Beginning Radio Silence

Tonight's the night! We are flying out first to Amsterdam, then on to Detroit. We will be in the U.S. for nearly all of July (skipping from coast to coast) before Steve returns alone at the beginning of August. The kids and I will try to beat the heat in Washington state for a couple more weeks before returning here mid-August. I doubt that I will have the time, motivation and access to a computer all at the same time, so this will be my last post, until I wake up jet lagged at 2 am when we return.

It's been quite a year - Michael probably had the longest, roughest adjustment of us all, but ended the year on a high note. He is still riding high from the variety show success, and is even making plans to run for Student Council President in the fall (that's my boy!). He started the year with 3 C's and 2 B's, and after a lot of hard work, finished up fourth grade with 3 B's and 2 A's. He seems to have found his niche socially, and we have high hopes for next year.

Jacob started the year strong academically, and finished even stronger. He really hasn't found a "best friend" yet, but has lots of boys calling and asking for play dates (we need to get another phone line and secretary to handle his schedule).

Steve was already pretty much settled in by the time we arrived last August. But we all knew he wouldn't have any issues, didn't we?

So then there's me. I'm feeling very comfortable here by this point as well. I have a good handle on what I can buy here and where to find it. We painted the interior of the house and hung curtains last month, so our house feels more like home than ever now. I have a small circle of girlfriends I know I can count on, and a larger circle of acquaintances I run into every where I go. If Michael starts the year out as strong as we are hoping, I am planning to start taking online classes with the University of Phoenix, still trying to finish that elusive degree. I've enjoyed being active physically here - the yoga classes, water running, the gym, bike rides, etc. And I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog. I hope you have enjoyed it as well.

See you in the Fall!

(just a note - I actually wrote this on 7/4, but didn't publish it until 7/7)

The Year in Review - The Good

In the last post I reflected on some of the aspects of moving/living here that disappointed us, or where not what we expected. Let's move on to the positive then...

The Weather
As I am typing this at 10:26am, it is 104 dusty degrees, expected to climb up to 115 by mid afternoon. So to say that the weather is something that we were pleasantly surprised must sound crazy. What we didn't expect, however, is how quickly we would adjust to the heat and most of the time not really notice how hot it is (until the air conditioner breaks). That being said, when I have to go downtown in my abaya (the black gown), I definitely notice the heat! To our amazement, the kids still play outside and ride their bikes - they just come in a lot for water and popsicles. The main reason why I am listing the weather on the positive side is not the heat tolerance issue, but the fact we had at least seven straight months of spring/fall type weather. It was wonderful to be able to have that much time to be able to do outside activities.

Education
We couldn't have been more pleased at the quality of the school here. We found the teachers and staff to be well qualified, experienced and happy to be teaching. The resources were fabulous, class sizes good, the library well stocked, the technology up date and in good supply - there really wasn't anything lacking. We reluctantly left a great public school in Michigan without knowing for certain how the schools here would compare. When you make a gutsy move, it's such a relief when the gamble pays off.

Family Time
One of the major reasons we moved over here was to be able to spend more time together as a family. In the states, Steve took a lot of business trips and worked long hours, including weekends - and when he was around, he had a lot of underlying stress. I was a bit skeptical about the Saudi Aramaco's promised 40 hour weeks and no working on the weekends. I am pleased to say that he always comes home for lunch (along with the kids), truly leaves work at 4pm every day, and has never worked a single weekend. In addition to being able to spend so much more time with us, he has a much better work/life balance.

Socializing
We knew there would be little to do socially outside of getting together with other families. What we didn't expect was how much we would enjoy it. There are no good restaurants around here, whether on camp or in Khobar - but we LOVE to eat, and eat well. What to do? We have the time and relaxed lifestyle to enjoy the cooking together, and sharing it with friends has been a delight. Do we miss other entertainment, such as going to the movies? Yep, but when we do, we head over the bridge to Bahrain and catch one there. And Bahrain does have good restaurants, where we don't dine alone - we usually meet friends.

