Ah the Med. . . .

Yes one of the best parts about living in Benghazi is the weather. We are on the Mediterranean Sea after all, so maybe it shouldn't be a surprise. But these days the weather is PERFECT. Low 20's and sunshine with a light breeze from the Med. Love it.

Just in case you have wet or cold conditions where you are, have a look at our five-day forecast:

Ahhhh. . . .nice isn't it?

This lovely weather means we can have an orange tree! In our own garden! The green balls growing in the tree for the last few months are now bright orange. A few had fallen to the ground so we did a harvest today and picked about two dozen juicy oranges. Yum!

Lucy got right in there of course.


Here we have the oranges in focus. . . .

and here we have the harvesters in focus.

Mmmmmm Falafel

You can buy falafel CRAZY cheap here. For a dinar you can get 20 of those little, well, those little falafel things. The kids love them and they make a great snack.

We bought some from this nice fella tonight after we left the theatre.


And yes, I said the theatre! We were invited to a Turkish Folk Dance and Music Show at the El Sanabul theatre tonight. It was great actually, and the kids sat through the first half in peace before we made our exit at intermission. Great little theatre on El Fateh Street, just down the road from Marwa Hospital (where Oscar was born).


Who says Benghazi is boring?!!?!

Funeral

One of our neighbours died a couple of days ago. We found out because in the morning a stream of old ladies came by their house and were screaming as they entered. Wailing would actually be a better term for it, and it was clear that they were mourning. It was quite sad.

Within a couple of hours the standard tents were set up. It's amazing how fast they get things sorted. Funerals here happen in and around the home, and hundreds of people visit within the three day period.

Here is a photo I took this evening of the setup.


Interesting thing about the wailing I mentioned above. Twenty years ago, women used to come on the first day and pounded on a drum while screaming their sadness. I'm not exactly clear on the details, but while they were at it I think they fanned some charcoal and then later they poured the ashes on their heads in mourning. They would even park some distance from the home and scream on their way to the home. The louder the scream, the more upset they were.

Apparently this used to be very common but is now discouraged. Screaming like this questions Gods will, so emotions should be kept to yourself. Tears are fine, but the loud wailing doesn't happen much. At least this is what I have been told.

Halloween

This post is a bit late but haven't had much computer time these days and I finally have high speed internet! Woot woot. WiMax is my new favorite word.

Ok, enough about that, the party. There is not much to do for the little ones around here so I organized a Halloween Party. We had about 20 little monsters come to the party and a good time was had by all. There was bobbing for apples, pin the nose on the monster, a no-hands donut hanging by a string eating contest, bowling, face painting and pass the parcel. Thanks Leila for the game ideas! Even some of the Mommy's gave it a try.

When I was back home in Ontario this summer Mike's mom was nice enough to give me some great material. I am not the best sewer and for the life of me could not figure out how to sew the pants of Oscar's costume, with a little help from Vida we figured it out. Not exactly sure what he was going to be when we started but found a neat alligator hat, so alligator it was. We had bought Lucy a witch costume while back in Canada as well, it had lights and everything. For my costume I glued a bunch of butterflies on a skirt, tank top, hair band and flip flops and went as "Madame Butterfly". Good idea Mom!

Here are some shots from the day.


My trusty Hawaiin helpers!

Got it!









Mike's pumpkin. I think that is how he was feeling from the "adult" party the night before.

I can't find my Momma . . .
Where's Momma?

The whole gang!

Gas Tank on the Right

I wonder if auto manufacturers get together to ensure there is a balance between cars with gas tanks on the left and those on the right. When this picture was taken last week, I wished that I was in my VW Passat and in the shorter line. Gas is still sitting at 0.20 LYD per litre, which is about $0.17/L Canadian. Bargoon!

The Benghazi Corniche

Everytime we go down we say we should do it more often. Right downtown in Benghazi there is a nice corniche that winds along the shore for probably a kilometre. It's a great spot to watch the sunset and to people watch. In the summer, the place is hopping with cars and bikes for the kids to rent, men selling snacks and lots of people just strolling along.

We went down on Saturday night just before sunset with no real plan in mind. We found a piece of ledge to sit on and watched the fishermen make their last few casts of the day. Munched on some nuts that we bought from a guy pushing around a wheelbarrow and generally relaxed. Very nice.



When it got dark, we started walking. And then we saw a newer looking building with a tempting fourth floor:



Can't see it? Well, inside was this:



Needless to say, the kids were delighted. Welcome to Uranus! "Welcome to where?" you say? This is Uranus Cafe and Restaurant. Nice name!



But just look at that burger!! Considering where it will likely end up, maybe they chose the name so you would be reminded later. . . .



The really good news was that they had ICE CREAM!! Waffle cones made on the spot, and while the ice cream wasn't nearly as good as, say, Baskin Robbins' Peanut Butter & Chocolate, it was cold and tasty and the kids loved it. Here they are hanging out while Lucy tried to finish up the cone.

Remembrance Day

As you should probably know but might not, heavy fighting took place in Libya during World War II. We had our Remembrance Day ceremony here in Benghazi yesterday. With commonwealth graveyards in Tripoli, Benghazi and Tobruk, foreign diplomats travel to a different one each year on the actual November 11. We had it here on the 11th two years ago.

Ambassadors, other diplomats and members of the local community all gathered for a nice service at the very well kept cemetery here in Benghazi. Wreaths were laid by each country in attendance, a couple of hymns were sang by all in attendance and we even said the Lord's Prayer. (As an aside, I was amazed that I could remember all the words - haven't said that in years! Apparently repetition helps with memory retention. . . .).

Anyway, a nice day and always good to remember the sacrifices the soldiers made during all wars, but in particular the two World Wars. Surely people would learn from history and just get along.

If you're interested in learning about the North African Campaign from World War II, click here.

Getting There

Kid #2 is now officially on the road to diaper-free living. OK we're a long way off yet, but it has started. Oscar says "poo" but only when it's too late and we have a stinky, messy, environmentally friendly washable diaper to clean. Hopefully he'll figure the timing out soon!

This is a photo from this morning - Oscar 'on the potty' and Lucy reading him a story. Note the still-clean, environmentally-friendly, washable diaper on the floor. These things have really cut down on our waste, and aren't actually all that bad to deal with. Unless the poo is really sticky . . . . yuck.

OK, back to the cute kids: