Day 2: Riding a Camel--another dream fulfilled

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you would know that I have this thing for camels. I have also longed for years to actually ride a camel. Last spring at the Jandriyah festival my boys rode camels, but they weren't letting ladies ride, so I wasn't able to ride with the boys. I was sad, but not exactly surprised. I had hoped that I would get to ride a camel, but didn't plan on it. Imagine my delight when we drove behind the pyramids and then were able to ride some camels.

I was wearing a skirt and had trouble actually getting on the camel. Somehow, when I tried to swing my leg over the camel, my leg got stuck in my skirt. About that same time, the camel thought he was supposed to stand up. Which put me a bit off-balance. However, years of riding horses stood me in good stead. Once I was sure the camel wasn't going anywhere, I freed my foot and got it over the camel.

Miss B was so scared and started trembling with fear. I kept reassuring her and reminding her that she had ridden a horse before. I told her to relax. The guy leading the camel overheard our conversation and we talked about riding horses and camels.

We walked a little bit and then stopped and got some great pictures.

When we turned around to go back, the guide let me actually "drive" the camel. There isn't really that much to it. Camels are glorified pack animals and pretty much follow the leader. Camels follow a lead on the reins and stop when you pull back on the lead. They also move when you kick them on their stomach. They respond to clicking with your tongue.

I don't have the best posture, but I don't usually look that hump-backed. I was leaning forward because the lead was really short.

Anyhow, I am blissfully happy about being able to ride a camel. Another dream fulfilled.

Remembering September 11, 2001

I have never written about this day before. Not even last year, when it was the ten-year anniversary of the tragedy, and I lived in New York. I'm writing this for my children, so they will know what it was like to hear the news, see the footage, and how it felt. There are historic moments, both good and bad, that are personal and powerful, which have a collective effect upon a nation or a country. This was one such moment.

On September 11, 2001, I was 24 years old and had been married to my husband for 3 1/2 years. We lived in Provo, Utah (395. N 800 W.) I had graduated from Brigham Young University 2 years earlier. My husband was attending graduate school at BYU. My oldest son was 23 months old and my second son was 2 months old. My house was a disaster that morning. I had been neglecting my household chores, but woke up that morning determined to tackle the mess of dishes in my kitchen and make some order in my house. I was listening to a book on tape, washing dishes, while my baby lay in a bouncer and my toddler was playing around my feet.

The phone rang, interrupting my work. I stopped my tape, and answered the phone. "Hello," I answered.

"Tiffany, this is Christina. Turn on the TV now. Someone is attacking America," my friend practically barked this across the lines.

Stunned, I wasn't sure how to respond to this news. I turned on the television and watched the footage unveiling on the TV. It was shocking and horrifying to watch the World Trade Center Towers collapse, to see the smoke billowing from the tragedy, and later to learn of the attack on the Pentagon, and another plane crashing.

I trembled in fear at the horrific vision unfolding before me on the television. It was not a blockbuster film but reality. My children felt my fear and were both fussy and clingy for the rest of the day. The TV stayed on all day so I wouldn't miss any news.

My husband had been at school all day, and as we were poor college students and cell phones were an unnecessary luxury, I couldn't contact him. Two of my sisters were also at school at BYU. I was scared and worried.

One of my dearest friends lived in New York City and her husband worked for a financial company. I had no idea if he had an office in those buildings. So I started to call her, but the circuits were busy. Eventually, I was able to reach her and learned that, to my relief, that both she and her husband were okay.

That evening, my husband and I invited my sisters and their rommates over to our home to watch the news, eat dinner, and regroup.

Over the next few weeks, we scoured the news for information and learned more details of what happened. I attended Memorial Services given by churches. Sometimes I would take my little boys outside and noticed how a plane passing overhead would make my heart start pounding.

Nearly a month later after the attacks I was watching LDS General Conference, while President Gordon B. Hinckley was speaking and he interrupted his talk with a note that was passed to him and said that the United States military had launched an offensive against Afghanistan.

And thus began a period of wars that haven't ceased in the Middle East for eleven years. I had no idea then how much of my life would actually connect with the Middle East. In the days following 9/11 patriotic fervor was at a fever pitch. Flags were flown at homes. Patriotic music blared from homes and cars. And we all tried to make sense of it. Ugly attacks were perpetrated against Muslims across the United States.

I was troubled by the attacks, hoping that surely while they are zealots and fanatics in every religion, we shouldn't define religion based on the nut jobs. But I didn't know any Muslims personally.

A year later, we moved to Sweden, and throughout our 5 1/2 years in the country, we met several Muslim families, mostly families that had come to Sweden to study or to escape violence and government instability in their home countries. This move was the first of many. Now, in Saudi Arabia, we are again learning more and experiencing Muslim culture in a completely different way. Through these experiences, I've discovered that the actions of a few fanatics definitely shouldn't define an entire religion or the millions of Muslims in the world.

I've changed a lot since that fateful day 11 years ago. I didn't see all the complexities and conflict in the world  as I do now.

As I reflect on that day, I feel sorrow for the men and women who died. I honor the heroes who risked their lives to save others. I marvel at the generosity of New Yorkers and their amazing capacity to unite and work together to help each other. I sorrow at the eleven years that our country has spent at war in the Middle East. And I keep hoping that we can end all these conflicts with one another and achieve peace.

For more images about September 11, 2011, you can go here
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Online Scrapbook Class

 I think that I have already shared that I really enjoy scrapbooking. When we were planning to move to Saudi Arabia, I opted to buy a Kindle so I could take a full library wherever I went, left my paper books at home, and brought all my scrap supplies. I usually attend a Scrapbook Expo in New Jersey every year where I take classes and shop. But I couldn't do that this year. I was feeling pretty bummed about that, when I got an email from Big Picture Classes. BPC is a online craft education website which offers online classes. I ended up taking three classes-at the same time, which kind of turned out to be a mistake because I haven't been able to keep up with all three. One of the classes, 28 Days of Sketches-Round 2, has been really fun and inspiring. Each day, I get an email with a new sketch, which I then use to create a page of my own. We share our layouts in a gallery. Like I said, it has been really fun. Because I'm so proud of what I've created, I wanted to share the layouts I made. Not all are perfect or fabulous, but most are pretty great.