Rib FEST!~

So perhaps due to the fact that I realize I'm getting older, I have decided that anytime I can dress up I will. Last week was Halloween, so I dressed up like a Hippy. (By the way<-- this is Sarah, a Teach For America Teacher- after she and George, a 5 year old got into a scuffle!)
Yes yes, as most people tell me on a regular basis, it really wasn't much of a stretch, and the temporary tattoos are still stuck to my leg and refuse to come off regardless of how much scrubbing I do, BUT it was cool at the time.This week, there was a festival in Homestead, a town south of Miami. You drive through it on the way to the Keys. Homestead is like driving back into America from Miami. They is TONNES of land and country, HUGE parks, and farms, and they have these really cool redneck festivals.
This week it was RIB FEST, so as an extension of halloween I dressed up as a redneck....OK not really, but I went looking for some cool clothes at goodwill. We have this really cool goodwill superstore next to our apartment and i found a cowboy hat, and even some pink cowboy boots. Unfortunately, the only purchase I made was the hat, as the boots were sadly made for people with feet WAY smaller than mine. So although I probably looked more like a latina wearing a cowboy hat, I felt like I was dressing up, and felt like I could have entered the Miss Rodeo Queen competition or something.
So down we went to Homestead for some fun and ribs, I have to say there weren't all that many people there, and the food was a little expensive, BUT the ribs were pretty amazing, and the band was ROCKIN. We all grabbed ribs from different competitors who funnily enough ALL were "Defending Champions", and held our own rib competition. Our winner? Big Boned!!! I have to say all the ribs kind of tasted the same to me, it really came down to the sauce, which my dad and brother are pretty convinced does not even come close to the Barreth Secret Family recipe!!! Who knows...keep your eyes out, you may see the Barreth Family competing at some rib festival coming to a town near you!

Long time

So I realize that pretty much no one reads my blog anymore...and that's ok. I will hopefully start to post again and then maybe i'll regain some of my readers back.

For my first post in maybe 4 months, I have decided to blog about my new car. It all started when I took an environmental Chemistry class in college. Between that and the global climate change class I was pretty much convinced that we as Americans STINK at looking after our earth environmentally. The US produces 25% of the world's CO2, and houses about 5% of the world's population; the biggest culprit- SUVs. I always thought it was amusing in Miami to see SO many Hummers, and SUVs. I mean seriously, where are you gonna drive it? I guess just up and down the highway!

Anyway, I have always wanted a hyrbid. The toyota Prius gets about 50 miles to the gallon, however it costs close to $30, 000. Unfortunately I cannot afford $30, 000 and so i opted for a slightly less costly version. The Yaris....i have to say, I am mocked on a regular basis for my car, but over the summer when gas cost over $4 a gallon, my little Yaris was still getting 34 mpg. BOOYA!

Ok so here's my car...I still don't have a name for it, but I think it looks kind of like a bulldog because its front end is smushed in.

Six Months Later...

So Six months after arriving back in the states I am finally posting a blog. Exactly 1 month ago I became an Aunt. It's a strange feeling, like all of a sudden I aged 10 years, and became an adult. Since when did my brother become old enough to bring children into the world? Before I start getting all sentimental let's move on to what's important. Her name is Gwen Rebekah Barreth, or "Baby Beks" as I like to call her. She was born on June 17th, 2008, and weighed 8lbs 11oz. I have already decided that she will be exactly like me and I WILL be her favourite, she is after all named after me. I keep trying to get people to call her by her middle name, but no one seems too eager right now. I will prevail!!! So when she was born it was decided that I would have to make a special trip up to see her, so we could start the bonding process from an early age. I managed to get cheap tickets a few weeks back, and finally got up to see her this last weekend. It just so happened to be the weekend of my cousin's wedding, so it worked out perfectly.
I left MIA at the early hour of 5:45am. It wasn't too early for me to get up as we all know, I don't think my dad was too impressed at having to wake up at 3:3am to take me to the airport though. I arrived in MO at around 9am, and after farting around getting my hair cut etc, I finally made it over to see my favorite niece!
I have to say the whole bonding thing went pretty well, and she even smiled at me a lot. It may have something to do with my pastey white face, and dark hair (apparently new borns like contrast or something). After an afternoon of watching the baby eat, sleep, and poop (you would be amazed at how fascinating it is to watch~!) my brother and sister-in-law's Indian friends came over. They are super cute. We played dominoes and ate aloo gobhi (potato, and cauliflower) It was fun to chat with some Indians, and practice a little Hindi. I have to say my language stinks now! :(
The next day, we got baby beks ready for my cousin's wedding. She was wearing a super cute little watermelon outfit, but she ended up peeing on it (such is the life of a new born) so we had to change her. I say this as if I was hands on getting my hands dirty from changing her diaper, when in reality I don't think I changed her diaper once the whole weekend- such are the perks of being an AUNT!!! WOOT!
My cousin's wedding was beautiful. His wife really is stunning- unfortunately my camera doesn't take great pictures in the dark, so all the wedding pictures of the bride and groom look pretty bad. The random pictures of the family are at the wedding. John boy (little brother) and g-pa. Baby beks and G-ma, Baby beks and mom. etc etc. After the wedding was over we ventured back home, at which point a friend from India came to visit. I don't have any pictures of Emily and I up yet, but maybe tomorrow i'll post some. It was great to see her, even if it was only for a day. After another day with the fam, i sadly left and got on a plane back to Miami. I LOVE visiting my family in MO--there's something really refreshing about just hanging out, and "chewing the cud"- I had to throw in a farming analogy somewhere. Now i'm all ready for thanksgiving!! WOOT!

