Worst Printer Ever

We got our igamas this week. That is the resident pass that allows us to live here in Saudi Arabia. I am not sure I have ever had such a awful picture as this. In second place is definatly my Singapore American School pass.  My head was squashed like a pancake. This Saudi one though has me with the worst case of acne I have ever had.

Broccoli Ban

Broccoli may have to be banned from the house while we are here in Saudi Arabia. This lovely thing cost me $6.19 USD. This cheesy potato chowder recipe better be amazing because it just got very expensive to make!

Violin Lessons Via Skype

Madison had her first violin lesson via Skype today. It was awesome! The teacher is dynamic and fun. She had games to improve her form and sent me links for tips and lyrics for the Suzuki method to help her get the tunes stuck in her head.

There wasn't anything technically wrong with Ms. Helen in Singapore but I just had no idea what was going on because I was not allowed in the room with them during lessons and she wasn't responsive when I asked questions. I think this new plan is going to work out fantastically!

Here is how we I originally set up the iPad  wedged into the camera tripod to support it because Brian said the webcam wasn't working and I needed something I could point and aim down to let the teacher see her fingering and position.

It was awesome. But after seeing my sweet set up Brian decided to save the iPad from imminent death after a fall and figured out how to fix the webcam before the lesson began so we were legit with the teacher on the big screen. I think the only bummer is the timing puts her lesson at 5:30-6:30 pm on Thursday night which is our end of the week "Friday night" here in Saudi. So I guess we're giving up date night for violin.

Growing Too Fast

Ashlyn is growing up too fast and I miss the squishy little bodies and babies in my arms. Tonight she was happy and I wanted to cuddle with her so after we brushed her teeth I threw her in my bed to lay for a bit until she relaxed. She pooped her head up immediately and said she needed her doll Harry and binkies. So her little feet pitter pattered down the hallway. After a long while she returned running again. I hoisted her up into my bed with no binkies at all but Harry clutched tight. When she laid down she began pulling binkie after binkie out of Harry's pants. She had six in there. She's too cute for words. 

Abaya Good and Bad this Week

 

I wasn't looking forward to wearing an abaya. I knew it wouldn't be the end of the world but what I was most dreading was covering my head. Now that I don't need to do that I'm pretty okay with it. In fact I often forget I'm wearing it at all. I was in the kids school the other day for 20 minutes before I noticed I was the only one still dressed in all black. The head scarf on my neck does make me particularly hot, but these wild 110 degree F/44 degree C days should be over in a month or so.

The abaya has been a two edged sword so far.

The Bad
We hadn't gone anywhere or done anything since we moved here and were heading to the mall shopping one day. I thought, "I've done the ironing and I have a few nice shirts ready to go. I feel like looking nicer than old gym clothes today. I'll dress up." I got on some earrings and cute shorts. Then I realized it was a total waste of my ironing to wear it that day. We were heading into public which means I would have to be covered the entire day. I would just sweat and wrinkle it all up. So I threw on a t-shirt and long pants and off we went. The abaya has completely destroyed any internal drive to try to look good or pick out a nice outfit. And if you know me, that desire was often low anyway.

The Good
We had been told the kids will love some of the local food here called shwarmas. Fresh off the boat newbies that we are we decided to give it a go. We called the driver and went to the only place we had noticed where we could probably get some because it had in enormous letters on the side of the building that said "SHWARMA." Pretty safe bet. We went in the family entrance and it was pretty apparent it was a much nicer place than we had bargained for. Luckily Brian was still in a nice button up shirt and slacks from work. The kids were in t-shirts and such but kids sort of get a pass all the time anyway. I however had a neon orange running shirt and super old shorts I had nabbed from someone's salvation army donation box 10 years ago...BUT I also had an abaya. So no one was the wiser I was woefully underdressed for a fancy pants restaurant like that. Plus, families eat in booths and draw a curtain so you are fully isolated from the world. Score one for the abaya!

Burkas, Abayas, Hijabs and My Learning Curve

First things first. When people asked about us moving to the Middle East they wonder if I will have to wear a burka. Turns out I didn't know much about Islamic dress code. For the sake of a quick conversation I just say "Yes except the face part." But the truth is I don't have to wear a burka (burqa). A burqa is a full body, head to toe, wrist to wrist covering, generally in black. The face is even fully covered with a thick cloth that works like a one way mirror where the woman can see out but you cannot see in. I do NOT have to wear that.

I wear an abaya. It is basically an all black, very long, flowy dress. It covers from the neck to the floor and to my wrists. It should not reveal the form of a woman so they are all very loose. The abaya the company gave me at the airport when I arrived has a small amount of pretty deep red embroidery on it and a few sequins. I must also carry with me a black head scarf at all times which I drape over my shoulders. I am told that I live in a more liberal part of Saudi so I don't need to cover my hair but if the religious police ever approach me and ask me to cover I need to be ready. It doesn't happen often but it does happen. Mine doesn't close properly in front so below the knee my leg shows. I need to get a zipper to make it properly or maybe a few more buttons but for now I just wear long pants until I can find a tailor or a fabric store.

Other pieces of the Islamic wardrobe are the hijab which we saw day in and day out in Singapore. I had many friends who wore this. In fact many people work the abaya in Singapore but in beautiful colors and patterns.

I told Brian last spring as we anticipated coming here that I could process the idea of covering up much more easily if they would just let me wear pretty prints and colors because the Singaporean women had some gorgeous things I would have loved to buy. In retrospect it's probably best for me to have an all black abaya selection. Otherwise I would amass a whole wardrobe of "pretty" abayas and hijabs that I would never be able to use anywhere else.

From .com to .sg to .fr

I saw this ning that my blog "suffix" if you can call it that has changed again. When I blogged from the US my address was zufeltzoo.BlogSpot.com. After a while we moved to Singapore and maybe a year after we arrived there my blog address shifted itself to zufeltzoo.BlogSpot.sg. Well, this morning I logged in and was surprised to see we are now .fr and I'm wondering if I'm in France? I find it incredibly interesting how the internet and computer algorithms that send targeted marketing ads to you and all of that work. Big Brother is everywhere now.