going up...

time to get up the terraces and see the fireworks... hopefully there'll be something to see. it's a bit windy, but it should be okay with a scarf. pics perhaps coming up tomorrow. no guarantee ;)

my room still smells a bit of smoke

last saturday we had a barbeque. it was huge. it was massive.
there was meat:


there was more meat:


on top of this, there was a bit more that was brought later on. this is what we had in our fridge/freeze in the morning. it would make the most ardent meat-lover proud.

there were people:



there was music:


(there were also lots of desserts, but I have no pic of them - they were eaten up too quickly!)

I think pretty much everyone enjoyed it. we had a total of 65 (+/- 2) people showing up, and I think no one left feeling hungry at least. there were a lot of people playing the drums, with a lot of singing and laughter - videos of that will be coming up later.

a big thank you to everyone that helped out, that showed up, that made this barbeque something to remember for a long time. it will probably take a while until next time, but that one will be even bigger, if possible. stick around and find out!

update: I forgot to mention that you can see all the other pictures here.

bedroom quotations!

remember my kitchen quotes from back home? I continued here, but put them in my bedroom, since my closet is so huge. it's a really good way of reading some Writings in the morning, or in the evening, or when just dropping by my room. I'd say it looks quite good:


and here they are, top to bottom, left to right (you can also click the pic...):

The recital each day of one of the Obligatory Prayers with pure-hearted devotion.

The regular reading of the Sacred Scriptures, specifically at least each morning and evening, with reverence, attention and thought.

Prayerful meditation on the teachings, so that we may understand them more deeply, fulfil them more faithfully, and convey them more accurately to others.

Striving every day to bring our behaviour more into accordance with the high standards that are set forth in the Teachings.

Teaching the Cause of God.

Selfless service in the work of the Cause and in the carrying on of our trade or profession.
(six steps towards spirituality)

The friends of God must so live and conduct themselves, and evince such excellence of character and conduct, as to make others astonished.

Rely upon God, thy God and the Lord of thy fathers.

And if thou art overtaken by affliction in My path, or degradation for My sake, be not thou troubled thereby.

Strive that your actions day by day may be beautiful prayers.

How couldst thou forget thine own faults and busy thyself with the faults of others?

Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.

True loss is for him whose days have been spent in utter ignorance of his self.

One endowed with the gift of hearing gets the mysteries of God from all things and all creation conveys to him the divine message.

Consider the past.

The past is the mirror of the future.

Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world's afflictions can in no wise alarm me.

Make whosoever arises to serve Thy Cause as a sea moving by Thy desire, as one ablaze with the fire of Thy Sacred Tree, shining from the horizon of the heaven of Thy will.

The time is come when naught but the purest motive, supported by deeds of stainless purity, can ascend to the throne of the Most High and be acceptable unto Him.

True peace and tranquillity will only be realized when every soul will have become the well-wisher of all mankind.

Let deeds, not words, be your adorning.

O thou who art turning thy face towards God! Close thine eyes to all things else, and open them to the realm of the All-Glorious. Ask whatsoever thou wishest of Him alone; seek whatsoever thou seekest from Him alone. With a look He granteth a hundred thousand hopes, with a glance He healeth a hundred thousand incurable ills, with a nod He layeth balm on every wound, with a glimpse He freeth the hearts from the shackles of grief. He doeth as He doeth, and what recourse have we? He carrieth out His Will, He ordaineth what He pleaseth. Then better for thee to bow down thy head in submission, and put thy trust in the All-Merciful Lord.

By faith is meant, first, conscious knowledge, and second, the practice of good deeds. (not up yet)


thank you to everyone who contributed with the quotations. my way of putting them up was entirely random except for the six steps; I had them upside down, and then just picked one and decided where it went without reading it. this way I know I'm not biased :)
and what I really like about this is that people find it inspiring, and many say they're going to do it themselves. yay!

the advantage of ironing your clothes in the morning

you know they won't get wrinkled until you wear them

they're just a little bit warmer when you put them on :)

disadvantage: it takes a bit more time in the morning... :-/

this is why I need to fix my hair in the morning

no words needed.

no more chocolate

we're out for now, but there's probably more coming. it was very much liked!

more chocolate

it never ends. here's the latest addition:

farewells...

even though I've only been here for two months, there've already been a lot of dear friends leaving. and there are a couple of more leaving in a short time too, and another batch leaving a little bit later, etc... unfortunately, that's how life is here, people coming and going all the time, and one just has to get used to it...

so on saturday there was a farewell for arman, with a black/white-theme, and surprisingly many that showed up actually abided by the theme. here's arman and I:



more pictures here. he's back in australia now... :(

ani lomed ivrit!

