Happy Thanksgiving, Teacher!

First of all, the months of November and December make up my favorite time of year. This year all of the normal sights, sounds, and sensations of Thanksgiving and Christmas are no longer surrounding me. However, I have experienced a lot of the holiday season already through Face Time...how grateful I am for technology (when it works!).

On Thursday, the last day of the work week here in KSA, I walked into my morning class like every other day. As I set my bag down and began pulling out the attendance sheet, one of my students said, "Happy Thanksgiving, Teacher!" I was so surprised, but so happy to hear this greeting from a student in a place where the outside world is usually forbidden, unknown, or both. What a joy to start my day! I then asked the class if they knew about Thanksgiving. Most of them nodded slightly, knowing they had heard the term somewhere, so I briefly explained the concept of the holiday in the USA. It's always a joy to share part of myself with students who are curious to know.

Even though my parents are spending a month in Alabama, I still am able to visit the compound on weekends, and so I can weekly escape what I have come to call, "my box," fondly referring to my apartment, of course. Open windows and long walks are something I look forward to every Thursday!

Thanksgiving here is like any other day, but on the compound, the few Americans (who are almost all from Texas), celebrate together. Some of my parents' friends invited me over on Friday to eat and spend time with them, and it was a blast. The food was delicious, and the company was both entertaining and comforting - how nice to be eating Murican food with Murican people. It really was a gift. :)






We all have so much to be thankful for.

- Courtney

Relocation, relocation, relocation.

Well guys, I moved!

Me in my new place!

Long story short is living on a compound is very expensive, and the housing allowance from my company no longer covers it. That means that we are out on the town! All of the teachers (there are about seven of us) are now living out in the city just like locals. It is closer to the school, but we are now subject to all of the rules and regulations that apply to Saudis. Whenever I walk out of my apartment, I have to be wearing my abaya (robe). No gym, no mini market - however, our driver Khalid is wonderful and lives close by, so he'll take us where we need to go. The freedom of the compound and easy access to the gym are definitely something I'll miss, but I can adjust.

The transition was no piece of cake - finding a place, weighing pros and cons, and moving in - none of which went smoothly. I've had a couple meltdowns along the way. However, we are here now and working out the issues! One day at a time. I feel blessed to have people helping me and being with me through this transition, and I'm starting to make my new apartment feel like home, even though when I first got here I had no idea where to start.

We rented the apartments unfurnished (meaning no A/C, no furniture, no appliances). So it has definitely been a lot of work getting everything together. I appreciate our driver Khalid so much, and of course my mom and dad (Mr. Fix-it)!

Here are some photos to illustrate...I am not posting the ones from when we first saw the place. Not worth seeing, as the apartments were still under construction. Now, they are "finished," but I remember my dad's first comment when we walked into what would be my new bedroom: "This room isn't...square." And it's true! Nothing is square or level or neatly done (paint on the tile and door frames, etc.), but it is inhabitable now, and I'm so much more grateful for things that I usually take for granted!

Outside our building (it's the one on the left)

Cool front door - there's a plus! The stairs go up to our hallway, where there is another locked door (so we basically have one whole floor of the building, which is three apartments).

The Eastern version of a shower is just a shower head mounted on the wall. Bathrooms here are "wet rooms." We were lucky to get more than a hole in the floor though! Very thankful. Always having flip flops/shower shoes and a squeegee in the bathroom is very necessary. No more bath mats!

This is my storage closet off the main hallway in my apartment. It has no ceiling. Looks like a prison on one hand, but it's also kinda cool, especially during the winter with the breeze.

I may have a roommate soon, and her bedroom/bathroom is separate from mine. We also got a washer/dryer that is all one machine!! So crazy. You put your clothes in, add detergent, configure the settings, then push start, and the clothes come out dry! I may have to separate clothes a lot more than I used to, but it's exciting! The machines are made in Korea.

My kitchen from the living/dining area

My room! A work in progress.

The living/dining area with a tiny tiny window. Carpet to come.

So that's my major update! What a crazy week and a half it has been, but I'm starting to make it feel more like home here, and it's just temporary.



With a thankful heart,

Courtney

Day to Day

Once you settle into a new place, life is life, and people are people. Living on a compound here really does give me comfort and convenience for day to day things like working out, getting groceries, and doing laundry. All of those things are a short walk away from my villa.

The work week is Sunday through Thursday (recently changed from the previous Saturday through Wednesday work week). This still adheres to the Islamic calendar, while giving more opportunities to businesses that operate internationally. Not much work gets done between different time zones if the shared work week is only a couple days.

During the week it's nice to have set times to go to and leave work. That way, when I'm home, I'm free to do extra class prep if I want, but otherwise I just relax and get things done around the house. On weekends it's nice to go out and shop, eat and spend time with people.

Me and Mom out on the town!

