July 2006 Archives

You know that human tic-tac-toe game that's used for icebreakers? Someone fills in odd details of all the participants' lives (or makes obscure things up), and then everyone has to go talk to everyone else and find out who fits each description. That one.

Well, usually I would use "has three birth certificates". It was very effective at starting conversations.

And here, at the age of 30, I find out I've been lying. Shoot. No, I have F-O-U-R. My mother just sent me one I'd never seen or knew existed! I always thought my Falkland Island birth certificate was the letter from the governor. It's cool 'cause it doesn't admit my dad is my dad; at the end of the letter it simply states, in parentheses: (husband: Dustin Dale Dornbrook). I always thought that was funny. But on this birth certificate, which looks much more official, not only does it say he's my father (twice!), it states his profession (as opposed to his rank). It also asks for my name, and then in parentheses: (if any). Heheheh. I think that's funny, too. On top of that, all of my other birth certificates are from 1976, which in my utter uncoolness, I also thought was kind of cool because I was born in 1975. Yet here again - this one is dated 30 December.

Sigh. I'm glad to have it, don't get me wrong, but it did burst a few (very small) bubbles.

I'm pretty sure making your grandmother cry is right up there with, say, gluttony. Or avarice.

Anyway, it sure felt that way. I can understand the attraction to losing contact with your family. It's easier to make threatening life decisions because you have no idea how they impact the people who love and care about you more than anything in the world.

Ouch.

It does put some things into perspective for me. Not that I'll discuss those perspectives. But it was good for me.

Yesterday our adventure (we keep it to one a day - sometimes the 'adventure' is going grocery shopping), was to hike Arthur's Seat.

From Nathan's place, we walked up to the Royal Mile, which in and of itself is worth visiting, so just the pre-walk to Arthur's Seat was quite enjoyable as well. The Royal Mile in the opposite direction leads to the Edinburgh Castle, which again is also definitely worth visiting (but skip that war museum-thing they've got, ick!!).

So we went down the Royal Mile, past the now completed Scottish Parliament, Holyrood Palace (the Queen's residence when she visits Scotland), and then just round the bend is Arthur's Seat. We left after 7 p.m., so we got to Arthur's Seat shortly before 8. We hiked up to the major plateau, had some water, apples, got totally gnat-infested and decided we'd gone far enough, hiked down the other side, and headed home. We got home shortly before 10, had some dinner and crawled to bed!

I included the links for two reasons. The first is that I think all of these places are worth at least seeing, if not visiting. The second is that I was the only one without a camera last night. I bet Melanie will have pictures up shortly, though. (Mark can take a while to fiddle with his photos sometimes, but they willl be beautiful once he does finally put them up on Flickr...)

It started with my parents. I'm not sure how, but parents, this is a plea for an explanation. Growing up, our parents would whistle to one another to find each other in public places. As we got older, we responded to it - and eventually learned it - ourselves. One high note, one low note. A simple combination to be heard easily.

Go ahead. Laugh. Guffaw.

But it has been truly helpful. As my parents and siblings will tell you, now, in the comments section. Hint, hint.

About a week into our trip here in Edinburgh, Nathan took us to Falkland Palace. It's about an hour north of Edinburgh and used to be the capital of Scotland. Which is pretty cool to me.

Okay, so we paid a slightly irrational amount of money to see the palace for a brief visit, but I know my attention span and 40 minutes was really about all I would have spent in there anyway. We saw the whole palace (not including the 'unofficial' tour Nathan would have been happy to initiate, ahem), got information from guides-in-costume and then spent a very enjoyable time in the gardens, which were open after the palace closed. The guides even knew how the Falkland Islands got their name, which was pretty cool for me. I admit it, the entire intrigue of the place has to do with the fact that I was born in the Falklands, but it was special for me and I appreciate that no one made fun of me for finding it special when clearly it's a bit flimsy.

Afterward we went to dinner at a homey place in the village of Falkland, which made very yummy veggies and desserts (yeah, the mains were, well, err - passable).

I also met a young man at the devotional we went to the other night who grew up in the Falklands. I'd met his parents a few months ago while they were on pilgrimage in Haifa. Coolio!

Oh, the name. I figure some of you might want to know: so, one of the kings wanted one of his friends to be more important, so he made him the Earl of Falkland (or maybe duke, but I think it was earl). Anyway, it meant nothing, but it was a title. Now this Earl of Falkland (meaning 'hunting land') was in charge of the seas at the time, so when the islands were 'discovered', either he named them after himself or someone else did or whatever. Oh, and it wasn't his palace. So there you go, unrelated, except for the king part - he would occasionally live at the palace.

Okay, folks, Melanie is doing a better job of capturing some of what we're doing in Scotland. She's in Glasgow now, having her own adventures, but she is also writing about the times we spend together, so check out her blog. I added her to my sidebar so you can regularly return to her site. Furthermore, for those who want an 'insider's view' of what living in Haifa has been like recently, check out Leila's blog here or on the sidebar, although she's just left for Germany, so you won't get any further updates from her.

To us!!

This isn't exactly what I thought I'd be doing for, well, any anniversary, but we did take a moment, put a moratoreum on anything warlike, and 'celebrated'. We found a tiny little restaurant we could afford and just generally had fun and washed some clothes (heheh - actually being able to do laundry at home is such a luxury!

We've also now managed to connect with the Baha'i community here and have plans to join them in more activities as well - including a first birthday for a baby! What fun!

Today we are totally vegging out watching Buffy, Season 2 (thanks Nae!)

Here's to being ... stable ... on our 7th anniversary.

I am deeply conflicted about not being in Haifa right now. We just happened to go on vacation 2 weeks before the first rocket attack in Haifa, and then due to a brief trip to the hospital for Mark (he is fine, it wasn't serious and it is all resolved - let's leave it at that) we extended our stay (the doctors wanted to be sure). Now that it has 'gone up a notch', as Ron Burgundy would say, we have now further extended our stay.

Not that I'm not enjoying Edinburgh; I love Edinburgh. (erg, I had this all eloquently in my mind last night...sigh) In any case, a part of me wishes I was in Haifa, while another part is relieved that I am not. However, the part of me that is relieved feels a bit ashamed, considering what all of my friends are going through back in Haifa.

Our friend Melanie is with us now. She's been fascinated with the food here.

Her blog features many photos, including me. Her blog is here.

Well, I have a feeling people may be checking my blog to check that Mark and I are intact, so here's a simple update.

We're fine. In fact, we're doing pretty darn well. We're in Edinburgh, Scotland visiting Nathan. We'll be here another week. It's gorgeous weather, we're being spoiled rotten, and generally not overexerting ourselves.

Today, Nathan's girlfriend, Ingrida, took Mark and me to the weekly farmers' market and then on to a French market that is on this weekend. The French market was, well, like the market I used to go to when I lived in France. We bought loads of fruit, veggies, fresh bread, pain au chocolat, cheese and saucisson - all from Frenchies. I was actually a bit surprised that the vendors were indeed French. I didn't expect that much, so it was handy I knew French :-)

Then we worked our way over to The Meadows, a lovely park, and made and ate our lovely lunch. I know, life is rough. Afterward, we came back to the flat, Mark took a nap and Ingrida and I did mud masks. So girly. So fun (oh, and I told her stories about Nathan as a kid, heeheehee). Now this is what I call a [well deserved, thank you very much] vacation!