that's right, I'm learning hebrew! got a few classes, to be able to communicate a little bit. it's going to be interesting to see how it goes; don't really have too high expectations of being a fluent speaker of any sorts, but it should be good. two classes a week, two hours each, for five weeks. maybe I'll post my notes here as a good reminder... will help you readers learn as well ;)

Merry Christmas?

it's quite a difference here from previous years, when everything everywhere reminds you of Christmas... and everyone hoping it'll be white and snowing. well, it's not like that here. first of all, there's almost nothing here to remind you that it's Christmas - barely any decorations at all (I think I've seen 2-3 places with some lights), no snow (yay!), no huge ads, no santa claus, etc etc.

tell you the truth, I don't miss it, even though there is something special about this time of year (Jesus Christ was born!). it's a positive sign that people do remember each other a little bit more, and are a tad bit nicer - it would be great if everyone was like that all the time though.

another thing that bothers me is when people call it "x-mas" - what's up with that? removing Christ from the whole thing? *shakes head*

every day is a photo day

it's absolutely incredible how every day is a day where it's possible to take some lovely photos, regardless of if it's sunny, cloudy, rainy, or whatever. there's always something beautiful to take pictures of. I'll choose this one for this week, because I really like the clouds, but be sure to check out the entire album - there are some quite lovely shots there:

guiding at the Shrine

so I "got volunteered" to guide at the Shrine of the Báb earlier today for an hour. it's a great blessing to be there, and a good time for silent meditation. the actual task is not too daunting, but mostly to make sure that people are behaving the way they should; not talking aloud, taking off their shoes, etc. I got to take a few shots of the Shrine and surroundings after I was done, will put them up tomorrow. for now, here's a pic of the comb I used when closing the Shrine:

know your cleaning crew!

I read some story about a HRM exam that had a 90-point question (out of 100) asking "what's the name of our cleaner?" not sure how true it is, might be just an urban legend, but it's well worth thinking of.

anyways, our cleaning crew came over and cleaned our windows yesterday. what better for me to do than to take a couple of pictures?



we had a lot of fun, and took a lot of pictures. check the album here. there are also updated shots from the CST over here, check out the latest ones - some are really, really nice!

it happened again!

more coincidences, all the time. funny!

(yes, I'm flooding my blog with short posts.)

we have contact

server back up. yay!

get it?

einstein riddle

I got it.

server down :(

my server at home is down, hence why so many pictures here are missing. kinda difficult to troubleshoot from over here, hopefully it'll be up and running tomorrow. if not... dunno.

diversity

a quick reflection on the diversity of the Baha'i Faith: serving here in the Baha'i World Centre means daily getting exposed to and interacting with people from a countless of countries, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. just the other day, sitting in a taxi on our way to football, the four of us were from canada, singapore, vanuatu and sweden - the driver obviously a local israeli. in just about 160 years, the Faith has spread literally all over the world:

The Bahá'í Faith is an independent monotheistic religion with a worldwide population of some 5 million people. They come from more than 2,000 different tribal, racial, and ethnic groups and live in 235 countries and dependent territories. The Britannica Book of the Year (1992) referred to the Bahá'í Faith as the second-most geographically widespread religion in the world, after Christianity. (source)

if you remember this post, about the 16 countries in our 29-person big group (this time they are 23 from 12 countries), you'll realize that almost every country you can think of is represented here. I wish I knew exactly how many countries we had represented here, but I'd say we're easily from at least 70-80 different countries here. I think it's an amazing feat, and to also see everyone so united and full of love, despite the differences among us. it really gives hope for the future.


in other, quite unrelated, news, I had to suffer from some food experimenting the other day. pouring up cereal and only afterwards noticing that we were out of milk, I was left wondering what to do. after some dividing, I decided to try orange juice instead.
I won't do it again. it wasn't absolutely horrible, but it sorta left a kind of taste that you didn't expect. asked a couple of people here in the office, and they said they'd go for water. maybe I'll do that next time, but it feels kinda boring. hopefully there won't be a next time though.


I got challenged to list my seven wishes and challenge seven other bloggers to do it as well. I don't know what to think of it... I can only be content with what I have here, my experiences and challenges. as Bahá'u'lláh says: "Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity" I think I will just try to live by that. I'm going to do my best in all I do, and hope for the best. whatever happens to me is in God's hands:

O thou who art turning thy face towards God! Close thine eyes to all things else, and open them to the realm of the All-Glorious. Ask whatsoever thou wishest of Him alone; seek whatsoever thou seekest from Him alone. With a look He granteth a hundred thousand hopes, with a glance He healeth a hundred thousand incurable ills, with a nod He layeth balm on every wound, with a glimpse He freeth the hearts from the shackles of grief. He doeth as He doeth, and what recourse have we? He carrieth out His Will, He ordaineth what He pleaseth. Then better for thee to bow down thy head in submission, and put thy trust in the All-Merciful Lord.

