Santa Came to Town

By the way, people actually call the "village" here "town". So I guess the village square must be like downtown or something, ha!

Yesterday morning, we had one elderly woman after another, knock knock knocking on the door as of 5a.m. What could be the problem I wondered? No, no problem! They just wanted to come in person and say thank you to Godwin. I quote: "You made this New Year's special in ways even our own children couldn't!"

Why you ask? Because we had gone knock knock knocking on their doors...

ONE DAY EARLIER:

Meet the village Santa and his Head Elf

Jacob & Godwin frowning at my proximity

The packing/assembly line

Carts fully loaded!

Gifty bearing gifts (that's her real name!)

Sneaking out after secretly leaving chicken & rice by the fire

Sneaking up on an unsuspecting victim

No, it's for real, you haven't been punk'd sir

A priceless smile (for the price of oh, what, $5?)

Irreplaceable polka-hole sheets?

Avedis? Remembered you here. You see "The Face"?

 

Young at heart, huh? She's got the Ghida Younes look dowwwwwwwn!

This woman lost 10 years off her age...

... when she smiled :)

O chicken, how I love thee. I shall ne'er take thee for granted.

Getting a Facelift

Dear Readers,

I would never consider getting a facelift personally, but I think it's much needed for the blog, no?

So with the sun rising on a beautiful new day and a brand new year, I decided to uncover a brand new look for feelgooding....

Let me explain why I chose to stick to clouds though:

Firstly, the very meaning of my name has a lot to do with clouds. In fact, Dima means the big black stormy cloud that brings rain to those in need of it (they must be in a desert or drought or something). Some also seem to think that Dima is the very first drop of rain. Either way, the rain is supposed to bring a certain level of feelgooding, ha!

Secondly, clouds are symbolic of where I am right now, in my head, which is up in the clouds:

"A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed... It feels an impulsion... this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons".
~Richard Bach, American author of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull"

Hey, for what it's worth, I quite like being on cloud number nine :)

Now along with the renewed look, I hope to be blogging with renewed energy because I know I didn't do too much of this in December. Honestly? I was touristing around the country so I had little time. (Excuses, excuses, I know!) But hey, all the more to blog about in January, right?

So, here's to new beginnings! A new year full of new shoes!



Cheers,
Dima

P.S: Let me know your thoughts - Was cosmetic surgery a success? Or is the final look too distracting?

2011 Goes Down In Flames!

No no, don't worry. I promise it's not another school disaster... Look, here's Olivia just glowing!

Actually just before students vacated, a candlelight procession was organized in which the kids of the school and nearby villages walked around the neighborhood singing Christmas carols to the beat of an African drum. Correction: to the many beats of many African drums.

It was truly a magical night as we said goodbye to each other (and the entire past year).

As we watched the bonfire during a moment of silence, the simple symbolism of  "light" was lost on no one, most especially me:

Ever since we crawled out of that primordial slime, that's been our unifying cry, "More light."  Sunlight.  Torchlight.  Candlelight.  Neon, incandescent lights that banish the darkness from our caves to illuminate our roads, the insides of our refrigerators.  Big floods for the night games at Soldier's Field.  Little tiny flashlights for those books we read under the covers when we're supposed to be asleep.  Light is more than watts and footcandles.  

Light is metaphor. Light is knowledge, light is life, light is light.  

~Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider

We are each gifted in a unique and important way. 

It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.  

~Evelyn Dunbar 

In a profound sense every man has two halves to his being; 

he is not one person so much as two persons trying to act in unison.  

I believe that in the heart of each human being 

there is something which I can only describe as a "child of darkness" 

who is equal and complementary to the more obvious "child of light."  

~Laurens van der Post

How far that little candle throws its beams! 

So shines a good deed in a naughty world.

~William Shakespeare 

So my genuine wish for every single one of you readers: HAPPY FEELGOODING IN 2012!!!!!!!

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, 

and the life of the candle will not be shortened. 

Happiness never decreases by being shared.

~Buddha

SO LET THERE BE LIGHT :)

Dima The Crossdresser

For pure comic relief...
            Had some fun beyond belief... 
                             Pairing a boy's uniform shirt...

With a traditional funeral skirt :)

Exactly How I Feel

Don't you just love it when you play your ipod on shuffle and discover a long-lost forgotten song that makes complete sense in that exact moment? This was my feelgooding moment of the day whilst travelling by tro tro. Had to suppress my urge to clap to the song right then and there. I settled for a big kick-ass smile instead :) I think the other passengers musta thought I'm high on something. Happiness perhaps?

Soaking Up the Sun

About 45 of us crammed ourselves into a bus that fits about 30. All the body parts sticking out of the side windows were quite a sight!

But the end really did justify the means - a day at the Maranatha estuary (in Rastafarian territory) was well worth the agony it took to get us there. Come to think of it, even the painful part was fun. Not to mention memorable.

Once we arrived (in one piece, thankfully) I noticed only two bikinis at the beach. Only on two blefono white girls. My friends explained it’s because the girls here are shy to be seen so exposed.

That’s when I pointed out quite a few couples getting frisky in and out of the water, providing us with front row seats to a late night show in broad daylight. Even fully dressed, they weren’t too shy to be seen exposed if you ask me. I suspect it had something to do with their level of alcohol consumption, perhaps? Pure entertainment I tell ya! (no pun intended)

...after much splashing and funning around....

I’m glad to say that I am at least one shade darker brown, as opposed to many shades brighter red as my previous beach-going record would have you expect. I might be the fairest of them all here, but I’ll be the darkest of them all once I’m back amongst the Lebanese. Aaah, how I miss those cold chilly nights! Ironically, exactly a year ago, I was wishing the exact opposite when I spent December in Chicago. The grass is always greener on the other side...