christine and brian's blog

An alternate universe

2009-07-28T09:00:00.001+03:00

While trying to go our blog and see exactly how long its been since we posted (a long time) I mistakenly typed in "http://brianandchristine.blogspot.com" and entered a completely different world, with -- in my opinion -- way too many baby pictures :-)

http://brianandchristine.blogspot.com/

Best regards to the very happy parents, Brian and Christine!

Nice promo for BBC Motion Gallery

2008-10-01T09:33:00.004+03:00

This is a beautiful video that promotes BBC Motion Gallery:

And the Motion Gallery also has a very cool effect on the homepage too, so check it out >:

The future of the web!

2008-08-28T10:52:00.001+03:00

This is the most amazing thing I have seen in years. Truly the future of the web:

Ubiquity

Why Religion Matters

2008-08-08T09:08:00.003+03:00

Here is a very interesting article that I came across today. The author takes on the role of Religion in a modern civilization. Here is an extract:

Why Religion Matters

"...I’m drawn to what I call “the vast middle” between the poles of competing religious certainties that have hijacked our cultural discourse. In the vast middle, faith is as much about questions as it is about answers. It is possible to be a believer and a listener at the same time, to be both fervent and searching, to honor the truth of one’s own convictions and the mystery of the convictions of others. The context of most religious virtue is relationship—practical love in families and communities, and care for the suffering and the stranger beyond the bounds of one’s own identity. These qualities of religion should enlarge, not narrow, our public conversation about all of the important issues before us. They should reframe it."

Read the article >

Another article on climate change from Thomas Friedman

2008-08-06T16:54:00.006+03:00

It appears that Thomas Friedman is becoming a climate evangelist -- and so am I. The good news is that one of us has a better way of saying it -- and a much larger audience :-)

So here is small segment of a great Op-Ed from the NYTimes:

Learning to Speak Climate

"...There has been a 30 percent increase in the melting of the Greenland ice sheet between 1979 and 2007, and in 2007, the melt was 10 percent bigger than in any previous year, said Konrad Steffen, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado, which monitors the ice. Greenland is now losing 200 cubic kilometers of ice per year — from melt and ice sliding into the ocean from outlet glaciers along its edges — which far exceeds the volume of all the ice in the European Alps, he added. “Everything is happening faster than anticipated...”

Read more >

What kind of a problem is it?

2008-07-20T15:52:00.007+03:00

Thomas Friedman in the NYTimes has a very insightful commentary regarding the current gas crisis. While he makes some pretty pointed criticisms of politicians in the US --which I prefer not to get into personally -- he makes a great point about what the real source of the problem is:

"We don’t have a “gasoline price problem.” We have an addiction problem. We are addicted to dirty fossil fuels, and this addiction is driving a whole set of toxic trends that are harming our nation and world in many different ways. It is intensifying global warming, creating runaway global demand for oil and gas, weakening our currency by shifting huge amounts of dollars abroad to pay for oil imports, widening “energy poverty” across Africa, destroying plants and animals at record rates and fostering ever-stronger petro-dictatorships in Iran, Russia and Venezuela.

"When a person is addicted to crack cocaine, his problem is not that the price of crack is going up. His problem is what that crack addiction is doing to his whole body. The cure is not cheaper crack, which would only perpetuate the addiction and all the problems it is creating. The cure is to break the addiction.

"Ditto for us. Our cure is not cheaper gasoline, but a clean energy system. And the key to building that is to keep the price of gasoline and coal — our crack — higher, not lower, so consumers are moved to break their addiction to these dirty fuels and inventors are moved to create clean alternatives."

Update on the Baha'is of Iran

2008-07-08T08:40:00.002+03:00

It's been a few weeks since we updated this blog on the situation of the Baha'is in Iran. As some of you may know, on May 14, 6 leaders of the Baha'i Faith were arrested and detained in the notorious Evin prison -- joining another Baha'i who was arrested in March. After nearly 8 weeks they have not been charged with any crime, have not been able to contact a lawyer and have only had brief contact with their families by phone on one occasion 2 weeks ago. It is yet another example of the Iranian authorities efforts to destroy the Baha'i Faith in that country.

Well, last week six Nobel Peace Prize laureates have issued a statement calling on the Iranian government to free these Baha'is immediately. Additional concerns have been raised by other governments and prominent people in an effort to win their release. To see a full update on this click here >

However I just saw this posting on another blog that I wanted to share. It's a recording of a sermon given by a Mullah that attacks the Baha'is on the grounds that they are such upright and good people that they put their fellow Muslims to shame! A translation of the sermon includes this statement:

"A Bahai girl, in a school of 800 girls, has studied herself to such a degree and carries herself in such a way that everyone is amazed. Are you aware of this?! She is so dignified that anyone who doesn’t know her, thinks that she is probably the daughter of an Ayatollah… but shes a Bahai!

"...I myself had a Bahai student, a Jewish student, a Christian student. I swear to that I would give 20/20 to a bahai for their personality and behaviour …because I cant give them 30!"

See the posting and hear the sermon here. He does sound pretty riled up about this....

Then They Came for the Bahai-- article on Forward.com

2008-06-24T08:30:00.002+03:00

This is an exceptional article written by an Iranian Jew who lived in Tehran during the revolution. It is a passioned and insightful reminder of the dangers facing Baha'is there...

Then They Came for the Bahai
"American audiences, their eyes brimming with anxiety, often ask me about the condition of Jews living in Iran today. But the hardships they assume to be the burden of the Iranian Jews is really the daily experience of the Bahais..."
read more | digg story

NY Times article -- "Many Blacks Find Joy in Unexpected Breakthrough"

2008-06-05T11:05:00.005+03:00

This article in the NY Times is very interesting. As Baha'is, Christine and I stay away from discussions regarding partisan politics -- because the nature of the process is divisive rather than unifying -- but it is wonderful to see that the US has reached a point where it can put forward a woman and an African-American as viable candidates for President. Hard to imagine that it was only 43 years ago that blacks received the right to vote in the US. And while there is a long way to go before we reach a point where race or gender is not an issue anymore, it's a worthy goal to set our sights on....

Read the article >

digg story

In a Crackdown, Zimbabwe Curbs Many Aid Groups

2008-06-04T09:24:00.001+03:00

The government has clamped down on aid groups it claims are backing the opposition, relief agencies say.

read more | digg story

Ominous warning signs for the Baha'is in Iran

2008-05-28T07:31:00.004+03:00

Christine and I are becoming increasingly concerned regarding the dangers facing the Baha'is in Iran. As you may know, in the first few years after the Iranian revolution hundreds of Baha'is were killed and thousands imprisoned because they believe that the founder of their Faith, Baha'u'llah, was a Messenger from God -- a belief that led some fanatical Muslims to claim that Baha'is are "heretics" and worthy of death.

For the past 30 years -- in an effort to destroy the Baha'i community there -- the Iranian authorities have come up with all sorts of falsified charges -- such as being spies for the US and Israel, working against the government, having children out of wedlock(Baha'i marriage ceremonies are not recognized and in order to be official Baha'is are required to recant their faith-- which of course they refuse to do) and more. Using these excuses they have destroyed Baha'i Holy Places, revoked their pensions, had them fired from jobs, refused to allow their children to be educated, and asked the military to monitor their movements.
(To read more about the history of persecution in Iran click here)

Despite all this, Baha'is are commanded by the tenets of their faith to be obedient to their government, to be peaceful (and thus never to engage in acts of violence or terrorism) and to work toward the betterment of their community -- and the Baha'is in Iran have continued to do this despite the hardships they have faced.

In the latest act of persecution the government has arrested 6 of the leaders of the community and to this date their whereabouts are unknown. This is an ominous reminder of the 9 Bahai leaders who were abducted in August 1980 and disappeared without a trace. It is important to note that nearly half the Bahá’ís executed in Iran since 1979 have been the foremost leaders of the Baha'i community in Iran -- no doubt an effort to destroy the Baha'i Faith by executing its leadership.

While the government has only said that those arrested were working against Iranian interests, two recent statements present an ominous warning that the 12 April bombing in Shiraz may be used as an excuse to renew the physical attacks against the Baha'i community.

