09.06.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:15 am by Nicole
The above comment refers to almost every dinner I’ve had since I arrived in Armenia. Compared to my various adventures in the Middle East, the alcohol could not be more prevalent then it is here, at my conference. I arrived in Yerevan on Wednesday of last week and have spent the last 3 days attending a conference designed for Central and Eastern European election officials. It is an absolutely wonderful group of people- very friendly, and as enthusiastic in their work as they are in their celebrations.
The Armenian election commission, our hosts, has spared no time or expense in showing us this beautiful country and the many churchs and monuments that go along with its unique history. And of course, there have been never-ending meals with copious amounts of alcohol! The phrase “work hard, play hard” has never seemed more true until this conference. Of course, with all this food and drink comes dancing- live music ranging from traditional Armenian folk music with dancing troupes to a jazz band (and a harmonica player who could rival most in the US!) as well as salsa and tango, surprisingly. Always one for the cultural experience, I have danced to all of them with people from Bosnia, Mexico, Croatia, Lithuania, Armenia (of course!) and countless others.
Other observations of the city? It’s relatively small compared to most capitals, and easy to get around. I spent a good 3 hours wandering this morning (the conference ended yesterday and most everyone departed this morning) and had no trouble navigating it or finding what I wanted (a huge market and the Republic square). The people are incredibly friendly, and although I stand out somewhat, there is hardly anyone who will bother or hassle you, or even politely stare at you. They are fiercely proud of their history and their religion, and although most know only Armenian, or some Russian (English has only recently been introduced into the school curriculum), they will make every attempt possible to communicate and welcome you. The city is surrounded by hills and has some steep climbs itself. Mount Ararat looms in the distance (and ends up being portrayed in almost every photo/postcard/magnet) and the land is mostly fields dotted with trees and rocks along the way.
The food is delicious, and for us dinner always consisted of 4 courses - more than any one person could eat! There is an appetizer portion, with various meats, cheeses, salad, and random vegetables (people literally take a cucumber from a plate and eat it…or spring onion, tomato, or pepper). Then there’s the meat course- chicken or beef, or both, with additional hot vegetables or grilled items. Next comes the fish course, which challenges you to de-scale the little guy as its glassy eyes look up at you. Dessert is a combination of gigantic baklava-like desserts (seriously, jumbo-size compared to anything I’ve found in the US or MidEast) and fresh fruit. The fruit here is amazing- maybe we just got lucky with the season, but there’s everything and it’s all soooooo sweet and delicious! Pears, grapes, peaches, pomagranates, figs, nectarines, plums, blackberries, apples, and perhaps the country’s favorite….watermelon! I could probably make the fruit alone my entire meal.
I have visited a nearby monastery, an old Roman temple, and an outlying village which is the heart of the Armenian Church. We also received a tour of the city’s wine/brandy/vodka factory and, of course, a tasting. Although I still plan to explore a bit more today, I enjoyed my time in a local market, with everything from touristy gifts to car parts to books to kitchen utensils! Again, the language barrier proved to be a bit of a challenge, but I found that French actually worked better than English. This reminded me of my very full flight from Paris to Yerevan, and I wonder if perhaps there are more Armenians living in Paris than in the US (namely, Los Angeles).
I fly back home tomorrow morning, by way of Paris again. I would highly recommend Yerevan as a place to visit, though I think my next trip I would prefer to be in some coordination with other cities- maybe a tour of the region. I hear there’s an overnight train to Tbilisi, Georgia……which is coincidentally where next year’s conference will be! For now, though, I’m off with some friends to sightsee a bit more and have one last large meal with more wine (though less brandy this time)!
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07.02.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:20 am by Nicole
Okay, so actually only 6 hours, but still. It gives you some idea of what things have been like lately….rugged, to say the least. It’s about 10:30pm on July 2nd here in Jakarta, and I’m trying to think how best to re-cap the past 2 days with a fabulous Bollywood film on TV (about as stereotypical as you can possibly imagine). If I ever get to India, I want to find out how I can be an extra in these coordinated dance and song portions of the movie….classic.
I left DC around 1pm on June 30th, and have severely lost track of time since then. A 13 hour flight later, and I was on the ground in Tokyo, but it was so overcast I couldn’t see anything, and as I was connecting only, I was shuffled from one section of the airport to another, with hardly any freedom to explore even the airport. An additional 7 hours in a plane brought me to Singapore, where I was going to spend the night (spending the night, in this case, meant trying to get some rest at a nearby hotel between my 12am arrival and 9am departure).
