Now that I have taken my shower and decided that there is nothing open today either, my mind turns to the events of yesterday. It was a very long day filled with students, coworkers, and food. It was Easter and a beautiful day for the picnic we went on.

Of course the Easter festivities started on Friday. The science instructor, a Palestinian Muslim, decided to throw an Easter party for the faculty at her house. While an Easter ham was absolutely out of the question, we did have some wonderful food. I am not sure what it all was, but it did include bread, hummus, a yougurt/cucumber dip, some baked bread with thyme on top, watermelon, and applesauce that I made and brought. (The applesauce was actually a big hit!!) After the food was eaten we talked and the others dyed eggs!

It was fun watching them dye the eggs and compete for the best egg decorated. A couple of them colored the eggs like the Kurdish flag, one did a mountain scene. The prize for the ugliest egg went to the one that was supposed to be an Al-Quida member. Very nicely done, but a little overly political for me.

The next day was one of relaxation and reclusiveness. I went nowhere and did pretty much nothing other than relax and realize just how unmotivated I have been lately! I really need to find a way to solve that problem.

Then Easter Sunday. I woke up at 5:30am because I was excited about the coming excursion. We were being picked up at 8:15am to be taken to the university in order to meet the students and travel to our destination. The students were supposed to all be there by 9am, but some didn't show up until 20 after! I guess this is something I should have expected, but it wasn't any easier.

The trip to the picnic site was deafening. We took two small buses, each with loud radios that blared Kurdish music all the way there. The music was blaring, people were clapping, and some were standing up and dancing. While this is not generally done in the US, this is a very common event here in Kurdistan. They even managed to get me to indulge in a little bit of lack of normal common sense and do a little dancing as well (and I really hate dancing!).

The food was some of the best I have ever eaten. We had kabob, fruit, and briani (both Arabic and Kurdish style). The rice was quite filling, as was the required bread that comes with almost every meal. After the loads of food they forced me to eat, the science instructor hid the eggs we died on Friday for her daughter and her two friends. It was quite fun watching them looking for the eggs, especially after they had decided to go swimming in the stream and almost lost their shoes. They weren't too good in the finding of the eggs, and they needed lots of help. Even when we all decided to help, we still came up one egg short! We should have seen this one coming, I suppose; it was the Al-Quida member! Even when we knew where the eggs were hidden, we could not find this one. Perhaps it is understandable that there are so many real ones still unaccounted for!

Then we went to a different location. The two buses got split up, causing a bit of tift among a couple of the faculty. We did manage to finally get them back together and then stop off at another location for more food and dancing! When I finally got home, it was 9:15pm! I was so tired, but definitely not hungry. Today is a day off, but I have to go back to work tomorrow. There is much on the list of things to do; hopefully it will result in some final decisions. I will keep you posted.