Bizza Barty

When we came home from the Brick Oven, Rachel was so wound up that it took her a full hour to settle down before she could take her nap. She talked to me the whole time.

From her series of "oohs," "aahs," and "phhhlllhhhs," I've gathered somewhat of a story. This is her story told only as she could tell it.

Ahh, ahh, ahh, phhhlll *spittle, spittle, spittle,* ooh, ahh! (I got to see Rachel again today. She said that I've gotten chubbier since the last time I saw her, which was last week when I helped daddy at his study session. I can't help it. I'm a growing girl!)


Phhhllllhh, mmmmmmma, *spittle, spittle*, phhhlllh, aah, aah, ah. (I met a little girl named Miriam who is so cool! She can do so many things that I can't, like drink from straws and walk around. Whenever I try to drink from straws they jab my mouth. I was happy to see that Miriam had trouble getting away from the straw--it kept floating up into her mouth--perhaps I'm not so far behind after all.)


Maaaa, oooh! Phhhhllll *spittle,* mmmmmmm *squeal,* ooh, ooh, ooh! (I was very interested in Miriam but she was only moderately interested in me. I kept wanting to touch Miriam but every time I did she would cry to Bridget, "Mo-om! The *sniff* baby touched me!" at which time Bridget would have to kiss her wounds better. I was even trying to be gentle and not pinch--I have a mean pinch--and give kisses. Maybe next time we meet she'll like me a little more).

Miriam, probably nursing a Rachel-inflicted "wound"

Phhlll *spittle* hhhlllph! Ah, ma, ooh, ahh! (Eventually I had to be passed from Bridget to Ashley so that I would stop touching Miriam. I had a lot of fun on Ashley's lap but she was so close to mommy that I had to go see her. We had a high chair for me but I wasn't really interested in sitting in it.)

Ahhh, oooh, mmmmaa, *screech!* Aaah, aah, phhhlllooo! *spittle, spittle...* (There were a lot of exciting stories told--quite a few of Egypt. Mommy and Daddy have been taking about Egypt quite a lot lately. I was surprised how many stories were told about Egypt since everyone professed not to like it that much. We recounted how Lindsay got hit by a motorcycle, how mommy got abducted by a bedo and put on a donkey--and was then asked for baksheesh, how Kirk was overpowered by a horse, how Matt's kefiya got stolen, how Nate ran from the Great Pyramids to the "panoramic view" to meet up with Jamila, and the dreadful, dreadful hike up Mt. Sinai. There was plenty talk about Jordan as well--the Stoop and Shoop by the "apartment of seven guys," the shooting at the amphitheater, how ghetto all our apartments were, and the 2007 Study Abroad folk helped tell us how the city has changed since we were there. They moved Abdali station, what?!? The church is moving, the language center has wireless internet now...we won't even recognize the place when we get back there! Everything is different.)

Don, telling a riveting story

Maa, waa, waa. (And then Sean came wearing a sweater with Hebrew on it! We told Bridget how Sean went to Jerusalem after our study abroad and she was like, "I should not know this!" See, we were banned from going to Israel because of the lovely little war going on while we were over there. Sean went to do another study abroad in Israel the following year, so it was perfectly legal.)


A-ah, Oh! A-ah, Oh! Aaaaaa, aha! (Steven has an iPhone. Quite a few people are jealous of it. He kept playing with it all through lunch and joked about how it does almost everything--except it won't give him a massage. He feels like he should be able to say, "Massage!" and it should turn on vibrate and then he could rub it on his back. It doesn't do that...catch up Apple! People are dreaming.

And Bryan was able to tell us about Yemen and how it's fine if you don't mind going without "Western amenities." Since we all lived in ghetto apartments without consistent water or properly functioning toilets or shower-toilet combos, we were wondering what "amenities he was talking about. Air, maybe. Admittedly, what he saw in Yemen might have been a little more "rustic" than what we saw in Jordan.)


A-boo, boo, boo, poo, ploo, phhhhllloooo, phhhhlllll *spittle!* Ahh, ahh! (Mommy's pizza was late coming out so the manger came to apologize and give her a free salad. Mommy was glad for the free salad because she was hungry, but she didn't really mind that her pizza was late because I was busy eating when the pizza was brought out anyway so her hands were tied. The pizza at the Brick Oven was much better than the pizza we had at The Pizza Factory last week. They have a lesson or two to learn from good ol' Heaps! Daddy held me while mommy ate some pizza because he was already finished eating when mommy got hers.)


Ahh! Ma, ma, mmmmmmmmphlllphhhllll *spittle!* Ah, ahhh, ahh, ah, a... (Rachel fell asleep before she was finished this little sentence, but I think it had something to do with how much fun she had seeing everyone and talking about the Middle East and how she'd love to go there someday...so daddy should finish his application for AUC.)