I should mention that the morning I prepared to leave, I noticed I had a bit of a cough. While it’s always a pain to be under the weather while traveling, this was particularly inconvenient considering all the latest concerns of H1N1 flu. I went through thermal scans in Singapore and Jakarta, and was even pulled aside in Singapore’s immigration line to be screened further by a doctor (the cough gave me away). Still, I was deemed flu free since I didn’t have a fever, or any other symptoms. As a lovely souvenir, I was given one of those medical masks to wear for the remainder of my time in the airport. Good times.
After clearing immigration in Singapore, I remembered that my bags had been checked all the way through to Jakarta. This was actually really nice – less things to lug around for the 6 or 7 hours of free time I actually had, with one small problem – no toiletries. While the hotel staff very kindly provided me with toothbrush/toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, and soap, they didn’t keep any deodorant on hand for incidents such as mine. I managed to get a few hours of sleep and showered the next morning, resolving to get truly clean once I got to Jakarta.
My flight from Singapore went quite well – a mere 1.5 hrs, flew by compared to the lengthy trips I had previously sat through. The service was excellent as well.
So….Jakarta. Where to begin? In a way, a lot of what I’ve seen and experienced thus far reminds me of Cairo. There are many similarities between the two cities, and I find that oddly comforting in the familiarity. The city is huge, sprawling in every visible direction, and I have yet to find out the logical order or sections of the city. It took a good 2 hours to get off the plane and checked into the hotel, and after showering and getting everything unpacked, I headed off to explore the area. I needed to get a SIM card for my phone, and find a printing shop, so I went to a nearby mall. I should note that the woman at reception told me this was the “small mall”- it ended up being twice the size of Pentagon City Mall, and was a cross between tech stores (think of a brand name and I guarantee you they had a store there), a few clothing stores, and a large Carrefour (French dept. store).
A few basic observations thus far….
-Traffic is the same as in Cairo – crazy, with lanes serving more as guidance than anything else. Luckily, there is more respect for pedestrians, and really large/busy streets actually have crossing guards.
-I am incredibly tall. No, not really, but compared to most everyone here, I am at least their height if not taller. This seems to have the effect of making me incredibly intimidating and constantly stared at.
-The language barrier is pretty solid. Outside of the hotel and other key touristy things, I’ve been having lots of fun with hand signals and my fabulous artistic skills on the pad of paper I carry with me. This was especially fun at the mall, where I attempted to get my phone card, some food, a USB drive, and find a printing store. Not a single person I met there spoke English.
-I am a long way from home. This is definitely the furthest I’ve ever traveled, but I mean it more culturally I think. It’s just very different – not bad by any means, definitely interesting.
-It appears that Manchester United is “the team” here – which doesn’t seem to make any sense to me, but everywhere I look there are ads for “Mau” – their abbreviation of the team.
I’m going to get some sleep soon, but here’s a few more things, by the numbers:
Number of hours spent on a plane: 22
Number of hours spent in an airport: 8
Current time difference: 11 hours
Number of tomatoes successfully avoided in airline food: 7
Number of policemen outside my hotel here: 7
Ration of tech stores to clothing in the nearby mall: 7:1
Number of English speakers I’ve met in Indonesia: 26
Number of English speakers I’ve met in Indonesia who are not Australian businessmen/visitors: 3
More updates on the way tomorrow….
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02.18.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:39 pm by Nicole
It’s 4:15am at home (US time) and I’m on the plane. This means I only have another 2 hours, but although it doesn’t sound like much, it sure feels like it. I wasn’t as successful on the way back as I was going in terms of catching up on sleep. I mean, I slept for about 6 hours, which is what I’ve been getting for the past few days, so I suppose it’s adequate. But I can tell I won’t slip back into the time change quite as easily as I did upon arriving in Kuwait.
My visit was far too short, though I am grateful for the little snippets of time I had to squeeze in visits with friends. The conference went very well- better than I think any of us involved in the planning possibly anticipated- so hopefully I will be back in the Gulf again soon, and this time I’ll know to cushion my trip with an extra day or two for the time change and the visits.
