sunday post: mother’s day

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Life, Sunday Post

Sunday, May 12:  Today is Mother’s Day in the USA, and Jake has given us a challenge to post something in honor of mothers everywhere (Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post: Mother’s Day).  He writes: Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March or May.

Here are some mothers I’ve encountered in my travels.

a mother and her son in Pokhara, Nepal

A mother bathes her child in Bhaktapur, Nepal

a mother and her children at the Lalibela Saturday market in Ethiopia

Indian mothers at the Lotus Temple in Delhi, India

my Korean friend Julie and her two children

And finally, in honor of my mother, who died over 10 years ago: Happy Mother’s Day!

My father and mother and their four children (one was still to come!)

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sunday post: entrance

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middle east, Nizwa, Nizwa Souq, Oman, Sunday Post

Monday, April 1: Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post this week is Entrance: Entrance generally refers to the place of entering like a gate or door, or the permission to do so.

I have been fascinated by Oman’s entrances & doors for over a year now.  Here is a bit of my collection.

All men have one entrance into life, and the like going out.
~ Solomon Ibn Gabirol

the entrance to the Nizwa nut and spice market, with the door closed

the entrance to the nut and spice market at Nizwa Souq, with the doors open

the back entrance to old Nizwa, behind the souq and the fort

painted metal door in Misfat Al Abriyyin

colorful door

entrance near Ibra, Oman

second story entrances in the ruins of Munisifeh, Ibra, Oman

entrances to ruins through Munisifeh, Ibra, Oman

a gate to a farm in Al Hamra, Oman

Omani door

entrance to ruins at Wadi Bani Habib on Jebel Akhdar

And here’s a gallery of many more entrances.  Click on any of the photos below for a full-sized slide show.

entrance to another mudbrick house in Al Hamra

entrance to a house in Al Hamra

entrance after entrance in Ibra, Oman

door in Ibra, Oman

a beaten up entrance in Ibra, Oman

a door in Ibra

entrance to one of the old stalls at the ancient market in Ibra

colorfully painted metal doors

the love door

a candy pink door

Sunday Post 2013

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• Sunday Post: Entrance
• Sunday Post: Entrance
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sunday post: bay

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Sunday Post

Sunday, March 17:  Jake’s Sunday Post for this week is bay.  A bay is defined as: A broad inlet of the sea where the land curves inward.

Here is the famous Halong Bay in Vietnam.

Halong Bay in Vietnam

Halong Bay in Vietnam

On the south coast of Crete, a beach town called Plakias sits within a small, glimmering bay.

a bay off the southern coast of Crete, in Plakias

Plakias, Crete

And in Oman, we can find a number of small bays as well.

a small bay on the coast of Oman

a bay at Shangri-La Resort in Oman

And finally, here is a harbor, which is sort of like a bay, but more so.  A harbor is a place on the coast where vessels may find shelter, esp. one protected from rough water by piers, jetties, and other artificial structures.   Here is the harbor at Mutrah in Oman.

the harbor at Mutrah in Oman

Mutrah Harbor

Sunday Post

 

sunday post: peaceful

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South Korea, Sunday Post, Travel

Sunday, December 2:  Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post challenge for this week is peaceful: in a state of tranquility.

Two years ago at this time, my son Alex came to visit me in South Korea.  We found many peaceful places in our travels around the country.  It was freezing cold, as Korea tends to be in December.  Because it was winter, most of these spots were quite deserted, and truly peaceful (“handsome boy” visits korea: motherhood revisited).

the tea plantations near Boseong, South Korea

Suncheon Bay Ecological Park

Songgwang-sa Temple, otherwise known as “Extensive Pines Temple”

sunday post: architecture

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Architecture, Sunday Post, Travel

Sunday, November 18: Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post challenge for today, architecture, is perfect, as I just returned home from Abu Dhabi, UAE yesterday.  This city and Dubai, where I’ve been before, are well-known the world over for their modern and daring architecture.  Here are a few samples from my trip to Abu Dhabi.

Architecture in the gallery below includes models for the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, which is currently in the planning phase.  This Cultural District will include the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, designed by Frank Gehry, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, designed by Jean Nouvel, the Zayed National Museum by Foster + Partners, a Maritime Museum designed by Tadao Ando, and a Performing Arts Center by Zaha Hadid.

The gallery also includes The Capital Gate Tower in Abu Dhabi with an 18-degree slope, prompting the Guinness World Records to name it the “furthest leaning man-made tower.” The leaning tower of Pisa, by comparison, tilts just 4 degrees. The 35-story structure, designed by the British architecture firm Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall, holds office space and a 5-star Hyatt hotel.

Also included is the new Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan Mosque and the over-the-top Emirates Palace.  I will write more about these in coming posts.

the leaning tower of Abu Dhabi: the 35-story Capital Gate Tower

a model of the Maritime Museum by Tadao Ando, to be built as part of the Saadiyat Island Cultural Project in Abu Dhabi

residential towers in Abu Dhabi

skyscrapers in Abu Dhabi

a model of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, designed by Jean Nouvel, to be built on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

The Capital Gate Tower in Abu Dhabi

inside of the Central Market Souq in Abu Dhabi

the model of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, designed by Frank Gehry, to be built on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi

the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan Mosque in Abu Dhabi

a model of the Performing Arts Center designed by Zaha Hadid, to be built on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi

new construction in Abu Dhabi, in front of Emirates Palace

sunday post: city

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Sunday Post

Sunday, October 21: Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post challenge for this week is City.  He writes: A city is a large center of population organized as a community. The word city is derived from the Latin word civitas, which denotes a community that administers its own affairs. In ancient Greece such an independent community was called a city-state; it consisted of a chief town and its immediate neighborhood.

Here are some cities from different parts of the world.

Kalambaka, at the foot of the Meteora monasteries in Thessaly, Greece

Daegu, South Korea, near Keimyung University

modern Beijing, China

Hanoi, Vietnam

Varanasi, India

sunday post: road

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Sunday Post

Sunday, July 29: Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post for this week is road. For inspiration, he writes: A road is a route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle.

Here’s a road in Oman flooded during a rare period of rainfall.  During these periods, there is flooding everywhere. Roads are often covered by raging rivers and rendered impassable.

a road flooded near Ibri, Oman

…and the resulting traffic backup…

 

sunday post: collectibles

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Sunday Post

Sunday, July 22:  Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post this week is collectibles.  He writes:  Collectibles and collecting: groups of items of a similar type that are acquired and saved as a hobby. Millions of people all over the world enjoy the activity of collecting. Just about anything can be a collectible, from children’s toys to car hubcaps to matchbooks. Some collectibles can sell for a few dollars at a yard sale, others for thousands of dollars in specialty stores or at auctions. Although there are many recognized areas of collecting that have their own publications and organized groups of collectors, the world of collectibles is ultimately limited only by the imagination and desire of the collector.

Here are some collectibles in Oman: incense burners.

incense burners at Muttrah Souq

colorful incense burners at nizwa souq

pottery incense burners at nizwa souq

more incense burners in nizwa

turret-shaped incense burners in nizwa

sunday post: solid

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Sunday Post

Sunday, July 15: Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post for this week is solid.  He writes: SOLID means : Stable, sturdy, firm, established, durable, rigid, substantial, strong, powerful, loud, heavy, splitting, honest, faithful, straightforward, loyal, conscientious, devoted, honest, faithful, constant, loyal,reliable, dependable, competent, promising, clever, compact, dense, thick, thick-set, concentrated, sterling, neat, pure, stark, constant, steady and united.

Here’s a picture of solid at Wadi Muaydin near Birkat al Mouz in Oman.

these boulders, tossed around in Wadi Muaydin as if by a giant, are about as solid as anything can be….

sunday post: valuable

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Sunday Post

Sunday, July 1:  Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post for this week is valuable.  He writes: Precious, expensive, costly, priceless, important, dear, having considerable monetary worth, costing or bringing a high price like a valuable painting or a valuable crop; having qualities worthy of respect, admiration, or esteem: a valuable friend. A considerable use, service, or importance: valuable information. These are a few words to define valuable.

When I think of valuable, the first thing that comes to mind are my children and life experiences.  Putting the two of these together, I think the most valuable thing for me this year was when both of my sons came to Oman to visit me in January for over 3 weeks.  That experience was a valuable one for them in that it showed them how it is to live in another culture.  It showed them how their mother is living a daily existence in this foreign world. It enabled them to see and understand my life here in Oman. And it was a valuable experience of sharing my life with my children.  I have lots of pictures from our time together here in Oman, but this one I find particularly endearing.

Alex and Adam dressing the part at Mutrah Souq