The Via Ferrata

Two things happen after you spend a day suspended by two ropes and some wire 100 metres above the ground:
1. Your arms hurt more than you've ever experienced before.
2. You have mysterious dreams that you are falling from the side of a mountain while you are asleep.
Yesterday was probably one of the most thrilling days of my life. For five straight hours,
Mark, Jon, Carmen, and I, along with 8 others, dangled by a mere metre of rope and a couple of carabeners from the side of the "Snake Gorge" on a mountain, scaling a course known as the "Via Ferrata". Via Ferratas exist mainly in Oman and Italy...and they used to serve as passageways for soldiers to transport equipment through the mountains.

Well...i can't even fathom carrying more than my own weight through the gorge...however, my arms are pretty scronny.

So, anyways...the pictures you see are of us four and some other randoms clinging to the side of a gorge roughly 100 metres above the ground.
The 'adventure' also consisted of 3 zip lines and a monkey bridge which served as our means of getting from one side of the gorge to the other.
I'll admit, I'm afraid of heights...and to be quite honest, the entire thing felt like a dream. I still can't believe I did it. Carmen and I continually referred to ourselves as being in a state of denial...I'm pretty sure that's what got me through.
But to be honest, it was so sweet to experience it with my brothers and sister. This may sound nerdy, but I truly think it made us appreciate our differences, and really taught us, in a short
time, how to encourage one another when we were panicked.

Wait, let me rephrase that...it really taught my brothers how to, in a short time, encourage me and Carmen when we were in states of panic.

My mom asked me today if I would do it again ...well, it was a very interesting way to spend my Christmas eve day, however...I'm pretty sure I'd do it again at the drop of a hat.
Or maybe I've had my first taste of living adventurously...and now I'm just going to have to go out and do some more daring things...

don't tell my mom.

Finally here.

All i can say, really, is 'heck yes'. Thanks to Jonny for such an artistic picture ... We all arrived (all but one suitcase) into Muscat last night at midnight Oman time ... turned out to be a 24 hour long trip ... (of which there are a few very funny stories) ... pretty long ... but well worth it. My parents are great...and obviously were rediculously excited to see us. It's so good to be here...all of the family together...it's gonna be a rad Christmas. It feels oddly like home...this house half way around the world...

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to conquer my fear of heights...we're climbing a gorge and doing a zip line across it...yikes! more to come...

only two more sleeps.

So, here I am, possibly on one of my last study breaks of this year of school...2006, that is. I've got myself a bowl of the best studying food ever...Annie's macaroni...and I'm doing what I do a lot lately...ponder at just how insanely crammed full of information my brain actually is, and exactly how incredibly excited I am that in 27.5 hours, I will not only be finished exams, but will be getting my sore little feet and ravaged little hands prepared for a holiday with my sister Carmen...and, aside from what else we might end up doing...will be enjoying my last sleep in this frost infected country of Canada.
After another long (well, actually incredibly short) 4.5 months, my entire family will be together again...and I am so pumped. Living out on my own for what really has felt like the first time in my life has been quite the experience, and I'm glad to have Betty with me. I find myself longing, however, for times when I was back in high school...Carmen and I were talking yesterday just about how excited it will be to hear "dinner is ready"...or to actually wake up to my parents already downstairs...to play games all together, or to drink coffee and baileys around the Christmas tree while my dad reads a book, and mom meddles around the house to music...or for experiencing the care that you really don't get when your parents live half way around the world. I miss them terribly. And I know that with them gone I have been forced to grow up in a way that I don't think I would have with them here. I have learned so much more of who I am, and what I need to change in my life...and I am thankful.
But I am more than ecstatic to walk through that gate on Friday night and see them there...see my dad half crying and my mom smiling as usual.
Only two exams left.
Love.

Have you ever kissed a camel?

I have.

And honestly, you might be disgusted (in fact, I'm sure you are...I kind of am too), but they have really soft lips.

Oh dear...well...I didn't begin this blog to talk about my weird endeavors...

I was just looking through my pictures and I got super excited because in exactly two weeks today, I will be finished exams, and on a plane with my two brothers and my sister-in-law, on the way to see our parents in Oman.

I can't wait.

However, I must first endure a german test, a german final, a chemistry final, a biology final, and a calculus final. Great, eh? Oh well. I think I'll make it...atleast I hope I will.

Other interesting news? Well, I phoned the cable company to cancel the free cable that they were giving me for a month (the month was over and I didn't want to start paying)...anyways, to make a long story short...someone at shaw forgot to cancel it, and I still have cable...which is great cuz I can still watch Grey's and oprah (yes, i watch oprah)...but horrible because I also need to study.

I went to see the movie 'Babel'...with Brad Pitt and some other yahoos. It was good, alot like the movie 'crash'...however, it had some really weird parts, including full female nudity...so that threw me off....a lot. Funny how it was only rated 14A. Oh, Canada.

Um...I'm reading the 'Harry Potter' books. Ya, yah...i know...but they are so incredibly good. But I'll admit, I feel a bit childish walking around campus with books that have wizards and boys on brooms cartooned all over the covers...(I do my best to conceal them). Betty also reads them, and back in June she bought the latest one, got about half way through, turned from page 250 to what you would assume to be page 251, and oh...page 75. Isn't that funny. Well, I recently bought the first one, and was about half way through, turning from page 128 to what I would assume to be 129, and oh...page 78. Needless to say, either the publishers are completely illiterate, or they just happen to have no idea what they're doing. Wouldn't be surprised with either cases, actually.

Dancing continues to be great, and Starbucks is good...except that my hands seem to smell like coffee 24/7...which is rather interesting. And I'm pretty sure that i'll never develop Osteoperosis, because I drink a ton of milk...

Oh, and one last really weird story. I have this necklace that says my name in Arabic. Last week I was doing homework at none other than starbucks (at school)...and all of the sudden this guy has come up behind me, leaned over my books and is staring at...my necklace...which was kind of awkward, and by kind of I mean really, because I didn't really clue in right away that he was staring at my necklace if you know what I mean. Anyways, I jumped back, and he was startled...(no kidding), and I said "Hello!"...rather forcefully (atleast I'd like to think I did). Then he started off into a little rant about seeing me walk by and noticing my necklace and not being sure whether it was what he thought it was...."uh huh"...I said. He asked me if I was from the middle east and I said my parents were...anyways, turns out he spoke arabic and my necklace actually says 'Kasleen'...ha ha. I guess they couldn't write out the 'th' in silver because it has three dots on it or something. So, the whole situation turned out ok, however, you would think someone might rather come up and say "excuse me, I noticed your necklace while you walked by...do you mind if I look at it?"...instead of just coming up and just STARING at it...ha ha.

Well, that's all...I'll be off to study deutch. Auf Wiedersehen!