We’re currently flying over Quebec, so I’m nearing the US. The flight has been relatively uneventful- I watched 2 movies in addition to my sleep – “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” and “City of Ember.” The first, “Boy in the Striped Pajamas” was incredibly sad, but well made. It basically portrays a budding friendship between an 8-yr old son of a German officer under Hitler, who befriends an 8 year old boy in a concentration camp that’s basically in his backyard. I don’t want to spoil the end for anyone, but suffice to say it does a nice job in portraying the personal side of indifference, and is another example of how violence effects everyone, even those who are unaware of it. “City of Ember” was interesting, but nothing special, per se. The plot moves enough, and there are some recognizable actors in the film (Bill Murray plays the Mayor), but it’s not necessarily my top pick to watch again. I was really bummed that the movies I had originally wanted to see (Flash of Genius, Nights in Rodanthe) apparently only play on the flight from US-Kuwait, and there’s a whole different batch on the way home, Kuwait-US. Sadly, the batch on the way back isn’t quite as good, and that happens to be, for me anyway, the harder flight to sleep through. Not to mention it’s another 2-3 hours longer!
Hard to detail everything from work this weekend, but as I mentioned before, things went extremely well. I’m pretty exhausted, since it was 4, 15 hour days, but the whirlwind is totally worth it. One of the interpreters asked me what I was taking to stay so upbeat, smiley, and energetic all day and night. Obviously, I don’t take anything, but I think even when I get tired, the excitement of the work gets my adrenaline flowing. It also helps that I’m in an area that I love, and trying to soak up as much as I possibly can, even in a brief 4 day stint.
I guess I don’t have too much more to share- back to work on Wednesday (yes, I’m planning to rest today….will likely fall asleep around 5pm given the time change) with class to boot. Still, there’s a lot of exciting things coming up, so I can’t really complain.
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02.14.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 4:04 pm by Nicole
Well, I knew I wasn’t getting back to sleep after the call to prayer (see blog post below). And my mind was racing with all that needed to be done. I’m not sure when exactly jet lag is supposed to kick in- I’ve been yawning intermittently today, combined with spurts of adrenaline when greeting our election officials or racing to the conference site for technical assistance. I enjoyed about 3 hours of sightseeing, and have some photos to show for it. I’ll also be heading out tonight with friends for dinner and driving around- supposedly you can see some great skylines along the coast (which, by the way, is GORGEOUS!)
I went down to the lobby around 7:15, hoping to meet up with Teresita, one of our speakers coming from the Phillipines. She was delayed quite a bit, in large part because she arranged with her Embassy to pick her up, so I actually found a few other people first. Nevertheless, I had a nerve-wracking 2.5 hours between when her plane landed (6:45am) and when she arrived at the hotel, all the while not knowing if she made her flight, and if so, why hadn’t she seen the Courtyard desk in the airport?
All 3 Yemeni’s came down separately- thank goodness for their passport photos ahead of time I was able to recognize them. We talked for a bit in a mixture of Arabic/English about the current changes to the election law in Yemen- apparently there has been a lot of debate with the opposition about the proposed changes, and many feel they are happening too closely to the elections (April 27th). One of the Yemeni’s is a returnee from our June program, and it was nice to see him again.
In a weird way, seeing some of our old program participants helps me feel more legitimate- I have had more than one person comment on how young I am. Often in the Middle East young is quickly equated with inexperience (this is particularly true in academic circles, where a Doctorate can sometimes make all the difference between getting someone on the phone or not!). Still, I am working hard to prove that I am not only capable, but efficient, and for the most part people seem happy to be here and pleased with the arrangements.
After Yemeni’s, I had more time in the lobby awaiting Teresita, and in fact, Jeff, our consultant who is from the US but was flying from Nairobi (complicated, I know), arrived first, around 9:15am. I sat down with him for about 2-3 minutes to explain that my boss wasn’t coming after all, my plan for speakers getting together, and see if he had anything he needed from me. Everything seems to be in order, and he took it all in stride.
Laszlo and Dr. Toth from the Assoc. of European Election Officials came downstairs about that same time –they started talking together, and at that point, Safae (hotel front desk lady, incredibly helpful to me all day today) came around the corner to point out to Teresita where I was. Teresita had with her the Ambassador from the Phillipines to Kuwait, as well as 2 Embassy staff members assisting her…..quite the entourage! She is a dear, sweet woman and apparently she knew Jeff from about 10 years ago. They chatted briefly, I mentioned 5pm meeting time, and then she went to rest (her trip was about as long as mine!)
After that, Jeff left as well to get some sleep, and I joined Laszlo and Dr. Toth for breakfast. Mid-breakfast, I called Dhari to explain that I needed to find a copy center, as well as get notepads/pens since they wouldn’t be coming from our office with my boss. We planned to meet up around 10:30, so I finished up breakfast and then took off with him.
Copy center happened to be right next door to KGS – the guy there was extremely helpful, originally from South Africa (it’s really very small world!) – and worked with me to re-format the margins of the CDEM brochure, as well as double-sided copies of the press release.