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá -

I can see snow

that's what my flatmate told me, calling at 6.50 (and obviously waking me up). it's a beautiful morning, so apparently he could see the snow in the mountains. I took a few shots as I got to work, not so much snow, but a nice fog. check it out here. I think this one is my favorite:

me now

here's a very recent pic (earlier today):

chocolate update

remember this post about the chocolate?

well, here's the update to it:


the chocolate and spot remained for a while, long enough so that another guy working here in the office came, cleaned the spot, and claimed the chocolate. I'm not sure what to think of it... but it will obviously be the picture of the week at least.

either way, I set up a new note and more chocolate, so there was at least something for our dear cleaners to have. good fun :)

kitchen poetry!

we got quite a lot of kitchen magnets (see here for an example), so last night I spent a few minutes making up some "poems":

remember the delirious search
some want to manipulate their friend
I will free you and part
live then here and head to eternity


and the second:

fiddle elaborate and design
beneath next rock
there our essential language
wind water forest storm
beauty in rose petal
vision of night
gift of dream
always think
light


kinda fun to do these, as you never know which words you end up with... :)

it's been 50 days

... and what a beautiful day to "celebrate" that. no clouds, beautiful sunshine, and about 20 degrees. could walk outside without a jacket or coat or anything, and I even took a couple of pictures. here's one taken from inside my office:



some highlights of being here so far:

helping out closing the Shrine - I was walking home one evening and saw one of my orientation people cleaning up and closing the Shrine. I asked him if he needed help, and got to comb the fringes of the carpets inside the Shrine of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. I was smiling like an idiot all the time :)

sounds of the world - read the post.

walking in massive rain... - not so much for the enjoyment of it, but it was definitely an experience.

lunch room - besides the excellent food (and desserts!) there's always someone fun to talk to :)

my flatmates - absolutely love them!

sounds of the world

sounds of the world is an annual event here at the world centre. it is the show where everyone from all over the world show their artistic/musical talents. we had performances from literally all around the world, and most left me absolutely speechless. here's a pic from the end:



it was so amazing to see the diversity and talents among those who performed. some were beautiful, some were really funny, and some managed to combine both. thank you all for your contributions! check out the rest of the album here, I will hopefully have some videos coming up too, but then you'll have to join up on facebook.

I must say I'm already looking forward to next year :)

project update

so my project is going forward, have basically spent the last week and a half in the office working on it. asked a couple of friends back home for help, and now we'll see how far we can get together... it's going to take time, but it's going to be interesting. and no hints yet, although there's a link somewhere to it (need google to index)...

there is always a choice

in our interactions with people, we always have a choice of what to say. often the choice is between a sarcastic or nice/encouraging response. sarcasm might be fun for the person saying it, but might not always be taken well by the recipient (or the others around). and it is also important to remember these words:

"Verily I say, the tongue is for mentioning what is good, defile it not with unseemly talk."

- Bahá'u'lláh -

"A kindly tongue is the lodestone of the hearts of men. It is the bread of the spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning, it is the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding."

- Bahá'u'lláh -

I have personally not been the best person at this, but I'm trying to make myself aware of it more, so hopefully I'll be a bit nicer in the future... :)

technology for country folk

this is funny (click to see larger version):

evaluation session

so yes, the chocolate is indeed very, very dangerous. I opened it today, and my officemate and I took one piece:


I think we both agreed it was absolutely great. at least we'll have something good to look forward to for a couple of days, but I wonder what'll happen once we run out... need more pilgrims! ;)

then we also decided to have a bit of fun with our lovely cleaning crew, so we put up this little post-it:


it's a bit hard to see, but it's a remnant of someone leaning back with a bit of greasy hair. the post-it says "you missed a spot ;)" with an arrow pointing to the left, and then "REWARD!" with an arrow pointing down. and what's down there? this:


another piece of chocolate! :)

ideas

we all have ideas. some are good, some are bad. the others are mine...

