this past week went by fairly fast. (a good thing)

yesterday was the lunar eclipse. i went outside to watch it for about 1/2 hour as the last sliver of the moon was blanketed in the earth's shadow. one of the girls watching it with me apparently had no concept of astronomy and was shocked when i said the eclipse was because we were between the sun and the moon... she asked, "so the sun is directly behind us then?" it was cute. she was amazed, and maybe she'll pick up an interest in astronomy from now on.

the really neat part of the eclipse was that the mosques started singing loudly, which was both beautiful and eerie. it seems that having a lunar eclipse during Ramadan is a big deal, and if you're a jihadist, it's a great time to pick a fight (guess you get to Paradise quicker or something). we were somewhat expecting mortars or a firefight, but it was relatively quiet. just the moon, and the shadow passing over it... and a few bats, swooping across the orb. (it really did turn into an orb -- no longer the silvery disk, it looked like an orange balloon not too far in the distance.)