The Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice

It was bound to happen eventually.

Last weekend I was approached by the Mutawwa, or a Mutawwa's wife to be exact. She harassed for about five minutes about the need for me to cover my hair. I was at Sparky's, the ride/arcade area, in Dhahran Mall with the boys. We met Julia there for a fun outing with the kids during the sjmal.

Her face was completely covered, even her eyes. "Excuse me," she said as I was helping Jake feed his precious tickets in the ticket-counting machine. "You need to cover your hair."

I glanced over at her and took in the black fabric from head to toe, including black socks with sandals and black gloves. Ignoring her, I turned my attention back to Jake and his frustration with a bent ticket.

"You need to cover your hair." Pause.

"You NEED to cover your hair." Pause.

"Why are you ignoring me? I know you speak English and I know you are hearing me." Her English was very clear, and indeed, I heard every word she said.

As politely and controlled as I could, I told her that I didn't need to cover my hair because I am not Muslim. She rather forcefully told me that in this country they have "regulations" and that I need to cover my hair.

I disagreed again with her and as she continued her rant, she started to make a call. That's when I started to become unhinged. Who was she calling? What were they going to do? Should I call someone? What should I do? Steve was not with me, would they try to take me somewhere? What about the boys?

I decided the best thing to do would be to leave immediately. I tapped the "print receipt" button and dragged Jake away from the machine, doing my best to explain to him why we were leaving before he had a chance to finish feeding the tickets in. His protests weren't loud enough to drowned out her Arabic telephone conversation behind us. Thankfully she didn't try to follow us.

We zigzagged through the arcade, eventually finding Julia in the far corner. Shakily, I told her what happened. She was incredulous that this was only the first time it's happened, but nonetheless gave me a big hug and told me not to worry. According to law, it's up to a woman's guardian, i.e. her husband or father, to decide how modest she should be in public: cover only her hair, everything but her eyes, her entire head or nothing at all.

So who are these Mutawwa, and why do they have the right to come up to us and harass us? The Mutawwa are basically the religious police here in Saudi. I have referred to them before, but you probably thought I was joking - unfortunately they really do exist. And their job is the enforcement of Sharia law (Islamic rules). Some volunteer for the job, but most are appointed by the" Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice." That seriously exists - I could not make this stuff up.

Sharia covers nearly every aspect of day-to-day life, including politics, family, social issues, economics, banking, business and even gets specific and personal with laws concerning hygiene, which side to pin your head scarf, intermingling of sexes, diet, etc. In some Muslim societies, obedience of the law is the choice of the individual. But not in Saudi. Here, the Mutawwa patrol the cities, looking for restaurants that admit diners during prayer time, unmarried couples being together without her guardian (father or brother), stores with Valentine's merchandise, women not properly dressed...just to give a few examples. The religious laws and civil laws are totally intertwined.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah (yes, that is his official title) just last week appointed a women to a deputy minister position, the highest government position a women has attained. In addition, he dismissed the Chief of the Mutawwa and replaced him with someone they say is a bit more moderate. Some say reform is coming, coming slowly but coming.

In jest I asked Steve last night if he wants me to cover my hair or face in public. He said no. That's probably a good thing...I wasn't going to anyway.

E.R.

2009 has not been kind to Jake's head.

Jake is becoming quite fond of making bloody visits to the emergency room here.

Unfortunately, the I'm not referring to the t.v. show.

My newest skill: removing dried blood mixed with sand out of clothing.

I can't decide which line to start with - I like them all. Oh, the joys of boys! Hey, there's another good one!


Last month Jacob fell at the park next to our house. He completely knocked himself out and cut a jagged, gaping gash in his chin. He had no recollection of even being at the park, much less how it happened or how he got home. We raced him to the emergency room and had his head thoroughly checked out. They glued his chin back together (they apparently don't use stitches anymore?). It healed nicely - all that is left is the long red scar on his chin and his mother's memories of that horrific night. We still don't know exactly what happened, and probably never will (we haven't found any witnesses - he doesn't remember who was there playing with him and no one has come forward).


Last weekend, an ordinary trip to the Jebels to find more geodes turned into another opportunity for gluing flesh back together. Curiously enough, the boys and their friends thought it would be fun to throw rocks at each other while the Dads were looking for geodes. Yes, I said "throw rocks. " Jake, being the wound magnet of the family, was the one that had the misfortune of receiving a rock to the back of this head. There was so much blood by the time Steve brought him home, that we had a very difficult time even finding the wound. We finally found a gash about one inch long. Upon entering the emergency room, some of the staff recognized Jake from the month before!

