Girls Night Out

Last night I went on a 9 hour journey with a couple great girlfriends.  Anytime you head to Jeddah you need to plan at least 6 hours.  It takes about 1 hour to get there and then coming home was a little slower because we actually had rain!  The lightening storm was amazing!  Since women cannot drive in Jeddah, or outside of our place, we hired a driver to drive our car.  It was packed on the way home. 

Here is a picture of the beautiful scenery on the way down.  I wish I would have had a shot of the camels. 

I love our store that is comparable to a Home Depot.  It is called Saco and they have expanded.  The store now has a large camping section.  I had to buy a sleeping bag for Cameron and Bryan since next week they have a boy scout camp out at the beach.  I could not figure out why all the bags were made for really cold weather.  The boys will be sweaty!  

The most difficult part of going to Jeddah in the evening is prayer times.  We had to deal with a 5:40 prayer and a 7:10 prayer.  This time of the year the evening prayers are close together.  It centers around the setting of the sun.  All stores close so it is best to be in a car during these times.  It takes a lot of planning.  Jeddah gets busy once the final prayer is over.  The culture of the Middle East is to stay up really late.  I believe this is because of the heat during the day.  It can be really hard on the children when they attend school at 7:45 and didn't go to bed until 3 a.m.  I am told weddings start around midnight and food is served at 4 a.m.  I hope I get a chance to attend one of these events. 

This picture makes me laugh each time.  Someone is hired to blackout all women that are showing skin.  This is even done to an elf on the Keebler Graham Cracker's box.  I need to check out this elf when I get back to the US. 

The highlight of the night was our dinner.  It felt like we traveled to a different country.  The food was amazing!  It was a Thai, Japanese, Indonesian Infusion.  The staff was wonderful and we felt like Princesses.  It was called "The Bellevue".  I wanted to find out why it was named Bellevue.  It made me think of home. 

Mango Fish Salad

Andrea (Taiwan), Leona (Scotland), Amber (U.S.), and Gin (Canada).  We were a group of International Princesses! 

Chicken Cashew!  Yum! 

Our main destination was the fabric souk.  Most of the ladies in the group are crafty and like to sew.  Not me but I had fun wandering around.  It is amazing the looks we get while walking in a Souk.  Western women without a male escort!  Western women without their hair covered!  Many times I will cover my hair when at a souk, but last night it did not feel necessary.  It was a relaxing, family atmosphere.  I think the lightening in the background kept the attention off of us ladies. I really wanted to get some pictures of the souk but didn't think it was appropriate.  It would be better if Bryan took the pictures, so next time I will drag him along. 

Walking into the Souk.  It is like a carnival.  Rides for the kids and vendors selling food.  

 Speaking of Princesses.  I cannot leave my blog without showing you the little Princess of our house.  Yala is growing and turning into such a fun addition to our family here.  She has a little bit of Arabian Street Cat, so we have some rough spots, but for most of the time she is a sweet kitty.  She has attached herself to Carter.  She sleeps with him every night and attacks him during the day. Yes, I am a crazy cat lady! 

She is getting a little too big for this toy.

Reality T.V. Show

I keep making a plan to blog each weekend and then life just seems to get crazy.  It helps when I receive messages from my friends at home that they would like an update on what is happening.  I need encouragement!

I am sure many of you are watching the news and it probably isn't real positive about things in this part of the world.  I am choosing to not watch most of the news and just live in my own fantasy.  I think it is healthier that way and personally I wouldn't travel back to the U.S. if I watched what is reported about that area of the world.  Our Embassy keeps us updated and that is how I keep track of the situation in the Middle East.  Do not worry about us.  We are safe and life is great here.

Now, for the Reality T.V. Show.  I sometimes wonder if we are in a reality t.v. show.  We live a life in a 14 square mile city that has just about everything we need.  We rarely have to leave our place but we do because we get the urge to explore.  The majority of people that live here are very positive and friendly, in fact , that is something that is taken very seriously when one is hired.  It would be miserable here if everyone was cranky and negative!

Last week we had a situation that tested all of our personalities.  The desalination plant had a leak in a pipe under the Red Sea.  Since we live in the middle of the desert all of our water must come from the Red Sea.   Being able to work on the major pipe under water is quite a challenge.  We went without water for about 5 days.  We couldn't flush toilets, bath, or wash dishes.  It is amazing how much water our family uses in one day.  The spirit of this community was amazing!  Water was brought in from all over the country and volunteers delivered it to our doorstep each day/night.  We would wake up in the morning to huge boxes on our doorstep.  So many people pulled together to make this happen.  Around day 3 huge water trucks came in and pumped water to each home.  We were then given a few hours each day to flush toilets and wash.  School was cancelled for 3 days, which made the boys quite happy!

It is so nice to know that we live in a place that cares so much for us.  So, at times I do feel like my life is a Reality T.V. show.  Maybe that episode was titled "Water Crisis In The Desert."  I am sure it would have been a good viewing but pretty boring since everyone was so happy and helpful.

The only real, somewhat, cranky person was Bryan.  However, Bryan's crankiness is quite different from the norm. He threw his back out teeing off on hole 2.  He didn't drop out until hole 8!  Therefore, he was quite useless during the water crisis.  He could barely walk around the house so spent much of his time inside!  I guess he would have been the one eliminated.