Close Quarters
My biggest personal positive surprise is the way I feel about living on the compound. Before leaving the states last summer, I'm sure I expressed to many of you my reservations about living in a 10 square mile, fenced community. I feared that I would go stir crazy, feel confined and generally hate it. The reality is that it doesn't bother me, perhaps because I do go into Khobar with either Steve or my girlfriends a couple times a week for shopping. Or perhaps the 10 square miles feels larger than it sounds. I don't know - I just don't think about it really. And the fact is, nothing is more than a 10 minute drive from my house. I can walk to a yoga class and be there in 3 minutes. The pool/gym/restaurant area is a five minute walk and the school is about a 10 minute walk. And remember, of the 10.5 months out of the year we actually live here, it's not too hot to walk to these places. Steve's commute is 10 minutes, even less if he's not going during "rush hour." Thinking back on some of the other places we've lived, where for example it would take 30 minutes or longer to drive the kids one way to soccer practice a couple times a week, the 10 square miles is awesome. Think about how much time we have to do things we enjoy much more than driving.

In a nutshell, there were things that we were definitely disappointed to find here. But the things that really mattered to us, the reasons we came...the family time, the money, the schools, the travel...those things were as we had hoped. The rest we can work through together.

The Year in Review - The Bad and the Ugly

As we get ready to take a break for the summer, I've been reflecting on the last ten months we've spend here in the big sandbox they call Saudi Arabia. What did we originally expect life to be like here? Has it met our expectations? What aspects of this lifestyle have unexpectedly delighted us? What has disappointed us? Has it all been worth it?

When given the choice of good or bad news first, I like to always go with the "bad." I'm not a pessimist, I just enjoy ending on a good note. In that spirit, here is the worst of it: our disappointments, unmet expectations and struggles this year. Tomorrow, I'll end my posts with the "good."

Social/Racial Integrations
Our biggest disappointment is by far how difficult it has been to mix with other cultures here. I'm probably very naive, or at the very least delusional, but I pictured it being a type of Utopia. I thought that we would easily be friends and integrate with people from all over the world. The camp is certainly diverse, but it has just been incredibly difficult so far to cross cultural barriers and socially intermix, particularly with Muslims, on a large scale. And it's certainly not just us. While in the school yard waiting to pick up the kids, one will see a group of white, American women standing together chatting over here, a group of Hispanic women over there, a group of Asians, a group of Muslim moms, and even a group of nannies. Everyone has their friends that they hang out with, and the groups rarely mix. Perhaps it's because you are far from home and it's comforting to be with people who share similar culture, who get what you are going through. Who knows? Whatever the case, it has been very damaging to my hopes for world peace and understanding, and dwelling on it too long makes me depressed.

Arab Majority on Camp
We were surprised when we arrived at the small amount of North Americans who live here. Technically the percentages we were told were not that far off, but we didn't realize how many US/Canadian passport holders were actually from other, mainly Arab, countries. I know that technically nearly all Americans are not "native" to the US, but I'm talking about people that have immigrated within the last few years and don't live an American lifestyle. Not only that, there are more Saudis living on camp than we expected as well. Not a big deal, but you end up with the camp becoming much more "Muslim" than we were led to believe. Visiting Santa ends up becoming called a visit with a "Seasonal Visitor." Trick or Treating in the community isn't advertised widely, and is relabeled "Dhahran Community October Event." A good number of Michael's classmates fasted for Ramadan. And when I go to the clinic, I feel very uncomfortable in short sleeves (I usually bring a sweater to put on when I arrive) amongst all the completely covered women. We expected that "on camp" would be no different that living in the US. Generally speaking, it's true. But not quite.

Tough Groups at the Playground
Next on my list of "bad" surprises...the shocking lack of innocence among the kids here. Not so much the American kids, (I know this will sound prejudiced), but the kids from other cultures, again specifically the Arab cultures. They swear a lot. They are expert insulters. They watch movies and play video games that would shock you. They learn all kinds of things that "we" think they are too young to be learning. It comes down to a difference in culture - to them, swearing isn't a big deal at all, and insulting some one's family, particularly the mother, is just part of trash talking. By just being around them, my boys have lost some of their innocence and learned vocabulary they probably wouldn't have learned until at least middle school. We hold them to a different standard, tell them that in our culture talking like that is NOT acceptable, and try to highlight the way things are interpreted differently by different societies. It's sure a bummer to be having to deal with it so early.

