Pictograph O My Life Right Now

Woo pictures are up!

The other day we took an afternoon to visit a school that was unbelievable. The walls were engraved completely with verses from the Qu'ran and completely hand done mosaic walls.

**Idea of what we dress like here and how big the school was**

**Close up on the engraving that was all around the school. One person would go around with a stencil and put it up against the wall, blow coal dust on it, and leave it for the apprentices to come around and carve out the coal dusted areas.**

**Close up on the Qu'ran scriptures. This one says "The kingdom belongs to God" and another band at the top says, "True honor belongs to God."**

**Close up of the mosaics around the bottom-each mosaic is handcarved!**

The same day we saw a huge "pool" that used to be used to teach the army how to swim. Now it'd filled with carp that you can feed.

**Some sweet carp eating the bread we threw to it.**

**Whole group in front of the "pool"**

We've also had plenty of time to walk around and see the Jamalfana (the huge market) where they sell pretty much anything you can imagine from spices to slippers to lingerie to lanterns to suitcases to oranges.

**Pretty good idea of the outside of the Jamalfana**

**Shoe/slipper shop in the market.**

**Some awesome lanterns in a shop**

Yesterday we took an entire day to travel up one of the mountains to see the Tenmil mosque. It was incredible and we had to use our headscarves for the first time. I'm starting to understand the headscarf thing. Nadia told us that it's basically giving yourself up to God. The girls that wear the full veils (mouths and nose too) are pretty much saving their beauty for God. Also...just to point it out...it has become very clear to me during my stay so far that women are not subservient in this society. They consciously choose to cover their heads and/or mouths or not to. It's a choice that each woman makes for herself. I have met older women who wear nothing and young girls who cover themselves completely.

**Tinmil mosque**

**Some of us in our scarves lookin fly.**