Finale

Pentecost weekend was spent enjoying a good read, the sun, long conversations in the hammock, fierce badminton matches, a BBQ, long walks, driving lessons, strange movies, the company of Marie, Jan, Bridge and Paula and also the family, which was complete for the first time since late August last year.

If everything goes smoothly and the weather holds up, the movers (yes, I caved) are coming tomorrow, and I should be sleeping in my new room for the first time tomorrow night.

Arabian nights

Picture a harem chamber somewhere in the depths of an Arabian city. The rhythm of pipes and drums, the swinging of coin belt-adorned hips, hands painted with henna, dimmed lights and the smell of shisha smoke, perfume and camel dung.

This was the setting of Nono's bachelorette party, which went down in our living-room-turned-serail yesterday. There were mountains of food, harem pants, beaded slippers, bare bellies, and a lot of shimmying and hip-shaking. Two harem teams were fighting for camels, which they needed to collect in order to earn the right to get married to Sheikh Dominic (Nono's fiance). The battle was fierce, and there was some haggling in the background, but they fought well and "Harem Aruus Al Nono" won the prize for the bride-to-be. We even had a eunuch to serve us drinks and work the video camera, but his identity will be kept a secret for the sake of his male reputation. All I can say is, he stood his ground like the real man that he is (and he is, don't you worry). [Pictures and videos are still being edited, but expect some fun shots in the near future.]

In other news:

• The move still isn't finished, mainly because my bed, wardrobe and desk don't fit into my car. However, chances are that I will be a citizen of Skypad II within the next week.
• Anna has returned from India, loaded with bangles, beaded slippers and beautiful fabrics of all sizes and colors. I am realizing that after nine months, it is good to have my sister around again. The stories will take a while to tell, but I am looking forward.
• Pentecost weekend will be spent at the Mill with the family, a guest from Portugal and Bridge, a friend from the States who is in Vienna for two months. The weather is great and I can't wait to get away from the humidity and the construction noise.
• I PASSED MY LAST EXAM! Just barely made it, but it's over, and now there is only the thesis left to write. Oh, it feels good.

Define "slim"

Remember I was planning on a slim move? Well, it turns out I am having trouble defining that word. So far the box count is up to four, and only half the room is empty - not counting in two huge Ikea bags of clothes and a pile of shoes. You would think that the eternal jeans-and-t-shirt girl is not part of the shoe collectors' guild. Well, dear friends, think again.
However, in between all that dust and cardboard, moving does provide for a few sentimental journeys: Old journals, photos, post cards, and even a love letter or two.

Wish me luck. Having to hire a moving service equals personal (oh, and financial) defeat.

Changes

I was planning a big "Hooray, I am done with exams forever" type of post, but alas, it seems that last exam is quite a chunk of work and just doesn't want to be passed. Results are out on the 22nd, lets see what the future holds.

Apart from that, I am starting to prepare for the big move to my very own Skypad in two weeks, which means getting rid of piles of junk that I have been hoarding in my closet and desk for the past seven years. This will be a slim move, and only the necessary things will be taken along. I will probably laugh at the amount of stuff I deem necessary once it comes to carrying boxes up to the fourth floor... Oh well.

Summer is here, and I enjoyed my city once again as I was having lunch in beautiful Volksgarten yesterday with my father and then spent the afternoon lazily walking around downtown with Isabel. Sharifin couldn't believe that a day of laziness made me tired, so we wrapped up the day with a drink or two and cozy deck-chair conversation on the banks of the Danube canal at Strandbar Herrmann. This place reminds me of a few international friends that I spent my evenings with in this same place last year. Now they are gone to faraway places like DC, Sydney and Madrid.

Life changes, all the time.

What counts

My sister returns from India in three weeks, and recently spent a week in Calcutta with the Missionaries of Charity (aka sisters of Mother Teresa). We didn't know whether to laugh or cry when we read her stories, given that the one thing she absolutely despises are worms, and some of her activities included picking them out of searing wounds... I will spare you further descriptions.

Here is a quote from her report:

"The atmosphere at work is hard to describe. Every day it happened that one of the patients I was feeding simply gave me a hug afterwards. Or that another patient didn't want anything else but to have me sit down next to her for a while and hold her hand. Or that someone suddenly put her hands on my head, mumbled a toothless "God blesssss you" and heartily kissed my hand.
You recieve so much from these people, who have nothing to give but their love and gratitude. It's true what Mother Teresa said: We have not come to the poorest of the poor to give, but to recieve. We need them more than they need us. That hits the nail on the head."