Eid Mubarak!

Eid Mubarak! We just finished the week of Eid Al Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. Basically, it's the closest thing they have here to Christmas/Thanksgiving. So everyone hangs out with lots of family. The big difference, however, is that they're all celebrating because their period of fasting and being pious is over and they can now go back to normal life; whereas Christmas (for me) is celebrating the joy of having Christ as my savior (therefore "normal life" is every day.) It did seem strange to actually be able to drink and eat in public today without the danger of getting arrested. I drank four water bottles at school today and peed three times!

Anyway, I'm back from my delightful vacation in Goa, a state in west India. I had such an amazing trip and was so blessed by the fact that there was green vegetation everywhere! I almost forgot that trees are green, and not dust-green. After all, there are lots of palm trees here in Bahrain, but they're not really green. It would be difficult to sum up my trip, but I will just give you the highlights because I know everyone's busy. You have to keep in mind that Goa is a lot like Hawaii; there are lots of beach bums that just decide one day they will up 'n move to India and live on the beach. So here are the highlights:

--THE BEACH (and the ability to wear SHORTS, a TANK TOP, and a two-piece swimsuit!!!)
--Beach Bum Seafood buffet; I got to try shark for the first time
--The Basillica where St. Francis of Asisi is buried (we saw his grave!)
--A spice plantation (it was in a jungle!)
--ELEPHANTS!
--Watching a traditional dance competition that was part of a Hindu celebration
--A flea market (I may have brought back some actual fleas from that...I have the bites!)

I promise to have pictures up as soon as I get them from someone who came with me. (I still haven't bought a camera. I'm much too picky a consumer to find one that I actually like within my price range.)