Trinity Sunday
This was Trinity Sunday, and I hesitate to even bring it up, because it always causes so much misunderstanding between us. No, we don’t believe in three Gods. We believe in one God, who is at the same time Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
I am not a theologian, so what I am about to tell you is just my interpretation of a mystery which has been debated by minds much greater than my own. I tell my Muslim friends that it is like this:
I have a relationship with my husband, as his wife. We communicate in a certain way, we understand one another in a certain way, to my husband, I am his wife.
I am mother to my son, we communicate differently, and he thinks of me as mother.
I am daughter to my mother, and we communicate differently, and she thinks of me as her daughter.
My husband doesn’t think of me as daughter, and neither does my son. I am all three, and yet I am one person.
That is grossly simplified, and God is much more complicated than I can understand. I just wanted you to know, we believe, as Muslims do, that there is one God.
We do not believe God had sex with Mary. We believe Mary conceived by the wish of God, she conceived immaculately, without having had sex. The Angel Gabriel came to her and told her she had been selected, but she could say yes or no, and she said “yes.” Because she said yes, Jesus was born of Mary.
This was a sweet Sunday for me, because I was able to worship in my home church, here in Seattle. We sang all the oldest hymns. It was a lovely service. Afterwards, I asked the priests if I could take their photos for you, my friends in Kuwait.
If you want to argue with me, it won’t do any good. I am not that smart about religion, I just believe, I’m a pretty simple character. Find someone smarter than I am to argue with!
A Feast for the Eyes
Since I can’t do a sunrise photo, I will do a Spring flowers photo, or more than one, a feast for the eyes to get you started this morning:
Tulips lingering into May:
Flowers to commemorate Memorial Day:
And my very favorite, baskets of hanging fushias:
My First Favorite: 5 Star Pho
This is usually my very first stop when I get to Seattle. I CRAVE the 5 Star Pho salad rolls. They know me; they know I often stop on the way to my parent’s house to pick up an order, they have seen me fuzzy and smelly from my long travels. I bring my sisters and they put up with our laughter and chatter, I take my Mom here for noodle soup and green tea.
The owner and his wife always make us so welcome. It is a simple place, but they do steady business in the neighborhood – and it is also a favorite stop for the local cops.
Like Kuwait, increasing food costs have forced prices up everywhere:
When my aunt died, I got her little cat that always sat up above her kitchen sink in Santa Barbara. I was told that a cat with right paw raised welcomes guests, and a cat with left paw raised welcomes prosperity. I was told that these are Chinese cats, but my Chinese friends think they are Japanese. I don’t know where they originated, but you often see them in Chinese restaurants, too.
And finally – what I have been craving, what I have been waiting for! The 5 Star Pho Shrimp Salad Rolls (yes, there is one missing):
Colorful Display
This display caught my eye – WOW! Underwear so colorful that you either have to wear something that really covers it . . . or the intention is that it be seen. I can’t help but wonder where we are going, but I love the colors!
Girl’s Night Out
Sorry AdventureMan, I have had my first Mexican meal, and it was wonderful. You could have come! You could have come to wedding with me! You could have had Ivar’s seafood, and you could have had Las Brisas wonderful Mexican food.
My Mom insisted my sister try my new camera and take some photos of me. Of course, we got the giggles and every shot she took of me was worse than the one before. She said the photo gene skipped her, and – Sparkle – I agree. Those were some pretty awful photos. Of course, being hit by that great train jet lag didn’t help me to be a great subject.
Mom had the Camarones al Diablo, her long time favorite, and Sparkle and I had Chicken Mole. It was good, and we are looking forward to some time in California, with non-dumbed-down Mexican food, spicy!
The camarones (shrimp):
The chicken mole:
Wish I could bring you some, AdventureMan!
Not Your Kuwait Driver’s License
Earlier this year, I wrote about getting my Kuwait Driver’s License never thinking I would be going through the process again this year here in Seattle. I know it sounds crazy, but it just didn’t occur to me that the license might expire. It isn’t a good thing to find out when you are about to pick up a rental car and your license is declined because it expired.
So I needed to go get a new license first thing this morning. I know how crowded the driver’s license place is early in the morning, so I didn’t go first thing. When I got there, there were about 15 people in front of me.
