Halawa Food Experiment of the Day

I've seen this on occasion around but never in force like here. Halawa seems to come in all varieties so of course I decided halawa with chocolate was a good way to test it out.

Not having a clue what it was puts one at a disadvantage for sure. (I once served mango sticky rice as a dinner rice dish to guests in Singapore. Later I learned it only shows up on menus at a restaurant in the dessert section. Oops. My kids should have been saying, "THANK YOU MOM!") the halawa packages show it spread on bread and also cut into slices and served like a cake with tea. The whole thing was under $5 USD and about the size of a hockey puck in cake form. Mine was the size of a 8 oz cream cheese block. 

I expected to spread it on bread so took a knife and a loaf of bread to the table. Nope. It is a big chunk and way too dry to spread. The taste is very nutty and consistency of those orange fluffy marshmallow like peanut candy. 

Abaya Shopping

Vanessa and I decided to venture out again and try to upgrade our abayas. We had some trouble finding the Mustafa style dollar store shop the weekend before but eventually got and it was supposed to be across the street and two doors down. We found it just where it was supposed to be and started browsing the shop.

Obviously everything is all black, long sleeves, to the floor so really you are looking only at fabric choice, embroidery, zippers vs snaps and you can have them put in pockets. I was lucky to be short. There was a wide selection of size 54 but Vanessa is tall and needs a 58. I think we found two in the whole shop. Luckily the guy can make anything you want so we both ordered new ones made with pretty stitching down the front and at the sleeves. They should be ready in two weeks.

The listed price was 280 SAR for the one on the rack but when he rang us up with all the accessories and ad ons we had made the bill was 170 SAR. Lesson gleaned? This is a negotiating country! I didn't realize an abaya shop would do that. Next time I'll ask at other shops too. 

So how do you get a custom order? You have to give the guy your measurements. And how does a male shop owner get a woman's measurements in Saudi Arabia? I didn't know either but he sure as heck doesn't take them himself! Lucky for us while we were there four of our neighbors who are veteran Saudi dwellers happened into the same shop as us and showed us the ropes. One fun gal is Muslim and wears the full cover including hair cover all the time even when she's in our compound. She was a blessing for sure. She took everyone's measurements for us and told the guy what we wanted. He would try to add length or shorten sleeves as he saw fit for and she'd ask us how we actually wanted it to fit and then tell him to make it how we wanted. Things I hadn't even thought of. My abaya is wide and has four to five extra inches of fabric on either side of my body. I hadn't even noticed. He was going to take off three inches. I was so glad we ran into the friends and she was able to help us. I'm hopeful when we show up next week we will get what we thought we were getting.

After we had that all squared away then I asked where I could get a full body length zipper to put in my current abaya because it won't stay closed with the three buttons it has. It flaps open all the way to my waist which is a major problem. If I wear even capris then my legs show when the wind blows the abaya around and it makes me nervous to climb in and out of a car.

We walked down the road and went into a shop or two but they only had fancy fabric. They told us where to go and we walked the other direction and my girlfriend got her butt cheek grabbed as we passed a man. Pervert. Proof the abaya doesn't exactly solve the issue. In any case they had loads of super long zippers but not a single one in black. Tons of white ones though. The shop owner was real nice though and helped me find more buttons to match the ones I already have and some cord that isn't black to match but would coordinate with the deep red so I can create button hole loops.

Another successful adventure complete.

First Sick Doctor Visit

Ashlyn has had a fever since Sunday. Normally three to four days of fever wouldn't phase me and we would just wait it out. Only problem was she seemed to be feeling worse and worse each day. I could tell on day two that she was achy because she whimpered when she had to move her limbs or if I had to carry her somewhere. So today, Wednesday morning, I decided to brave the new experience of visiting the doctor. Buoyed up with confidence and advice from others I went on my own and tried it out.

Overall I think it was pretty smooth. I did have trouble finding the Paediatric spot and how to check in but found someone to ask. Can I just say for the millionth time that speaking English is such a blessing. Even if everyone doesn't speak English someone always does in hospitals, airports and markets. So I found the female registration desk and paid 100 SAR ($26) up front for a paediatric consult and asked where to sit and wait.

I took a seat on the chairs. I thought it interesting that the women's waiting rikm was empty at first but then I noticed almost every single woman was accompanied by a man. Hmmm. I waited in the general area - which was just the hallway lined with chairs between the doctor office doors.

We sat for about 45 minutes or so waiting. My receipt said a doctor name and the door was open with no doctor. After about 30 minutes the lady doctor returned to her office and had a patient come in. While we waited our turn on the chairs a Saudi woman in full face cover abaya sent her teenaged son who was in an arm cast off and he returned with two snack sized bags of chips. He gave one to his little sister who was in a stroller and about the same age as Ashlyn. I wasn't paying close attention until she told him to go give one to Ashlyn. She took it hesitantly and I smiled at the woman and told her thank you. She nodded in return and I could see a smile in her eye even if her face was covered. Ashlyn enjoyed the puffy BBQ chips well enough but the taste and texture were a little foreign to her and eventually she wanted the pretzels I had brought. We got those out and she decided in her own to share with "my new friend" sitting in the stroller. The little girl looked at the pretzel and twisted it left and right. It was obviously not something she had before and she looked skeptical. Finally she ate it but her end reaction was akin to Ashlyn and the Saudi chips.