We noticed the catering company was at KGS while we were in the copy center, so we went next door after we were done in order to take a quick look at the set-up and speak with the catering guys. Then I had a brief time to go sightseeing- mostly driving around all of Kuwait City and seeing the government buildings, mosques, markets, etc. Dhari and I went to lunch at a traditional Kuwaiti seafood place- they had all these old pictures of boats from back when Kuwait’s biggest export was pearls, and many locals were shipbuilders. The fish was delicious (don’t ask me what kind it was- I didn’t recognize the name, and they were kind enough to detach it from the skin before putting it in front of me!
In the afternoon I was back at the hotel to greet participants arriving – by this point, I think the hotel staff must have passed around my passport photo or something, because every person knows my name and addresses me when I walk by. I was actually in one part of the lobby, and someone I didn’t know from the front desk walked over and told me a participant was just arriving to check-in. They are really, really fabulous.
I met with our speakers to go over the plan for the conference, worked on powerpoint a bit and then finally got ready for dinner. I went out with Dhari, his girlfriend and her old roommate, and it was so much fun! Tonight we went outside of Kuwait City, about 30 minutes south (which is basically halfway to Saudi Arabian border) to what is basically an oil-company town. The infrastructure was built by the British, so you see sidewalks, fenced homes, little flower beds along the road- very quaint. In addition, since it is February (when they celebrate Kuwaiti Independence Day and Kuwaiti Liberation Day…. One right after the other actually) everything is lit up! The neon lights are everywhere, flags on every flagpole and draped on buildings….even neon lights in the shape of flags. It’s incredible- and so bright!
One thing that I found incredibly interesting- when we were further south of Kuwait City, we stopped for dinner near the water in a beautiful mall with a large fountain area overlooking the Gulf. As we were walking back to the car, they noticed a wedding announcement was scrolling on an electronic billboard, essentially an open invitation to anyone to come to the wedding of these 2 brothers! In the Middle East, weddings are HUGE affairs- often people attend even if they don’t know the bride and groom personally. And with such large extended families, weddings can take whole street squares and multiple city blocks! So, while I guess it makes sense in a way to have this sort of open invitation (I had seen, for example, wedding invites in the newspaper- similar to how in the US you have the “Announcement” except instead, it invites the newspaper reader to attend) but this was my first experience with an electronic billboard wedding invitation – huge!
We also found a Marble Slab Creamery nearby – a novelty for them, that I had fallen into a love/hate relationship back at USC. So, we all got ice cream to end the evening. It’s now nearly midnight, and after having been up since basically 4am, I’m sufficiently exhausted. I don’t think I’ll have much trouble falling asleep, jet lag or not!
BTW- I have lots of observations, new insights and funny stories to share…. But I’m just too tired. I will try and remember on the flight home (I’ve got 14 hours after all) to type them up and share.
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02.13.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:33 pm by Nicole
The call to prayer is taking place right now outside my window- it’s 5:11am in Kuwait City.
It’s been a little while since I’ve heard the call to prayer this early- I believe, in fact, that it was my last day in Cairo. So many mosques all at once – it is both beautiful and jumbled at the same time, as they are, of course, not in harmony. Yet it creates an odd harmony and rhythm of its own.
I didn’t plan to be awake for the call to prayer- it just sort of happened. I am still adjusting to the time change, plus I slept nearly 10 hours on the plane (an amazing first for me), so I feel completely rested and relatively wide awake as of 4am this morning. This was a good thing, I suppose, since my boss called me around 4:20am to tell me she wasn’t going to be coming to Kuwait after all (her flight was scheduled for a day after mine). This is certainly not the end of the world, but as you can imagine, it has added to the many hats I will play in the coming days, as the now sole rep. from our office to these election officials.
Our office is hosting a 2-day conference for Gulf Election Officials on the possibilities of regional cooperation (in, you guessed it, Kuwait City). There are numerous regional associations of election officials around the world, and it would be fairly logical that the Gulf have something similar. Jokes aside about elections in the Middle East, it would be a very positive step toward enhanced cooperation among states and new methodologies of election management in the region.
The call to prayer has finished now, but I know I won’t go back to sleep. I am greeting our guests as they arrive today, and the first one gets here at 6:45am. I’d like to be presentable by then, and have eaten breakfast, so I might as well just stay up.