The Time Difference
We had hoped that with our Vonage VOIP (voice over Internet phone) line that keeping in touch with family and friends would make living here no different than living in Michigan. After all, what could be easier than living in Saudi and picking up the phone from a Seattle area code, dialing anywhere in the US (besides actually doing that in the states)? It saddens me to say that while the VOIP certainly made it affordable to stay in touch, it did nothing to help the 7-10 hour time difference we have. The most convenient time to call for both here and the states is after 3pm our time, which is right when the kids are coming home from school. We are, for all intents and purposes, fairly unavailable for lengthy phone calls during those hours - Michael needs our full attention to stay on track with his homework, that leads into dinner preparations, eating dinner, family time, bedtime. By the time the kids are in bed, I'm just not really in the mood for a chatty conversation.

Shopping
While we have been pleasantly surprised at the availability of products, grocery and otherwise, we underestimated how difficult it would be to obtain those goods. Being forbidden as a woman to drive off the compound, I either have to hire a taxi, a private driver or wait for Steve to take me shopping. Yes, we do have a grocery store on camp and for that I am very thankful. However the consistency of stock leaves much to be desired, the variety of goods is fairly narrow, and the prices are high. The better quality food and goods that we are accustomed to are at the Safeway in Khobar, and I can't just shop there without significant pre-planning. On top of the transportation issue, you have to work around prayer time, a forced closing of all businesses five times daily. So yes, I can buy Doritos, Cool Whip, Colgate toothpaste...just not without a huge hassle. I'm glad that details and planning are a couple of my strengths.

Being disappointed and having expectations not met is generally a part of living in a foreign country. We knew there would be a list. However, we would say without any hesitation that the reasons we came here did not end up being on this list - they are on the other one. The hopes that we had for the schools, Steve's working environment/hours, amount of family time, the sense of personal safety, and the ability to travel...the things that mattered most to us...have met and in some cases exceeded our expectations. More on that tomorrow...

Misc. June Happenings

Here's a look at what's been happening in the Green house this month:

We had a candlelight dinner one night, just to liven things up. The kids LOVE drinking out of cheap but real stemware, saved for special occasions. Unfortunately, the sun had not set by dinnertime, so we dined more by natural light than candlelight.

Jake's class had a "Jungle Week" theme, with a very cool paper campfire. (check out Jake posing for the camera - you make have to click on the picture to see it larger.) They were able to bring in camp chairs and jungle animals, and wear safari/explorer clothes. What fun!

The upper grades had their annual "Battle of the Books," a game show based on the books from the reading lists they were given at the beginning of the year. Each class had 5 teams that competed against each other, and the team from each class with the best score went to the "finals" to compete for the title of Fourth Grade Champions. Michael's team went to the finals from his class, and came in 3rd overall.

This fun picture was taken at a large water park in Bahrain.

Michael took part as a volunteer victim for the Boy Scouts First Aid Derby. He took it very seriously and did a great job.

Michael and his piano teacher after the spring recital.

The Al Khobar Branch of Susie Kimball's Store

When asked, "Do you remember Susie Kimball's," I'm willing to bet that at least 95% of you will have no clue. The rest of you will immediately smile with a far away look in your eyes, remembering a time that doesn't seem as long ago as it actually was.

It was a time when Main Street in Sultan, WA was lined with lively, thriving businesses and activities. Although it was a little town of less than 2,500 people, you could find a movie theater, hardware stores, restaurants, shoe repair shops, doctor offices, and a bank. As opposed to the hit and miss service we get today, you would be given exceptional customer service in nearly all the businesses. Any where you turned, you'd be greeted with a friendly, neighborly face, as well as plenty of good ole' small town gossip thrown in for free. And...you would find Susie Kimball's general store.

I can scarcely remember Susie's store - I was still quite a little girl when it closed it's doors for the last time. I do remember that I LOVED going to that store, however. I can picture Susie, her white hair so neatly wound in a bun, standing behind the counter. Looking down, there were creaky, old wood floors that if I recall, were not even remotely level. There were only a couple aisles in the whole place but they were packed with every odd and end you could possibly imagine. My brother and I never felt we had enough time to explore the store - there was just so much to see. If there was anything you needed, aside from grocery and hardware items, you always tried Susie Kimball's store first. Usually, it was the only stop you had to make.

