Butcher shop saga... my funny story.

So, I have a friendly relationship with my butcher. He admires how we always ask for our meat with very little fat in it and always remarks at how fat he is. He's a little roundish, but not bad really. He looks very normal. Anyway, this last time he was running through the same conversation again about fat in meat and how Kurds like fat in their meat and then he mentioned how I was looking thinner and asked how much I weighed. This is not an awkward question to ask a woman here in this culture. People will regularly tell other people that they are fat or thin and scold them on it. I didn't know how much I weighed in kilos, but then he started guessing. I was stuck... still didn't know my weight in kilos. Then he pulled out a large meat scale. He wanted me to stand on his meat scale so that he could weigh me! There I am, surrounded by large slabs of meat, standing on this scale with my shoes on. I struggled to just keep from laughing.

From there, the conversation went on into the normal questions of life here. He was sad that I wasn't married (he was married at age 17) and the Koran says it's a pity to not be married (according to him). I tried to tell him that in the Bible it isn't a pity not to be married and that I was okay. He then got all excited and said he knew all about the Bible and proceeded to tell me the story of Jesus' birth and Mary and how he preached. I stood there nodding and smiling as well as I could. I just wanted 3 kilos of ground beef! It took a while... it always does. But the story was worth it.

The fan club at a school in Hawler

I can't think of anything real to post!

Where is your cell phone.......................on the table
Your hair..........................................blonde
Your father.......................................always available
Your favorite thing...............................my friends and family
Your dream last night............................interpreted by Katie
Your favorite drink...............................fruit smoothies?
Your dream/goal..................................knowing what to do
The room you are in..............................living room
Your fear...........................................having people mad at me
Where do you want to be in 6 years...........I've stopped answering that question
Muffins.............................................it's been a long time
One of your wish list items......................to stop complaining so much
Where you grew up..............................Moscow
The last thing you did............................reorganized my external harddrive
What are you wearing...........................jeans and t-shirt
Your TV............................................in the cupboard
Your pets.........................................imaginary
Your computer..................................an amazing gift
Your life............................................chaos
Your mood........................................concerned and confused
Missing someone..................................always
Your car............................................well loved
Favorite store.....................................don't like shopping
Your summer.......................................uncertain
Your favorite color...............................don't have one
When is the last time you laughed.............last night
Last time you cried................................last night
Three people who email me....................Laurel, my Mom, and Kea
Three of my favorite foods......................cheddar cheese, pomegranate, cilantro
Three places I would rather be right now............nowhere else....maybe Moscow with my fam.