Sounds of the World

Sounds of the World is an annual musical presentation at the World Centre. Friends show their talents in singing, dancing, acting, playing different kinds of instruments, etc. Last weekend we had a treat, we enjoyed so much this year's show. We think that it gets better and better each year and we thank the friends for doing such a wonderful job!

We took some pictures of the friends who performed in the show.

with Tamila who performed a gypsy dance

with franco who conducted the all male Filipino choir

Nabil did a breakdancing

Group photo with Nadia, Yasmeen and Swati from India who did an Indian dance

with Swati again

with Negeen who did a modern fan dance

Sahar performed the same dance with Negeen

Tahereh rendered a sweet Japanese song

Enna-Marie joins the African friends while singing & drumming after the show

Here she's drumming herself, so cute!

and here's how the stage looked

and this too!

Upcoming trip to the Philippines...

Next month we will be visiting Menchie's family and friends in the Philippines. We were supposed to visit last year but we welcomed the arrival of our lovely daughter Enna-Marie Martha in December 2005. We were so happy to have her Lola Ping to come to the Holy Land for a month and a half (wow, that is already almost a year ago). Now we are excited to be seeing her again together with Lolo Max and the rest of the family and for them to meet our everyday's bundle and source of joy. Hopefully we can visit a lot of places that we were not able to visit in 2002...We are hoping to visit some friends in Palawan, our Dutch friends Ramin and Cathelyne in Makati, and also to get together with some friends of Menchie in college and officemates in Bankard where she used to work for 7 years before coming to Haifa. We will be staying most of the time at her sister's place in Novaliches whom by the way just had her birthday last Saturday (Happy birthday again!).

Here are some family pictures of Menchie taken some years ago that we would like to share...

Birth of Baha'u'llah

On 12 November, Baha'is throughout the world observe a Holy Day celebrating the birth of Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baha'i Faith. Baha'u'llah was born Husayn Ali at dawn on 12 November 1817 in Tehran, Persia. His sacred remains are buried near where He passed away in 1892 at Bahji, near Acre in Israel. Baha'is commemorate His Birth by abstaining from work and holding joyous meetings open to all. There are no prescribed rituals but gatherings usually involve prayers, devotional readings, music and fellowship.

The Shrine of Baha'u'llah (foreground) and the Mansion of Bahji, near Acre, Israel.

Lunch at Merkas...

Yesterday we had lunch at our favorite place in Merkas called Leggenda Pizeria. We exercised our legs and walked up, brought Enna-Marie and her stroller with us since it is just near our house. This pizza place is small, has friendly staff who can make pizza from scratch...really fresh and yummy. They also sell delicious ice-cream, sometimes we buy and bring home. So we invite the friends in haifa who check our blog to try the food here, we recommend it!

this is the whole area, they also have few chairs & tables outside...

Enna-Marie eating her lunch...

Menchie (or Enna-Marie?) getting ready to eat the freshly-cooked pizza...

Pizza toppings are olives, mushrooms, pineapple with additional tomato sauce...yum!

some ice cream flavours...

and here are the fruit flavoured ice-cream...

Peek-a-boo with little rosy cheeks...

Mother Goose class resumes...

Our 'Mother Goose on the Loose' class has resumed recently with a new set up. The class is now divided into two groups, our group is with younger children age 0-18 months which is being handled by Amelia, while the other one is with older children from 18 months and up which will be handled by Katharine.

Here are some photos taken last Sunday...

Two New Videos...

Dancing with Tweetie:



First steps alone...

Bye Bye Cousins...

Today was already the last day of our family's visit! Time passed so quickly, but they were wonderful days! One of the things Enna-Marie learned in these days is how to play peekaboo herself. Minou and mommy Menchie are cheering her on!

Day Four and Five with Enna-Marie's cousins...

Lunch at McDonald's Grand Canon mall



At home feeding baby Enna-Marie

We invited Mr. and Mrs. Barnes for dinner

Minou playing Mrs. Barnes purse

Enna-Marie soo cute in green shirt

with daddy in Bahji

cousins EM & ME (stands for Minou Elisa)...

Enna-Marie's first time to stand without any assistance, see how happy she is with this achievement. Also this week she did her first 5 steps.

Tante Molouk praising her...yey goed so!

Talking with Om Jorrit