Move Over Bob Hope

We have a new rising star...our very own Michael! He came home last month wanting to audition for the variety show on May 26th. The elementary school here in Dhahran has put on a show for over 20 years now and they take it very seriously. It's a rather big deal - not only do you have to audition, but the selected acts must commit to practicing several times a week after school or during lunch with a "variety show coach" ... for three weeks before the show. In addition, there were two dress rehearsals on the days prior to the show. I may have read somewhere that you have to sign a contract in blood and give up your first born as well!

Michael selected a couple dozen jokes and nervously auditioned earlier in May. To his relief, he didn't have to wait long to find out how he did...they announced the chosen acts 2 days later. That afternoon my back door BURST open and a wild, screaming, dancing boy dashed in. He made the show!!

He faithfully practiced his act with the coach, and together they came up with a way to make the act unique. Instead of him standing up behind a mic. for 2 minutes telling one joke after another, they asked him to come out in between each act while the set changes were being done and tell a joke.

The show was held in the gym, as a school assembly that parents were invited to. We estimated 900-1,000 people were in the audience. And how did Michael do? FANTASTIC, of course. We couldn't be more proud of him. Michael did a good job selecting jokes that everybody would get, from kindergarten on up and across all cultures. He even got a personal note the next day from a teacher other than his own, congratulating him on doing a great job.

The most amazing thing was the way this one hour completely changed Michael's status in the school, but more importantly how he sees himself. He went from someone who was struggling trying to figure out who he was and what his niche was, as well as being a "new kid" that hardly anyone knew and was a target for teasing, to someone that whose name is known and respected. All kinds of kids, all sizes, were coming up after the show and the next day, telling him that they enjoyed his jokes. His classmates were congratulating him so hardily that they practically carried him off on their shoulders after the show. You really can't imagine what a boost to his self esteem this was. It was an incredibly brave thing to do and it really paid off for him.

Our video camera isn't working at the moment so I had to resort to using the video feature on our little point and shoot camera. I zoomed in but the quality is pretty grainy. If I can snag a copy of another parent's video, I'll do my best to edit it and replace this video. But just a disclaimer....I have absolutely no experience editing video so bear with my very unprofessional work. We're hoping to pick up a video camera that will actually work this summer so I can share more fun with you in the fall.



By the way...you do know who Bob Hope was, don't you?

Happy Birthday Michael

note: Michael's birthday was actually on May 18th, but his mother was too busy "celebrating" to post anywhere near his birthday.

Michael made it to double digits! He celebrated this special birthday by having a handful of "guys" come over for a Double Feature Movie Night. They began the evening by watching "Herbie: Fully Loaded" and the giggling could be hear all the way in Bahrain! What a fun movie for 10 year old boys!

After the movie was over, we served Michael's favorite meal of crepes and bacon (had to be beef bacon - no pork to had around here). Some of their favorite toppings were chocolate chips, blackberry syrup and powdered sugar. After getting completely sugared up, they played until we could get the kitchen and the rest of the sugar ready for them (i.e. the cake). Michael wanted a cake that looked like a box of movie popcorn (he actually wanted one shaped like a movie projector and settled on the popcorn cake). Why can't my children ever ask for simple cakes? Miraculously I found marshmallows and fruit roll-ups at the store and was able to pull the cake together.

Somehow we got them settled down enough to watch "Monsters vs. Aliens." (Don't ask how we obtained a DVD of that movie already - the answer involves a dark alley in Khobar and I'm sure you'll sleep better not knowing the details.) The movie didn't disappoint, the boys LOVED it.

Michael also wanted cookies brought into his class on his actual birthday so I made his favorite sugar cookies. If you are looking for a fabulous sugar cookie recipe, you must try this one - it has cream cheese in it - it's better than any other ones I've tried. In fact, Michael gave each of his classmates a cookie and a small canister of M&Ms. One of his classmates said the cookies were so good that it made the M&Ms taste bad!

We continued the week-long celebration by having our close friends, the Neumans over for dinner, cake and ice cream. What did Michael want for dinner? Crepes and bacon again! Poor Steve probably made over 100 crepes that week! Anyway, it was a nice, intimate little party that wrapped the celebrations up perfectly.

Happy 10th Birthday, Michael. You're awesome and the world is a much better place with you in it. We love you so much!

