Samunwal's first challenge

[Seabright]

3. Practice: Over an hour, but I'm not sure exactly. Discussed office supplies, Turkish soap operas, and got the interpreters to start teaching me how to swear in Dari, which has a rich vocabulary of vulgarities. Used several successfully with my Afghan counterparts, eliciting appropriate responses (and without getting punched in the face).

Oh, you know you've really made it when you get to the swear words! Nice work!

:-)

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Oh, you know you've really made it when you get to the swear words! Nice work!

:-)

Oh yea - that is a sign of fluency!! Keep it up.

[Hugh]

Day has again been busy, but I did get caught up some.

I can only imagine...

2. Verbs: to Farm; to Irrigate; to Sow; to Grow, Cultivate; to Harvest; to Earn, Gain; to Move, Migrate; to Mooch (4 extra today to make up for none yesterday- deficit erased)

so... what are the Dari Verbs to Mooch, Cultivate and Irrigate..?

3. Practice: Over an hour,

yay!

... (and without getting punched in the face).

Always good

Dude, you overcome adversity in the most adverse environments... Total Rebel!

[Samunwal]

Will update more later, but first, a word of thanks to all of y'all. Now, whenever I need to motiviate myself to get on an exercise or push myself a little harder, I find myself yelling inside my head "do eeeeet! Just do eeeeet! You can do eeeeeet!" So, in honor of getting stuff stuck in other people's heads:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5882[/ATTACH]

[Samunwal]

Glad you are seeing progress and I hope you did get to sleep in a bit this morning.

It seems your soap opera is based on a novel of roughly the same name. No official videos out there, but plenty of YouTube stuff.

Thanks, babe. I think the person who had found the subtitled edition got it from the UAE (which is a joint producer of the series); I'll keep looking

Oh yea - that is a sign of fluency!! Keep it up.

Oh, you know you've really made it when you get to the swear words! Nice work!

:-)

I can only imagine...

so... what are the Dari Verbs to Mooch, Cultivate and Irrigate..?

yay!

Always good

Dude, you overcome adversity in the most adverse environments... Total Rebel!

Just doin' what I gotta do. Mooch- mufat khurdan; Irrigate- Aabyaary kardan; Cultivate- Kusht kardan (Dari leans heavily on using a few verbs like kardan - to do - to combine with nouns to make compound verbs. Since you use the stem of a verb, that may not have anything to do with what the infinitive looks like, to make the present tense and subjunctive, means you have fewer of the blasted stems to memorize.

[Samunwal]

15 Oct 12, Day 22

One half of the challenge down and I haven't updated since 10 Oct- been a little busy. Since that means this is a 5 day update, I will not list everything, but only go over what I did, and whether I am on track or behind.

Weight: 181 1/2 this afternoon- scale is finally starting to really move the right way, but I had forgotten I really started on this workout regimen on 9 Sep, so the timing for weight to start coming off is about right. And no, I am not going to worry WHEN there is an upward fluctuation (unless it goes up 10 pounds overnight, then I WILL soil myself)

Pull ups: Still building upper body strength back up with no adverse effects from a steady increase in number and intensity of exercises. Doing flexed arm hangs now instead of just negatives, feeling a difference on the trip up to the bar.

2 miles in 18 minutes or less: Got back on the treadmill last week (nowhere to run outside except on gravel- don't trust it yet), and again Saturday. Doing 3 sets of timed runs with walking breaks between- increased both pace and length of time running this week with no ill effects. Am now running two days a week, and hitting the elliptical two days.

Dari: Am 2 hours behind studying, and 12 verbs behind. Good on practice from both face to face and reading news stories. Will make both up this week.