In the first, Mashhad’s prayer leader, Alam Al-Hoda, said this past Friday "Not only is Bahaism not a religion, but also it is not a belief system! How can we let these Israeli mercenaries [Iranian Bahais], who have had a hand in the murder of millions of innocent people [Palestinians], live freely in our country...this satanic movement must be forcefully destroyed, and its members have to be executed."2

...and Hamid Reza Taraghi, Secretary-General for International Affairs of the Motalefeh Party in Iran recently said "Iranians have always taken a strong position against subversive groups, and they now ask that Iran be cleansed/purged from this terrorist sect."3

Let us hope that international outrage against the recent actions of the Iranian government will prevent the wholesale massacre that we saw in the early 1980's...

Baha'i Holy Day -- The Ascension of Baha'u'llah

2008-05-27T22:29:00.002+03:00

Tomorrow night is the commemoration of the Ascension of Baha'u'llah -- the day in 1892 that the founder of the Baha'i Faith passed away in Bahji. Our family was on pilgrimage 4 years ago this week -- an experience that helped to decide to offer to serve here.

Here is a link to a presentation that commemorates this Holy Day. It includes some beautiful photos taken at the commemoration at Bahji four years ago:

Click here to see the slideshow >

Growing concern over fate of arrested Iranian Baha'is

2008-05-27T12:44:00.001+03:00

Six Baha’i leaders who were arrested nearly two weeks ago are being held incommunicado, without access to lawyers or relatives, and the Baha’i International Community is increasingly concerned about their fate.

read more | digg story

CNN.com posts another article on the arrests of the Baha'is in Iran

2008-05-22T20:47:00.003+03:00

CNN.com has just posted an exceptional follow up article on the recent arrests of the Baha'is in Iran.

Iran 'plans to destroy Baha'i community'

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A top Baha'i official has criticized Iran's claim that the six imprisoned leaders of the religious minority were held for security reasons and not because of their faith.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government has been accused of trying to eliminate the Baha'i community.

Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations, called Iran's assertion "utterly baseless."

"The allegations are not new, and the Iranian government knows well that they are untrue," Dugal said on Wednesday, quoted in a news release issued by the Baha'i movement.

"The documented plan of the Iranian government has always been to destroy the Baha'i community, and these latest arrests represent an intensification of this plan."

Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said the people were detained for "security issues" and not their faith, Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency said.

Elham said on Tuesday that the Baha'is were members of a group working together "against national interest."

"The group is an organized establishment linked to foreigners, the Zionists in particular," he said.

The arrests of the six last week and another Baha'i leader in March sparked sharp condemnation by the Baha'is, the United States, Canada, the European Union and humanitarian groups.

The Baha'is say the latest arrests are part of a pattern of religious persecution since 1979, when the monarchy of the Shah of Iran was toppled and an Islamic republic was created in the predominantly Shiite nation.

The Baha'is say they have been killed, jailed and "otherwise oppressed" only because of their religion.

"The best proof of this is the fact that, time and again, Baha'is have been offered their freedom if they recant their Baha'i beliefs and convert to Islam, an option few have taken," Dugal said.

Read the rest of the article >

Powerful response by the Baha'i International Community to the recent arrests in Iran

2008-05-22T06:53:00.004+03:00

Last week, the Iranian government arrested 6 leaders of the Baha'i community for working "against the state’s interests...not for their faith".

The Baha'i International Community has just issued a very powerful response to the allegations and clearly outlined the Iranian government's campaign against Baha'is -- a campaign undertaken in the hopes of wiping the Baha'i community in Iran out.

Please read this news article to get an good understanding of how wide-ranging and insidious their efforts have been:

Read the full article >

Commemorating the Birth of the Baha'i Faith -- and remembering a history of persecution....

2008-05-21T10:15:00.007+03:00

As 7 leaders of the Baha'i community in Iran are being held in the notorious Evin prison on the patently false charge of "acting against the national interest", tomorrow Baha'is around the world will be commemorating the birth of their Faith 164 years ago in Iran. The presentation below gives a very abbreviated account of this event, which transpired in a modest home in Shiraz -- a house that was destroyed by the Iranian government in 1979.

It is ironic that while Bahai's revere Iran as the birthplace of their religion and wish the very best for the its people -- the government has been engaged in a concerted campaign of cultural cleaning against the Baha'is there...

Click here to see the presentation >

Dramatic and chilling video of the China earthquake

2008-05-20T14:35:00.003+03:00

This video from CNN reminds me in some ways of the amateur footage of 9/11. It's a powerful testimony of what it was like for those who faced this disaster. Please be aware however that some of this footage is quite intense and disturbing...

An incredible story of survival

2008-05-20T09:43:00.004+03:00

Here is the very moving account of a couple who survived after being buried together in the China earthquake:

In Rubble, Couple Clung to Each Other, and to Life >

Tree near the Shrine of the Bab

2008-05-19T17:49:00.003+03:00

This is a Jacaranda tree near the Shrine of the Bab -- with a bougainvillea vine that grows around it. It has not looked this beautiful in the 3 years that we have been here...

A little known environmental problem

2008-05-19T17:42:00.003+03:00

This was a surprising article on "ghost nets" -- fishing nets that are lost at the sea and continue to catch and kill marine life. It's great that something is being done about it finally...

Ireland to hunt nightmare fishing nets in north Atlantic

A photo from India

2008-05-19T10:55:00.004+03:00

India 4101
Originally uploaded by Departure Lounge

This is another great photo from Ryan Lash. He has a way of finding such beauty in the saddest places. The colors in this photo stand in contrast to the despair in this boys face and in a way provide a sense of hope...

...an indication of the growing sense of the unity of humankind

2008-05-19T09:19:00.006+03:00

The situation in Myanmar is so sad -- both in the destruction caused by the cyclone and the difficulty in getting help to the people there. This article in New York magazine gives a good picture of the tireless efforts by the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It demonstrates how far we have come in the past 100 years -- for no matter how distant a catastrophe is from us, we have learned how to respond quickly and energetically to assist.

Over 100 years ago Baha'u'llah stated "The well-being of humanity, it's peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established". To me this means that until we see every member of the human race as our family we cannot truly resolve the problems that plague us. In crises like those in Myanmar and China we see the world drawing closer to this reality -- where we can empathize with the sufferings of other--no matter how far they live from us or how different they are in culture or language.

I also have to admit that I like the the simple reference in the article to Baha'is trying to donate money to the relief efforts (in the second paragraph). In a numerical sense, the Baha'i Faith is still quite small and unable to make a big difference in lending physical (or financial) support to these kinds of crises -- but so many individual Baha'is and communities around the world do their best to help in whatever way they can -- from feeding or providing clothing, helping with childcare or re-establishing schools and basic infrastructure. Assisting humanity is an integral element of being a Baha'i, for as Baha'u'llah said: "Be anxiously concerned about the needs of the age ye live in..." and "The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds; he whose words exceed his deeds, know verily his death is better than his life..."

Guess what I found in the NY Times achives?

2008-05-18T13:02:00.012+03:00

I was searching the archives for the New York Times and found this wonderful article from 1992 with references to a couple of people that I didn't know then -- but have since had the great fortune to become friends with.

...And one person especially that I was VERY fortunate to marry 3 years later :-)

Baha'i Faithful Prepare for World Congress

"...Some 30,000 Baha'is from around the world are expected at the four-day gathering, which marks 100 years since the death of the Baha'i prophet, Baha'u'llah. It is only the second world congress in the history of the faith; the first was in London in 1963. There are five million Baha'is in the world, 110,000 of them in the United States and fewer than 1,500 in the Greater New York area.

Brad Pokorny, a spokesman for the Baha'i gathering, said New York was chosen because it is the home of many races and religions. "We want to show the world that there can be unity out of this diversity," he said."

***************

"...One dancer, Frank Robinson Jr., a 24-year-old student from Plainville, Conn., wore a bandanna around his head. He said that Baha'is accept the larger culture as long as "it doesn't remove you from God."

"Our goal is to have salvation in the world, not in isolation," he said. "If we were to live in isolation it wouldn't do the world much good."

**************

"...Baha'is reach out through periodic home gatherings they call Firesides. At one such meeting earlier this week in Highland, N.Y., near New Paltz, N.Y, 18 men and women sat in Christine Krug's living room. Dan Nossa, 18, spoke about the Baha'i notion of "progressive revelation," which contends that God sends messengers to earth in each era and that the prophecy of each builds on that by predecessors."

