Hope everyone is doing well and had a wonderful end to summer.

Got some good news to pass on to you:

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September 11, 2010 was peaceful in this town. We are really grateful
to everyone who communicated peace and love in this contentious time
rather than vengeance and division—including our neighbors here, many
of whom didn’t even verbally condemn the proposed Qur’an-burning but
simply said things like, “There is only one God, we were all created
by him, and for this we should respect each other.” I agree to the
utmost. Thank Khuda for creating us all equal, all in need, all in the
image of the divine, all capable of loving and being loved, all
wanting to create and enjoy life together. What an amazing thing.

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We had a wonderful Eid-e Ramazan. Got the chance to visit with tons of
neighbors and friends, some new and some familiar.

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I think I am nearly done with another four-day bout of sickness that
had me bed-ridden most of the time since Sunday evening. Tonight I was
able to get out for a nice jaunt atop ye olde bicycle. And I ate some
German pork sausage courtesy a teammate, but don’t tell anyone.

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Tomorrow I start teaching English to the provincial Director of the
Ministry of Public Health and his colleagues—that is, the top health
official in this region. Hoping to make some more friends out of this,
and it never hurts to have them in high places or so they say.

Wish me luck, as it were. Time to put my ESL course, irresistible
natural charm and (at long last) showered/laundered state to use.

E

PS: The picture above is a shot of one of the guys we visited during Eid. Super
nice guy, crazy awesome beard!!!

[Photo by evanistan @ Flickr]