My trip here was fairly uneventful. The flight was non-stop from DC-Kuwait, and as I suspected, it was at least 50% US Military personnel heading to Iraq (or so I assume). We got lucky in that the plane was only about 85% full, and mostly toward the front. I was in the very last row, and the guy next to me moved across the aisle to have 2 seats to himself, leaving me with 2 seats for myself. Made for a very comfortable ride, and as I mentioned before, I got lots of sleep. I woke up as we were passing over the rest of Turkey, about to enter Iraqi airspace. As you can imagine, I was incredibly curious for what I might see- and spent the remaining hour and a half of the ride looking out the window mostly. I’ll confess that there wasn’t too much of excitement – very flat, very brown. Still, I did see the lights and some structures as we passed Baghdad, and noticed some areas of bright light (I’m guessing the flames from oil refineries) between Baghdad and Basra. We basically wound down the Tigris River to the Gulf, and then banked right over the water to descend into Kuwait. Again, the bright lights from oil riggs in the Gulf were the most noticeable in an otherwise very rich blue sea.
I was fortunate enough to meet one of the interpreters for our Hungarian speaker (representing the Assoc. of Central and East European Election Officials) on the flight – he is based in Washington. I waited with him in the airport while he got his visa (mine was pre-approved through the hotel) and then we made our way through customs, baggage pick-up, and out to arrivals. As I was responsible for logistical arrangements, I knew that the hotel would be waiting to pick us up. In fact, they have a little booth and so we went there, gave our names, and then they led us to the car. It was a relatively fast trip (15-20 mins) from the airport to the hotel, and fortunately the sandstorms from Thursday had cleared out by the time I arrived. The weather is around 70 degrees on the ground, with a slight breeze.
Once we got to the hotel, we got checked in while I met with our group coordinator, Rabih. He was extremely nice and very helpful. The Courtyard Marriott here has been wonderful as I’ve been planning all the logistics, and tonight was no different. Rabih had the most up to date rooming list copy for me, we went over the details for each day, and discussed each guest’s check-in and check-out. He commented how he could tell from my emails (nearly daily, if not multiple times a day) that I paid very close attention to detail. I’m sure it was a compliment, but I couldn’t help but laugh as I tried to explain that I was only obsessive compulsive because we wanted everything to be perfect for the conference.
As part of my group coordinator status, I was upgraded to a suite, and it is fabulous! I’ll try and post photos when I can, but to give you some idea, I’m on the 21st floor of the hotel (top), and have 2 TVs (one in my bedroom, one in the next room/living room), 3 vases of flowers (lilies, orchids…perfect!) and a Bose surround sound system (speakers are even in the bathroom!). Not to mention they had a fabulous fruit platter sent up while I was out earlier in the evening for dinner- fresh strawberries, oranges, bananas, plum, apple….it’s delicious. So, I’m definitely feeling a bit spoiled for the next few days.
It’s about 5:30am now, and I’m going to start getting ready for my day soon. It’ll be a long one, I think, so I may not update right away. But, so far so good!
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11.25.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:21 am by Nicole
Well, my site has been dying for an update for over 2 months now- I suppose it’s about time I finally got around to it! What’s sad is that the only reason I have time now is because there seems to be some sort of wide-scale internet outage in D.C.- not only has our whole University been affected, but another friend’s office in D.C. is also experiencing it, and someone else’s phone line doesn’t work. So, it’s either weather-related, or cyber-terrorism, take your pick.
So where to begin? I suppose it’s time to sum up the past few months, but that’s hard to do without writing a novel. It’s been a lot of work- great work, but still work. Between 45 women from the Middle East for three weeks (yes, three whole weeks) and then some other smaller groups, ranging from 8-30 from countries like Mexico, Germany, Iran, Turkey, and China for the U.S. election, plus our domestic programs for the U.S. election, I haven’t really slept much. Only this past weekend (Nov. 22nd) was I actually able to have a whole day, completely unscheduled, to unwind. Mostly, I did laundry and dishes that have piled up over the past month.
From a social side, I have essentially been living in a cave, and only crawled out recently to start shoveling myself out from under a mountain of paperwork. Adam and I went to a friends’ house for dinner and game night two weeks ago and they noted that the last time they had seen us was our wedding day- a good three months! So, since then, I’ve been calling and sending emails to other friends about getting together so I don’t look like a total slacker.
We were in NC/SC last weekend, which was absolutely fantastic. Try and picture the perfect weekend of family and friends, and that’s about what we had. Two of our good friends recently got engaged, so we went to their engagement party in Lancaster, SC. Since Charlotte is a short distance away, we ended up staying with my parents on Friday night and most of Saturday as well. It was great to just visit with everyone and there was so much celebration! I learned my first Greek dance (of which there are many more to learn before the wedding!) and got to catch up with friends from USC who don’t live in the area.