Read the whole article here >

Six Baha'is arrested in Iran

2008-05-17T06:34:00.002+03:00

This is very ominous news from Iran....

"Six Bahá’í leaders in Iran were arrested and taken to the notorious Evin prison yesterday in a sweep that is ominously similar to episodes in the 1980s when scores of Iranian Bahá’í leaders were summarily rounded up and killed."

To read the full story go to the article on CNN.com or the Baha'i World News Service

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel

2008-05-08T15:34:00.004+03:00

Last night to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel, Haifa had a fireworks display and a laser light show on Mount Carmel. Since it happens that we have a great view of the mountain from our flat, we took these photos:

Creating a kid-safe web...

2008-03-19T08:20:00.004+02:00

Here is a new service -- just launching today -- that gives users a browser that will only display kid-safe web sites. It's a fantastic idea and I hope a very successful one!

Check it out!>

Here is a news article on it at CNET >

Class Teaches Virtues to Children of Many Faiths -- story on National Public Radio

2008-03-07T08:24:00.002+02:00

"It sounds like the start of a bad joke: A Jew, a Baptist and a Baha'i get together every Sunday morning ... It's a new kind of Sunday school, where families from a range of religions gather to learn about helpfulness, obedience, service and friendliness...."

read more | digg story

Wonderful quote

2008-02-13T08:20:00.002+02:00

When we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence, that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of the reality.
Henry David Thoreau

Focusing on the positive

2008-02-11T12:38:00.000+02:00

Baha'is are by definition very positive about the future -- to such an extent that many have accused us of being unrealistic about the state of the world. Over 100 years ago, Baha'u'llah said that humanity has been going through a long period of development -- each stage of which (just like the development of a human being) -- is accompanied by challenges and difficulties. But in the final analysis, the natural direction of our development is to achieve world peace and prosperity. Of course the speed by which this happens is entirely dependent on the efforts each one of us makes to bring about positive change, such as working to overcome our prejudices, getting involved with service projects, working to clean up the environment or just by making small efforts on a daily basis to bring more joy and peacefulness to the people around us.

On this note, here is a really interesting article in The Economist which makes a very compelling argument that the world -- despite some evidence to the contrary -- is actually getting better!

The world's silver lining >

The article ends with the statement:

"Whatever the problems of globalisation, they are dwarfed by the penalties of being untouched by it. The World Social Forum, a gathering of self-proclaimed progressives who want to turn back trade, growth and globalisation has adopted as its slogan the motto “Another world is possible”. In reality, another and better world is painfully and fitfully coming into being." (emphasis added)

Babble -- a online language learning site

2008-01-18T09:26:00.000+02:00

Here is a very cool new site that helps you learn languages. Perfect for those folks who hope to travel to other countries after they leave Israel next year ;)

Celebrating Rumi

2008-01-14T10:29:00.000+02:00

Here's an article from the Christian Science Monitor on the 800th anniversary of Rumi's birth. Rumi is Christine's favorite poet and despite the kidding she gets from Jordan and Shana she LOVES the Coleman Barks recordings. Here is a wonderful example:

Check out more on YouTube or buy them from amazon.com!!

Camel riding

2008-01-09T20:59:00.000+02:00

This is a photo of all of us camel riding in Eilat near the Red Sea. It is actually pretty easy except that Jordan's camel kept biting Shanas -- which made it a bit dicy for a while. But after a while Shana's camel decided to keep her distance from the other one. Anyway, this was just one great experience of many we had at the Red Sea and then the Dead Sea. To see more photos go here >

Shana goes back to Toronto -- but it was a great visit

2008-01-08T10:27:00.000+02:00

Well, the time has just flown by and we said goodbye to Shana this morning. We had a great time with her and Jordan -- from playing cards and rummikub, going to Eilat to ride camels, traveling to the Dead Sea to watch Jordan float -- and then stand on the top of an awesome salt tower (photos to come) -- and of course going to the Shrines together. The part we get to keep -- aside from the memories -- are a series of black and white photos of us that were taken by Kadria Simons which are simply wonderful! Here are two of them:And we still get to hang out with Jordan for another week... Life is good!

How long before we overcome prejudice?

2008-01-07T10:08:00.000+02:00

The ethnic violence emerging in Kenya over the past week is yet another example of how desperately people need to internalize the teaching of the oneness of humanity and work to eliminate their prejudices. As Baha'u'llah said over 100 years ago: "The well-being of mankind, its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established."

Contrast this truth with this quote from a New York Times article reporting on the challenges now facing so many people in villages throughout Kenya:

“It was the Kalenjin,” said Samuel Mburu, a Kikuyu farmer with rows of stitches in his head, when asked who had nearly killed him. The Kalenjin are one of the bigger tribes in the Rift Valley, and they have fought fiercely with the Kikuyus before, mostly over land.

Many Kalenjin are unapologetic. Robert Tutuny, a Kalenjin farmer, stood on a hillside on Sunday with an iron bar in his hands and looked down at the charred remains of a Kikuyu village that was razed a week ago.

“We hate these people,” Mr. Tutuny said.

When we see reports like this too often we shake our heads and go back to our own lives, as if we can do little to change these deep-seated problems. But perhaps we should use them to remind us that any effort we make to overcome our prejudices and treat others with kindness will make the world a better place. It won't immediately fix the problems in Kenya, Darfur or Iraq, but it will contribute to a long-lasting change in the world. Like throwing a pebble into water -- the reverberations go on for a long time.

The wrong in the world continues to exist just because people talk only of their ideals, and do not strive to put them into practice. If actions took the place of words, the world's misery would very soon be changed into comfort.

'Abdu'l-Baha

The Pale Blue Dot -- a very inspiring video

2008-01-06T14:25:00.000+02:00

Taken from an essay of Carl Sagan -- and read by him...

A family reunion in Israel

2007-12-19T10:37:00.000+02:00

Christine and I are very happy that Shana and Jordan are coming to visit us in Haifa tomorrow. We saw them last month when we were all in Chicago to be with Christine's mom just before she passed away, but it was too short a visit and a sad one too. As a result it seems as if we haven't seen them for a year.

This time will be a more enjoyable visit and they'll be here for about three weeks. Our plan is to visit the Baha'i Holy Places together and do some tourist things like a tour of the ancient city of Akka (the Crusader fortress after the loss of Jerusalem to the Muslims), then on to the Dead Sea (the lowest point on the face of the earth) and Eilat (in the south of Israel at the Red Sea where we hope to go camel riding). In addition no doubt there will be time for Rummikub and backgammon!

We'll try to post some photos as we get them.

At 71, Physics Professor Is a Web Star -- NY Times

2007-12-19T10:03:00.000+02:00

Here is a nice article on a physics professor at MIT who has a unique and interesting way of explaining the concepts of physics to ordinary people:

Read the article>

His lectures are available for free on iTunes and at the Openware Web site:

Openware web site -- Requires Real Player software >

And speaking of iTunes it appears that they have a new feature called iTunes U which publishes free University lectures. It includes videos like the ones above to audio lectures from Professors at Yale, Berkeley and more. Topics include "How Hannibal crossed the Alps", "Earth in the balance" and "Defying Genocide in Rwanda". To check them out go open iTunes and click on "iTunes U"!

A good friend writes a great article about veterans, disabilities and self-esteem

2007-12-14T10:58:00.000+02:00

Ron Tomanio is a great friend from Maine who Christine and I have known for many years. His mother was my chiropractor when I was about 13 and Ronnie was a real inspiration as I was growing up (his daughter Laurel is also the one in the beautiful wedding photo below!). His thoughtfulness, warm heart and joyful sense of humor are just a few of his sterling qualities. So I was not surprised to get a Google alert* for an article that he wrote about a disabled veteran that he has been helping. The story is filled with all of the qualities that make Ron so special -- and remind me how I miss visiting with him. It's been far too long since we have been able to see each other!

Anyway, here's the link:

Sen. John McCain and one incredible day of compassion
(Despite the title of the article Ron is not campaigning for a presidential candidate, he's talking about a far more exalted theme -- respect and compassion for the suffering of others):

*Google alerts are emails that Google sends when you want to notified about specific keywords that appear in web sites.

Giant Spider attacks Space Shuttle -- real video!!