Thirty-five years and 7,324 miles later, I found myself standing in Al Zamil's store in downtown Al Khobar last weekend. I had never spent much time in this store, previously known to me only as the "Michael's" craft store of Saudi Arabia. But that day, in an effort to banish the plain, rented Aramco curtains from our home, I was on a mission to find curtain rods long enough for our two sliding glass doors. To my astonishment, I was told to try Al Zamil's : apparently they had a small hardware section and would cut the rods to your precise measurements (more or less). While I was waiting for my rods to be cut, the three male members of our family explored the four-level store. I made a mental note to try to get everything I needed this on trip - I was sure that the boys would be so bored that it would be a huge ordeal to convince them I needed to return.

I couldn't have been more wrong. When I finally found all of them again, I heard simultaneously:

"This is the coolest store ever!"
"You can't believe all the stuff they have."
"I can't think of anything they don't have here."
"You should have seen the ...(insert any thing)... section."
"I want to come back with my wallet."
"I could explore forever and not see it all."
"Did you see...(again, insert any thing)...?"

And from the tallest one, "Doesn't this remind you of Susie Kimball's?"

After taking my time and looking around myself, I had to agree. It's the most comprehensive, general merchandise/craft store I have seen in decades. Granted, it's about ten times the size of Susie's store, but it's every bit as disorganized, dusty and varied. AlZamil's has everything from fabric...to door bells, craft paper...to science laboratory supplies, custom Styrofoam shape cutting service...to office supplies, spools of ribbon...to nifty key chains, bean bag filling...to Christmas tree lights (yes, in June and in a Muslim country), and every type of glue known to man...to wigs. Mostly "crafty" things I would have to admit, but then you notice something so out of place you have to do a double take, such as Bunsen burners.

In many aspects, I anticipated life to come full circle. I expected to be taken back to my childhood through my boys' eyes on Christmas day. I always knew that one day I would care for my elderly grandmothers, as they did for me when I was a child. I knew when I signed Michael up for piano lessons I would be nagging him to practice, just as I was nagged so long ago. I did not expect to relive the joy of exploring Susie Kimball's store. What a delightful surprise!

Uncle Fuzzy's Night on the Town

In my naivety, I never thought it would happen. It certainly wasn't as bad as it could have been - for that I am eternally grateful. And from now on, we will always make sure the twist tie is on the cage door every night.

It began as any other night: Michael fed Uncle Fuzzy and went to bed. Steve and I probably watched a bit of t.v. and went to bed ourselves. But at 1:30am, things took a turn.

In a drowsy stupor, I heard a scratching noise. We have a gravel siding on our house that the birds sometimes attach to, and they make similar sound. The scratching tonight sounded louder though - so loud that it could be inside? As the parade of "scratcher" candidates strolled through my mind, I became quickly alert. Turning on the light, I saw something moving under the curtain against the wall.

It was much to big to be Recko. The thought of anything bigger in our room made me nearly faint. Summoning all the courage I could, I gently pulled back the curtains. There, with a grin from ear to ear (I'm sure of it), was Uncle Fuzzy. I'm not sure if I was more shocked to see him out of his cage, or more relieved that it wasn't a big reptile.

Using a small piece of apple for bait, we got Uncle Fuzzy into his exercise ball - from which we transferred him to his cage. Michael slept soundly through the entire incident, very sorry in the morning to have missed the excitement.

We don't know for sure how he got out - whether he was able to push the cage door open, or if Michael left it open. We don't know exactly when he came under our door into our room, or why he didn't hang a right and go down the stairs. We don't know how long he had been in checking things out in the room. But we can say with all certainty that it could have been much, much worse.

Hamsters are nocturnal: Uncle Fuzzy sleeps all day and doesn't become active until after 9pm. If he had gone anywhere else in the house...how on earth would we have found him? He's very skittish and would have hid until we were all asleep. Not only that, he probably would have chewed on all our wood furniture, the upholstered furniture and who knows what else? And worst of all, what if he died somewhere?

Uncle Fuzzy seems to be in better spirits since that night - I bet he's still dreaming about his Great Escape, and plotting the next one! And as for me? I keep finding hamster turds to vacuum up.

Repelling in the Desert

One of the great things about living here with boys is the unique opportunities they will have through Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, such as trips to very cool places. I really don't know much about it and won't pretend to be knowledgeable. But I do want to show you some pictures of one of the trips the Boy Scouts took this year to do zip lines and repelling. This is somewhere in Saudi Arabia, in the southwest area I believe.

