Voters in Switzerland have approved a ban on the construction of minarets on mosques…
It’s been an interesting week or so. Spent a weekend celebrating thanksgiving early with a few friends near the Algerian border. Things are pretty different up there, and the dialect was tougher to grasp than I expected. It was a lot of fun. There was a lot of football and (believe it or not) dancing. We made an approximation of a typical “American” thanksgiving - it was definitely my first.
Prior to that I checked out a few sites that I could be moving to - and since I am writing after the fact I now know most likely which of those three I will be headed to, so I will spare the details about the others. It is probably the coldest site I have been to, about an hour south of a fairly large town I am familiar with - and in the same general region I’m in know. There is little to no vegetation (should be fun trying ag stuff) and they are famous for onions and a specific variety of sheep. One positive is that I will get to work with a carpet weaving cooperative (which a previous small business vol worked with), which I’ve been angling for.
Outside of that, all I know is that a lot of environment volunteers have rolled through this spot, with superficially very little impact. Now that obviously may change when I get to know folks, as I’m pretty sure the average person in my town doesn’t even know I exist. I think I’m excited, but it’s mainly to finally get settled down somewhere. Oh and its a much larger town than I’m currently in. I think I read about 10,000, so all the creature comforts (i.e. transport, internet, etc.) should be readily available.
And to close, today is L3id Kbir, or L3id Adha as it is more commonly referred to. As I have been sort of un-integrating from my town due to my frequent trips for medical stuff, I expected little interaction with people. That is what I’ve gotten, except my landlord dropping off a whole raw sheep’s leg. I wonder if he thinks this counts as giving to the poor. Regardless it was a very grand gesture, but I have no clue what I am going to do with it. I was thinking of roasting it in my oven - but it may be too big, and I’m out of garlic. I could make some sweet tea, and I’ve got cabbage for slaw - perhaps pulled sheep (rather than pork) sandwiches.