2007-12-12T10:55:00.000+02:00

Unbelievable but true:

One World -- Taking risks together | NYTimes article

2007-10-21T11:11:00.001+02:00

Here is a really interesting article about how tightly knit our world has become as far as its economic interdependence. It also points out that the attitudes that characterize the Western approach to investment -- lots of speculation and then running when things go south -- is also one of the reasons we are facing such volatility at present.

In the end it helps to underscore the fact that having "one world" physically is not enough. The way we relate to things such as money and the environment need to also change -- we need to learn to be to moderate in our all our interactions and work against the tendency to enrich ourselves at the expense of others. We are just too closely connected not to start seeing all of our relationships in a new way.

As the Baha'i writings state: " It is incumbent upon them who are in authority to exercise moderation in all things. Whatsoever passeth beyond the limits of moderation will cease to exert a beneficial influence. Consider for instance such things as liberty, civilization and the like. However much men of understanding may favourably regard them, they will, if carried to excess, exercise a pernicious influence upon men."

Another wedding in Holy Land

2007-10-05T08:32:00.001+02:00

It's October 5th and todays one of our dearest and oldest friends daughter is getting married in Haifa. Brian has know Ronnie Tomanio since he was a kid and Christine also has known Ronnie and his wife Karen since she moved to the Hudson Valley in the 1980's. Well, over 20 years later their daughter Laurel came to serve for a year at the Baha'i World Centre to work as a gardener. And quite unexpectedly she met a wonderful Baha'i named Sisay who came to serve here from Ethiopia over 8 years. The rest as they say is history!

Update -- Its a few hours later and we're back. It was a beautiful ceremony! Here is a photo of us with the two of them--along with a link to a few other photos (click on the photos to see a few more):

Cool web site

2007-09-20T12:44:00.000+02:00

Ok-- we have not been doing such a good job posting entries on our blog. Sorry about that :(

As compensation, here is a link to a great website -- a tribute to the people of New Orleans -- with one of my favorite songs of all time: "What's Goin' On" by Marvin Gaye:

Click here

Amazing Power Plant in Spain!

2007-05-03T15:38:00.000+03:00

Here is a great story about a power station in Spain that is using solar power and emits no greenhouse gasses. Make sure to watch the video too!

Click Here

New photos of Akka and Bahji

2007-03-10T23:25:00.000+02:00

We have just uploaded a few new photos of Akka and Bahji on our Flickr account. Here is a photo that we took tonight of the prison citadel in Akka where Baha'u'llah was incarcerated in 1868. This is a very unique photo since there are very few that have been taken at night. It gives a sense of desolation that the prison must have had during those very bleak years.

Here are a few photos of the House of Abbud at sunset:

And the Shrine of the Bab in the very early morning light:

You can see our other photos here.

Digg it!

2007-03-07T11:26:00.000+02:00

Been playing aroud a bit more with social computing (the whole web 2.0 buzz)and have been trying out Digg.com. It's a great concept -- you just grab news stories, videos and so on and essentialy create your own news feed.

Anyway, for what it's worth, here is our page on digg:

To see our page at digg.com, click here!

A baby panda sneezing

2007-03-03T17:35:00.000+02:00

This was just too cute to pass up:

Washington Post article on the Baha'is in Egypt

2007-02-21T11:19:00.000+02:00

For those of you who don't know, the Baha'is in Egypt are unable to receive identity cards because they refuse to lie about what religion they are. Therefore they are having significant difficulty getting jobs and basic services

In any event, there is a new story in the Washington Post that you can read to understand the issue better. Here is the lead in and a link:

Baha'is in Egypt fight for recognition as people

By Cynthia Johnston

Reuters

Tuesday, February 20, 2007; 10:08 PM

CAIRO (Reuters) - If Egyptian dentist Raouf Hindy would only deny his Baha'i faith, he could get his children the identity documents they need to enrol in Egyptian schools and later to marry, drive a car or open a bank account.

But Hindy has insisted on telling the truth.

His decision has thrust him to the forefront of a legal battle over Egypt's identity politics by Baha'is, who are seen as heretics by many Muslims and whose faith is not recognized by the state.... Read the Article >

A spring rainbow

2007-02-15T16:34:00.000+02:00

Here is a photo of a rainbow over the Shrine of the Bab. It was taken a few minutes ago. The view is just a short distance from where Brian works.

The closest thing we get to snow!

2007-02-13T18:04:00.000+02:00

While our family in Chicago gets 7 inches of snow and the Northeast gets brutally cold weather, here in Haifa it's not really snowing but this tree makes it almost look like it it is. This is a flowering almond tree and it proves that Spring is actually here. Winter here is cold and rainy and although we are still getting cold night and sometimes LOTS of rain, we also are getting lots of green. The weather yesterday was an absolutely stunning day and this photo is proof that February is the start of Spring here.

Blogged with Flock

Shana and Jordan are in Haifa!

2007-01-05T22:44:00.000+02:00

Again, its been a long time since we updated our blog but we have been having a great time with Shana and Jordan while they've been visiting us here. Here is a great photo of all of us in Akka.

The time has gone way too fast and now Shana leaves tomorow morning. So we are all sitting here on three different computers checking out and sharing the photos we took. Sigh....

To see more photos go to our flickr account -- Click here!

Blogged with Flock

What a rain!

2006-11-15T09:08:00.000+02:00

One thing that still suprises us is how much it can rain in Haifa. I always thought that everything in the mid-east was hot and dry with hardly any rain. Athough this is true from March to November, the winter months in Israel can get cold (mid 40's -- that's farenheit) and VERY rainly. Last night was a great example. I have never seen rain like that--just torrential-- as if we are in the midst of a hurricane. The streets become like rivers and the steps down Mount Carmel look like Niagra Falls. The best part is that the gardens begin to look so lush this time of year since they are geting all the water they want!

We posted a few more photos at Flickr if you want to se for youselves: Click here

Blogged with Flock

Great Blog Post on Gender Equality

2006-11-15T09:06:00.000+02:00

Looking around the blogging world (also called the "blogosphere") we found this great post on gender equality:

Gender Equality @ Anxiously Concerned

Blogged with Flock

Testing a new browser

2006-10-20T14:07:00.000+02:00

I've been spending the past few days learning more about blogs, rss feeds and browsers. The best discovery is this amazing browser that not many people have heard of. It's called Flock <www.flock.com> and its designed to make social interaction on the web much easier. For instance, if you have a flickr account, you can post photos to it (including cropping and resizing them) all from the browser--with no need to log in to your flickr account. And you can do the same thing with posting blog entries. So, as a test I decided to upload a photo to flickr and then post this blog entry all using Flock. So far it's the easiest post I've ever made -- and the easist photo upload!

Heres the photo

Blogged with Flock

Turtle Video and other photos

2006-10-09T07:12:00.000+02:00

Although it's been a month and a half since we were in Costa Rica, we're still trying to find time to go through all of our video and photos. We're also experimenting with video for our blog. Anyway, this short video shows a baby turtle in Costa Rica going into the ocean for the first time! (If you can't see the video download flash.)

Here are some other animal photos:

This crocodile was in a river right near our hotel room. We are happy to say that he was content to just eat the food the restaurant owner fed him ; )

This is a howler monkey. We'll try to upload a video of the sound they make but its pretty wild. He was sitting on the roof of the restaurant near our room.

This is the first sloth we saw--I think its the 2-toed sloth. We have video of this one too.

This is the second sloth we saw-- the 3-toed (although we might have them reversed). in both cases we saw them pretty well and they were moving faster than we though sloths do.

More vacation photos

2006-10-01T21:00:00.000+02:00

Here are some more photos of our vacation-this time showing some of the peole we saw during our time in the US. Lets start by saying that this is not an inclusive gallery-unfortuantely we missed getting photos of a LOT of people, so if by chance we saw you but your photo isn't here please accept our apologies, we'll make it up to you next time! Most of these photos were taken at the wonderful picnic that Bev and Marie put togther for us on the whirlwind trip in New Paltz--and we cannot thank them enough!!!

Rick, Holly, Trink and Vai in Albany. We had been in the States all of 5 hours by now and had a great time hanging out on a beautiful sunny summer day!

With Lisa and Precious in New Paltz

Shash!

Susan and Cindy

Kesuke--one of Christines students from SUNY

Bernadette and baby!

Karen and Adam

Sheila, Felipe and Hikari at Lake Minnewaska

Yohanna

Terry and Hikari

Mrs. Ruhe

Jean, Taylor and AJ

Christine's sister Laurel

Bob, Kathy and Mom!