They drove out in a convoy of SUVs to a place with a landscape similar to the Grand Canyon. The vehicles were driven to opposing sides of the canyon and somehow hooked together with thick cables to make zip lines. Some of the vehicles just had the cables attached to the hitches (?) and then the kids used the cable to repel down the canyon walls.




Doesn't this look like fun? My first question, after when will Michael be able to participate in something like this (answer being when/if he crosses over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts), was, "Do the parents get to have a go???"

Apparently they also camped out somewhere in the vicinity of the repelling. Desert camping is a very popular activity here. It sounds really boring, I agree. But friends tell us there is a lot more to do while you are camping in the sand than you think. Fun activities include sand dune skiing, digging for sand roses and geodes, 4wd driving in the sand, etc. I'm not convinced, but at some point I'll probably give it a try. I'd be especially willing if some of this action was involved!

Michael's International Charm

One thing we didn't expect in our international travels was how quickly Michael was able to make friends, charm his way into tour extras, and generally connect with anyone he met. On our trip to Egypt and Jordan it was especially evident. At first we thought maybe it was that the tour operators, drivers, hotel porters, store clerks, etc. didn't see that many blond kids cross their paths. But then we realized that they were not taking any particular notice of Jacob.

Some of the cool extra things only Michael was given the opportunity to do included:

Steering the feluca boat on the Nile River:
Using the microphone on the tour bus:
Scoring a fun ride for him and Jake with the driver of a long chain of tourist trolleys:
Borrowing hats from some Egyptian policemen to take a fun picture:

Driving the horse cart (he was gracious enough to let Jake hold the reins for the picture -- and YES, I do know that the horse's mane has been dyed orange. I have no earthly idea why).

At one perfume store we stopped in, we were given a 15 minute demonstration/talk about why Egyptian perfumes were superior to name brands - all in an attempt to get us to buy perfume, of course. We were busy trying all different scents when we realized that Michael was no longer sitting with us. After a quick scan of the store, we spotted this:

He was busy with his new friends playing games on their cell phones--where else would he be?

Seriously, all throughout the trip we were amazed at how many people knew his name. We would walk past guards / hotel staff on the way back to the cruise ship and hear calls of, "Hi Michael." "Good afternoon, Michael." "What are you up to this morning, Michael."

While on the Nile River cruise we ate most of our meals on the ship and were assigned a specific waiter and table throughout the duration of the trip. The waiter took a shine to Michael immediately and always greeted him with a big smile (I don't remember smiles for us!). The most memorable thing was that the waiter had little brain teasers for him to do during each "boring meal." I have to admit the adults enjoyed the games as much as Michael did and actively competed to see who among us could solve the puzzle first!

The Night Market

"Foreign types with their hookah pipes sing: Way-oh-way-oh-way-ooo-aa-ooo..."
(The Bangles - "Walk Like an Egyptian")

It was in a back alley - you had to know it was there...to know it was there. Chairs were set up tightly around little round tables, about knee height. There was what one might call an aisle where waiters squeezed through bringing your tea, or hookah if you so desired. The air was thick with oddly pleasant smelling smoke and the buzz of conversation in a handful of languages. After touring all day, it was nice to rest our feet and people watch. We were in the oldest, and judging from the amount of patrons also the most popular, tea shop in Cairo, called "El Fishawy."

But just before taking a load off with our tea, we wandered through the Khan El Khalili souk (market) that was one of the main attractions in this area. This market dates back to 1382 (no typo - that's 1382!) During our short visit to Cairo we had already been through many markets, ranging from about a block long, most of which were lining the entrance to ancient sites...to as short as just a couple of make-shifts booths strategically placed where tourists would take notice. Our tour operator promised that this was the "mother of all markets" in Cairo. As far as size goes, I would agree. But in all honesty, it was the same old stuff -just a lot more of it.


Knowing it was our last chance in Cairo to purchase those items we reluctantly had our eye on, we eagerly started down the street. The street was normal width but despite crowds of tourist walking down the middle, it wasn't blocked off to traffic. Cars, trucks, motorcycles and worst of all buses tore down the crowded street. Had the shops not extended their tables and wares into the streets, or even if there had been sidewalks, it wouldn't have been so dangerous or memorable. Several times I grabbed onto one of my kids' shirts to pull them back, a bus coming through less than a foot from us. Seriously, less than 12 inches! Yikes!

