Summer Vacation: Family, Friends, and Minnesota

I spent a lovely three weeks in Minnesota starting the very end of June and ending last week. My whole family was together for the first week, except Amy's husband Ryan, came on July 8. It was great to see family, friends, and spend relaxing time enjoying Minnesota summer (although I forgot how stifling the humidity can be after coming from a desert with dry heat). I brought my boyfriend Antwan with me to visit the family and see where I grew up. Here are some picks from the trip:

Bacon on the 4th of July. Antwan loved my mother's bacon so much that I think she made it 3 more times at least.


Antwan's first taste of Swedish pancakes!


My new little niece Aurora (we're birthday twins) and me getting ready to go boating and swimming.


My sister and I posing with the new hats Jamison gave us. Aren't we chic?


Amy and Aurora. So cute!


And again, so cute!


Chillin' on the 4th of July.




I took Antwan tubing for his first time ever!


And we fell...


Here's a little video of Antwan and I falling off the tube. The obvious goal of tubing in the first place.


After all that we were happy, but exhausted. I think my arms hurt for about two days.


A couple more pics of us in the boat and afterwards.




We brought our picnic inside this 4th of July to protect Aurora from the mosquitoes.




We saw this cake in a magazine one year and now it is tradition for my mom to make a flag cake on the 4th. Sometimes she also makes the Canadian flag for Canada Day.


Strawberry Pie. Yummy!


Here is a series of Aurora playing Uno with Amy. She was so enamored by the cards, it was adorable!






















We watched the sunset on the lake waiting for the fireworks to start! I'm usually very impressed with Fairmont's fireworks. This year, sadly, they were not that good. But the lake view is always nice.




We had Mexican food! That is one of the only foods that you cannot find anywhere in Israel or Palestine. It was delicious!


One evening, Antwan and I went bowling. It was early, so we were the only people in the whole bowling alley. Also, we got off to a rusty start. We both went into the gutter for both our first rounds and the owner of the place was laughing at us. How embarrassing!




We ate Jake's Pizza with my mom. Jake's is a local Fairmont restaurant.


I'm sure you've seen enough pictures of Aurora, but I was so excited to meet my smiley niece for the first time!




After Antwan and Jamison left, Mom, Dad, Amy, Ryan, Aurora, and I headed up north to our farm. We took the road trip slowly, so that Aurora could be fed and be happy. One of our stops was the actual Sioux Falls in Sioux Falls. I had no idea it even existed.

Here are a couple views of the falls.




Here's the restaurant with very tasty food.


All of us...


And just me.


After we got to the farm, and we couldn't stay there because of a hole in the roof and water damage, we went to my Uncle Norman's Cabin in Ontario. I wanted to go blue berry picking, so that I could bring some blue berries back for Antwan since he had never tried them before.


These two poses we took for my mom.




Even though blue berries were not quite in season, we managed to get a good bunch.


That's not everything that we did on our vacation, but all that I have documented on my camera. It was lovely. I always enjoy seeing my family, friends, and Minnesota.

Tomorrow in the Apricot

These pictures are incredibly late, mostly because I avoided the internet during my vacation to the US the past few weeks. One of the first idioms many foreigners learn in Arabic, because it is at the beginning of one of the most popular learning Arabic books, is: bukra fil mish mish, meaning "Tomorrow in the Apricot." It used similarly as "When Pigs Fly." For this reason, the word for apricot, mish mish, is one of the first fruit names I remembered in Arabic. It has been one of my dreams since I moved here to make Apricot Jam. There is only a short season for apricots in Palestine, around the end of July. The two most famous cities for truly organic apricots are Jifna and Beit Jala. The apricots are recognizable by their rosy yellow color and rosy cheeks (a little different than the genetically modified brand we are used to). This year, was the first time I was able to make Apricot Jam with my boyfriend's mother, Ellen. She bought a big bundle of apricots from Beit Jala and we spent an evening making jam the traditional Palestinian way.


You can see the rosy cheeks on these apricots (mish mish).


Ellen stirring the chopped mish mish coated with sugar.


Ellen and I.


Eating a fresh mish mish. They are so tasty!!



After boiling for a while, the mish mish and sugar begin to foam. I wondered why we needed such a big pot, but soon realized we would have had foam everywhere if we didn't.


I felt like a witch stirring brew in my cauldron.


I had no idea that you could eat the pits of apricots. First you crack them and then peel of the skin, and they make a very tasty nut. Ellen added them to the jam.


Antwan and I filling jars of finished jam.


The finished product.

Daily Joys

I'll admit it. Even though I've lived here for 2 1/2 years now, I still have times where I get homesick. Now, that I'm going home in two weeks for a vacation and I'm super anxious to see my sister's new little baby, Aurora, I'm getting moments of homesickness. Mostly I think about all the things I could do in the US, that I can't do here. It's at times like these when I need to remember the little things that I enjoy.

So with that, I decided to show you guys a little bit about my daily life going to University. Sometimes I forget it, but I like the flowers and the views along the way and I took some pictures for you to see what life is like for me.

Pretty colors in my neighborhood and along the way.





Here's a view of the British Cemetery along the way, where all the British soldiers who died in WWI in this area are buried.


My favorite part is when the trees open up and I see a lovely view of the Old City and the Dome of the Rock!


Finally, some shots of the entrance to my school.