Where did the time go?

2006-09-30T20:44:00.000+03:00

Wow--hard to believe its been a month and a half since we last posted something here. After the ceasefire, we left for vacation-- had an incredibly busy 3 weeks in NY(3 days), Costa Rica (9 days) and Chicago(7 days). Then back to Haifa where we got back to work and all of a sudden 3 more weeks goes by!

Anyway, along the way we saw lots of friends, family, nature and animals. In Costa Rica particularly we saw just about every cool animal in the country: howler monkeys, white face monkeys, 2 and 3 toed sloths, baby turtles running from their nests in the beach for their first-ever swim in the ocean, toucans, big irredescent blue butterflies and the list goes on (although not a whole lot longer). The good news is we captured most of them on film--the bad news is that most of it was on video! So unless we have the time to capture it to YouTube, you'll have to take our word for it. We do however have a few photos to share of the Costa Rican part of our trip and just a few of the animals we saw!

Costa Rica is an incredibly beautiful country. Here is a view of the mountains we saw while we were on our way to the eastern coast of the country.

Here is one of two baby turles that we saw heading to the ocean! You can't believe how cool it was to see them getting more and more excited as they got closer to the surf. GREAT video!

This grasshopper was about as big as a car!

Jordan and Shana walking along the beach...

We got caught in the rain during a walk around the beach. Brian toughed it out while Christine, Shana and Jordan tried to find protection under huge leaves. I don't think it helped much ; )

This just about sums up how much we enjoyed the trip!

The requisite awesome family photo.

OK--this is an incredible photo of a bat. This is actually from back in Haifa. In mid-September, there is a holiday in Israel where virtually everyone in the County (including children under the age of 3), shoot off fireworks. It's really fun (as long as you like that kind of thing and have good reflexes to dodge the incoming firecrackers that are hurled everywhere by children) but the bats just go nuts from the confusion. We were walking home from work that night and the bats were swirling overhead. Just for fun we thought we'd try to capture them using the flash. This was the result--pretty cool shot!!!

Ceasefire starts

2006-08-14T08:10:00.000+03:00

It's now 8:05am local time (1:05am est) and the ceasefire has officially begun. It remains to be seen what will happen but we're hopeful that things will work out.

It's Sunday night

2006-08-13T20:07:00.000+03:00

It's now Sunday night at 8pm (1pm est) -- and as you may have heard it's been a busy day here in Haifa. Although we are hopeful that a ceasefire will come about tomorrow morning, Christine and I are staying in a protected area until we are sure its safe to go home.

Boy, the week went by fast!

2006-08-12T22:09:00.000+03:00

We were suprised to realize that it has been almost a week since our last post. Obviously quite a lot has happened--the biggest news is the UN agreement to help bring an end to the conflict here. As we get ready to leave on vacation on Wednesday we are hoping that the war will also be over before then.

On the personal front, we worked today to start packing for our trip -- we fly out in just 4 days. In addition we took a walk in the gardens and saw these AMAZING flowers that we wanted to share photos of. They can't do them justice but it gives just a small glimpse that even in the midst of crisis there is still beauty all around us.

As Dostoevsky said: "Beauty will save the world."

Sunday night

2006-08-06T21:12:00.000+03:00

Since CNN is reporting an attack on Haifa this evening, we just wanted to let everyone know that we are safe.

In times that this, all of us need to think of ways to make the world around us a more peaceful place -- for it is only in those small acts of forgiveness, kindness and love for each other that the world can be healed.

Saturday Afternoon

2006-08-05T17:02:00.000+03:00

We've been having a pretty nice day today. It's now 4pm on Saturday and we returned a little while ago from having lattes and fresh scones (that Christine made) at a friends flat that overlooks Mount Carmel. This is the view from their apartment:

These are the administrative buildings of the Baha'i World Centre. It is truly an amazing sight from this angle!

We also had a nice talk with Shana and Jordan this morning. They are both happy and feeling great being in Costa Rica together. Jordan is working on editing videos for companies there and Shana has been doing other service projects in Costa Rica and Panama--along with hanging out with Jordan and learning some more spanish. We are very excited to see them in just 2 1/2 weeks!

We plan on spending the rest of the day working around the house a bit -- or reading and preparing for our trip back to the States and Costa Rica.

Nature is amazing

2006-08-04T21:51:00.000+03:00

Looking through some older photos this afternoon, we realized that we never posted this one. If you look closely, you'll see that it is a gecko that was hanging out on a wall outside of Brian's office one night in June. This is about as good a job at camouflaging as you can get!!

Wednesday night

2006-08-02T20:56:00.000+03:00

Just want to let everyone know that we are both still fine. We are looking forward to our vacation in just over 2 weeks and have a lot to do to get ready!!

Still working

2006-07-31T23:20:00.000+03:00

It's been another couple of days since our last post. Quietest days that we have had in the past two weeks. In the meantime we have continued to do our jobs and Brian has been working on a redesign for one of the Baha'i Web sites: The Baha'i World News Service. The site redesign was just made live today. If you want to check it out just Click Here.

Also, as part of the redesign they have released a flash-based image search pod that we have put on the right panel of this blog. It lets you search images from the Baha'i Media Bank -- a collection of 2,500+ photos.

What life is like here

2006-07-27T22:40:00.000+03:00

In contrast to many of the other articles that have been printed about life in Haifa in recent days, here is the translation of an article that was printed yesterday in one of the largest newspapers in Israel. It gives a very accurate sense of what it is like to be at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa right now:

At the Bahá’í Shrine, the routine is maintained

Even when the sirens don’t quit, the calm of the Bahá’í Shrine in Haifa is not effected. Even the lights are not turned off until midnight. “This is our way of uplifting the morale”, says a representative of the place, “perhaps the future is scary, but in the end the peace will come.”

Every evening, when the darkness falls, the lights of the Bahá’í Shrine are turned on and it is one of the most spectacular places in Israel. One might think that during the days of war, the Bahá’ís would dim the lights so that it wouldn’t turn the Shrine into a target for the Lebanese rockets, but the opposite is true. The illumination of the Shrine that looks over the Haifa bay and Lebanon are lit every day until midnight.

“This is our way to uplift the morale of the citizens of Haifa”, explained the Deputy Secretary of the Bahá’í organization, Murray Smith from New Zealand, “it is symbolic in our view, to keep the lights on in the darkness of war. I hope this message comes across.”

In normal times the Bahá’í Shrine and the terraces are one of the central tourist attractions in Israel. Every month it is visited by about 60 thousand visitors. From the beginning of the war the gardens have been closed. Even the 80 gardeners of the most beautiful well-kept gardens in the country don’t come to work. Now the heads of the community are worried about the health of the plants and beautiful flowers.

From the time the rockets have fallen on Haifa ...the 700 volunteers from 80 countries do their best to maintain their routines. “We have gone through hard times in the past, for example, the Gulf War” explained Smith yesterday, “and we have good bomb shelters, a strong communication system, and a sufficient supply of food and water. Most of the places at the Baha'i World Centre are very safe, because they are literally in the mountain.”

When the sirens are heard, a sound system announces to the workers to go to protected areas and stay there for 15 minutes. Yesterday, minutes after the alarm, a volunteer in the Library named Tazien continued to sit in the Library and work -- she explained, “I hope by the Will of God all will be ok.”

Maarten Scot from Holland, married and a father to a seven month old, who works in the Statistics Department, came as usual to work. “When the first rocket hit Haifa I was in shock, one wouldn’t expect this and it is even a little worrisome”, he explained, “if ones looks a lot at the media you get the feeling that the city is on fire, but from here, when I look at the city — it is the same city”.

The Bahá’ís believe in world harmony and peace. Even yesterday, in the heat of another day of war, the peace in this place is maintained even though the sirens don’t stop going off.

Under one of the most magnificent buildings at the Centre, are below ground bomb shelters that can easily accommodate all the workers. Long tunnels lead to bomb shelters that are clean and well kept...Even with how the bomb shelters look, only some of the workers come to them when the sirens go off.

“The Bahá’ís understand that the world is going through a tough time. There will be tough problems or wars, until people realize the message of peace”, added Smith, “so we need to stay here, to continue as usual and to promote the idea of peace. From our standpoint, this message is more important then everything else. We are not naïve and we know this involves a lot of work, but in the end the Peace will come. Perhaps the near future is hard and scary, but the distant future is bright, and that is what the lights of the Shrine symbolize.”