Had a couple of things this week conspire to put me behind. Saturday morning at breakfast, my bacon suddenly crunched like it had a glob of sand in it. Of course, it wasn't sand. It was a patch from a tooth I had broken 4 years ago coming loose and breaking another tooth on the other side when I bit the patch and crushed it. So, had to go to the dentist yesterday. Since this involved a helicopter flight to another base, pretty well blew the entire day, but I did salvage work out time. One of our team members had to unexpectedly take off the other day, and I'm having to teach a few classes for a couple of days I wasn't expecting, so I had to spend a huge piece of today prepping for that, but again saved my work out. That is the last thing I will skip since I can always make up lessons, verbs, and practice time, but a day without exercise is just gone, and really does just suck. Puts me in a crappy mood for a day or two. So, that's my week. As my said, "may you live in interesting times," and I have been for over a decade as of 2 October. I'll get back on track in a day or so.

[Samunwal]

16 Oct 12, Day 23

Weight:Eh- I have no idea. Saw enough "don't weigh every day" posting I decided to accept the inevitable and be assimilated. I'll check it Thursday afternoons and just not worry about the rest of the time. But the whole time I was on the treadmill, the scale was in sight and kept calling to me- "just take a peek, Sammie, you know you wanna...."

Workout: Treadmill- 3 min walk, 4 min at 6.3mph, 2 min walk, 5 min at 6.3mph, 2 min walk, 5 min at 6.3 mph. Had to fight off the irrational exuberance bug and stick to a sensible progression. Felt really good and as if I could have gone a good bit faster and longer as well, but that would have really risked blowing my hip out. Would rather take it slower and be able to keep feeling irrationally exuberant rather than crippled and cranky.

Dari: Had no opportunity to study today at all because I was teaching a class and preparing for more classes. Now 3 hours of studying, and 16 verbs behind, but got in plenty of practice, including some to the class as a whole.

And now, a question for the bird nerds- anybody have any idea what the hell this is? My son found the picture on line, and has no info at all on the little guy, but as my son said, you know he thinks he's sexy:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5915[/ATTACH]

[Samunwal]

Been teaching some classes the last couple of days, but finished playing school marm for now. We've halted the course we're teaching so the students can get ready for Eid al Qurban (Victim, or Sacrifice, Holiday) next weekend, then have some time off after it. This is one of the two big holidays on the Islamic calendar, and commemorates Abraham agreeing to sacrifice his son Ismail (Isaac in the Old Testament). Families that can afford it buy a sheep, or if really well-to-do a cow, and sacrifice it, eating some of it and giving the extra meat to the poor. This is usually home sacrifice, too. Can you imagine having a nice Thanksgiving dinner going in the backyard when the next door neighbor whacks his family's turkey in his yard and then proceeds to clean and butcher it? Well, that's essentially what a lot of folks do. When I lived in Istanbul, for about a week before the holiday, drovers brought thousands of sheep and cattle into the city and set up makeshift pens wherever they could- vacant lots, under highway bridges, all kind of places. It was really kind of weird how much the pens reminded me of Christmas tree lots. Seeing something like this, and how many people enthusiastically participated, really drove home to me how seriously they take their faith.

In any case, that's next week. For now, a two day update.

17 Oct 12, Day 24

Workout: A few days ago I would have said I did the Playground Workout, but I think I have completely left the playground now and am in that vacant lot behind the house that's rumored to be a meth lab. I'm finishing this thing pretty well hammered now. Won't go into details, but will stick with the things that relate to my goal of pull-ups. Did 3 sets of 5 flexed arm hangs for 5 seconds each, with a slow descent. The later ones in set 2 and all of them in set 3 were a little, shall we say, "droopy," but I'm staying tighter to the bar than I did last week.

Dari: Got in an hour of study, and 4 new verbs. Practiced while teaching class, then discussing the class afterwards, along with how awesomely cool one of the students thinks artillery is. Still 3 hours and 16 verbs in the hole.

18 Oct 12, Day 25

Workout: Elliptical, Lvl 10, 25 minutes, 3.27 miles. Went much faster on this bad boy a few days ago, but not as long (only 20 minutes). Could definitely tell today I was working a good bit harder this week

Dari: Got in 2 hours of study, and 15 new verbs (a few of the ones I learned today had several synonyms, but I counted them since they had their own entries in the dictionary). Practiced discussing when our classes would resume, questions during a briefing and our morning meeting, and just a couple of good long conversations. Oh- and talking to the AC repairmen who were there to service the AC. They've taken to bringing co-workers by to show them the Dari-speaking American, and this always entails where I'm from, how long I've been here, and how long I'm staying. Kind of cool, in feeling like a zoo exhibit way. Still 2 hours of study and 5 verbs in the hole. Will try to catch up Friday.

