Wow, Its been a year?

I cant write much. I should be studying for finals.

But today I am thoughtful. thankful. and scared.

Thoughtful about how I have spent the last year in a beautiful wonderful place, and how that time has flown by.

Thankful to have been given the opportunity to grow here, and discover wonderful things that I didn't even know I wanted or needed.

Scared for the same reason I listed above; how time seems to grow faster and faster as we get older. Also scared and excited for what the future holds, immediate and far away.


My life is beginning. I love it.

Paradox

Once Again I thought I would come back and finish. I always start my posts wanting to talk about one specific thing, but feel compelled to fill in everything that happened before it, and I always get too burned-out to even get to what I originally wanted to talk about! Ugh.

Back

Here I am back in Riyadh. Its amazing how quickly this place became "home". I have so many great thoughts of this whirl-wind of a week. I don't know if i can recount them all... I will try. On Monday we went to Miriam's house for dinner. It was a great salmon meal but I was quite surprised when there were other guests there? ha ha I guess I assume it is always just about me. hah juust kidding. But it was very nice to meet more americans that are living here and to hear their prospectives of life here, ranging from 20 years to only 9 months, I guess i was the baby with only one month though. I also seemed to be the most optimistic about life here. Through chatting with them, it became apparent that our life and experiences in Riyadh were vastly different. That day had been the first real "Duck and Cover". Of course it turned out to be nothing, but none the less it was scary. They all said that they hadn't believed it was real and carried about their normal everyday business until fear began to spread throughout the building. As it turned out it had been an explosion on a construction sight, only a few kilometers away, and the company had forgotten to inform the Embassy. They are in another world there. They cannot leave unless they are in an armored car and there has to be a set departure and return time. And I thought being a woman was the most hindering thing about transportation here.. I guess being a woman and a state department employee is THE hardest thing when you need to get around. So because of this they really don't see the city. They cant really say they know Saudi Arabia. This is when I realized how thankful i am to be part of a family here.
Ahmoon and Mansour have really taken us in. I am so grateful. They are the reason we have done so much here, and if it wasn't there idea in the first place they make life easier as our own "native guides." Any way I'll get to them when I make it to the correct part of the week.
The day after our dinner at Miriam's was National Day at the US Embassy. I didn't realize until the dinner that it was essentially a fourth of july celebration, in March (31) because it is far too hot in July for anyone to be outside. It was amazing! There was huge replicas of the Statue of Liberty and the Liberty Bell and all the hot dogs, hamburgers and french fries you could eat. It was really great to see the large amount of Saudis there and how many were celebrating ( and astonishingly drinking?!?) Everyone was sans abaya so some of the man may not have known what to do with themselves haha. Actually specifically the guy who followed me around the whole night waiting to catch my eye and raise his eyebrows and smile, it was very bizarre. Hw stood within 20 feet of me the whole night. Like a good saudi girl I averted my eyes. ha ha. Then we met the loud and proud OBGYN's who proposed marriage to miriam and a dowery of camels and before leaving said, "Tonight I wish we could make baby." hahahahahah. They asked how old I was and when I replied they were astounded, they thought I was 13 or 14. That was fine with me, it saved me from turning down a proposal. Although they did tell me that i was going to have good dreams about them tonight... ew? So despite some semi-creepy drunk saudi men the party was very fun.
The next day we went to Khobar.

late night up date

What a whirl wind today was not to mention this entire week. I am here in an amazing hotel in Khobar, KSA it is 2:50 Am right now and our friends only left about 45 minutes ago. It is a late night culture here, but right now all I can think about is the 5 star bed behind me. I want to have a good nights rest on it because mine at home is like sleeping on the tile floor (which i actually tried one night because I thought it would be better). I want to write about all that has happened this week and all the fun that is planned for this weekend but I need some sleep. So Insha'Allah I will wake up tomorrow morning with enough time to update on the happenings in Saudi.

I will make a little list to remind myself:
--Edge of the World
--Dinner at Miriam's
--US Embassy National Day (4th of July)
--Trip to Khobar
--Plans in Khobar

Reflections on the days past.

right now i am sitting outside on the patio. I have hung the laundry up to dry in the heat and it will probably only take about 4 minutes because it is so dry. I have taken a break from chemistry online because i cannot get the work book to open. putting thing off that aren't working... not such a good philosophy buuut the laundry needed to be taken outside and now the sun and prayer calls were too inviting.

Five times a day the speakers around town blast melodious voices from the top of their mosque towers. I don't know why but i am called by these voices. i don't consider myself spiritual but i am almost entranced by these words i cannot even understand. Five times a day I come out to our patio and swing on the bench with my eyes closed. Sometimes imagining what the voices are really saying; other times just to be lulled by the passion in their voices.
So here i am. stripped down to shorts, a tank top and my computer. content to be in the sun.
Mom is inside sleeping on the couch.