Wednesday morning

2006-07-26T06:37:00.000+03:00

It's now Wednesday morning. We continue to pray for the end to this war -- at the same time time as go to work each day, confident that some day the world will learn how to live together in peace.

Monday evening

2006-07-24T22:28:00.000+03:00

Things have been very busy so we apologize for not updating the blog lately. Also, not much to report...

Now, its Saturday

2006-07-22T15:52:00.000+03:00

It's been another 24 hours since our last update but we're essentially the same. We are still safe and taking the necessary precautions.

Saturday is a day off for us so we have been reading and surfing the internet. The events all around he world only bring into sharper focus why it is so important that all of us do what we can to make this world a more loving place.

It's Friday afternoon and we're still fine

2006-07-21T14:39:00.000+03:00

It's Friday at 2:30pm (7:30am est) and we just wanted to write that although there was another attack on Haifa, we are fine. As always, we are taking all necessary precautions and will continue to do so until the situation has been resolved.

Some thoughts

2006-07-20T15:45:00.000+03:00

As most people around the world, we have been thinking a lot about the situation that is happening in the Middle East and wanted to share some of our thoughts.

It is so important for people to realize that the Baha'i faith is entirely non-political and therefore we take no position on the situation here - or anywhere else in the world. The aim of the Baha'i faith is the establishment of peace and justice for all people, and we believe that this can only come about as each of us works to overcome our prejudices and accept each other as members of one family. The Baha'i Writings state: "The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established."

This is what we are doing here and why we want to stay. Above all we feel confident in our hearts that unity in the world will happen as long as each of us does our part, however small it may be.

We wanted to share this prayer that explains our heart-felt hope for humanity:

O Thou kind Lord! Thou hast created all humanity from the same stock. Thou hast decreed that all shall belong to the same household. In Thy Holy Presence they are all Thy servants, and all mankind are sheltered beneath Thy Tabernacle; all have gathered together at Thy Table of Bounty; all are illumined through the light of Thy Providence.

O God! Thou art kind to all, Thou hast provided for all, dost shelter all, conferrest life upon all. Thou hast endowed each and all with talents and faculties, and all are submerged in the Ocean of Thy Mercy.

O Thou kind Lord! Unite all. Let the religions agree and make the nations one, so that they may see each other as one family and the whole earth as one home. May they all live together in perfect harmony.

O God! Raise aloft the banner of the oneness of mankind.

O God! Establish the Most Great Peace.

Cement Thou, O God, the hearts together.

O Thou kind Father, God! Gladden our hearts through the fragrance of Thy love. Brighten our eyes through the Light of Thy Guidance. Delight our ears with the melody of Thy Word, and shelter us all in the Stronghold of Thy Providence.

Thou art the Mighty and Powerful, Thou art the Forgiving and Thou art the One Who overlooketh the shortcomings of all mankind.

Baha'i Writings

A good article on the situation in Haifa for Baha'is

2006-07-20T15:22:00.000+03:00

It's thursday at 3pm (8am est) and again there is not much to report. Life seems to be getting more normal as each day passes.

If you want to get a better sense of what it is like here, this is a link to a news article that does a pretty good job of describing life here for the Baha'is in Haifa:

Bahai faithful unshaken by rockets in Israel

Wednesday afternoon

2006-07-19T15:16:00.000+03:00

It's now Wednesday afternoon. At the risk of sounding redundant, we are still safe and working to keep focused on our work.

Still here in Haifa

2006-07-18T14:15:00.000+03:00

It's now Tuesday at 3:30pm (8:30am est). For the most part it has been a quiet 24 hours. Christine and I had a very good sleep last night and went to work this morning. Of course we remain vigilant for the possibility for any problems -- and can respond accordingly -- but at the same time we feel very safe. Most of all I am so happy that I came back from NY a day earlier.

It's so different being here than in the States and watching it all on tv. Seeing the news (or reading the reports on the web) doesn't really give a balanced view since news outlets have a need to keep people updated on things that may have happened as much as 24 hours ago -- so, often its hard to keep straight when one thing or another has occurred. In the end this blurring of the events makes things appear far more serious than they feel in real time.

Speaking of which, you may have heard about another rocket attack on Haifa today and again I can tell you that there were no casualties and did not occur where we are.

A quiet afternoon and night

2006-07-17T23:10:00.000+03:00

It's now 10:30pm in Haifa (3:30pm est) and its been pretty quiet since this afternoon. We had a nice dinner this evening and have spent some time watching tv -- and not the news!!

We're both getting pretty sleepy and tomorrow is another work day. Although we are aware of what is going on north of us, there are still other things that can be done that we have control over and after all thats what we came for.

Still fine

2006-07-17T15:21:00.000+03:00

Its just after 3pm Haifa time (that's 8am in NY) and although CNN is reporting about a new attack on Haifa, again I can happily assure you that Christine and I are still fine. As I mentioned yesterday, Israelis are quite prepared for this kind of thing and there are safe shelters all over the city. I'll write more later.

Brian is back in Haifa and everything seems calm here

2006-07-17T14:20:00.000+03:00

I just arrived back in Haifa a few minutes ago and wanted to let everyone know that everything seems calm here.

It has been an interesting 24 hours since I decided to get back here. I had a conference in New York City this past weekend and was scheduled to come back to Haifa on Tuesday night -- but since all of this was happening I wanted to get back with Christine asap. So I went to the airport at Newark at 2pm on Sunday to see if I could catch an earlier flight. They were nice enough to waive the $100 reschedule fee and i had just enough time to call the people who were expecting me on Sunday night and Monday and get to the gate for the flight.

Since I had been up from 3am Sunday morning(when I first heard of the missle hitting Haifa), I pretty much passed out right after dinner and woke up about an hour out of Tel Aviv. The biggest problem was catching a sherut (minivan taxi) because we had only 3 people that wanted to go to Haifa. After about an hour and half we got two more -- we paid the guy twice the fare (since the van usually holds 10 and he needed to make the full rate) and we were off. The nice part is that he dropped me off right at the front door of our apartment and we had a very nice visit with the other people on the sherut--all of whom had their own story on why they are returning to the Northern part of Israel right now.

Well, I've got to take a shower and up to see Christine. As I mentioned, we will do our best to keep you updated on this blog, but I can tell you that the difference between watching this on CNN and being here is dramatic -- everything here seems calm and quiet. The birds are still singing and the Baha'i Gardns are as beautiful as ever.

Most of all I'm happy to be home!!

Christine is fine!

2006-07-16T14:41:00.000+03:00

Just wanted to let you all know that I just spoke with Christine on the phone and she is fine. She said that the missile struck a long way from her. I'm going to see if I can get a flight to Haifa today so I can be there with her.

We're safe

2006-07-16T11:02:00.000+03:00

I'm sure that all of you are anxious about our saftey in Israel, but I just wanted to assure you that everyone appears to be safe at the Baha'i World Centre. This is Brian and I am actually in NYC for a weekend conference for work -- but I woke up at 3am on Sunday morning and saw on cnn that there was a missle that hit Haifa overnight. Sunday is a work day there so i tried to call Christine about an hour ago and although I was unable to speak with her, the person i spoke with told me that everyone is fine. Israel has a very good emergency preparedness system so everyone there will be able to take cover if needed. I feel very confident that she is ok but as soon as I speak with her in person, I'll post another message here.

By the way, I should mention that if you try to call Christine you will probably not have much success since the phone lines are pretty tied up -- but I will do everything I can to update this blog with new information as I get it and will be returning to Israel on Monday evening.

Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes.

Hamsim Day Two

2006-02-28T07:05:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was another day of Hamsim--although it does sem to be getting better. You could make a million dollars if you had a car washing service right now!. In any event, here are some new photos from yesterday morning! Today is even better so we will try to post some more photos tomorrow. I think you can actually see a few humdred yards now ; )

Hamsim!