I managed to have two horrible ideas in one week, and I kinda hope it's over now. first bad idea concerns my laundry. wednesday is my laundry day, and since I hadn't done any laundry the week before, I had a bit more than usual. I asked my flatmate if he had anything he wanted me to wash for him, so I got a little bit extra there too. and mind you, I don't do laundry close to home, I do it at my workplace. so, it's a 15 minute walk up-hill, with a lot of laundry, and then another 15 minute walk back down. quite heavy, and quite tiring.

now mind you, that's nothing compared to what happened on friday. my officemate had told me the day before about her experience of walking in pouring rain in akka, I kinda laughed at her experience and we both found it funny. little did I know I was going to experience it myself...
I stayed the night there (thank you p diddy!), got up to get going to the Shrine. it's pretty much the middle of the day, and it's a bit cloudy and windy. I stop up to look at the sea, because it's so beautiful:


(yeah, this picture doesn't really capture it...)

so I start walking, it's a 40-minute walk to go meet up a friend and then together go to the Shrine in Bahji. it starts dripping a bit, I get my umbrella, and think that it's all good. rain picks up, wind picks up, and next thing I know I'm beginning to 1. regret walking, 2. remember my officemate's story. I didn't catch a cab, which I probably should've, so in the end I'm left with
1. completely soaked pants, shoes and socks (felt like walking in a puddle)
2. a slightly chilling feeling
3. a laughing officemate
4. a funny story (maybe? you decide.)

unfortunately I didn't take a pic of myself, but luckily I got to borrow a pair of shoes and socks, and then felt at least decent enough to go to the Shrine. and then of course it also rained pretty much whenever I was outside while there... God has a funny sense of humor :)

what can I say? this will naturally be pic of the week, as it reminds me of my little experience :)

oh, dangerous!

more pilgrims, more chocolate... it seems to be a trend, and I can't really say I'm complaining. this time it's from one of the friends that we were on pilgrimage with 6 months ago, who sent it through a friend to another friend who sent it to me. you follow?

well, this one is belgian, and smells so good. I'm sure it's absolutely dangerous, but I want to try it out first and then find out ;)

borna, you're yoda!

You are wise beyond your years — a sage for the ages, the master's master. That's why your Star Wars type is Yoda. Sure, you might not look too much like the little green Jedi Master, but you have a quiet contemplative way about you that commands respect.


People trust you, especially your friends who are constantly coming to you for advice and sometimes predictions. While you may not be able to tell them who's going to win the big game, you do possess the rare ability to see the big picture. You never lose sight of the fact that we're all part of a greater whole. It keeps you grounded and balanced, and it's the perfect cover for a mischievous sense of humor that always catches others off-guard. This mix of wisdom and impish delight promises to bring you long life...another thousand years or so anyway.

I like that. it's me. take the test yourself

living in the office

as I don't have any computer at home (thank God!), any computer-related activities/projects will have to be done after hours (or during lunch). I recently started a project that'll probably take me some time to complete, so the past 3-4 days I've been "hanging out" in the office until about 9 or so working on it. arriving here at 8 (*cough, cough*) in the morning means that I practically spend more time in the office than back home. I should consider bringing pillow and sheets here... hmmm...

and no, I won't say anything about my project here. it'll come when it's done, close to done, or at least a bit further than it is now.

language questions

program/programme - when should which one be used?

why does everyone refer to persian as "farsi"? wouldn't that be the same as starting to say "svenska" instead of swedish?

help me!

things I don't do anymore

here's a small list of things I don't do anymore since coming here:

go to the gym
it's a bit too tedious, especially as I finish work at around 5.30-6, would have to go up the mountain, and then come back down again at around 8, all tired. not worth it.
do I miss it? not really, even though it is nice to keep fit and in shape.

watch tv
we don't have a tv!
do I miss it? not at all.

watch football
can't really stream the games while at work, can I...
do I miss it? a little bit of the excitement and the beauty of the game. but then again, there's so much else to enjoy here...

sit by the computer evening/night
got no computer at home...
do I miss it? not really, it's mostly waste of time, better to read and be social. and if I really have something I need to do, I always have my computer at work, can stay a bit extra.

freeze
first of december, we play football. it's around 10-15 degrees here right now.
do I miss it? not at all! I love it!

I love my flatmates!

there are so many stories to share from our flat, but I think being with us is something that simply has to be experienced. all I can say is that whoever's come to steve (the official name of our flat), has not been disappointed. here's a pic of the three of us, on our first day of orientation:


(obviously this will be pic of the week now.) the guy on my right (camera left) is robert taylor, from california, on my left I have naseem ma'ani-hessari from northern ireland/south africa for the past four years. (in the background we have the Seat of the Universal House of Justice.) we are all so incredibly different, but get along so perfectly great together. it's amazing, and I love it. we do pretty much everything together, hang out together, etc etc. wouldn't wanna trade these guys for any other in the world. I hope we'll be able to stick around together for a long time, even though you never know what might happen here. but for now, I'll appreciate what I've got :)

the picture is from my orientation album. also check out some pics of my room!