4 days of Ramadan down …

Part of me is enjoying the whole fasting thing – but another part is just wanting it to pleeasseee end. =) Nah really, it’s good for me. It’s definitely making me more disciplined and giving me lots of extra time with my host family.

I went to the embassy and voted today – which was a bit of an annoyance, but went fairly smoothly. It’s strange to walk into the embassy past tons of people waiting in lines to get in, and then through a big room full of people waiting to try and get visas, etc – which are nearly impossible to get these days. Since I’m a citizen I get to skip all that waiting and go straight to the American Services desk, which makes ya feel a bit guilty – but not bad enough to wait for hours along with the others.

Lines don’t really exist here actually. It’s like when driving, things like the lines on the road are just optional. You just kinda go up when you feel like it, despite whatever your number is.

I don’t think I’ve said much about drivers in this country, but I feel like its time now that its Ramadan (the craziest driving time of year). There is one rule on the road: whoever gets there first has the right away. You might think that it’d be really chaotic, but it works amazingly well. The police men just hold up little signs when they want to check your car or think you’re going too fast – so its really up to you to even stop for them.

The taxis are generally comfortable and fairly cheap – but you never know who you’re gonna get, and every 3rd or 4th taxi ride you can expect to talk about Bush and Iraq… everyone feels compelled to share their opinion since I’m an American.

The taxi I usually call late at night is Abu Firas. He’s the funniest guy. He has 10 kids, and works around 16hrs a day (which is fairly typical for cabbies) … I’ve had taxi drivers say they were gonna fall asleep they’d been driving so long – never something you want to tell a passenger. Anyways back to Abu Firas – 10 kids, and he always talks about how hes so glad to work so many hours so he can stay away from them all, lol. Actually he’s really just the sweetest man. The other day he invited me over for iftar cuz he was afraid I’d be eating alone, which I wasn’t, so I didn’t end up going – but sometime I’d like to go. Some of the other students have been to his house and met some of his kids and I’ve heard lots of good things.

I need to go get some sleep .. hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the beautiful fall season in the northwest =)