2006-02-18T20:06:00.000+02:00

There is a thing in Israel called Hamsim. We thought it was a duststorm but there are no winds at all--its just one big cloud of dust that is hanging over the city since yesterday evening. At first we thought it was fog ...
Check out our photo gallery above to see a few photos of this unusual (and hopefully short-lived) event and some new photos of the gardens. Enjoy them -- while we cough ; )

Hello again

2006-02-11T21:20:00.000+02:00

It's been a short 3 months since we posted anything on this blog and a lot has happened. Shana and Jordan came for the Winter break, Christines sister and niece came on Pilgrimage at the same time and we've gone through most of an Israeli winter. Sometimes torrential downpours and cool (hail even) - other times very warm and spring like. The past few days have felt VERY much like spring --including rosebud trees and quince bushes blooming!

Here are a few photos to give you a sense of what it is like:

Here is Jordan, Shana and Christine at the Tel Aviv airport.

Here is everyone -- except Jordan -- at Bahji.

Here is one of our favorite foods in Israel. Hummus!!

An early moring rainbow over some of the Baha'i buildings on Mount Carmel.

The Baha'i gardens are looking like spring in early February.

The Shrine of the Bab as seen just 2 days ago!

Baha'i Holy Day

2005-11-12T10:41:00.000+02:00

Today is a Baha'i Holy Day -- the Birth of Baha'u'llah -- who was the Prophet-Founder of the Baha'i Faith. He passed away in 1892 and His burial place is about 45 minutes from here. We'll be going there this afternoon and will post photos later. Brian created a flash presentation to commemorate this Holy Day which you can see here:

Birth of Baha'u'llah

We're still here!

2005-11-12T09:54:00.000+02:00

Well for those of you who have wondered what happened to us after we got here, its a long story. The short version is we had NO idea how complicated it is to get settled into a new country. But life here is awesome. Our jobs are great and living here is more amazing than what we could ever hope for!

To give you a sense of how our day starts, here is a photo tour of our walk to work each day:

This is the view from our kitchen window. You can see the garden gate near the white van. We'll be heading up first to Brian's office which is located beyond the Shrine of the Bab -- one of the 2 holiest spots for the Baha'i Faith.

This is Christine opening the gate

This is a view of the Mediteranean Sea and the city of Haifa.

This may look pretty -- but it's literally a 40 degree angle! As you can imagine we are in pretty good shape after doing this every day for 2 months ; )

Almost at the top, here is the view back towards the sea.

No matter what shape you're in, it always feels great to get to this point near the top!

Here is a view of an upper gate. The building across the street is the International Archives Building where many of the precious relics of the Baha'i Faith are kept.

As we get near Brian's office, the view of the Shrine of the Bab is always breathtaking. It helps to remind us that the work we are doing is primarily one of prayerful service. This makes going to work each day and much more meaningful.

Here is the view up to the top of the mountain. To get to Brian's office, he goes down the stairs at the right and goes to the Visitors Center. His office is literally underground so although he doesn't have a great view during his work day, the trip back home each night is also amazing!

Here are the stairs leading down to his office, the entrance is at the lower right.

Christine then continues through some magnificently cared-for gardens (with some incredible views of significant buildings and monuments of the Baha'i Faith) on the way to her office.

Finally arriving at her job with an awesome view of the sea!

Thank goodness for internet cafes!!

2005-09-16T12:07:00.000+03:00

After spending 45 minutes trying to do 5 minutes of work on a dial-up modem last night, we've found an internet cafe and I feel like I'm in a jet plane ; )

I guess this is what we can look forward to when we get our service at home (hopefully it will be soon). Nice day today--low humidity and lots of sun. Trying to finish up our household tasks (and a bit of sightseeing) before our first day of orientation on Sunday (by the way, the normal work week in Israel is 5 1/2 days -- Sunday thru Friday at noon).

We're Here!!

2005-09-16T00:11:00.000+03:00

It's been a very eventful 2 days--as you can all imagine. The flight from the States was entirely uneventful -- despite all of our baggage. All in all it was probably our easiest flight ever! When we arrived at the airport we were greeted by May Taherzadeh and Ryan Lash -- both of whom lived in New Paltz several years ago. May actually lived in our home for a few months. It turns out that they had no idea in advance who they were picking up from the airport so it was as much a surprise to them as is was for us. There could have been no better way for us to be welcomed into the country and feel immediately at home.

After 2 hours or so of driving we arrived in Haifa at sunset and took in the absolutely beautiful view of the Shrine of the Bab -- one of the two holiest places in the world for Baha'is. It was only after we arrived at the 2 bedroom apartment which was assigned to us did we discover -- much to our amazement -- that we have stunning views of both the Mediterranean Sea from our living room window -- and the Shrine of the Bab from our Kitchen and Bedroom!

Two views from our living room window:

Two views from our kitchen and bedroom windows:

We also happened to arrive during a day of celebration for Israelis -- so much of the night was spent gazing out over the bay of Haifa and watching miniature fireworks all over the city. On every street corner children and parents were lighting firecrackers and occasionally someone would light up the sky with more elaborate displays. Although the timing was purely coincidental, the celebration perfectly matched our feelings about Arriving at our new home.

The morning after we arrived (Wednesday) we unpacked all of our things and later in the day visited the Shrine of Baha'u'llah -- where the Prophet-Founder of the Baha'i Faith is buried (and the Holiest place in the world for Baha'is) -- which is located across the Bay of Haifa. As this was our first visit to this Shrine since our arrival, we decided not to bring our camera so we could focus on prayer and meditation. The next time we visit, we will share photos of this very beautiful place. As you'll see, all of the Baha'i Holy Places are surrounded by very lush gardens, which are designed to help visitors meditate on the beauty of God's creation.

For those of you who do know much of why we came here in the first place, Haifa is both the spiritual and administrative center of the Baha'i Faith. Baha'i pilgrims come from all over the world to visit the Holy Places associated with the lives of the Founders of the Faith. So although we have come here to work in the administrative offices, we have the benefit of saying prayers and meditating at these Holy Places. No doubt we have thought of you in our prayers for the past few days.

The next few days will be spent finishing getting our apartment set up (we have our computer working but the dial up access we have right now is quite slow--hopefully we'll have a faster connection in the next few weeks). We officially start our new jobs on Sunday.

Last morning in the us....

2005-09-12T15:33:00.000+03:00

This photo says it all:

Our lives reduced to 5 suitcases, 2 carry-ons, 2 personal items and 2 computer boxes. Airplane leaves in 14 hours...

Lots of goodbyes (and house cleaning)

2005-09-12T06:58:00.000+03:00

The past few days have been filled with a LOT of goodbyes. Along with the normal flurry of phone calls and visits with neighbors and friends, we attended the funeral on Friday of our very dear friend Dr. David Ruhe -- who passed away this past Tuesday.

Dr Ruhe and his wife had been the witnesses at Brian's parent's wedding in the 1940's and had also been the witnesses at our wedding 10 years ago. He was a wonderful person who not only had an incredible mind and inquisitive nature but also had a marriage with his wife Maragaret which was a true example to everyone who knew them. The funeral was sad but also very funny--filled with very warm remembrances of his life and accomplishments.

Since then we have been cleaning and packing. The house is now almost completely empty and our bags are packed and sitting in the living room. After a few last minute things we'll leave tomorrow afternoon for our flight to Israel.

And yet after everything thats been happening for the past 2 months, it still seems very unreal.

A very long week

2005-09-09T13:49:00.000+03:00

It's been a week since we last updated this blog and a real blur. To get the main points we'll probably have to use a quick synopsis:

Saturday, September 2: Our Final Moving Sale. Almost everything went (with just a few left over boxes dropped off at the New Paltz Youth Center for their Yard Sale). The best part is that we raised over $1,000 for charity. A great day and we were feeling a few thousand pounds lighter!

Sunday, September 3: We drove Shana up to the University of Toronto on Sunday with a stop at Niagra Falls on the way. The Falls were beautiful (although the view from the Canadian site may be more spectacular, we preferred the US side for the natural beauty of the State Park there).

After a stop at Canadian customs to get Shana's Visa, we drove the rest of the way to Toronto and got there just before dinner. Shana's dorm is really nice:

Toronto is also a beautiful city. Although we're sure that she'll do great at college, it was very sad to say goodbye.

Monday, September 4: After staying in a Hotel outside of Toronto, we spent the morning visiting some old and dear friends of Brian's. Brian has known Rajan & Ramin Burney for over 20 years from his days in the Adirondacks (and visits to Montréal). We had a great time visiting them and Ramin's family (Mung Thu, Maya & Yasmine) -- with a special treat to see Sacha, Danya and Dylan Sabih --who were also visiting for the weekend from Montréal. Lots of memories with these guys!!!

