Villa On The Med In Tagura,Libya

Hello ! It was last February  when I was able to post on my blog . A lot has happened as you may have heard,the war , which still rages on here in Tripoli and other places in Libya .I just wanted to say that Moe and I are both well and doing fine.Our son and his family are also well and safe.Moe's family that are still here in Libya are doing well. We are all safe ,thanks to God.

We had all sorts of adventures as you can imagine, but for right now I just wanted to thank all of you that wrote, sending your love ,prayers ,and well wishes to us and our family here.Truly the Grace of God has been with us,our family,friends, and wonderful neighbors here in Tripoli. A special prayer goes out to the families that have not been as blessed as we.The families that have lost loved ones ,been displaced, or made homeless. 

A special thanks to NATO and their support. And a IMPORTANT  message to the new Libyan National Transitional Council  ..... please ,please when a new constitution is drafted remember the foreign spouses of  Libyans such as my many friends and myself . Please afford us the rights to own our property , to inherit from our spouses ( our homes that many times we helped build or sacrificed much to help our husbands buy ,are many times NOT given to the surviving spouse due to foreign  citizenship. ), allow us to have the right to own our own businesses legally ,to travel with our multi-national children with out having spousal permission to leave the country,and the right to open our own banking account without spousal approval.

I have lived here off and on for last 40 years .I currently have lived in Libya for 21 years and have not left the country in 19 years. I have born 4 children ,three of which were born on Libyan soil. One child is buried here in Libya.I think I have more than earned the right to be granted these simple civil rights.Please NTC don't forget the silent ones like my friends and I .

It's Here !

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It's here ! It's here ! It's here !!!! My package from my sister in the US finally arrived in Tagura . Well , not the actual package but a card from the central main post office in downtown Tripoli .They notified my local post office , where we have a post office box  here in Tagura , that my package was ready for me to come and  pick it up from the central post office where they handle all international mail .

The box arrived in Tripoli on April the 27th , exactly as the US postal service said it would , but it took an addition length of time for it to clear customs and immigration , I suppose, once it arrived in Tripoli .

Once again , since this is our 2nd package from the US , we were treated with respect , everyone was quite helpful toward Moe and I. I think it took us all of 15 minutes to get the package , have the inspector open the box in front of us , for the very 1st time I might add ,and clear the package for us to pay the import tax or what ever it is called , and leave the post office .They even carried it out to the car for us , since Moe and I each use canes to walk with .So impressive . 

I asked about my mailing a package to the US and was told I could  mail a package up to the weight of 20 kilos ,not bad . As to the price of such a package , we didn't get into , but the man gave us his number for future help .I am writing all these details just in case some one out there is interested ,lol .

It was like having Christmas and Ramadan all rolled into one at once ! My sister and her family sent me all kinds of goodies that can't be found here yet , such as certain spices I like , instant sauces, and special mixes for special dishes that we haven't had in year.I have half of Ramadan's dinner menu planned now , lol ! 

She also sent me copies from the Houston newspaper of the supermarkets food sales from the week she mailed the box . I go on line once in a while to check these things out so I can stay abreast of prices . That way when my daughters talk of food prices , I understand better what they are talking about .It was so cool to hold an actual newspaper in my hands !

She sent along the activities section as well , you know the part that tells of current events in the community like fairs or festivals . By the time I finished reading that aloud to Moe , we were both exhausted from all that fun we had going to all the festivals , fairs, and party's !!We were reminded of all the little cities and towns in and around the Houston area .So much free fun , or almost free fun happening all over the place !One fair even had belly dancers and free camel rides . Now ,how can you turn that down ? I mean , really, a camel ride ? How many of you have ever been on a camel? 

News In Brief

Hey ! Just wanted to let you know I am back on line and in the chair again .Thank you so much for all the well wishes from everyone . I really appreciated them so much .

Even though I am just now starting to get out and about these last few,days , much has happened around the Condo recently . Many relatives came to visit , along with some friends and neighbors . It surprised me to tell you the truth . I knew that a couple of people will naturally come to visit , of course , but some of the others were a nice surprise to see . The visits were fun and so good to see different ones I hadn't seen in a while . Same thing for phone calls .

It made me realize how bad I am about these social visits . I have gotten out of the habit of visiting people these last few years . One excuse after another and I just stopped going , or calling . Now I feel so guilty that I have not keep up this nice social custom . I have made a note to myself to try to do better in the future .

While I was in Tripoli Medical Center and surrounded by all manner of student doctors , I would wonder to myself , which one of you bloggers that I know might be in a group I was watching ?How surprised you would be to know you were so close to me and not know it , lol .

I met all sorts of people in the hospital while I was there and made many a new friend too . Several nights we women wandered from ward to ward , visiting with each other . We discussed all topics we had in common and found this world to be very small indeed !I even ran into a friend who was caring for her mother in hospital , that I didn't know was there at the same time as I . Two floors up and one of Moe's Uncles was hospitalized as well , so many family members came to visit us both .

Actually the only really negative experience in the TMC I had were the bathrooms .So disgusting . The house keeping staff only came 2 times a day to clean them and no trash containers available in the bathrooms themselves . No soap either and many of the fixtures were non operating , no water , or no sanitary precautions taken for the patients .All the other moans an groans about the hospital and staff are normal ones you might find or have anywhere else in the world .

Our son and his wife stayed with us and cared for Moe and I these past 2 weeks . Haroun had his 2nd birthday party here .I am so grateful that they came and helped us out so much . I don't know what we would have done with out them .

Summer time is on it's way here in Tripoli . It is getting hotter day by day . The mosquito population is growing by leaps and bounds ! Have to close the Condo up way before sundown or else the darn things will fly off with us like the vampires they are , with us never to be seen again !

I hate the summertime here . It is just hot , humid , and buggy all summer long !!! Yucky !! Even with the air conditioner going full blast .Houston isn't much better either , but at least there you can wear " naked" clothes and no one has a heart attack ! Thank goodness I don't wear the Hajib , or I think I would just die from being smothered to death in all that fabric !