Hi, all! Hope everyone has fun plans for the weekend and enjoys their freedom :) We realize everyday how privileged we are as Americans. We notice more and more everyday the little things that we take for granted and that we have enjoyed w/o notice. I will never complain about going to Wal-Mart again (at least for the 1st month anyways)! Having to go to 4 different stores and STILL come home missing some items on your grocery list is not fun! There are some things we just can't find no matter how many times we look - funny what you can live without! I have decided that the lack of freedom to do as we please is worth the freedom our kids have gained with this new life. They are able to play in the street and play with kids they just met. We are constantly invited to play with other families - people actually call your home phone to see if you want to go to the gym or pool AND...they knock on your front door to let you know they are going to the park. We also had a neighbor(about 7blocks away) leave a fresh loaf of bread on our porch as a welcoming gift! We met her in the park (older lady walking her dog) and 3 days later had the bread! I also met an older lady at a garage sale who had her houseboy deliver Christmas tree/decorations to us. She is leaving soon and said she wanted to give them to us as someone had given them to her. It's like living in Mayberry :)
Scott is really enjoying the opportunity at work. There is a lot of his knowledge and experience being soaked up! They let him boss people around...which is good for him :) He's learning a lot and paving a way for himself that will allow more challenge and opportunity for his future! He's going to kill me for telling you this, but...oh well :) When he talks to someone foreign...his accent changes to his Mexican roots :) It's hilarious!
So - just for some interesting -OMG- moments...here's some things we have seen or heard that shocked us!
1. Guy peeing on side of the highway (traffic equivalent to 4pm traffic on I-35 in Austin) - he was driving a little porsche so nothing was covered except his shins- he did have the door open but was standing on the wrong side if he was attempting to use it for cover...
2. Siri knows Arabic language
3. Have to get referred by a Neurosurgeon or Orthopedic Surgeon to see a chiropractor...
4. There are no fitting rooms in stores (as women are not allowed to disrobe in a public place)...so you either have to buy it and hope they accept a return if it doesn't fit...or beg them to let you take it to the bathroom, where they have shower-like stalls, so you can try it on before you buy it. Surprisingly enough they allow you to do this.
5. If you want some interesting new stories - check out the Saudi Gazzette - men are divorcing their wives because they are "too romantic", "drank a pepsi" and "drove the car in the driveway"
It is the Muslim month of Ramadan right now so everything is sloooow. The Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and it is illegal to eat/drink in public (all faiths, not just Muslim) so this has been interesting. The stores, if they are open at all, have strange hours and the crowds are crazy when they do open so grocery shopping has been taken to a whole new level of confusion and frustration. Scott is having to cover for the guys fasting at work. They get to leave at 1 and he gets to do their work all day to allow them their holiday time. He's about to choke everyone over the discrimination...it's definitely a learning experience to become the minority and slave labor, so to speak. We were discussing it last evening..and you can't call it discrimination because I don't think that word is in the Arabic dictionary. And not being sarcastic - this is just "the way of life" here...so you can't really blame them for being arrogant in their ways...it's all they have known so they don't see the wrong in it.
Darren is doing great! He has been learning and relearning the ins/outs of UTSA. He's learning some great lessons and some not so fun ones, but he's getting adapted and will do fine once he has a full load. He needed to get his feet wet and he has...all the way up to his belly button! :) He will be visiting us in Dubai in August. The boys can't wait to see him - we have Skyped with him a few times and they miss him. Samuel thinks he should be done with college by now...says "he's smart enough". :) We are hoping his friend, Sheikh Farhann, will be meeting us there also - he lives in Bangladesh - they met at Lee High School this year.
Boys are doing great - we are doing a little gymnastic music class twice a week...we share a taxi with a friend who is also taking her daughter. The boys love all the routine and people the compound life offers. Samuel races the workers - they ride bikes everywhere - so when they head down our street he jumps on his bike and waits for them to catch up to him and then he races them til they turn. They all love our boys because they are consistently friendly and happy. They have 2 special "worker" friends - Jaleel and Sherif (share-reef) - it's funny to hear the southern toddler pronunciation! :)
We continue to make lots of friends - our Russian family of friends have 3 boys we are learning to play with...they are very interesting. The communication barriers make for a great play date. Samuel is also learning to say their names - Tamir, Adam and Dawude...Jonathan just says "hey, hey" :) The mother's description of her one visit to the US - "it is a new country and so the land is still green and pretty. Russia is older and exhausted. Russia also has land in between cities. US just has cities." She flew in to Philadelphia and said the city never ended so she thinks of the US as one big city and very new. It's very interesting to hear different perspectives.
Well my only "oh no my husband is turning into to a controlling tyrant" moment so far was at the clinic....we all had to get physicals in order to get our Visas/Iqamas to leave/re-enter the country. So....what we didn't know was that meant - blood drawn from the boys also. The experience was horrible - we were there for 3hrs - they did the blood draws first so the boys screamed (literally) the entire time after that. Jonathan was sooo mad at Scott that he smacked him every time he looked at him. They couldn't get blood from Samuel's veins so they used mine for him! (yes, they really did that) - anyways...during this 3hrs of chaos and stress....Scott kept making me move around. I would sit and then he would use his manly authority and say "julie - come over here"...OMG...I was soo mad - here I was having the worst day ever - these people were terrorizing my kids and I was close to getting us all killed (i yelled at the phlebotomist and the onlooking male patients who were standing at door watching my kids get their blood taken -they don't give you much privacy) and my husband is going to show off his "public power over me" by ordering me around....I almost divorced him right then for bringing us to this place- I was that mad! Anyways....after everything was said and done...we talked and he told me I kept sitting in the "men's only" waiting room and so he was trying to help me :) I'm okay...no divorce for now. :)
Lastly - we went to Bahrain (UAE) last weekend - it's only a 30mi cross the cause way trip and the difference in countries is like night/day. They keep there country very clean - even in the poor parts of the town. It was highly overrated though - a lot of money for a little more freedom so we probably won't be making that trip as often as we had thought we would. The expat women do not have to wear abayas there, but I felt naked w/o it...it's funny what peer pressure will do to you in such a short time. I kept covered in my bathing suit most of the day unless I was sitting/laying out, then I uncovered. It became very real when I was given the choice. It was also our first "real" interaction with Muslims so I was nervous. It's a different feeling to watch the covered women walk with their children in the mall than it is to see them have to sit on the side lines at the beach or pool while their husbands have all of the fun. It broke my heart that they might be sad to miss out on the fun of playing with their kids in the pool. Then after a few hours - I thought...oh how nice would it be to be "made" to sit on the chair all day and read a book while Scott took care of the boys... :) JUST KIDDING!! :) (scott "let's" me do that too) Everyone walks around smoking Shisha - you will see in one of the pics below..big lamp looking thing with long tube and pipe..it's so funny to see - it's a little more of a workout to smoke than a cigarette! :)
We are really enjoying the experience and trying not to dwell so much on what we are missing out on! We had dinner with friends last night -- it was great! I made Sue's enchilada casserole and Shelley's Black Bean Salsa- it was a hit! Another funny revelation....no matter where people are from...they ALL love mexican food!
We miss everyone! Love you! Call, email, skype - keep in touch!
All the above were Bahrain pics
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