lost luggage was piled in one room and Kim and I had to walk inside and find ours. We found our bags, signed a piece of paper and finally ended our travel into Beirut. It was a long trip but I actually had a lot of fun along the way!

Here is Kim and me finally reunited with our luggage. 

Opa, Opa, Opa!

We went to Greece!!!
During the break between semesters my team and I got to go to Greece for a week of vacation. It was my first time in Greece and I had a really great time! Here are some pictures from our trip. On our first day we visited The Acropolis in Athens, Greece.

 This is me at the top of The Acropolis with Athens behind me. From this spot the view of Athens looks very similar to Beirut.

Here is the Parthenon! The Parthenon is a temple built in honor of the Greek goddess Athena. It was completed in 438 B.C. One of the coolest things about being in Athens was that Paul walked in the very same places we were. Paul preached at Mars Hill, a spot very close to The Acropolis. You can read his speech in the book of Acts chapter 17.

This is the Erechtheion, a temple dedicated to many of the Greek Gods.

After seeing Athens, we took a day trip to Delphi. Here is a picture of little Hud-man in the Delphi Museum before we were told not to take any pictures.

In Delphi we saw more Greek ruins. This is what is left of the Temple of Apollos. Also at the Delphi Archeological Site we saw an ancient Greek theater and stadium used to train for the Olympics.

Euros!

One of my favorites things about Greece (other than the incredible internet speed!) was the food. Everything I ate there was amazing. Chicken and pork gyros, spicy feta dip, moussaka (an eggplant dish), saganaki (delicious fried cheese), zucchini fritters and of course Taco Bell! We were looking forward to Taco Bell months before our trip.

Finally, here is a picture our group doing the "don't you wish you looked as good as your mama" dance (something my mom does that the group picked up) at the Parthenon.