I don't expect this to be the last injury, but I'm certainly hoping that they get spread out a bit more. Thankfully the E.R. is 5 minutes away and our health care is completely free.

Sunset on the Gulf

We went to Half Moon Bay this weekend and spent most of the day playing on the beach and sailing on Matt's boat. The fun lasted so long that we caught the sunset before leaving. It was one of the best we've seen so far, and I just had to share a few pictures with you.

The Best Swim Ever!

To be honest, before taking this trip I didn't know there was a difference between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea. Not only that, I couldn't tell you where either of them were exactly, and certainly had no idea why the Dead Sea was "dead." I'm not sure if I slept through World Geography in school or if I just never learned about it. Regardless, I am proud to say that not only I have been to the Dead Sea and know exactly where it is, but I have also experienced the thrill of swimming in it!

I'm guessing that you probably don't know much about the Dead Sea either. So, to get us all on the same page, here is what you missed while you were sleeping too! To quote Wikipedia...

The Dead Sea is a salt lake between Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. It is 422 metres (1,385 ft) below sea level and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land. .. .It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water with 33.7 percent salinity... It is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometres (42 mi) long and 18 kilometres (11 mi) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers. People also use the salt and the minerals from the Dead Sea to create cosmetics and herbal sachets.

The Dead Sea was the last stop on our short, five day tour of Jordan in December. Knowing that Egypt, our next destination, would be a whirlwind of 8 non-stop days of sightseeing in a developing (some may even label it third world) country, we planned for an extra day/night to relax and catch our breath at the beach.

We got our first view of the sea when we came over the mountains from the desert. There really wasn't too much transition between the baroness of the hills and the sea. Israel, on the other side of the sea, was within view. It looked very peaceful and calm - not at all the images we see on the evening news. As we drove along the coastline, we were amazed at the color of the water and the amount of salt on the rocks, visible to the naked eye.



At one of the picture taking stops along the coast, our driver directed our attention to the hill behind us. Way up high there was what appeared to be one of those Bedouin rock markers, but much taller. Legend has it that it is actually the pillar of salt that Lot's wife turned into. Remember that story? God told them to leave Sodom before he destroyed it, and not to look back. Lot's wife looked back anyway and was punished by being turned into a pillar of salt. Yikes! Against the backdrop of a gorgeous blue sky and the moon, here she is:


The hotel was a welcome sight (we had spent the night before in the desert of Wadi Rum, "roughing it" with the Bedouins). Upon checking in, we were given freshly squeezed juice, warm wash cloths to "freshen up" and treated to exquisite views of the sea. The rooms were large, clean and very comfortable. It was a perfect place to hang out for a couple days.

Swimming in the sea was one of the most unique experiences we have ever had. The large percentage of salinity makes you very buoyant. It is almost like you are floating above the water, rather than in it. Steven was the first to take the plunge. His delight was evident by the expressions on his face, and the rest of us adults quickly followed suit. We soon discovered that in addition to floating without effort, when you try to touch the bottom with your toes, you just bob up and down. Once we swam out to a depth of probably no more than five feet, it was nearly impossible to feel the rocks below.


The kids were more wary - if my memory serves me right, we had to bribe them with their choice of a cool souvenir to get them in. We just couldn't allow them pass up this unique experience! Armed with their goggles (to protect their eyes from the salt), they cautiously waded in. Michael was the most of amazed and delighted out of all six of us. This child has zero body fat - floating in swim lessons has always been a huge challenge for him and he has to work considerably harder than most to keep floating.

However, within minutes the "fun" quickly turned into shrieks of anguish: any little cut or scrape began burning. As you know, little boys are covered with bumps, bruises, cuts and scrapes.- they consider them souvenirs of their fun! It's so much part of the landscape of their skin that I no longer even notice them, or in this case, think about the effect the intense salt water would have in their wounds. The boys were out of the water, howling, complaining, and demanding that we leave immediately! Assuming the role of a martyr , I left the fun of the sea and started the torturous task of showering the boys off. Yes, torturous. If you could have heard the verbal assault they launched on me, you would agree. They were not blessed.

Looking back on it now, the boys do admit that it was a blast swimming until the burning started and would like to return someday when they don't have any "owies."







The fun at the resort continued with Steve's mom getting a Dead Sea Mud bath. It is said that the salt and mud contain not only beautification minerals, but have healing properties as well. It looked very cool - something else to add to my list of things to do when we return.





Since there was no way the boys were going to go back into the sea, we spent the rest of the time mostly by the only heated pool. The boys had a blast playing while I enjoyed a good book in a lounge chair.


