Phone Bill etc

Finally had the time to pay my phone bill on Saturday, since the government offices close at 2:00 (I believe) which means you can never organize it during the week; 517,000 LBP, which is exactly $343.52. That’s almost $115 a month! Knowing that the Internet connection only costs 18,000 a month ($12), and we both do not use the phone since we work from our mobiles, that means the maid chats away a pretty penny every month! Hot damn! Wonder what we are going to do about that. They only reconnected me Monday afternoon though (just now) which theoretically saved me almost $12 (3 days x $4 a day).

Anyway. This week has been busy. Cecile and Wissam opened their Lufa Light exposition. A Lufa is a local type of cucumber, rather big, that has a rather wooden wiry skeleton inside. The trick is to let it rot, wash away the ‘meat’, and you are left with this sponge like material, only it is wood. Very hard to explain, but it is quite similar in structure to rope, the kind of rope you use to tie package. Anyway, excellent for scrubbing your skin, and it’s sold here locally as a sponge. However, as Cecile has shown, when you put a light in it, you get a lamp. Very neat stuff. They have a shop downtown, and the exhibition is up and running. Check it out if you’re in town.

Adrian has graduated this Thursday. Official ceremony, complete with the Lebanese and American anthem and diplomas. Adrian had to wear a shirt and tie. So now he is officially a sixth grader, and will go to Middle school next year. The American educational system does not do tracking, like we do in Holland, so everyone enters the same class, and everyone is supposed to finish the 6 years High school. Of course the GPA (Grade Point Average) will differ, and it is that GPA, together with you SAT scores (final exam in grade 12) that will allow you to enter the right universities or not. We’ll see where he will go. He has another 6 years to go.

I finished work, need to go back on Monday to collect all the necessary signatures to take summer leave, but that’s just a formality. Received a silver pin yesterday during the annual staff lunch for my services of ‘over ten years’. Cute.

Wednesday university starts again, so I’ll be back in school for ten days. I still need to start with my course work. And the cat is in heat, which makes her so docile that Hana is currently pulling her through the house by her tail. She is sitting on top of her, but the cat, who usually attacks if you look at her in an offensive manner, does nothing. All of this which has been documented. Of course Hana does not understand that once the period of heat is over, the cat is no longer friendly, and she’ll end up with a very nasty bite in her hand. It happens every time again, but Hana has yet to learn.

The dentist just called that he can’t see me today, will have to postpone that till Tuesday which is fine, since I do not have cavities. Nice though that they call, a very unusual thing here in Lebanon.

And I just figured out a new feature on this blogging program. I can now insert pictures in my text. Enough said.