After buying some last minute souvenirs, dried spices and teas, and an cool Egyptian chess set Michael HAD to have, we finally wandered over to El Fishawy. And what an experience that was! It's best described as rows of chairs that were not just set up in a shop but extended out into an alley. Looking up you could see a cheap, junky roof covering the alley part. After giving our order to the waiter, we just sat and looked around at the spectacle we were now a part of.

Through the hazy air you could make out groups large and small of other patrons drinking tea and smoking water pipes called a hookah, or shisha. Smoking hookahs is a huge part of Arab culture and social life, and hookah cafes are everywhere. The tradition of smoking water pipes is not unique to the Arab world: they can be found in other areas such as Turkey, Southeast Asia and Spain for example, and are becoming increasingly popular in Eastern Europe. Hookahs are used to smoke herbal fruits, tobacco or marijuana among other things I probably can't imagine.

Being that the kids are repeatedly told in school that if you smoke you will eventually get lung cancer and die, there was no way that we were going to try it. It wasn't a big loss... Steve already has tried it once on a business trip and Tom, Dolly and I weren't interested.

While we drank our tea and ate some nibbles, outside entrepreneurs eagerly squeezed in and out of the aisles making deals with the patrons. Dolly and I were able to get a good price on some beautiful pashmina scarves / wraps. As we were half-heartedly dickering with the vendor, a woman behind me leaned over and mentioned that she had gotten a much better deal. We of course started insisting on the same great price she got. The vendor got a bit upset, but did ultimately sell us the scarves at the lower price. He probably thought he would turn a big profit off the Western tourists - but he underestimated the bond of sisterhood - we girls have to stick together - right?

We hung out at the cafe until it was time to leave for the train station. It was really a lot of fun to just take in the whole experience. In the same area as the souk and the tea shop were a mosque, restaurants, a courtyard and a small university.

A site as historical, interesting and popular as this does draw a large number of tourists. And unfortunately with the open nature of all the shops and courtyard, it has been a target for terrorist attacks. In February, two months after we had been there, a bomb exploded in front of a crowded cafe outside of the market killing one and wounding twenty three. Were we freaked out when we heard about it? Yep, to be honest.

But more than being freaked out we were reminded that everyday, no matter where you in the world you are, there's the possibility of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Acts of terror by disturbed, fanatical people can (and do) happen almost every where these days. It happens in a shopping mall in Illinois. It happens in Montgomery County, Maryland on a bench in front of a post office. It happens in an elementary school in Colorado. And it happens in a popular tourist area in Cairo. What a shame that it has to happen at all.

Recent Pictures

Here is something to keep you busy while I get some more posts written:

Recko finally allowed me to take his picture. Here he is on our sliding glass door, with a golf club as reference for his size:


When Jake was "Star Cat" of the week, Steve stopped by to read their (his and Jake's) favorite book to the class, "The Monster at the End of the Book." It was a huge hit!


This is what happens if you leave the camera laying out anywhere near the kids:


Jacob and I at the beach on the first grade field trip...Michael didn't want me to go on his trip. I was so sad.


Eating Green Eggs and beef bacon on Dr. Suess's birthday. No ham to be found around here!


A previously undiscovered talent in the Green family: playing the recorder with your nose! I have this on video, but can't get it digitized (someday I WILL conquer the video camera!). Until then, look at this picture and imagine a perfectly played version of "Mary had a little Lamb."


Steve ran in a wellness relay marathon in March. He had to run a mile before passing off to his teammate. I believe he ran four times and his team came in first in their division. We were really proud of him - in the past Steve did ANYTHING to avoid running.


The entire first grade performed, "A Year with Frog and Toad." It involved singing, dancing, and speaking parts, and was so very cute!

How Hot is Is?

Courtesy of our school principal, Chris Wollack:

It is so hot you can say 118 degrees without fainting.

It is so hot you learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.

It is so hot the temperature drops below 100, you feel a bit chilly.

It is so hot the 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!

It is so hot you discover that in June, it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car.

It is so hot you discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window.

It is so hot you notice the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.

It is so hot the birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.

It is so hot you actually burn your hand opening the car door.

It is so hot your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"

It is so hot you realize that asphalt has a liquid state.

It is so hot that my outdoor thermometer was banging on the door to come inside.

It is so hot that I saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking !

Yep - I agree..it's really THAT hot!

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.