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.

Mateen & Monica's Wedding

On the evening of the 20th of April, 2007 (shortly after our engagement luncheon) we attended the wedding of two of our dear friends, Mateen and Monica. It was a beautiful ceremony near the shore of the beach facing the Mediterranean Sea and the sunset. We danced away to Persian, Brazilian and Euro Dance music... Mateen's favorite! We love you both lots and wish you a great and successful life together!

Engagement Luncheon

On a beautiful hot and sunny 20th of April, 2007 Nahid and I, together with a group of our close friends went out to Cesarea Golf Club Restaurant (roughly 30 minutes from Haifa) to celebrate our long awaited engagement. My brother Bayan was also in town for a three day visit, so it was great to be with family and friends on our special day.

What was the climax of the day and what everyone was waiting for was how I was going to pull the ring out and put it on Nahid's finger. After having a wonderful meal and just before the dessert came out, I began to give a speech.

I thanked everyone for coming and sharing this momentous occasion with us, and let everyone know how much I loved Nahid, etc, etc... I then in front of the whole restaurant asked Nahid to stand... (at this point she became a little confused)... and I got down on my knee and popped open the ring... (as this was happening she frantically was trying to lift me up... it was really funny). The whole restaurant roared with applause!! It was definitely great times! :)

Mi amorcito bella... Te amo muchisimo!!

You can view more pictures by clicking on the link to your right, "Our Photos".

ENGAGED!!

Toronto, Chicago & Bolivia!!

Nahid and I have recently returned to the Holy Land from an amazing trip to Toronto, Chicago and Bolivia visiting family and friends. We had such a great time seeing both our parents and traveling together really consolidated the foundation of our relationship.We first stopped in Chicago where we met up for a short period of time with Nahid's sister Leila and her husband Nuri. Leila is currently 4 months pregnant and we are all so excited for her and waiting for the baby. I will become an uncle and Nahid an aunt... incredible! After a 9 hour stop over in Chicago we headed for Toronto where we stayed for 7 days spending time with my family and seeing many friends.

It was great times!! After a beautiful time in Toronto we headed for Bolivia where we stopped once again in Chicago and stayed over night with our cousin Mae. Leila also came down again and spent the night and day with us. We went to the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette together, which was a beautiful experience. Next stop was Bolivia. I hadn't been back to Bolivia for 5 years and for Nahid it had been 3 years. It was great for both of us being back. I unfortunately had to leave a week earlier and we missed each other so much during that time apart. I don't think we'll ever do it again! :P

Overall, an amazing experience and an incredible trip that will never be forgotten.

You can view more pics from our trip by clicking on the link to your right, "Our Photos".

Welcome/Bienvenidos

Dear family and friends,

Welcome to our virtual home where you can feel more connected to us. Here you will be able to see how we are doing and where we stand as we progress throughout different periods of our life together.

We hope that you enjoy our saga!

Much love,
Nahid & Naysan (a.k.a. The N's)

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Querida familia y amigos,

Bienvenidos a nuestra casa virtual donde podran estar en cierta forma mas conectados a nosotros. Aqui podran estar al tanto de nos que sucede a medida que progresamos por las distintas etapas de nuestra vida juntos.

Esperamos disfruten de la expedicion!

Con mucho amor,
Nahid & Naysan (alias Las N's)