Sweet Sand

Here's a new one for you...

The grass in our front yard has never been great, but it's only gone from bad to way, way worse. It started out last summer with some bare spots and a bit of crab grass here and there. Having just relocated our family across the ocean into a completely foreign land, the grass situation was the least of our worries. Now that we are settled in, even to the point that we finally got the interior of the house painted, we had some brickwork done and took notice of the grass again. Or should I say, lack of grass...it was completely overrun with crab grass and looked horrible. Our neighbors on both sides have beautiful lawns with real grass - I don't know what happened to ours. TruGreen Lawn care doesn't service this area, and we've always been a bit helpless without their magic fertilizers and weedkillers.

After a quick call, a supervisor from the gardening department came out and agreed to replace the grass. Workers arrived the next day with shovels to remove all the crabgrass and what little of the real grass was left. Then they gave the tree a thorough thinning so that the grass would have less shade. What happened next was fascinating ...they came back later with a dump truck full of SAND and spread it out. Not just any sand...Sweet Sand. I guess it's the Middle Eastern version of top soil? It has been enriched with the nutrients that growing grass apparently needs in this area.


The day after the sand was spread, I fully expected them to come by with some seeds, or if we were really lucky, sod. Again, I was surprised to see this big green pile of what looked like plucked up grass. A bit later, the gardeners came back and lovingly (?) planted each grass plug into our yard. I guess when labor is cheap it's an acceptable way of replanting a lawn.



So now this is what our lawn looks like. We TOTALLY didn't think the situation through completely, or we would have waited until October or November to request it. We've been running the sprinkler from sunrise to sunset, moving it every hour or so. Keeping in the mind that the daytime highs the last couple days have been 118F+, you can understand why. The locals tell us that with some diligence it will be fine in the long run.



Our neighbor's lawn, pictured on the right, is what we are hoping to achieve. They also have a gardener that comes once a day to look after things for them. Maybe he'll cut us a deal?

Wish us luck...with my brown thumb we'll definitely need it. I'll post a picture next spring so you can see how we did.

Is it Halloween?

No, thankfully that's one thing that still happens when it's supposed to here, on October 31. But we did have a couple days last week with some dress up fun. I thought you might enjoy the pictures...

Heidi Neuman had a birthday party last week that included some face painters. Most of the party attendees were five year old girls who had their faces turned into sparkly butterflies (they were actually quite beautiful and artistically done). To the boy's relief, the very talented face painters could had more in their repertoire than just paintings to delight females. The blood around Jacob's mouth was chillingly crisp and detailed before he ate pizza, popcorn, fruit roll-ups and cake. Every time I look at that picture I have to laugh - he clearly hasn't learned the "scary vampire scowl" yet!

Michael's skeleton face was so nicely done that the one of the girls was terrified, like crying real tears, every time she looked at him. Seriously. Michael is such a sweetheart - he was going to wash it off but Aunt Julia talked him out of it. Instead he put his head into his shirt every time he went around her. Again, the painting was much better looking than the picture which was taken after all the food AND an hour of putting his face into his shirt!

Wacky hair day was Tuesday at school. They won't let me put rubber bands in their hair (we had a baaaad experience with that - don't ask!), so this is as wacky as the Green boys could get with the supplies we had on hand:





Michael just had a haircut, but usually it's long enough that we can do some really cool things with it. Included on our list of things to bring back here from the states this summer is that spray color, so that next time we can mound his hair into several different colored spikes. When I was a little girl dreaming about being a mom this was definitely NOT one of the scenes I imagined with my child! I love that life has way sometimes of turning out better than you expected. Who'd want to miss out on this?!?

Listening In...

Had you been a fly on our wall, here are some snippets of what you would have heard the last few weeks. Steve and I never say any thing interesting, so I'll just report on the kids...


Michael:
"Every day, all I want to do is have fun. If something isn't fun, I just really don't want to do it."

"I WAS SELECTED!" (upon arriving home from the variety show auditions)

"I still don't see anything wrong with shooting Jake in the butt with a nerf bullet." (any explanation needed?)


Jacob:
"I'll take the bites, but you CAN'T make my brain think that I'm still hungry."
(after being asked to eat a couple more bits of dinner)

"This is my dad. He's faaaaaaaaabulous!" (introducing Steve to his classmates)

"I'll let you touch the bump on my head for 4 riyals."