It really was a peaceful, relaxing couple of days- a perfect ending to our stay in Jordan. We loved this country - the people were friendly and kind, the history was rich and interesting, and most of all...everywhere we went there were things that all four of us enjoyed. Due to time constraints, there were several other cities and sites we had to skip in Jordan. But the silver lining is that we will have to make a trip back some day...when the boys are scrape-free!

Shmals

Here is a new vocabulary word for you:

Shmal
(noun)
Ferocious dust and sandstorm

We are, without a doubt, having a shmal today.

I'm not sure if shmal is an Arabic word, or just a nickname given by the residents of Dhahran. I also can't figure out why most days the wind doesn't do that - it must have to do with the direction it blows or something. The amount of dust that moves around is astounding. I backed out of the driveway today and you could see tire tracks, much like you'd see with a light dusting of snow.

Walking outside, even for a moment, is horrible. You have to cover your nose and mouth with anything that is handy. Pulling your shirt up over most of your face does the trick (I envy the covered Saudi women on days like this - their veils are perfect for shmals). If you see people walking around, they absolutely have protective masks or shirts up as described. However, I guarantee you that no one is doing anything but going as quickly as they can to their cars. In fact, I wouldn't even let the boys walk home from school today - I can't imagine what the 15 minutes in this air would do to Jake's asthma.

Here is the view from our driveway on a typical day:


And of course, here is the same view during the storm:



I did not retouch or use any kind of filter on this picture - yes, it really was that orange at the time. It's been about 2 hours now and it's still very foggy looking, but not as orange as earlier.

The real bummer is that the boys have a half day of school today for parent/teacher conferences. The weather has been in the 70's, perfect play outside temperatures. I will certainly need to keep them in all of today and likely tomorrow as well. Thankfully this doesn't happen very often - this is around the fourth one since the boys and I arrived in August. It just also happens to be the most colorful one we've seen. Yuck!

Update on Uncle Fuzzy

Big sigh.

Ok...It's been two weeks and Uncle Fuzzy's issues were getting worse. Without pausing to think too much about it, I made another appointment for the poor little guy at the vet. The vet agreed that indeed, he was much worse than the last time he was in. Fortunately, it was clear this time that it WAS mites. I'm a bit annoyed that it couldn't be diagnosed two weeks ago, but what are you going to do. Poor Uncle Fuzzy got another injection, and will have to come back in two weeks for yet another shot. The vet said he should show signs of improvement in a few days.

We now have a textbook example of what one will do for love (love of Michael - not the rodent).

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

Well, maybe not pouring. But it IS raining and that's something we get excited about now. All I have to do is casually mention that I think it may be raining, and the boys' faces light up as they race for the door. Ultimately I end up joining them, looking forward to the splash of raindrops on my cheeks.

As we stand on the sidewalk, we take turns pointing out the evidence of rain: random spots on the cement, a sort of a puddle here or there, long, dirty streaks on the car windshield, and a freshness in the air. Has it stopped raining? No, someone just got a drop on their hand. We do our best to wait patiently. Eventually the drops are too far apart, and losing interest we disappointedly file back into the house.

Have we completely lost our minds? Probably. But it has rained very little since we've been here - that's how deserts work! What I didn't expect was how much I would miss the rain. Keep in mind that I'm a Washington State girl, born and raised 50 miles northwest of Seattle. The Pacific Northwest will always be home to me. And sunshine day after day, after day, after day...well, I guess that gets on my nerves more than I expected. Although I have to say it's really been nice to be able to plan outings or outdoor events without a thought as to whether rain will spoil our fun.

Enough typing...I'm off to enjoy the drops!

My Rock Hounds

All little kids pick up rocks. Don't they usually stop when they get bigger though, surely by the time they turn 40? Or is it a genetic thing? It's hard to say, but I'm here to tell you that my three boys are in heaven living here. The rocks are considerably different than rocks in Maryland, Michigan or anywhere else we've been. Their interest is completely renewed, and our house is not big enough to store all the rocks!

I have to admit, we actually do have really interesting rock formations here in Saudi Arabia, as close as just a couple blocks away. There is an area of the compound called, " the Jebels," that is basically hills of fluted (?) limestone in the middle of the desert. The rock has been worn by the wind, much like Petra, into fascinating shapes. We have found rock climbing in the Jebels to be one of the Green Boys' favorite weekend outings. I say "outings," but seriously, it's just around the corner.


To begin with, the attraction was just the thrill of climbing on the neat rocks. They went to a several different spots and in the last area they made an important discovery: the landscape was littered with what looked to be undiscovered crystal geodes.


This area has been picked over really well over the last 50 years by tens of thousands of other rock hounds. We've been told that it's rare to find geodes anymore. However, there has been some drilling for water in that area recently, and we think it stirred the rocks up. Regardless, you would never believe how they brought home unless if you saw the picture...






