Salaam

When I worked at the American Red Cross, I had a couple of Egyptian coworkers that would teach me random Egyptian Arabic phrases and words. I am hoping to someday take classes at Portland Community College to learn conversational arabic. Don't ask why, but I want to learn. Actually, when I started to learn the little arabic I know, I was interested in Hindi. I have this weird tendency toward Bollywood although I know nothing about it.

Anyway, I have been searching online for places to learn simple phrases in Arabic. I have some Pimsleur Approach audio CDs for Egyptian Arabic but I like to see the words written out and I am pretty slow at learning. So, here are a few sites for you to browse if you're interested. It can get confusing because I started looking specifically for Egyptian Arabic but some of the best sites tend to be the regular or eastern Arabic.

This site called Babel has a few phrases that you can listen to. They're also spelled out for those of you who also need a visual.

This site is pretty neat. It shows you how to say numbers, days of the week and a few simple phrases to get around if you're visiting an arabic-speaking country.

The site, www.al-bab.com, has a few links to interesting information pages, including the The Alternative Arabic Dictionary and Yemeni proverbs. I guess in the alternative dictionary, they give you words that are left out of the dictionary... if you know what I mean.

Okay, I have no idea what is going on with this site but they have songs and games you can play to learn how to read arabic. It's kind of freaky becuase it talks or sings to you automatically after you click on the first lesson, so be aware. I think it'll be interesing to figure this site out though.

Click here to go to a site that has a few often used phrases in Arabic. It seems okay for a beginner's intro but does not have audio.

This site has a bunch of links to various Arabic language resources. It seems pretty comprehensive.

A fun site called Arabic-O-Matic allows you to type your name in and it will try to translate it into arabic letters. It's fun but I would like to find that scrap of paper that my coworker wrote my name on so that I could compare.

Well, that's all I have for now. I hope you have been enlightened. If you are interested in or know arabic, I would love to sharpen my skills in this language.

Ma salaama

Maui no ka oi

Even though no one reads this, I thought that I'd keep on posting... So, I'll try this in Pidgin.



Eh, howzit? Guess wat cuz. I stay going back Maui. Yeah, brah. I going, da kine, for Christmas time.



Going be good fun. I going spend time wit da family and da boyfriend. I tink we going go whale watching and da kine like dat. I like go up Haleakala fo one hike or something like dat.



So, wat you tink? Sound good, yeah? Going be one big partay. Shoots bah. Jus hope we no run into these buggas.



Da portagee man of war is my nemesis. K-den, I going go now. Ho, but rememba one ting. Maui no ka oi (Maui is da bes). Take care and aloha. Mahalo for reading.

Stuffed microbes

Ha ha. I found this website that sells stuffed animals in the shape of various microbes.

This is the flesh eating bacteria, Streptococcus pyogenes.




Ain't it the cutest thing you've ever seen? He's even got a fork and knife to make things easier for himself...

Anyway, you can actually purchase these things. Here's the website... http://www.giantmicrobes.com/
They have everything from the ebola to dust mites. It's great.

Things to do before I die...

Let's see... Here's a list of things I really want to do and/or have wanted to do in the past that I may or may not have done. Some of it's just a frivorlous dream but who really cares but me? It's in no real order, just what I think of. So the accomplishments will be bolded. I'm sure I'll add more later.

Things to do before I die...

1. Visit Antarctica
2. Explore Africa
3. Travel around the world in one go
4. Skydive
5. Read a real book
6. Get in shape (a flat stomach possibly?)
7. Swim with sharks
8. Go to Australia
9. Visit all Australian States
• Western Australia
• South Australia
• Victoria
• New South Wales
• Tazmania
• Queensland
• Northern Territory
• Australian Capitol Territory
10. Live in Australia for at least 2 years
11. Visit New Zealand
12. See a kiwi bird
13. Hike most of the Columbia River Gorge trails
14. Visit India
15. Learn more Arabic
16. Ride the Indian Pacific train
17. Ride the Trans-Siberian train from start to finish
18. Ride the scenic Amtrack routes (did the Empire Builder route from Minneapolis to Portland)
19. Catch a fish with bare hands
20. Snowboard
21. Ski
22. Skate on a real frozen lake
23. River Raft
24. Rock Climb
25. Eat balanced meals
26. Jump off a 50 foot cliff into a glistening natural pool (only jumped from about 25 ft)
27. Swim with wild animals (frolicked with sea lions)
28. Finish nursing school with no psychological issues
29. Get an adorable dog
30. Take care of a gecko
31. See a dingo
32. Observe a wild manatee or dugong
33. See stromatalites
34. Eat a bug without vomiting
35. Pet a camel
36. Ride a horse (rode on a beach in Oregon and through a river in Australia)
37. Grow a garden on my own
38. Teach a bird to talk
39. Purchase a Rolex (black mother of pearl with diamonds)
40. Visit Asia (done Malaysia and Singapore)
41. Learn Italian
42. Learn how to cook better
43. Meet a real life beaver
44. See a panda
45. Re-learn to sew
46. Practice better yoga
47. Do the Bridge Pedal
48. Observe an autopsy
49. Save a life
50. Say "sorry" less

Wow, I've got a ways to go.

Nothing of note

Hi all (if anyone). I am new to this blogspot thing so we'll see how things go. I just wanted to post a little something, so here it is. Thanks for reading and I'll have more to say sometime in the future.