We were called into the doctors office and found out the doctor was a tall woman in a white abaya and beautiful head scarf with a bright yellow floral pattern (all medical women seem to have this dress). Her name was Dr Maha at Mousawat Hospital. She spoke great English and was quite personable. She wasn't overly concerned about what was going on and that made me happy since I did think it was time for a doctor to see Ashlyn but really it was sort of a dry run test of "How To" do the medical thing in Saudi. She noted her weight was low and asked about vitamin testing and I confirmed she'd need fully cleared in Singapore for all those concerns. She pointed out I was small so my kids might be too so I told her of my 4 kids I've got 3 little ones.

The end diagnosis was an upper respiratory infection. We walked out with 4 medications of course, just like Singapore. The pharmacy (the female line anyway) was ten steps down the hall so I got everything there for 45 SAR ($12 USD). The pharmacy gal put the sticker labels covering the English instruction and information side so I could read the Arabic. So helpful. Note to self - ask for sticker on other side next time.

Some good news is we have done the mix your own augmentin dozens of times the exact same bottle and the Panadol variety fever reducer is familiar also but next time I'll skip it because it's really just a Tylenol match and I like what I've got at the house. Glad to have a cough syrup for under 6 yr old again so that one made me smile. And nose drops. That's kiddie torture.

One thing that made me laugh was that I was advised, sweetly and gently, by the doctor to potty train. Yep. After we settle here in our routine it's on the agenda. Too much transition for August or September to add potty training to the list. She already lived without daddy since April, lost Gina in June, lived out of suitcases for 8-10 weeks moving houses every week, moved counties and houses, got her dad back in her life again and started her own school. As bad as I want it done it's enough to do for a little girl right now. 

Culture Perspective

Cleaning out my email inbox I found this Facebook exchange/discussion from July 2013. Seeing it again today made me ponder how our new location plays into the equation because I’m still in a cheap labor, caste system economy but living in a expat compound that counters that economy. Cultures are fascinating to me.

I think it may put me in the bad wife category that MY MAID reminded me that my wedding anniversary is in two days. I completely forgot. The good news? Brian appeared to be just as surprised as me when he saw it coming up on the calendar next week. We are pitiful. But still happily in love.

This is the reply from Angela Clayton that really puts life in perspective. Angela wrote: "I was reading in The Rational Optimist about this phenomenon. Asian cultures were built on the assumption of cheap labor but western cultures (specifically an offshoot of England) were built on using innovation and technology to eliminate the reliance on cheap labor. In the US or Australia, everything is built to be easier to do because you do it all yourself. In Asia it is the opposite. Low cost labor is cheaper than automation. Now that we are back in the states with no maid after two years of a live in, it is incredibly easy here. Costco is a far more efficient cook. Walmart is my domestic helper. And I have carpet that doesn't require daily mopping to look good. My washing machine is much bigger here and I can dry things in the dryer without having to empty the water out. I can put my dry cleaning on the porch in a bag and it will be picked up and returned to me. I have cold water and ice built right into the refrigerator door, and I have a second fridge to store even more things. Foods here in the US last a lot longer so I can shop less often. These conveniences make life far easier than having maid did."

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Cross Eyed Madison

Crazy day here at our house as you can see. This is a pic of Madison with her party favor after her bowling birthday bash today. She is a fun girl to have around!

Ashlyn's Fun

Today Ashlyn has me giggling over and over. The best few things after preschool pick up were:

Walking into the house and it smelling like something was burning. Just as I left I preheated the oven and hadn't used it in two days. The birthday cheesecake for Madison had apparently leaked juiciness out the bottom. I opened the oven and smoke poured out. She wouldn't stop asking questions. "What dat coming out?" "Why do you open da window mommy?" "You make the smoke mommy?" "Why you doing that?" (As I fan the fire alarm to ensure it doesn't go off.

Then the storage space on my phone is getting tight so I tried to empty it by deleting some apps. I have a Muslim prayer app I never used because I downloaded three and the send in one worked pretty well for my needs. When I opened the app for the first time it started doing the prayer call chant. She perked up, "The guy in OUR HOUSE! Time for prayers!" Then proceeded to chant her jibber jabber rhythmic chant right along with the app call to prayer.

And here she is waiting for me to scrub the oily cheesecake residue off the bottom of the drip pan and walking around the kitchen with slippers on her feet and oven mits on her feet.

Madison Mae is Eight!

The birthday was a good one. She chose cheesecake and I found awesome firecracker style candles. Her dinner request was French toast, hash browns, orange juice and scrambled eggs. I brought pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to her class along with Ashlyn (who has her own curb appeal in every elementary school classroom). Last night we took her to Chili's for a celebration dinner.

She got the board game Clue (English - Arabic version), Barbie doll and a hair highlighting kit that uses chalk. She's very excited over everything and we played Clue together this afternoon. She's very happy to be eight years old!