A LUCKY START

Roughly a week since we arrived in Toronto, one day as Nahid got out of the car her eyes suddenly got hold of a four leaf clover that sat in the garden in front of our house.

For those of you that don't know, to find a four leaf clover is very rare. There are approximately 10,000 three leaf clovers for every four leaf clover found. According to legend, each leaflet represents something: the first is for hope, the second is for faith, the third is for love, and the fourth is for luck or God's grace.

Not that we take this so seriously, but in any case we're lucky to be amongst the one for every ten thousand.

TORONTO!

After a long and excruciating flight, Nahid and I finally arrived in Toronto. It was only an 11 hour flight, but it totally felt longer than that. As mentioned in the previous post, our arrival in Toronto was to be a complete suprise for my parents. Therefore, the only two people that knew we would be arriving and picked us up at the airport were my brother Bayan and good friend Iman.

We went to a flower shop and picked up a dozen roses and headed home. My mom had just left the house and was to return home soon, and my dad had just walked in. We totally suprised my dad, who was in complete shock when he saw us. My mom came home not too long after and when she did she was so shocked she burst into tears... tears of joy and happiness of course!

It was great for the both of us to be finally home.

Our Departure

On Friday June 2, 2007 at approximately 3am, Nahid and I said our final "see you later" to Haifa. The past week and especially final day was an emotional time for both of us, more for Nahid than myself as she had spent 3 years in the Holy Land.

Our flight was at 7am and we were definitely looking forward to it as we had a overnight lay over in Athens, Greece. On the way we saw some of our friends; in Tel Aviv at Ben Gurion we ran in to Nadim Yazdani and in the airport in Athens we ran into Shingo, Amelia and Shiori. Accompanying us to Toronto via Greece was Bonnie Ellis who was also finishing her services at the Baha'i World Centre. We spent the day in Athens and visited the Acropolis, where the famous Parthenon is situated. Nahid is an avid shot glass collector and so we also went to the Hardrock Cafe where we purchased one to add to her collection.










Our hotel was in a very nice location right beside the beach. In the evening, Nahid and I ate dinner and walked along the shoreline... it was gorgeous.


Our flight to Toronto was the next morning at 9am and it was exciting, because our arrival in Toronto was going to be a big suprise for my parents and friends!

Our Final Days in the Holy Land

During our last weeks, we spent time visiting the different Baha'i Holy Places as well as trying to spend time with our friends. It was hard at times to balance it all as we also tried to pack and get ready for our departure.

Amongst some of the activites, Nahid had her office farewell as well as her bridal shower... oh-la-la times (for pictures click on Our Photos link)! She also met with the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Baha'i Faith after serving for three years at the Baha'i World Centre; first in the Pilgrim Reception Centre and then in the Finance Department. Unfortunately, due to Naysan's "short" term of service he was unable to meet with our beloved Institution, since it is for staff that have served for 2.5 years or longer. However, he accompanied Nahid for support before and after her meeting.











On the other hand, Naysan had a get together with some close friends playing Counter Strike over the network; Purchasing vs Accommodations... great times! He also spent time training his replacement, showing him the ropes of what was yet to come.

Other events that took place included the commemoration of the ascension of Baha'u'llah where we had the bounty of visiting the room where Baha'u'llah passed away, guiding at the Shrine of the Bab, which was a very special moment since we were able to do it together, and last but not least to visit the House of the Master and the House of Abud.

We can't believe how quickly this special period of our lives has a come to a close, but we are very grateful for having been given the opportunity for this memorable experience.

Sohail & Parwaneh's Wedding

On May 24, 2007 two of our friends got married. It was a great pleasure being able to attend the wedding before leaving the Holy Land.

We wish you a great and happy life together!

Dead Sea, Masada, Meggido & Herziliyya

Since this past weekend is the last weekend for us here in the Holy Land, we decided to make the best of it and rented a car travelling to all the places we wanted to visit before leaving.

On Friday May 18, 2007 we woke up early and headed straight out to the Dead Sea. Now for those of you that may not know, the Dead Sea is a salt lake that sits between Israel and Jordan. Because of its unusually high concentration of salt anyone can easily float. We arrived in the area and decided to stop on the way at Masada, a site of ancient palaces which sits on top of a large rock plateau overlooking the Dead Sea (Masada became famous for its attributed mythic significance in the First Jewish-Roman War (also known as the Great Jewish Revolt) when a siege of the fortress by troops of the Roman Empire led to a Mass Suicide of the site's Jewish fugitives when defeat became imminent). Both of us really love history and to see these historical ruins was very exciting for us. Afterwards we enjoyed floating around in the dead sea and actually tried looking for some mud to cover ourselves in, but were unable to find any.

On Saturday May 19, 2007 in the afternoon we headed out to Meggido, also known as Armageddon where the decisive battle between the forces of good and evil, to end all destruction and persecution, will take place. It wasn't as large and fascinating as Masada, however the past history of the site and the future that awaits for it was of definite interest and worth seeing.

That evening for dinner we went out to Herziliyya for a great Japanese meal. We went up to Oishi Oishi, which sits in the upper level of the Port Mall and overlooks the port and the sunset on that day was spectacular. Both of us had always wanted to go, but never had the opportunity to do so. This time however we made sure we went there. The food was really good and abundant. We both definitely recommend it!

Engagement Dinner

April 28th, 2007 at 4pm, inviting our closest and dearest friends we held our engagement dinner at the Prilgrim Reception Centre. The MC for the evening was our dear Anja Nicke who did a great job and had the audience wrapped up with our story and the program. Following the introductions and an abridged version of our story, we had a devotional program that consisted of: violin, prayer and readings in English, prayer in Spanish, in Quechua (native language from Bolivia), prayer accompanied by guitar in Russian, Jewish prayer in Hebrew followed by an English translation, prayer chanted in Persian and a santour performance to top off the evening. The program flowed very smoothly and created a beautiful spiritual atmosphere. It was a very uplifting moment for the two of us as well as for the audience.

Following the devotional program, we had an international dinner and dessert bouffet and we can not thank enough to all the people who collaborated in making this evening a memorable one.