Keep in mind that they have the third row seats put away, so that pile of rocks is about four feet deep! Don't they look proud?




After a minimal amount of pressure they agreed not to store the rocks in the house anywhere and devised a rather clever, but back-breaking system to transport them from the garage to the patio...through the house. I lost count of how many trips it took.







After getting the car unloaded they cracked a few open with an old crowbar they found in the desert (what ?!?) and then declared themselves Master Geode Hunters! Here is a sampling of their treasure:




When Steve's parents came in December, they were able to convince Grandpa to join in fun. Now that I think about it, there hasn't been ANY boy, father, or even grandfather that they have asked to join them that has turned them down. Maybe it's genetic after all...it must be something on the Y gene!

Public Service Announcements

I learned something new this week...Aramco has a radio station! I wasn't one to listen to the radio a lot before we moved here - now and then when I was driving around by myself was the extent of it. I was pretty excited to find out about Aramco's station, but also surprised to realize how much I missed listening to the radio.

So the next few times I got in the car I eagerly dialed up 91.5. Turns out they play pop in the morning and country in the afternoon. The music they played sounded current, except for a couple hours when they were playing hits from the 80's - which was kind of fun to listen to.

But here's the weird thing. There are no commercials. None. Instead, they had service announcement-type messages. One this morning went something like this...

(imagine a smooth, announcer voice): Saudi Aramco would like to remind you to fix your leaky faucets. Water is life, and you can do your part to conserve water for generations to come.

It actually continued for a bit more - I don't remember the rest of it. It was a hoot, but kind of a creepy hoot (is there such a thing?). I felt like I was living under the watchful eye of big brother. How could the company possibly know that if my kids don't push the handle down hard enough in my kitchen, it drips. Oh wait, I know. They installed the same crappy hardware in all the houses - everyone's faucet does that!

Safety Education and service announcements are huge here. There are reminders everywhere you look (and hear) to buckle up, immunize your children, clean your furnace filters, eat fiber, stop littering, don't use the furnace area for storage, wear protective gear while biking/skateboarding, don't overtake other cars on the shoulder while driving 80 mph, etc. (I could seriously go on for quite some time). Unfortunately, the reminders seem to have little influence on it's intended audience.

The kinds of things we see (mostly off the compound) would astound you. I'm not talking about the stuff stored in the furnace room or the leaky faucets. I'm talking...six unbelted kids playing tag in the back seat of a sedan while the driver, with a 1 year old on his lap, is weaving in and out of traffic at high speeds. I'm talking...public bathroom floors mopped so wet that I have to walk around the perimeter holding on to any thing attached to the wall so that I don't slip on the tiles and crack open my coconut. I'm talking... women in FULL veil driving (of course that's on the compound, because women are not allowed to drive anywhere else). I'm talking... people sittng (and we've even seen standing) in the back of pickup trucks flying down the freeway. Again, I could go on.

How effective are service announcements and education? I don't know when it started in earnest in the states. Steve and I remember not wearing seat belts when we were quite young, but we don't remember at what point it became something you always did. Regardless of when the education started, it was obviously very effective because today our generation wouldn't dream of not wearing a belt belt or throwing trash on the ground (my kids have only recently learned that you can put the car into gear if the seat belts aren't buckled).

I have heard some horrific, yet completely believable statistics on deaths due to traffic accidents in this country. I am hoping and praying that as the next generation of Saudi kids comes of age after hearing all these reminders, they will make safety just something you do. It will make the roads safer for all of us here.

In the meantime, we have to put up with the public service announcements after every third song. Quite honestly, they are much more entertaining than commercials ever were. And maybe if my boys hear it enough, they will start turning the water off completely.

It's starting to warm up again!

Oh no...the temperatures appear to be starting a warming trend. I've asked a couple of "old-timers," and they said yep - it should start getting hotter now. Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

That being said, we are currently having daytime highs of 70-75 (the highs were in the upper 60's just a few weeks ago). It's absolutely beautiful here right now. The early morning temperatures are in the 60's, and of course it's dry, dry, dry. Not much to complain about - I was just hoping it would stay this way.

I checked the extended forecast on AccuWeather.com and it had this to say about Tuesday:

High: 72 F
Bright sunshine and delightful

Delightful? I have no doubt that it will be delightful, but I can't help but wonder who comes up with these things?

Don't worry my friends, the old timers said it will warm up very gradually and it probably won't be until around May that it starts to get hot. Unbearably hot will come in June, July, August, September. We hope to be nowhere near here in July and most of August. They say that at some point you don't notice the heat anymore. I'll let you know...