The Royal Opera House in Muscat has just begun a new season. We haven’t been too involved in pushing the arts, other than a few big opera productions at Masada, but we have been inspired by Oman, and in particular, by their stunning opera house. The building is so spectacular, Ronen had all our Oman programs changed to include a visit. Continue reading
Sukkot is a joyful 7-day Jewish holiday, beginning 5 days after Yom Kippur, in October or September. It’s an annual commemoration of the period immediately after the Exodus from Egypt as well as a harvest festival. In Hebrew, sukkot means “booths” and refers to the temporary shelters, sukkah, that the Israelites built during their 40 years in the desert with Moses. Continue reading
I didn’t know I would be having a love affair with Cuba, back in 2003, when I first visited. In fact, I didn’t know what to expect. I had been to most of the Caribbean islands, but until Ya’lla Tours became a Travel Service Provider to Cuba, I had not given the island much thought. To me, it was just another rock in the sea, though a big one: Cuba is the seventh largest inhabited island in the world. Continue reading
We have 2 winners of our Wednesday drawing. Last week’s drawing was done this week because this blogger was on holiday in the wilds of SE Portland Oregon, and had technical difficulties accessing the blog and list of followers. Really, I gave it a good try.
Anyway, we keep our promises, so we doubled up this week. Yesterday, we picked the names of 2 blog followers by a high tech drawing process involving scraps of paper and a giant coffee mug. Both winners were notified yesterday but have yet to pick up their prizes – $10 Starbucks gift cards. I won’t reveal their names in full here without their permission, because that’s not cool. But M Cohen and someone from Bordine’s Leisure Travel, if you’re out there, you have $10 worth of Starbucks stuff sitting in your inbox, or maybe it went to the Spam folder… I do hope you find it and enjoy.
Cheers to all. Tomorrow is Friday!
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. The prophet Muhammad received the first revelation of the Quran during this month and so it is the holiest time in the Muslim faith.
The primary practice of Ramadan is fasting, one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Healthy, observant adults refrain from eating and drinking (also smoking, gum chewing, sex, cursing and any less-than-upstanding behavior) from dawn to sunset. The idea is to enter a more spiritual way of being, to know gratitude, compassion and self-discipline. More prayer and more charity are also part of Ramadan observance. Continue reading
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