This past weekend was also great- in part because our apartment no longer looks like it was hit with a tornado, and we have fresh clothes to wear and clean dishes to eat off of. On the other hand, I went to the Long Reach hockey game versus Marriott’s Ridge on Friday. The team lost, so you’re probably wondering why in the world it was so great, but just being there made it great. For starters, one of my best friends happens to coach for Marriott’s Ridge now, so it was great to see him thriving in his new role. In addition, Long Reach Ice Hockey was my baby in high school, and it is amazing to see how far it has come.
It is hard to explain, particularly because I’m sure I get more caught up in it than your average person would, but it was exciting to watch this group of students leave the locker rooms and take the ice. They were wearing my old school colors and looking so similar to the teams and players I had seen while I was in high school, and yet I do not know a single one of them. In a way, I felt out of place, unconnected to these people who are now almost five years younger than me. On the other hand, we will always be connected because of this team, and they seemed to know that too, as I got a small smile here, or a wave, or even a “you’re Mrs. Modeen?….. It’s great to meet you M’aam!” from one (to which I responded, please, just call me Nicole- I’m not that old!). The fans, the parents, even the teachers that show up are a crowd of familiar faces and it was great to catch up and hear what everyone is up to.
So now I’m back to a busy week of work- it’s abbreviated, because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but in a way it’s not, because a large part of my work these days involves frequent calls to the Middle East. My schedule has changed almost completely to a 5am-1pm work day, instead of the traditional 9-5, but it’s okay because I’m working on some pretty exciting stuff. I’ll have more details later once things get solidified, but it’s nice to be able to see some real impact in my work, especially after all these people were in town for the Elections.
For now, I should probably stop procrastinating and actually do some work, but I promise I’ll be better at updating this as the holidays approach. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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09.15.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:44 pm by Nicole
Well, where to begin? I mean, let’s be honest- this update is so long overdue that I might as well just skip the past two months and begin with September. Just kidding!
The last post was the end of July, about the same time when things got very busy. I headed home around July 29th for wedding prep and had a wonderful weekend with friends and family in Charlotte. The wedding was, if I can say so myself, wonderful. I don’t want to sound egotistical, but all the outfits coordinated nicely, the flowers were perfect, and it was incredible to be surrounded by so many loved ones with so much happiness.
On Friday, I spent the morning getting my nails done with all my ladies. This was a new experience for me, as I am not prone to spending money on my looks, but it was so fun that I may have to re-consider and make it a regular outing with friends. We all went to lunch, along with my mom and Adam’s, my grandmother, and my cousin Patty (who had visited me in Egypt last year)- about 2 hrs, endless laughter and 3 bottles of wine later, we were devouring gelato on our way to the rehearsal.
The rehearsal was short and sweet- we rehearsed who was going in what order (hence why they’re called “rehearsals”) and introduced everyone in the wedding party.
Friday’s Rehearsal Dinner was held at my parent’s house, which sits on Mountain Island Lake to the NW of downtown Charlotte. It was the perfect setting for our two families to meet and greet with one another. We had Barbecue catered from one of Adam’s favorite places in Columbia (yes, they drove the 90 miles from SC to Charlotte for our dinner) and it was delicious! The wedding party (my bridesmaids, his groomsman, and our fabulous friend and minister) bonded at the rehearsal and the dinner and around 8pm, Adam and the boys took off for their evening adventures. The girls remained for chatting by the fireplace and making s’mores (yum!), and I don’t really recall at one point I stopped talking and fell asleep, but I slept well!
Saturday is, in some respects, a bit of a blur. There are two things people kept telling me that I didn’t quite believe- 1) you never remember all the details of your wedding day; and 2)you never get to eat your own food at your wedding. I now confirm that these are true. The morning went by in a blur- I remember gorging on waffles, strawberries and other delicious food along with all the bridesmaids. I don’t really remember what we talked about, but I do recall laughing a lot (no surprise there, right?)
