Living & Lifestyle

Michigan, USA  – The cold air has thawed in the great lakes states and Chaldeans are fast enjoying the summer days.  With temperatures getting warmer, many Chaldeans are firing up their barbeque grills.  Grilling is one of the most treasured outdoor activities to do every summer for Chaldean Families.  Shish Kabob, chiken tooka, and grilled vegetables folded in warm grilled pita bread with garlic sauce and a nice cold drink is usually enough to give any Chaldean a glimpse into the essence of back-home joys. 

www.CHALDEAN.org collects a number of community tips on choosing the best gas grills.  Next week we complete our report on Chaldean barbeque tips.  Community members are asked to send in their best tips when barbequing Chaldean foods to info@chaldean.org. 

Choosing the Best Gas Grills

California, USA – The spring season brings with it a welcoming initiation to travel.  Chaldean students excitedly plan for the end of the college winter semester by traveling home or planning a visit to out-of-state relatives.  For Gina Abaya, a student at San Diego State it is traveling to see her favorite cousins in Michigan.  “I was an only child.  My cousin Cynthia and I were best of friends.  We were sisters,” Gina says. 

While Gina may be looking forward to seeing her favorite cousin she dreads the travel headaches.  “Packing is fun.  I always pack way too much, but don’t mind.  I do mind all the extra travel charges and the security checks that always seem to take so long and seem to put everyone on edge.  I love the extra security, but do they really have to make it so stressful,” Gina asks. 

Chaldeans preparing to travel will experience no shortage of indignities and none rivals the worry of the security line.   Will the fashionista in front of you take twenty minutes to unlace her knee-high boots? Will your bag be the one selected for a dump-it-all-on-the-counter inspection? Did you forget something in your bag they consider dangerous?  What are the new restrictions?  How long will it take? 

Today’s www.CHALDEAN.org article is to help Chaldeans prepare for the travel process to overcome the dramas and cliffhangers and help keep your wits and your schedule. It will help you keep up your odds of zipping through quickly.

Who are the elders in your family? The obvious answer is that they are your parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and eldest cousins -- basically, any relative who's getting up in years. But that doesn't really answer the question, does it? In a Chaldean family, there is a big difference between being elderly and being an elder.

Chaldean Elders are the people we respect and turn to for answers and perspective, thanks to their many years of life. Most of all, they are the people who raised you and your loved ones and helped you grow into the people you are. For several decades, they carried the burden of caring for your family and leading it to better times. Now it's your turn to dote on them. Ensuring the welfare of our elders should come as naturally to us as raising our children.

The stress Chaldeans experience from rushing through their lives has a negative effect on their health. The hard work, schooling, family responsibilities, church duties, and charitable causes Chaldeans often pursue can take its toll. 

Here are 5 secrets Chaldeans in our community share with readers on how they might manage their stress in today’s world.  

One at a Time Tasks
Rena Shayota writes, “At work I hate it when I have ten different customers asking me for five different things.  It wears you down.”  Rena is right.  Chaldeans may think they are reducing stress by accomplishing more than one thing at a time, when in fact, it is causing more stress. 

California, USA – “You have to know your rights.  Otherwise they may take advantage of you when you rent from them,” says Khaloud “Kelly” Heso, a property manager in Orange Grove Townhouse and Apartments in a small town outside of San Diego, California.  “I once worked with a company that taught us not to share renter rights with the tenants.  I could not work for a company that operated in that way, so I left and came to Orange Grove.” 

Chaldeans should know what their rights are when renting and you don't have to be expert in landlord-tenant law to protect yourself. Chaldeans are reminded to review their rights when renting or leasing and to always read the agreement before signing the dotted line.

Laws that protect both landlord and tenant have become so complex that understanding your rights can be difficult. Since landlord-tenant law varies by state, the key is knowing your rights -- preferably before you even sign your rental agreement. Understanding your state law and the terms of your lease are your best guarantees against future problems.