And now, film night. Thursday is the one night of the week I let myself watch a film since I get to sleep in tomorrow. I have it narrowed down to a Pedro Almodovar film, Volver, or John Wayne in The Shootist (it's an eclectic collection of flicks).

[Seabright]

Wow, Sammie. I really enjoy reading the slice-of-life descriptions in your posts. Except, now I'm going to be singing 'Highway 61' all night.

Really great to see how well you are doing with your fitness goals. Yeah! Those pull-ups shall be yours!

Oh, and I vote for John Wayne (natch).

[KeXioLi]

Combining your movie and holiday topic, we saw Argo last night. Excellent flick. A great deal of the movie was actually shot in Istanbul, so it also brought back a lot of memories. They are in the Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, and the old part of the Bazaar. There are also just some outside shots where I kept saying, "I've been there."

[FalseLikeCresid]

We've halted the course we're teaching so the students can get ready for Eid al Qurban (Victim, or Sacrifice, Holiday) next weekend, then have some time off after it.

I had totally forgotten about Eid al Qurban. All my Muslim friends have moved out of state.

If you're on to swear words in Dari, would you like to swap some for some colorful Russian phrases?

[jimmie65]

Interesting information about Eid al Qurban. Right now, I'm imagining what large American cities would be like if Christians followed the OT sacrificial practices.

[Samunwal]

Wow, Sammie. I really enjoy reading the slice-of-life descriptions in your posts. Except, now I'm going to be singing 'Highway 61' all night.

Really great to see how well you are doing with your fitness goals. Yeah! Those pull-ups shall be yours!

Oh, and I vote for John Wayne (natch).

Starting to worry if I'll make the pull ups or not. I won't overdo it, though. If I don't make it, got a ready made goal for the next challenge. And I actually ended up with "The Constant Gardenr," from a John Le Carre novel. But I think I'm going to do a Duke double feature this Thursday- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and then The Shootist.

Combining your movie and holiday topic, we saw Argo last night. Excellent flick. A great deal of the movie was actually shot in Istanbul, so it also brought back a lot of memories. They are in the Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, and the old part of the Bazaar. There are also just some outside shots where I kept saying, "I've been there."

Can't wait to get home so we can rent it. Did you show Big D any of the places like the Blue Mosque in that Mimar Sinaan coffee table book?

I had totally forgotten about Eid al Qurban. All my Muslim friends have moved out of state.

If you're on to swear words in Dari, would you like to swap some for some colorful Russian phrases?

Sure- probably best done through visitor message to maintain the (mostly) "family friendly" atmosphere here (if the family's name is Adams, maybe).

Interesting information about Eid al Qurban. Right now, I'm imagining what large American cities would be like if Christians followed the OT sacrificial practices.

REALLY messy, with PETA members' heads exploding all over the place.

[Samunwal]

19 Oct 12, Day 26

Slug-o-rama. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Wrote a really long email to my wife, cleaned my room, went to our twice per month mass.

20 Oct 12, Day 27

Workout: Tread mill, ran 4 min - 7 min - 4 min at 6.4 mph / 9:22 pace, 2 min walk between. Hip was a little twingey on third set of run.

Dari: Studied an hour and a half, learned 5 verbs. Practiced at least an hour.