So, reflections on this week. It has now officially been a week and two days that I have been in Riyadh and I am still filled with the same enthusiasm I had when I arrived here. Everyday seems a new beginning. The first day we arrived we were surprisingly rested from our 14 hour flight. the Dulles Airport was the beginning of this journey. It was apparent where we were going the minute we stepped on to our gate. Women were covered and silently holding their cooing babies. Men were dressed in norma wardrobe seated next to their cloaked wives as protectors. I showed up uncovered and felt the eyes on me from behind the black vail. Quickly mom and I both put on head coverings but I felt even more awkward that everyone had already seen my true identity. Uncovered. Then covered again for their sake.
Aboard the flight mom and I sat in consecutive rows with three whole seats to ourselves so we could stretch out and sleep.

The feeling of walking off the plane and into a completely new world is really indescribable. There were no bearings in the airport. Nothing familiar. The world had suddenly become black and white quite literally. After making it through customs and heaving both mom and my 70 pound bag around I was ready to find Dad. Coming out of the terminal was quite the same feeling as coming off the plane. We cam through the glass doors and there were hundreds of men in white staring; looking through your black veil to see if they could recognize your eyes. I had been told to look away from men so it was disconcerting to be so on show, let alone be one of the few with an entire face showing. I saw Dad but he did not see me. He looked right into the stream of clack fabric; I can imagine how we all looked the same.

We had flown into Riyadh on the side of the plane where all we saw was desert. No city with a population of 5 million; nothing but sand. So driving into the city was where things began to settle and sink. For some reason I haven't really had any culture shock. Maybe it was because I read and studied a lot about saudi arabia before we came, or maybe it was because I had gotten so used to the idea in our two month transit period of waiting for everything to get settled so we could leave. Being here just didn't really seem that different.
I immediately felt at home.

I am going to skip over the sight seeing, the interesting cab rides and the Malls for know so I can write about this weekend while it is fresh in my brain.

The weekend here is Thursday and Friday. So our Friday night is actually Wednesday night. After Dad came home from work we ate dinner and watched a bit of T.V until the 5:30 and 7:30 prayers were over because you cant really get anything done between them and everything closes uo for a about 40 minutes while they are going on. So around 8 we left to go explore with the idea of the Kingdom tower. We grabbed the first taxi we saw and this time he did not speak english. So with the plans to go to the tower we headed out. Passed a new mall we had never seen and plans changed. Instead we went to the Riyadh gallery. A beautiful mall with a man made river running through it and real stuffed animals around the scene. It is a night culture here. Where people stay out until 3 or 4 in the morning with their friends. There is not really any reason for their parents to worry because there is absolutely no drugs or alcohol in the country. Before we knew it it was midnight. After browsing through the shops having a second dinner and going to the grocery store we were ready for bed. The next day was centered around the dinner planned between Dad and a few co-workers and their families at a traditional Saudi Restaurant. Dad and I went to explore for a little while before the dinner and went to a mall and the bottom of the Fisalia tower; malls malls malls that is the favorite pass time here. so there are always lots of people there . But then it was time to come back to the House to get ready for dinner; I was excited at the prospect of getting to meet some of the co-workers families and hopefully kids!

the best

Today.. or rather this weekend has been the best ever. I am too tired to write much more but i will leave a teaser... Today was filled with many new exciting experiences: A real saudi family, camels, a new traditional souq, 4-wheeling in the desert, not bland food! and horse-back riding....! All in one day...

Letter To my teacher:

I am having a GREAT time! I really really like it here! Although there are many differences here that make it blatantly apparent that i am in a very foreign country I actually feel as though it is not that strange and that I fit in pretty well. I'll fill you in on what I have been doing: I spent three days in DC staying with my brother and Sister and while there I got to take advantage of the Smithsonian Museums. I spent time at the National Museum of American History which was great! ( My favorite exhibit was the huge room of past first ladies inaugural ball gowns, so cool! Also There was a very interesting show on all the presidents and their significance. Oh AND I saw the ruby red slippers from The Wizard Of OZ annnnnnnnd Mohammed Ali's boxing gloves!) Thennnnnnnn we went to the National Museum of the American Indian which was really cool and had GREAT food. he he he. Last but not least we went to the new NEWSEUM which is the coolest museum ever all about reporting and media of the past and today; we didn't get much time there so I am going to go again on the trip home in May! So all that excitement was JUST in America.
Here in Saudi things have been great, the compound I live in is very safe but not too Americanized which is very cool. Yesterday We took a taxi ride all around town to look around and also go grocery shopping; the grocery store (Tamimi) is actually a Safeway which is interesting; and strangely enough is located at the end of one of the biggest malls I have ever been in. (Although you cannot see what any women are wearing under the abaya judging by all the clothing stores in the mall they look GOOD.) welllllllllll I think you got more info than you needed but as you can probably tell I am very excited and having a lot of fun.