"Why do you have to go to a spinning class. How hard is it to spin?" (said very sarcastically while spinning around)

The Heat is On and Recko Doesn't Like It

It's sizzling here! Summer has been taunting us the last few weeks, with temperatures tiptoeing up over 100 degrees, but never more than 105. However today was a brutal reminder of exactly where we are living. The temperature reached 110 by noon - I don't know what the afternoon high ended up being BUT the forecast for the next two days has highs of 115 and 118! Now that's smokin' hot...and it's only May!

It must be Mother Nature's retribution for my recent comments like, "wow, we must be getting used to the weather over here because it just doesn't seem that hot." Or, "I was expecting worse by now - this won't be bad at all." Why must I always open my yap?

Thankfully the pools are cooled and the school playgrounds are covered. I noticed today that the bike racks are covered as well. How thoughtful of the school board to pay for something like that, because I'm sure the metal on the bikes and scooters would be blistering hot at 3pm if they sat in the sun. Even just getting into the car this afternoon after leaving it from 1-3pm at the school made the metal buckles on the seat belts untouchable. Believe me, we've learned to not leave chap stick, gum, chocolate or crayons anywhere in the car!

It's apparently getting too hot outside for Recko the Gecko also, as he has basically moved into the house now (geckos don't eat hamsters, do they?). Every now and then he scares the LIVING DAYLIGHTS out of me by scurrying up the wall in front of me. One horrible night he darted up the wall from behind my nightstand. Yes, nightstand...as in right beside my bed! Worse than being startled as I was drifting off to sleep was the knowledge that he was in my bedroom and I couldn't get him out. I have no idea how the boys slept through the shrieking! I am told that he eats mosquitoes and other bugs so at least he's earning his keep.

One thing that has been very, very nice about living here is the dependability of the weather. You know, with a fairly high degree of accuracy, that when you wake up it's going to be sunny. It will get hot and there won't be any rain. It's pretty much guaranteed. The only real worry is the possibility of a shmal, which have been occurring once or twice a month. You definitely don't want to be outside during that. Otherwise, you can plan a pool party or any other outdoor event without any thought to adverse weather.

Or course it's becoming so hot now that no one is planning much outside except poolside or at night. We went to a party last weekend where we spent the entire time in the backyard and the evening temperatures were in the upper 80's/low 90's. It was quite comfortable and really fun. Even now as I'm typing this at 10pm, the outside temperature is 93.

No matter what kind of spin I try to put on it though, hot is hot. We're looking forward to coming back to the states in July/Aug. to more reasonable summer temperatures. If we are coming to see you, be forewarned...you might want to inspect our suitcases at the door. Recko can be pretty sneaky - you never know where he is going to appear next.

The Most Creative Mother's Day Gift Ever!

With limited shopping hours and stores, besides Mother's day being on a workday here (remember...Thurs/Fri are OUR weekends), I was curious what Steve would come up for Mother's Day. He did not disappoint, as I have to give him props for what I consider to be his most creative gift yet...You will have to click HERE to view it. (sorry, I just couldn't figure out any way to get this video embedded in the post).

Be sure to pay close attention to the last thing the anchor says...and know that I was sitting there in a pony-tail, un-showered at the time. Was that planned? I loved it...what a riot!

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Camels, Camels, Camels

I'm starting to see flashes of hieroglyphics everywhere I look, so let's take a break from Egypt...

Living on the compound, even making the weekly trip into the city of Khobar, sometimes blurs the fact that we are living in Saudi Arabia. As shocking as this may sound, the black veiled women and prayer time business closings - the very essence of living in Saudi so far- has become quite ordinary.

In various parts of town large, upscale hotels and high rise buildings are sprouting like weeds. The malls are filled with stores and restaurants I readily recognise and love (Starbucks, Gap, Ikea, etc.). There are more products than ever appearing on the grocery stores shelves that we enjoy. We know our way around Khobar and more importantly, are beginning to know where to go to find the odds and ends items. There are signs in both English and Arabic...it just doesn't seem all that foreign, exotic or even uniquely "Saudi."

So when I reflect back on a day trip we took with Steve's parents in early January, it really brings a smile to my face and a longing again for the joy of discovery we experienced that day. Our magical destination? Not really that magical - just a camel market.