21 Oct 12, Day 28

Workout:

FAM-D: 50 jumping jacks, monster walk with band (4 rooms), 30 clamshells, 20 leg lifts, 20 fire hydrants, 40 knee circles, 20 mule kicks

Meth-lab Vacant Lot Workout

Upper body: [12 dips, 5 flexed arm hangs (5-5-5-5-5 secs), 35 elevated pushups, 10 inverted rows, 10 burpees]

Core: [10 body twists, 60 second plank, 40 second side planks, 25 incline sit ups]

Upper body: [10 dips, 5 flexed arm hangs (5-4-3-3-3 secs), 35 pushups, 10 inverted rows, 5 burpees]

Core: [30 x Russian twists w/ 15# kettle bell, 25 atomic situps, 60 oblique crunches, 10 reverse crunches with a kip]

Upper body: [10 dips, 4 flexed arm hangs/negatives (3-3-drop-muscular), 30 wide-armed pushups, 10 inverted rows, 9 diamond pushups]

Core: [20 supine bicycles, 10 running man, 36 floor wipers, 25 flutter kicks]

Cool down: 15 minutes of yoga

Dari: Studied for an hour this afternoon, learned 5 verbs, practiced over Nilla Wafer and Ginger Snap diplomacy. Discussed a David Attenborough nature documentary (learned an otter is a "water cat") and discussed family life.

[Absidey]

Dari: Studied for an hour this afternoon, learned 5 verbs, practiced over Nilla Wafer and Ginger Snap diplomacy. Discussed a David Attenborough nature documentary (learned an otter is a "water cat") and discussed family life.

That sounds like a lot of fun. I love little language scraps like that. (Like the potato = apple of the earth thing. That was in your thread right? They all run together in my head.)

Lawl meth lab workout. And just reading that makes my abs sore. Beast!

[Jaksavage]

You, sir, are effin killin it! Keep it up!

[Samunwal]

That sounds like a lot of fun. I love little language scraps like that. (Like the potato = apple of the earth thing. That was in your thread right? They all run together in my head.)

Lawl meth lab workout. And just reading that makes my abs sore. Beast!

Didn't do much for my abs, either. Was wondering why I was able to do so much core stuff without much problem, then realized that the only stuff I've never torn up is what's between my hips and shoulders. Earth apple wasn't me- must've been some other handsome, wittily scintillating language geek.

You, sir, are effin killin it! Keep it up!

22 Oct 12, Day 29

Workout:

FAM-D: 50 jumping jacks, 30 clamshells, 20 leg raises, 20 fire hydrants, 15 pelvic raises, 40 leg circles

Elliptical: 25 minutes, Lvl 10, 3.3 miles

Cool down: 15 minutes of yoga, followed by foam roller for ITBs, quads, and glutes

Dari: Studied an hour and a half over lunch, learned 5 verbs, practiced about an hour and a half ( a lot of wailing, gnashing of teeth, and just plain bitching over some stuff that didn't go right). Still 2 hours in the hole for studying and 6 verbs down.

[Seabright]

Otter = water cat. Very good. Because they have whiskers, right? ;-)

Great stuff here as always. I look to you for inspiration!

[Samunwal]

Otter = water cat. Very good. Because they have whiskers, right? ;-)

Great stuff here as always. I look to you for inspiration!

Back at ya. I live to serve.

23 Oct 12, Day 30

Short entry- we're short-handed at work and I'm up to my eyeballs in alligators. Help me Mr Wizard!

Workout:

FAM-D: 50 jumping jacks, 30 clamshells, 20 leg raises, 20 fire hydrants, 15 pelvic raises, 40 leg circles

Treadmill: 4 min - 7 min - 4 min at 6.4 mph / 9:22 pace. Hip twinged a good bit on the third set and I worried I might have overstrained the muscle, but I backed off in time (had planned on 6 min for third set, stopped after 4). Hope I can start to up the distance and intensity as there is just over a week to go in the challenge, but I won't hurt myself to complete this goal, as much as it will just annoy the hell out of me to not get it done.

Cool down: 15 minutes of yoga, followed by foam roller for ITBs, quads, and glutes

Dari: Studied an hour over lunch, learned 5 verbs, practiced at least an hour in briefings and meetings. Still 2 hours in the hole for studying, but down to a 5 verb deficit.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Water cat - love it!!! Hum .... you're inspiring me to dig out my German language disks - not that they have anything as poetic as that combination for an otter!