They have this system. You go in and they have a big list of services and fees posted. Then you go to a machine and press a button for the service you need, and you get a number. I waited five minutes.
The woman asked how she could help and I told her I needed to renew my expired driver’s license. She asked why it had expired and I told her I live in Kuwait, and she said “oh! other country” and put in that code. She asked about you, she asked how I liked living in Kuwait, she was worried about my safety – I get that a lot. I tell them about Kuwait, about how nice it is, how I have lots of good friends, and that it is a nice place to live. I tell them I feel safe (I don’t tell them about the driving!) and that if anything were to happen, I believe I have friends who would protect me. I could see a lot of this was news to her, and she was happy to hear it.
She asked me if I was restricted in my dress, and I laughed and said “well, I dress modestly, so it isn’t really a problem.” She stopped and thought a little and said “I dress modestly, too.”
All of that conversation, plus my paying for a new license and taking an eye test, took five minutes. I had to take five steps over to where my photo was taken, and 30 seconds later my temporary license, photo and all, was in my hands. My permanent license will be sent to me within a week.
How sweet is that?
It was SO orderly. No one pushing in front of anyone, waving papers, insisting on going first. Everyone takes a number, everyone gets the same courteous service and it is FAST. I was in and out in less than fifteen minutes, and that includes the waiting time and the conversation. I love systems and processes!
Seattle Sunset
I smiled on my way home today, seeing the sun was setting and knowing you were getting up to VOTE today in Kuwait. Can’t send you a sunrise-over-the-Gulf photo, but I can send you a sunset-over-the-pine-trees photo, fresh just a couple hours ago:
Jeep Mercy
I guess the guy felt sorry for me and was giving me a special treat. I always get just a small car, as long as it has four doors. Sometimes they give me something sporty, sometimes something clunky. Sometimes I take them back and say “this car doesn’t drive very well, I want something else” and they give me something else.
When he told me where the car was, I asked “what did you give me.” He grinned and said “You’ll like it; it’s a silver Jeep. I was thinking Jeep like a BIG YUKON kind of thing, but when I saw it, it is Jeep like the size of a Toyota Rav 4, and I really love silver.
On the other hand, I truly hate travelling for 24 hours straight and then getting into a strange car and driving for about an hour on Seattle’s congested freeways at going home time.
I think he felt sorry for me because when he entered my driver’s license it was DECLINED! It had expired! Thank God I had another one, a lifetime license from another country, but I have to run down to tomorrow and get a new Washington State one. I was SO embarrassed.
(Seattle is heartwrenchingly beautiful at this time of the year; blue skies, huge showy rhodedendrons in bloom, it is just gorgeous)
Here is what I saw: congestion congestion congestion – Seattle has outgrown the highways built many years ago. Potholes, bad spots in the pavement, accidents waiting to happen. Oh wait! These are the same things I complain about in Kuwait!
One thing you will NEVER hear me complain about in Kuwait – People in Seattle just drive SO slow. Penalties for speeding and penalties for accidents you cause are so huge, so severe, and people are stultifyingly SLOW!
Rolls Royce and Lamborghini Dumped
From today’s Arab Times:
Rolls Royce and a Lamborghini dumped in a desert
Kuwait : Police found two luxurious cars — a Rolls Royce and a Lamborghini — worth KD 200,000 dumped in a desert area, reports Al-Anba daily. Reportedly, the cars were stolen from a rental office about 20 days ago. Personnel from the Criminal Evidences Department lifted fingerprints to identify the culprits.
Does anyone else find this funny? I mean funny, hahahaha, not funny strange, or weird. I mean it IS weird, it is so weird, but it makes me laugh.
In a little village in Washington State, there was a huge snowstorm a few years ago, and the roofs in the yacht club collapsed from the weight of the snow, collapsed on all those big fine yachts, and the citizens of the little village gathered and laughed. Boat moorage in their own little village had gotten so expensive, they couldn’t afford it, so these were all other people’s boats. And they just laughed.
200,000 KD worth of car in two cars. Just dumped in the desert. Seems kinda wasteful, doesn’t it?
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