Earlier that morning it was just an empty sand lot. But by 7am activities were in full swing and like so many other things we've experienced overseas, it was a full on assault to our senses.

The camels were freely standing around; a few were tied to poles or stakes, but most of them were just standing in place. They appeared very docile, like they didn't know they could just make a run for it. The camels were tall, short, old, young, brown, white, black, curly haired, healthy, sick, and all had just one hump. We were encouraged to pet one of the baby camels - it's hair was soft and curly, thankfully not matted, and felt a bit a like a poodle.

And the smell! There was no question we were amongst a number of large animals. The kids affectionately termed it "wet camel smell," even though the camels were dry. Out of the blue we heard a loud bellowing, an angry camel sound that instantly made you take a step back. The slight breeze combined with people and camels walking around kicked up the dirt sufficiently enough to round out our senses with a dirty taste in our mouth (don't try to imagine that taste combined with the awful smell - it's quite unpleasant).

The baby camels were especially cute, and their antics were entertaining. But as amusing as they were, after fifteen minutes I began to start looking around at the people instead of the camels. There were no women or little girls to be seen, except female merchants in the camel tack stores nearby. I felt a bit out of place, even dressed appropriately in an abaya. In fact, wandering around the lot in our abayas felt odd, like wearing an inaugural ball gown to a farm equipment auction. I guess buying a camel is a guy thing? To their credit, none of the men gave any indication that we shouldn't be there and only occasionally looked our way with mild interest.

Eventually the kids' interest peaked and they were sliding down the hill into complete boredom. As I walked them back to the car to wait, we noticed a very sick camel tied to a pole in front of the Honda. It was acting odd and foaming at the mouth. I'm talking about very large amounts of foam. Wind had blown the foam all over the car and it continued to fly as we approached.



Words cannot describe how gross the situation was, and certainly my pictures don't do it justice! The boys and I brainstormed for a couple minutes, trying to find a way to get into the car without getting "foamed." Aside from them taking sanctuary under my abaya, we came up with nothing viable and just made a run for it. It's a memory we laugh about now, but believe me...there was nothing funny about it at the time!

As we were leaving the market, we came across some purchased camels being loaded into what we presumed to be the delivery truck. The angry camels were first tied with their legs under them, then fastened to a primitive crane/pulley type thing. Not surprisingly these camels bellowed the loudest of any we've ever heard, and let me tell you, the men that were loading them kept a safe distance away from their heads at all times.

The market felt as far removed from modern Saudi Arabia as we have ever been, like we were transported back to a different era. It wasn't that long ago, as recent as the late 70's and early 80's, that new car lots in Riyadh (the capital city) had "camel lots" in back. You could trade in your camel for a new car. Seriously.

The only places we've seen camels in the Middle East so far has been tourist sites in Jordan & Egypt, for "rides." There must still be people living the Bedouin lifestyle in the deserts outside the cities who purchase camels not only for transportation, but also to milk and eat as they have done for thousands of years. Clearly there is a demand for camels or there wouldn't be the weekly market. You certainly won't see any middle class Saudis anywhere near a camel market though.

Spring...or Fall?

"Saturday" is "Monday."
65 kph is 40mph.
And if that's not enough to figure out, now I have new one...Spring is Fall!

All the trees around here are dropping their leaves. Seriously - it looks like fall. While I am enjoying the novelty of something new on the compound to contemplate, I am cursing the very large tree with the very large leaves in our front lawn. Check out the monsters it drops (and my nice pedicure while you're at it):


Here is the view down our street in a picture taken last fall:



...and here is the same view today. Pay particular attention to the trees to the left of the stop sign:


We had green leaves all winter. This phenomenon just started happening a week or two ago, and has intensified this week. I always thought that any kind of leafy tree in the Northern Hemisphere lost its leaves in the fall because the days get shorter, causing lower levels of the chlorophyll in the leaves. Then they "die" and fall off as the tree begins its dormancy. That's what I told Jacob, anyway.

I've been told by the old-timers that as the spring heats up here, the leaves die and drop. After just a short few weeks, the trees start growing new ones and then we're good for the next year. Huh.

It's only a matter of time before he asks about this and I will need to have a good answer for him. I don't fancy spending hours on Wikipedia trying to figure it out, but otherwise...I don't know what I'll tell him.