In the afternoon, we went to Buffalo and saw Misty's new home. If you don't know already, although we had found a home for Misty in Connecticut, at the last minute we were able to place her with our very good friends, Dan and Tammy Rutar, who live in Buffalo (much closer to Shana and will make it possible to visit her on occasion). Anyway, Misty is now living with 3 cats (!!!) and was getting a lot of love from her new owners. She seemed happy with the new "digs" (sorry--couldn't resist the pun).

After our 3rd and final "family" goodbye, we headed back to a VERY empty home and a welcome sleep.

Tuesday, September 5: After various morning meetings, we headed down to have lunch with Sherry and Samyar Bukovcan. Although we were running very late, we felt that we should stop in and say some prayers with Dr. Ruhe—who had been in the nursing home for a few weeks now and was quite ill. He was sleeping and looked very close to moving to the next world, so we felt it to be a great blessing to say some prayers for him as he slept and after 20 minutes or so headed down to see the Bukovcans.

After a nice lunch with our friends, Sherry got a phone call and found out that Dr. Ruhe had passed away about an hour after we left. Although we are very sad to lose this great friend, in light of the difficulties with his health these past few years (and especially the past month) we also felt a great sense of relief that he had finally been released from the struggles of this world.

After saying some prayers for him with Sherry, Samyar and Shohreh -- we traveled another hour downstate into New Jersey to say goodbye to Brian’s brother and sister and their families. Despite the emotional roller coaster of the rest of the day, we had a great time with them and finally wound up back home at 11pm.

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Since Tuesday, our days have been filled with lots of running around and packing and getting ready for the move this coming Monday. It feels like it's all getting done -- at the same time as it will never end.

Today, we will go to the funeral of Dr. Ruhe and will have the unplanned-for opportunity to say goodbye -- not only to Dr. Ruhe -- but to many of our friends will also be there to pay their respects.

One more day with Misty

2005-09-03T01:35:00.000+03:00

For those of you who didn’t know, we found a new home for Misty! The new owners are from Connecticut and had planned on coming today to pick her up. To say our goodbyes to her, Christine and I took her on a long walk in the nearby apple orchard and took this great photo:

After coming home, the new owners called and told us that they would have to come tomorrow instead. So we get one more night with the almost perfect dog—who is watching with an undoubted sense of confusion while we feverishly move most of our belongings into the garage in preparation for our final moving sale tomorrow...

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We also got an email from Jordan who has arrived safely in Costa Rica. He sounds VERY happy and is getting ready for the work he's going to be doing. It looks like he'll be working on a project which will help save sea turtles as well and startng work on a video project. The one down side was that his Mac laptop was damaged during his travels so he is looking into getting it fixed...

And then there were three....

2005-09-01T16:46:00.000+03:00

Well, we had our first (of four) departures yesterday, when Jordan flew out from JFK airport to Costa Rica. He was very excited for his upcoming adventure and we really enjoyed the last days we had together as a New Paltz family -- but we are also sad that the time has finally come to say goodbye to our life here.

Not much else we can say except that we have to get ready for departure number 2 tomorrow....

Baby Turtles

2005-08-26T19:11:00.000+03:00

About 2 months ago, while we were out of town, a friend of ours saw a large snapping turtle laying eggs in one of Christine's gardens. Here is the photo he took:

Now, after months of quiet work, Shana found one the the new hatchlings on the driveway, trying to find his way home. After a few minutes of VERY careful digging, we are happy to announce that we have a wonderful 10-member strong family of baby turtles.

We'll have a few hours of bonding time with our new babies and then walk them down to a nearby pond--and a happy reunion with their Mom ; )

Nice article in the local paper

2005-08-19T22:47:00.000+03:00

The New Paltz Times did a very nice article about our family in this week's paper. The best part is the photo that was taken by Lauren Thomas. It's a great photo of the whole family --and perfect timing too since its going to be very hard to get another one for a long time after we all go to our respective corners of the globe ; )

It's also another view of Misty, who is up for adoption!

Looking for a new home

2005-08-19T18:25:00.000+03:00

Here is a photo of our dog Misty, who needs to find a new home as soon as possible. She's 10 years old, doesn't bark much, never jumps on people, has a very cute underbite, loves to walk and chase squirrels (but only when its ok with her owners).

If you know of someone who would love to have the perfect pet, please call 845-255-0949.

Next Steps

2005-08-13T19:00:00.000+03:00

It's been a while since we updated this blog but we wanted to wait until there was more to say.

Quite a few things have happened since our last post:

1. Shana came home from Swaziland where she was doing a Baha'i year of service at a Baha'i run school. Here are a few photos from her experience:

We're having a great time being with her and she'll be heading off to University of Toronto on Labor Day Weekend.

2. Jordan is here too! He graduated with a Bachelors in Video Production from the University of Buffalo and is heading off to Costa Rica to be a Baha'i service volunteer at the end of August. Here is a photo of Shana and he in Africa:

It is so great to have the whole family here so we can all spend time together before we head off in different directions in less than a month. They'll definately come out to see us in Haifa-and we'll certainly visit them when we can-- but it seems we all know that this is the end of a big chapter in our lives and are taking advantage of getting as much quality time together as possible.

It's a very special time -- very joyful and a bit sad too....

...OK--enough of the emotional stuff.....

3. BIG number 3 -- We sold the house!! We found a wonderful person to buy our home -- his name is Victor Guirma and he's from Burkina Faso. We should be closing in the next few weeks. We were also fortunate in that we know him, he was one of the very first people to see the house and we were able to sell it without a realtor. It's been the easiest sale imaginable. Plus, he has also kindly offered to let us stay in the house until our flight to Israel leaves.

4. Speaking of which, we have confirmed our airline flight to Israel and will be flying out of the country at 10pm September 12th from Newark airport.

5. We are looking for a home for our dog Misty. She's a great dog and we just need to find a great home for her. We'll be posting a photo shortly.

I think that's it for now on news. We just continue to sell, give and pack all of our things away and are constantly amazed at how much stuff we have accumulated over the years. And as each thing leaves the house (in the car of a friend or a garbage bin) we feel so much lighter and less attached to the things of the world. We encourage everyone to go through the excercize -whether you are planning on leaving the country or not. But if you aren't at that point yet, come to our last garage sale (everything must go!!) on September 3rd.

Video Presentation for the Declaration of the Bab

2005-05-25T00:06:00.000+03:00

Here is a web presentation commemorating the Declaration of the Bab using an beautiful song by Smith & Dragoman: Click Here

Big changes on the horizon...

2005-05-19T03:07:00.000+03:00

Well, for those of you who do not know yet, Christine and I have decided to move to Haifa, Israel in order to work at the Baha'i World Center -- the spiritual and administrative center of the Baha'i Faith. We've been thinking about making a change in our lives for quite a while now and when we heard about the opportunity to combine our strong belief in the Baha'i Faith with our jobs -- it seemed like an opportunity too good to pass up.

In any event we'll be leaving the States in mid-September and will be in Israel for 2 1/2 years. After that, we'll wait and see!

Since this is the beginning of a very new adventure for us, we decided to start a blog so that as we are moving and settling into our new lives we can share exciting news and photos as things unfold.

Above all we look forward to the adventure and sharing it with all of you!!

But first things first....

The first thing we need to do is sell our house. If you know anyone who is looking for a great home in an awesome neighborhood, let us know. Here is a photo of it:

Here are some features:
5 Bedrooms/3 full baths.
Partial Apartment in the basement (great for additional income).
Woodstove
Hardwood floors
Finished heated basement
2 car heated garage
In-ground swimming pool
INCREDIBLE GARDENS -- as you can only start to see in the photo above! (Click Here to see an incredible garden tour slideshow)

Here are some great selling points:
Secluded neighborhood within 10 min walk to downtown New Paltz and SUNY.
Walking Distance from Bus station with express service to Port Authority (1 1/2 hours).
2 min drive from NY Thruway.
20 drive to Poughkeepsie Train Station with express service to Grand Central.
Minutes from the Shawangunk Mountains with great hiking trails and rock-climbing.
2 min walk to a very large orchard with incredible views of the mountains.

Let us know if you (or someone you know) might want to buy the house. Our phone number is 845-255-0949. We'll be putting it on the market within the next week so please let us know right away if you are interested!