Fantastic Weekend!

I really had a good, balanced weekend that took care of my needs. Mind, body,and soul. I participated in several religious activities, made significant progress on my job search, went on a short hike with new friends, and had GREAT times with GREAT friends!

**Interruption: As I'm writing this, my best friend from back home just called. SHE'S COMING UP TO VISIT NEXT MONTH!!! YAY!!!!

Thursday, after watching Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist we made a last minute decision to head down to our favorite watering hole to meet up with some friends just 30 minutes before last call and an hour before closing. Such fun heralded the opening of a great weekend!

Friday I went to the first religious activity of the weekend, which was very fulfilling.

Saturday morning was the second religious activity of the weekend, where I took tea with some of the ladies there. One of the ladies had just returned from a trip to Malaysia. She brought beautiful lavender tea and sweets. We heard all her stories about her lovely trip! Later that day I went on a short hike with the TOEFL students at the local university. So many beautiful people from beautiful cultures! My life is truly enriched by coming into contact with their lives. I had never heard any Arabic languages until then. It was so beautiful!

After the hike, we took tea at one of the professors' home, in her garden!

Saturday night we watched another David Lynch film, Mulholland Dr. It definitely pushed boundaries for me, but luckily it was in a very comfortable environment, so it turned out to be a positive experience. After the movie we stayed at our friend's house until 8:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday!! For a long time a lot of my friends, even my parents, have said "Nissa! If you like *insert band name here* you will love Radiohead!" Well, I had listened to them and sort of been like "eh." For some reason, last night I was ready. I had an education. It was so great! We listened to them for hours, and their music was just so great! Thom Yorke just goes there! His spirit is so fused with what he's singing, I couldn't help but feel connected too.

I slept most of today, but I woke up in time to enjoy a couple of hours of today's beautiful weather! Just a superb weekend!