Cairo / Old Cairo

Without a doubt the highlight of our sightseeing in Cairo, as well as the entire trip to Egypt, was riding the horses at the Great Pyramids and Sphinx. But we did see a some other very interesting sites in the surrounding Cairo area. Before showing you the highlights, let me set the scene and remind you of my overall impressions of Cairo. However, I'd like to preface these comments by saying that we only spent 2 short days here; clearly, we were not able to scratch the surface of all the city had to offer. I'm sure that there are some very lovely areas - we just didn't get to see them. With that said...

Imagine being stuck in traffic in a city of seventeen million people. In addition to only a couple traffic lights, there are few (very few) traffic police in all of the city. There are no lanes - cars are squeezed in trying to get by in any way they can. You see poverty, run down buildings, trash littering the streets.

Horns honking, cars blowing exhaust, people piled into sedans holding infants on their laps. Your window stays up, for there is at times a unpleasant smell that lingers in the slightly humid air. In the van next to yours, Egyptian children are nudging each other and pointing to you.





And as with many sprawling world capitals, this is a city of contrasts. On top of apartment buildings that are in such terrible shape they look uninhabitable, there are satellite dishes lined up like soldiers. A donkey cart carrying God only knows is going down the road beside a shiny Mercedes. There is very obvious lack of wealth in most of the city, but millions (maybe billions) of tourist dollars are pouring in to some one's pockets.


There was a stark difference in the different districts: Old Cairo with it's stone buildings, old churches and narrow alleys. The business district filled with sky scrapers, major hotel chains, upscale restaurants, and nice landscaping. And the rest of the city...apartment buildings, cranes, and millions of ordinary people.


Keeping those images in mind, come along with me as I start your abbreviated tour...

The Cairo Museum was a large stone building with lots of steps, ponds with lily pads and benches outside to rest your weary feet. The museum was filled with more ancient Egyptian treasures than you can imagine, most fairly crudely displayed, dusty and without much description. The creme de la creme of the exhibits was the "King Tut" floor, which housed the world's largest collection of artifacts removed from his tomb. King Tutankhamen, "the boy King," was only 9-10 years old when he died presumably in a chariot accident. He wasn't a great pharaoh, nor was he an evil, notorious one - he did absolutely nothing special. He is only famous now simply because his tomb was the only one found to date that had not been robbed, but was still completely intact.


The Cairo area was at one time a stronghold for Christianity until the Islamic era. In the Old Cairo District are still several old Coptic Christian Churches, which include the Church of St. Sergius , where according to tradition, the Holy Family was hidden while they were in Egypt. Another interesting church is the Hanging Church, built during the 7 th century. It was named for it's location above a gatehouse and is suspended over a passage. The art, architecture and carvings inside this church were amazing. The church is back in use today by Coptic Christians.







Prior to walking up the steps into the Hanging Church, there was a courtyard lined with benches and absolutely beautiful mosaics.





In the same general part of Cairo as the Coptic district, we found the medieval Citadel of Saladin. Situated prominently on a hilltop, it is said that this fortress was constructed in the 12th century with fallen stones from the Great Pyramid. (As a side note, this picture is a good illustration of how many less conservative, modern Muslim women dress outside of Saudi - click on it to get a closer look.)



Inside the citadel walls was the mosque pictured to the right, the Alabaster Mosque of Mohammed Ali (no, not the Mohammed Ali you're thinking of!). Designed by a Greek architect from Turkey in the early 19th century, it was very impressive and elaborate inside. The prayer hall (like a sanctuary) is open to a large, central dome, four semi-domes and four smaller domes that are all very ornately decorated . On the citadel grounds there were also several other smaller mosques, squares, museums, and a palace.


And what trip to Cairo would be complete without souvenirs? Never fear, my shoppers, for tacky trinkets are always just a few steps away! There must be a factory in China that reproduces gazillions of cheap statues, necklaces, lamps, mini-pyramids, post cards and countless other "treasures" to help you commemorate your trip to Egypt. The little shop in the photo to left had more unique items than most of the other stalls we saw. Most of the time it was the same old crap! We had some difficulty pulling Jake away from golden cat statues and Michael came home with a chess set made of Egyptian figurines.


Before getting on the train our last night in Cairo we went to a popular night market. This post is already getting a bit long, so I will save the pictures and description of that fun evening for another post. So go get some rest...we still have five more days in Egypt together!