More Pictures...

I was having a hard time getting the pictures to post on one really big post so i've split it up- hopefully that will help!
I took a shot of the wailing wall, which is on the Western wall of the Temple, which was destroyed and is now a Mosque. Jews will congregate here at all times of the day, but the best time to come is on Shabbat, Early Friday evening. There are thousands of Jewish people in their best dress praying at the wall. It is incredible. Unfortunately you can't take pictures on Shabbat so i settled with this shot on a thursday instead. Next step Ein Gedi and the Dead sea. I've had this somewhat romantic view of the Dead Sea, since I was a little girl, and I saw people reading books while floating on their backs in the Sea. Normal salinity of Oceans varies from 3-5%, but the Dead Sea is around 33% Saline- CRAZY! I admit that it wasn't quite as romantic as I pictured. The salt burned my blistered feet, and stung my skin quite a bit, the Sea STANK from all the stuff in the water....things like bromides and sulfides I think are the main ones...Hydrogen Sulfide is the stuff that wreaks of rotten eggs, so you can imagine how I smelled once I smeared the mud all over me. Needless to say the mud was smeared on, the picture of me floating was taken, and then I quickly ran to take a shower. There are other random pictures added as well, like the little boy w/ his Kip-pa/Yarmulke on. This last picture is of a burnt house.
When they were digging around in the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem they found this house that they think belonged to one of the Priestly families, that was destroyed during the same time that the Second Temple was destroyed. The picture's not the best, but it was cool to see some of the original artifacts that people used back then!

Long awaited Israel pictures.

During my time in Israel I went to Tel Aviv, Jaffa (just south of Tel Aviv). Jaffa is about 2kms south of Tel Aviv. This was a picture of downtown Tel Aviv from Jaffa- in the Bible Jaffa is known as the port Joppa. After a few days in Tel Aviv I went to the area of Galilee to Kinneret Lake (Sea of Galilee). I rode a bike around the Sea with a friend and we stopped off at Capernaum, to see Peter's house and where JC taught in the synagogue.
This is a picture of Capernaum, where Peter's house is and where JC taught in the Synagogue...
After a few more days I went to Jerusalem and stayed in the Old City. I got to see the City of David, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (which houses Jesus' Tomb, Golgotha etc)This is a picture of the Garden of Gethsemane. There's a church built next to it, but they have preserved 8-10 olives trees, some of which are more than 2000 years old. It's weird to think those trees were there when JC was!

This is a view of the Old City of Jerusalem, from the Mount of Olives, and a Jewish Cemetery. The big golden dome is the Mosque where the Temple Mount is. It's where the first and second Temples were built and destroyed. There are all kinds of hard core security measures because people are always fighting over the area. It's like airport security- you have to send your bags through a little scanner, and they pull random people aside to pat down etc.

On my way down from the mount of olives I saw this Bedouin guy and his donkey. Well everyone knows i have a soft spot for donkeys, so I asked him if I could take his picture. He said "yes" and of course I had to pay him, but at least I got his picture.

