Harps and handles

Yesterday Mark, Mara, Liam and I went to the home of some Baha’is in Edinburgh for a devotional centered on the situation in the Holy Land. John, Jona, Akira, Maureen, Becky, Skye and Ella were present for the prayers, which were greatly embellished by Maureen’s playing of the harp and gorgeous singing. Ella, her one-year-old, was so excited to be with us all that she persisted, in a desperate, drowning-like manner, to not only stay awake but also to crawl around attempting to touch and take everything she shouldn’t, including my nose. After prayers, I had a strawberry-eating contest with Ella, who won despite the fewness of her teeth and my best efforts.

Today I barely managed to get ready in time to run to the station to catch a bus to Glasgow to hang with Liam. I was pretty satisfied with my arrival on the bus a good 30 seconds before its departure. An hour and fifteen minutes later, I was in Glasgow, wondering what percentage of Scots actually do not own Jaguars (from the number I spotted on the road on the way over) and running straight into Liam, who had just come from work. Stepping out into the city, I could immediately see the increased level of seediness of Glasgow, in comparison to Edinburgh, which is noted as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The crush of sweaty football fans on the underground (subway) and empty bag of smoky bacon-flavored chips left on the seat also confirmed the comparative classiness of Glasgow. Nonetheless, I am, of course, looking forward to exploring the place. Back on the subway car, Liam and I were happily chatting away when a look of mild concern flashed across his face. That apparently indicating that we had missed our stop. At first we contemplated riding the whole loop of the city, but then changed our minds and turned ourselves around. Liam commented that I had already seen all the loveliest bits of the city, right there on the underground.

Arriving at Liam’s flat was an excitement, since I’ve only stayed at Mara’s brother’s place so far, in the beautiful financial district of Edinburgh. So, Liam’s flat is crazy nice, although he for some reason insisted on apologizing for its messiness, which it was not. It was fun to see Liam being so domestic: cooking dinner, putting on rubber gloves to scrub the bathroom, and passing the vacuum (well, I guess he was in CMD (Cleaning Maintenance Department) at the World Centre, but still…I mostly knew him there as an officey-type in Jani land.) I, for my part, did help clean the dishes and look forward to taking up more domestic duties as my stay progresses. My main concern for staying in this flat is flushing the toilet, which requires some sort of skill Liam has mastered and that most guests fail to acquire. I asked him to get it fixed, or suffer the consequences. I hope he does, although he commented how much he enjoys being good at something absolutely no one else is. Ah the hardships…almost on par with the sirens of Haifa. At least this will keep me from going too soft before heading back to it all…

Time for a surprise showing of one of Liam’s favorite movies…which has now just started…and it’s “Lost Boys”, that fabulous 80s vampire flick with Keifer Sutherland and Cory Feldman.

Last thing: it stays light here until some ungodly hour, like 10:30pm. So eating dinner and going to bed at a decent hour has been tough. I’ll post pics to show you all soon.