15 common renters' rights all Chaldeans should know:

Michigan, USA – “If you’ve ever gone a month without spending any real quality time with your spouse, you know how negatively it can affect your marriage. All relationships need to be nurtured, and none more so than our relationship with our spouse,” says Eddie Kuza from Farmington Hills, Michigan. 

Kuza attended the new Couples Club at Mother of God Chaldean Catholic church with his wife.  The Couples Club organizes fun outings and events for engaged and married Chaldean couples.  “The Club is fun.  The group organizes some great activities, like dinner and a play, or a small trip up North, or great tickets to a basketball game.” 

Kuza says the goal of the Couples Club is to nurture strong marital relationships and create opportunities for Chaldeans to have fun.  Successful Chaldean marriages may be best seen as a triangle, with God at the top and each partner at the lower corners. The closer we draw to God, the closer we’ll be to each other.  “Marriage is not a ‘done deal’ at the altar; it’s a continuous, daily ‘I do.’ Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together through the years.”

The Chaldean Couples Club event brochure offered these wonderful tips to perk up a relationship.

Massachusetts, USA – Chaldeans are well known as compassionate fighters against injustice.  Many help feed refugees, run for cancer, care for the sick, and offer aid to the needy.  “It is because of our faith,” says Ann Kajy.  “As Christians we are taught to use our talents to help lift the burden of others.” 

Talented and famous Boston designer Denise Hajjar is helping to lift the burden of those suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.  The disease is a neurodegenerative disease that attacks both upper and lower motor neurons and weakens the brain and spinal cord.

Hajjar showed her spring and summer line at a fashion show benefiting the Massachusetts chapter of the ALS Association. Before the event kicked off, Hajjar said she planned to show 56 different looks in lots of cheerful colors: oranges, yellows, blues, and pinks. "The dress is back in a big, big way," she promised. "Women are embracing it again." And in recognition of the current economic, uh, constraints many shoppers are under, she kept her frocks in the $200 range and created bags for less than $100. "We really worked hard at that," she said.

Hajjar is well known for her elegant styles and custom look.  “She knows exactly how to fit the right fashion to the right person,” says Kajy.  “I have long been a fan of her styles and have a wardrobe filled of her inspired designs.”

Chaldeans taking advantage of the buyers market in real estate have to remember one thing: you still have to sell your current home.  Chaldeans trying to sell their home should follow these easy do it yourself (DIY) tips. In fact, some of the most important fix-up projects a Chaldean homeowner can do to help speed the sale of their home in the spring can be done with a little planning and elbow-grease.

A good cleaning, a fresh coat of paint and groomed yard are the basics of preparing for a home sale.  Like most everything in life, first impressions are important and a neat, clean look gives a good first impression to buyers. 

Some additional ideas which you may want to consider:

Just a few weeks after Salim Bashi was laid off as manager of a taxi cab company in Michigan, he found himself driving through Detroit with his 11-year-old son, Sam. Sam knew that his father was unemployed and that money was a concern in their family. 

Salim says, “We stopped at a red light, and saw a homeless man pushing a shopping cart.  I could see in my son’s eyes he was worried.  I asked him what he was thinking.  First he was scared to answer.  He wanted to know if we would be like that man with the shopping cart."   

www.CHALDEAN.org speaks to several Chaldean fathers about how losing a job can affect family life.

Illinois, USA – The University of Chicago joins a handful of other colleges in their effort to create a cohabitation campus.  The college will now allow a male student to sleep in the same room with an unrelated female student.

Amy Batuo says the school has essentially become a whore house and is considering transferring.  “I am not going to pay them to help students hook-up. There is going to be so many reputations and lives ruined.  They have gone way into left field on this one.”

This is not the first time the school has sent shock waves for its stance on sexual promiscuity and promotion.  The campus Student Health and Wellness Fee, which all registered students pay, covers regular contraceptive items like condoms and lubricants.   All are available at its Student Care Center including what the center calls "Emergency contraception.” 