I've never been to a country at war before, and it was really interesting to get on a bus and sit next to a bus load of 18-21 yr old army personnel with big guns. At first it was a little disconcerting to be sitting next to someone w/ a rifle in their hand, but it's amazing how used to it you get. You even have to have your bag checked when you go to the grocery store, like publix, or piggly wiggly- or whatever you call it where you are.
As I was walking from the Mount of Olives to the City of David I walked through the Kidron Valley where apparently the tomb of Johoshophat is... but apparently that's not actually the case. It's just some random wealthy people. My head is really in the way of the tomb, but I always thought it was quite boring to take pictures of just scenery, and since I was on my own there are lots of pictures of Scenery.

Moving on out...

Real quick before I leave....so my 12 days in Israel have come and gone- it has flown by and was amazing....There is so much to see here it's unreal. Some of the highlights....(I Promise i'll post pictures as soon as i have them all uploaded onto my computer)

-Riding bikes around the Sea of Galilee
-Seeing Peter's house in Capernaum and the Synagogue Jesus taught at
-Looking at the view of the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives and visiting the Garden of Gethsemane
-Floating in the Dead Sea

Next stop London...

Israel and Tel Aviv

So I admit that this post might seem a bit like a Lonely Planet travel blog entry but oh well. Sorry I don't have pictures either, i'm doing this from an internet cafe. Well so far the only places in Israel I've seen have been Tel Aviv, and a small area outside called Jaffa, otherwise known in the new testament as Joppa. Really unless you want to go to the beach, Tel Aviv doesn't have that much to offer. There is one market that was interesting with kind of a mix between fruit, vegetables, olives, cheeses and meats, but in comparison to a South Asian Market it doesn't have all that. The Beach is BEAUTIFUL though and I plan on finishing up my last few days here on the beach.
From downtown Tel Aviv I walked south to Jaffa, a small town full of cool looking ruins and lots of historical and quaint places to look at and eat. I had breafast at this place that served a mixture of tomatoes, onions with two eggs ontop. At first i was nervous because the eggs were still runny when it came out to me, but after a minute of two they solidified from the heat of the pan. I ate it w/ a HUGE bowl of bread and it tasted kind of like really tomatoey eggs....then the flea market- well I didn't buy anything, but was hilarious ranging from used toothbrushes to used deoderant bottles, random romote controls, to scary doll heads that look like they should be one of the reject toys from "Toy Story". Then on the other side of the market there are beautiful antique stores, and stores with beautiful wood and Indian fabrics. It's interesting because my eye immediately went to the Indian stuff and I had to tell myself "no" because it was WAY cheaper in India...

Sorry this is long...today i go to Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee...WOOT!!

America?

My time here is coming to a close....tomorrow I leave the city Beautiful and head down to the capital to close out some things before I fly out next Wednesday for some travel filled fun. Of course the common question is....how are you feeling? Honestly it doesn't seem real. 22 months ago I got on a plane and ended up here....since then I've been on planes so many times i have lost track, so it doesn't seem like I'm leaving...for good at least. Am I excited? I guess you could say that... I'm looking forward to seeing my family, and I'm stoked about going to Israel and Britain on the way home....we'll see how that goes first....I still have about a month before I'm on American soil.....

Here is a top ten of things I'm MOST looking forward to in the States

1) Obviously friends and family (if this wasn't on here, I think I would be ostracized)

2) Pollo Tropical....For those of you NOT from South Florida, you are missing out on this GREAT cuban fast food restaurant.

3) The Beach!

4) Buying and riding a scooter....why not a car you ask? Well scooters a) are cheaper...you can buy a brand new scooter for under $3000, b) have GREAT gas mileage, usually over 100mpg c) are a lot GREENER than cars especially SUVs. (by greener I mean, more environmentally friendly, not the color green of course) d) are cute, and super fun to ride around on!

5) Drinking water from the tap!!!!!!!!! If you only knew how many hours I have stood next to the water filter waiting for it to fill up the bottles!!

6) The $3 sales at OLD navy!!

7) Thanksgiving at Granny's House

8) Going outside after dark

9) Playing volleyball at the University of Miami's Sand courts!!!

10) Drying my clothes in a dryer so I don't have to iron everything. (Admittedly lazy)

This list was a lot harder than that the previous list...I'll try to post again before I fly out...hopefully with pictures!