[Artemis Wolf]

Will update more later, but first, a word of thanks to all of y'all. Now, whenever I need to motiviate myself to get on an exercise or push myself a little harder, I find myself yelling inside my head "do eeeeet! Just do eeeeet! You can do eeeeeet!" So, in honor of getting stuff stuck in other people's heads:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5882[/ATTACH]

Okay so I about died laughing. "A whim away, a whim away...." HAHAHA

[Samunwal]

Water cat - love it!!! Hum .... you're inspiring me to dig out my German language disks - not that they have anything as poetic as that combination for an otter!

I like German, but nothing is poetic in German (sorry Johnny!). It's a great military or engineering language, but nobody's ever going to accuse it of being melodic like French or Spanish. And otter in German? Otter.

Okay so I about died laughing. "A whim away, a whim away...." HAHAHA

Blame my older son- he found it.

And now, updating. Sorry Seabright, no slice o' life today. Pretty wiped out and having to pack up to move to a new room.

24 Oct 12, Day 31

Workout:

FAM-D: 50 jumping jacks, 30 clamshells, 20 leg raises, 20 fire hydrants, 15 pelvic raises, 40 leg circles

Meth-lab Vacant Lot Workout (sort-of):

Upper body: [12 dips, 5 flexed arm hangs (5 secs each), 30 elevated feet pushups, 10 inverted body rows, 10 diamond pushups]

Core: [10 body twists, 60 sec plank, 40 sec side planks, 25 incline sit ups]

Upper body: [10 dips, 5 flexed arm hangs (5 sec each, sortof), 35 wide armed pushups, 10 inverted body rows, 5 diamond pushups]

Core: [25 atomic situps, 40 Russian twists w/15# kettlebell, 60 oblique crunches, 36 floor wipers]

Didn't do a third set of upper body or core. Lower back was twingy, and just flat out felt wiped out. Figured this was a sign to back off some and get a little extra recovery time. Don't think I'm even going to make one pull up, but I'm going to shift a little more effort to making my run goal as I think I'm closer to it, and it's an event that's on the Army fitness test (I can pass it now, but my time sucks). Going to look at peaking at the end of next week.

Cool down: 15 minutes of yoga

Dari: Studied an hour and half over lunch, learned 4 verbs, practiced at least an hour in briefings and meetings. Now 1 1/2 hours in the hole for studying, with a 5 verb deficit.

25 Oct 12, Day 32

Workout:

FAM-D: 50 jumping jacks, 30 clamshells, 24 leg raises, 30 fire hydrants, 15 pelvic raises, 40 leg circles

Treadmill: 4 min @ 6.4mph / 9:22 pace - 8 min (split into 4min @ 6.4, 4min @ 6.5mph/9:14pace) - 5 min at 6.7 mph / 8:57 pace. Added 2 minutes of running from last time, and ran 9 of that faster than last time. I ran the last 5 at the pace I'll need to keep for 2 miles to make my challenge goal, but the way my hip felt I don't know if I'll make it. I think if I had kept that pace another 3 or 4 minutes, there would have been a good chance I would have limped for the next week. So, I'll keep pushing (but not to the point of injury!) and see what shakes out.

Cool down: 15 minutes of yoga, followed by foam roller for ITBs, quads, and glutes

Dari: Studied an hour over lunch, learned 5 verbs, practiced with conversations, but nothing really memorable or special. Still 1 1/2 hours in the hole for studying, but verb deficit down to 4.

[Jaksavage]

Keep it up sir! Your doin great! Some extra rest would probably do your back good though...and get a massage! You've earned it!

[jimmie65]

Your workouts tire me out just reading them.

[Thilde]

Ahh how did I get so behind?? Just caught up reading all your updates. Which are awesome. I love reading the life bits! Your workouts scare the crap out of me, which means I just need to keep pushing until I can do that craziness myself.

You're doing great with your goals, keep it up!!

Edit: Any word on that sexy, sexy bird?? I re-read through the posts but couldn't see if anyone or you had commented back about what kind it is...