We headed to the salon around 1pm. My hair took about 2.5 hours to “create”- you’ll understand once you see the photos- and everyone else was getting their hair done as well. We brought along snacks and sangria, and had a fabulous time making funny faces while trying to get our make-up done. What was perhaps the most amusing for me is when the videographer showed up- it is one thing to make funny homemade movies of your childhood birthday parties or family road trips, but it is quite another to have two guys following you around with a video camera and massively large light capturing your every movement and comment. I had been on camera for high school news shows or some of the Search Institute’s training materials, but that was one thing- I said my spiel or presented my piece, and then The End. This was a little creepy, and it took a lot of getting used to, especially as I sat in a chair for over 2 hours and had someone play with my hair- definitely weirded me out a bit. Still, our photographer showed up mid-way through and got all of us laughing again, and I got used to the cameras by the time we were cutting the cake and breaking out the dance moves 
From hair and make-up we went straight to Birkdale, the ceremony and reception site. My sister coordinated with Adam’s brother to ensure our arrival wouldn’t clash, and we hurried into our conference room to get ready. The room smelled great, as my florist had entered a little bit ago with all the fragrant flowers! My flower girls, Carrie and Carla, were waiting there as well, looking as cute as could be in their dresses. The bridesmaids got dressed first, and then they all assisted me with getting my dress on. Note, I said they ALL assisted me- that’s right, my dress weighed a ton by itself and was lifted over my head (with all my curly hair and an orchid on top!)- there are some pretty fun pictures of this process.
We were all set and ready to go on time, as were the groom and his group. They headed out first, of course, and we were all trying to beat the rain that was supposed to come at 6:30pm. We figured if we kept our ceremony under 30 minutes, we’d be fine- but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. I headed down the stairs and had a brief sweet moment with my dad, before looking out the window in horror as the top of the tent that was covering our musicians went flying off and continued flailing in the wind. My sister politely reminded me to breathe, and it didn’t take too long for me to calm down and see the humor in it all. After all, my one and only concern throughout the whole process was that it would rain on our outdoor ceremony, and sure enough- it rained! So, what possible stress could there be left for me to worry about? With that thought, and the cue of my flower girls heading down the aisle, I looked at Dad and we took the first step.
As someone who feels God in nature, it was wonderfully windy as I made my way down the aisle. As a girl who had just gotten her hair done, however, I was trying to walk in a way that kept it out of my mouth (hairspray tastes gross!) and still smile at the same time. I think I managed to accomplish it, and even though little drops of rain started to come down as my father gave me away and I joined Adam at the altar, it was hard to be upset with the weather.
We made it mid-way through the ceremony outside before the rain started to become too much to bear. After all, everyone was dressed for warm, humid weather, and getting pelted with cold rain makes it hard to enjoy a reading from 1st Corinthians or Madeleine L’Engle. So, after the readings, Justin (presiding over the ceremony) announced that we would move inside (where the reception would be held) and continue the ceremony there. I couldn’t help but laugh, as my sister and bridesmaids assisted in lifting my dress, grabbing my flowers, and ushering us all inside.
Everyone assembled, in mass, around the front of the room- after all, it was laid out for the reception, not the wedding, but it worked. I feel bad for the people who came in late or couldn’t see over others’ heads, but I think it was perfect all the same. We recited our vows (which we wrote ourselves) and exchanged rings. The only challenging part was once we were married- no aisle to walk down, no place to exit to- but it ended up turning swiftly into a congregation of well-wishers, hugs and kisses, and love. We quickly re-planned the reception so that we could wait for the rain to end before taking photos outside. We moved straight into greeting folks, endless conversations, and of course, dancing!
The rest of the reception is like most traditional receptions- there were toasts, cutting the cake, tossing the bouquet and garter, and just dancing and having fun. I did not manage to say hello to everyone, which I feel bad about (who knew that you couldn’t talk to all 150 people in 3 hours time?), but I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I know there are some great photos and fun stories from the evening, and most importantly, at the end of the day, I have a fabulous husband.
We came back to DC for a week before the honeymoon, which was barely long enough to catch up on sleep, work and pack before leaving. I’ll have another post on the honeymoon soon- but that takes more time than I’ve got right now. Photos are coming soon I promise- it takes about a month and a half from our photographer, so check back soon!
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07.22.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:00 pm by Nicole
So that seems a little cheesy since it rhymes, but let me explain. Today was a bit of a roller coaster….
This morning, on my way to work, I got a flat tire. Not only was it a flat tire, but I was in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue during rush hour, which, if you didn’t know, is not a very friendly place to just stop driving. So I manuvered my way out of traffic and swerving buses onto Indiana Avenue. I pulled over to assess the damage.
Now, that was a low point- which was followed shortly by 2 high points, as I was reminded how nice random strangers can be. The first, a DC street cleaner, pulled up behind me in his truck and came over, as I was searching in the back of the Jeep for the jack (don’t look so surprised, I am female and I know how to change a tire, it’s not miraculous. I can change the oil too, if I had to). Anyway, about when I found it, he offered to help me, and we commenced to try and lift the Jeep. It went about 1/2 the way when the jack just stopped.