Michigan, USA – On this day of gratitude, commonly referred to as Thanksgiving, Chaldeans help show the spirit of good will and giving.  Chaldeans throughout the metro-Detroit area are once again out in full force helping their neighbors this thanksgiving.  Chaldean churches, businesses, and Chaldean charity organizations will be giving out well over a thousand turkeys and side foods to needy families.  Chaldean churches and groups like the Chaldean American Ladies of Charity, Chaldean Teens Coming Together, and Chaldean American Professionals plan on distributing thanksgiving meals and turkeys. 

Other Chaldean charity groups like UR of the Chaldees are buying grocery for seniors who live alone. Adopt-A-Refugee-Family is raising funds to help needy refugee families scattered throughout the world.  The Newcomers group is taking underprivileged youth out on field trips.  Chaldean grocery stores and restaurants are also helping. 

Danny Yono, owner of J's Kabob restaurant will provide free Thanksgiving feasts for anyone who can’t afford a meal with the trimmings or doesn’t want to eat alone.  From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, J’s Kabob, 2941 Coolidge, Berkley, will host its second annual free Thanksgiving Day dinner. Anyone can get a carryout of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn and rolls.

Michigan, USA – St. Joseph Chaldean Catholic Church in Troy, Michigan continues to host an array of services for refugee assistance.  Along with English classes, school tutoring for children, and family support services the church campus will now feature special workshops geared to refugee families.  

“The love and help for us at St. Jospeh and all the churches, makes me thank God every second,” says Habiba Yousip through a translator.  “If it was not for our Church we would all be dead.”

The workshops provide informative sessions to help refugee arrivals transition to life in the United States.  Sessions include knowing your neighbor, taxes and financial planning, keeping your children safe, apartment living, senior housing, food safety, and disaster preparedness.

You are My Sunshine, My only Sunshine'….Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling.

They found out that the new baby was going be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his sister in mommy's tummy.   He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her.

The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen.  In time, the labor pains came. Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor.

Would a C-section be required? Would the mother survive?  Would the baby live?  The entire family and medical staff were on pins and needles.  Finally, after a long and exhausting struggle, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in very serious condition.

California, USA – The results are in for the www.CHALDEAN.org voter knowledge survey.  The survey was created to register Chaldean voter knowledge of the presidential campaign and extrapolate which presidential candidate would best address the needs of Chaldeans. 

Dr. James Brothman, psychometric expert and president of Brothman Research, created the survey for www.CHALDEAN.org.  A psychometric survey is a more sophisticated method than the traditional polls that ask respondents who they plan to vote for in the election.  The scientific survey reveals that not every issue carries the same weight of importance to a voter, nor does every voter prioritize the issues in the same way.   

“We create a scientific survey that captures issue concerns and matches the concern to the candidate that would best meet the respondents need.  We do not ask who they are voting for or why.  Instead we apply a reverse engineering process that filters out emotions.  We ask what issues are important to you and how important are those issues to you.  Based on the information we receive are able to determine who the respondents would vote for if they are truly voting on issues only.  The difference between the survey results and the actual voting results tells us how much campaign marketing influenced the vote.”     

Based on Dr. Brothman’s research of Chaldean voter respondents, 88% of the Chaldean community should vote for McCain / Palin if they are driven by the issues important to them.

Dr. Brothman also reveals the leading issues important to Chaldeans this election.

Michigan, USA – The Chaldean Education and Career Center urges Chaldean parents with sons to take advantage of an upcoming family workshop featuring national best selling author and internationally recognized authority on boys and men, Dr. William S. Pollack, PhD.

The event will be held on November 3, 2008 from 7 pm - 9 pm at the Oakland Schools Building, located on 2111 Pontiac Lake Road in Waterford, Michigan, 48328. 

Dr. Pollack's presentation will address the crisis of boyhood in America, specialized techniques for reconnecting with boys, new approaches to "Mothering" and "Fathering", and new models of understanding "What makes boys tick"

The event is free to those who RSVP by e-mailing info@chaldean.org.