I should confess that the car is ancient and the jack was semi rusted- we seemed to complete its death with our efforts. After trying multiple other ways, the guy finally agreed with me that it wasn’t going to work, and apologized. I was getting on my cell to try and figure out other options as he drove off and two seconds later, another guy stopped! Maybe I had a damsel in distress look about me, I don’t know, but this guy took off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves and, despite my trying to explain that the other man and I had just concluded it wouldn’t work, he commenced trying to get the jack to lift the Jeep.
Not surprisingly, it didn’t work. He apologized, noting that his jack wouldn’t work either, since it was designed for his tiny and light sports car. I thanked him for trying anyway, and after assuring him three times that I would be fine and was in no danger, he left. Very nice people overall!
Next downside came when calling AAA- turns out, my membership expired in January, and although it’s Adam’s car and he’s a member, they only cover people, not cars. So, since Adam wasn’t there, I couldn’t use him as my cover. I then ended up renewing my AAA membership so they would send someone out. Not terrible, but not exactly a fun surprise.
So, I spent about an hour loitering near my car- half of which involved people watching from Starbucks, the other half cleaning out the car. About 5 minutes until the torrential downpour arrived, the AAA folks arrived. They were great- quick and efficient, changed the tire in minutes and we were both on our way right before the rain started to come down.
The day continued to be ups and downs at work- either a flurry of activity or none at all. The bright side came in two parts- getting to talk with two of our participants from the June program whom I’ve missed, and in a great conversation with one of my bridesmaids, Liz.
Liz and I spent a summer in France together forever and a day ago. We were both Au Pairs and spent our down time traveling about together. She is great at making me fall over laughing, which in turn makes her laugh because of how hard I am laughing. A beautiful friendship.
I asked Liz mid-way through our great talk if I could just post it, rather than re-cap it. This led to more fun…beginning with me talking about my dress….
Liz: oh lord poof i love your bridesmaid dresses, they’re gorgeous, but i look like a huge teal blueberry.
me: haha
Liz: seriously, though, my dress turned out beautifully. the ivory accent was a good call
me: im sure it is gorgeous, and you are gorgeous, no blueberry.
Liz: lol very much blueberry, but i’ll be rockin it, no worries. as long as you don’t mind if one of your bridesmaids has got mo’ of her to love than the others.
me: you crack me up, can i post this on my website?
Liz: of course! you know what else you should post
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~emaione/images/france/nicolebidet.jpg
me: haha AH i love that picture!! it reminds me how much of a nerd i can be
Liz: it brings back such good memories
We then proceeded to look through a bunch of photos from the summer, but I think the bidet one is pretty classic. Other favorites:
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~emaione/images/france/lizparcasterix1.jpg
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~emaione/images/france/lizeiffeltower.jpg
There were a lot more, but suffice to say, it made my days end much brighter!
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07.21.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:59 pm by Nicole
You know, that border….the one that doesn’t exist?
Probably the highlight of my day today. Much like with the Sunni/Shi’a commentary back in the Spring, this was another fabulous blow to John McCain’s claim of “Mr. Foreign Policy.”
While I’m not about to say Obama is America’s gift to the world and we should just blindly vote him into office, I am truly skeptical of McCain’s global awareness. And I don’t think I’m being all that unfair, since he’s chosen to make his military experience and deep understanding of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars a major focal point of his campaign. I know not everyone gets to spend years studying the Middle East and the complexities of history and culture in the region, but if you’re going to be the next President of the United States, you should at least know a little bit more geography.
But hey, everyone makes mistakes, right? I mean, my country did vote George Bush into office…. twice.
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07.16.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 10:37 pm by Nicole
I was reminded the other day that long ago, I promised to post our engagement photos. That was in May, so I don’t think I’m that late, but I apologize anyway. If you click on the little flickr link to the right (which is rotating photos right now) it will take you to the flickr website, where you can click on my user name (nicole_modeen) and see the latest photos. There were a lot of pictures, but I picked my favorite 10-12 for everyone to see. I also linked them, so click here for direct access.
We did engagement shots with Adam’s brother and sister-in-law, amazing photographers who do weddings, bridals and engagement shots quite frequently as their second business. They came into DC in late April for Cherry Blossom season, so the majority of these photos are done by the cherry blossoms in/around the tidal basin. We then booked it over to the Lincoln memorial, passing Washington and WW2 Memorials along the way.
Enjoy!
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