Shaorma - chicken, french fries, sauce, and a pickle wrapped in Arabic bread. Delicious.

Spices being sold at the markets in town. Those are cinnamon sticks on the right!!

I'm a rebel. Therefore the loose fitting, non-black scarf. Only women from other countries wear colors other than black. I've been told that this obsession with black isn't technically a rule; it's just the cultural expectation. 99% of Saudi women (at least where I live) cover their faces in public, and at least half of them veil even their eyes. The only place that's an exception to that would be the more multicultural city of Jeddah. Most western women just wear an abaya (the robe) and bring a scarf along in case the religious police make a fuss, but I usually feel more comfortable and more respectful of the culture and of the other women if I cover my head. So it's a personal decision - it's not enforced for non-Saudi women in most parts of KSA.

I'm really grateful to be working hard, but also enjoying this whole new world! There is so much more I could write about, but trust me that this life is equally challenging and rewarding.

- Courtney

5 Minutes

(My jeans peeking out from under my abaya)

As I began setting the clocks in my villa, and as I also started checking both my Saudi cell phone and my American smart phone for the time, at first I thought it was me. Then, I thought maybe the battery in my watch had died...but I just replaced it, so that couldn't be. Finally, I checked my two phones at the same time, and noticed that they were a little less than 5 minutes different. I was a little shocked, but again, I thought it was just my phone.

It wasn't.

The clocks here actually are 5 minutes behind the time that it says on smart phones and computers. At the school where I teach, every hall clock says something different. That means that on my computer I have one time, on my watch I have another, and walking down the hall to my class, I see yet another time.

There isn't anything I can do about it - and I've noticed that conveniently, the students expect me to go by the US clocks (5 minutes earlier) in the mornings, and by the Saudi clocks (5 minutes later) in the afternoons. That way, we can all be 5 minutes late to class in the morning, and leave 5 minutes early at the end of the day. I'm not even sure if this was ever a conscious decision - although it does make me wonder if a Saudi prince somewhere changed the clocks just for kicks - but it really does reflect a completely different attitude towards time.

In five minutes, a lot can happen.

In five minutes, I can pack a lunch for the day.

In five minutes, I can put my hair up into a ponytail and brush my teeth.

In five minutes, I can gather class materials and take them to my classroom.

In five minutes, we can recap the day's lesson.

In five minutes, I can take a deep breath, put in my headphones, and listen to a song to refresh.

In five minutes, I can make a cup of coffee.

In five minutes, I can copy handouts for class.

...and the list goes on.

In the American mindset, five minutes difference represents lost time, and therefore lost productivity. But here, it doesn't seem to matter. No one really seems to care about it. At first it was driving me crazy, and just for my own sanity I had to choose which clock I was going to go with... now, I'm working on a balance.

Honestly, it reminds me that "time" is something people came up with...even Ancient Egyptians had time telling devices and sun-based calendars. Then in our times came GPS and atomic clocks. My experiences here so far have made me re-think many things, including my perception of time and the priority it has in my life.




- Courtney

Smooth Sailing

Today actually felt like vacation! It was a beautiful, warm, peaceful, sunny day. We went to Half Moon Bay on the Arabian Gulf and spent the day on the beach at the private yacht club there (sounds fancy, but we are just blessed with friends who are members and are willing to take us). We went sailing, had a nice lunch, and saw some dolphins! 

Because the beach is private, we can wear whatever we wanted, and it was peaceful and clean. The workers there were really helpful, and it felt like the beach was ours. I also learned a little bit about how to sail! It was amazing, and it's harder than it looks, y'all. The conditions can change in an instant, and you have to be so connected to the boat, the waves, and the wind. It was such a fun adventure! In the picture below, I'm on the sailboat on the far right with our friend and skipper/sailboat master ;)

Below is just a shot of the yacht club logo. 

Below is the comfy waiting area at the restaurant a little ways from where we were sailing! The food was delicious, especially after being in the sun and salty water all day. The water was so salty and rich in minerals that it left a thin coat of salt on my skin and clothes! I had never been in water quite like that before. I never appreciated fresh water more than I did when washing my hair at home today.

Me and my parents, representing Bama! 

:)

And here are a few more shots of the sailboat and the beautiful scenery there. 

I wish the picture below could capture how close we actually were to the dolphins, but you just had to be there. It was an incredible experience for me! On the sailboat, the dolphins would play in the water right in front or next to us as we sailed, and they were almost close enough to touch. As we waded in the surf (which is really calm water...hardly any waves), the dolphins were playing and swimming around in the shallow water about ten meters in front of us. What a beautiful sight.

I'm so grateful for today! It was a lovely experience in every way. The freedom of walking barefoot along the beach, learning a new skill, and being around such beautiful nature was all such a blessing!  

Courtney

Holidays in Saudi

An observation about holidays: to the people of this culture, the holidays or "Eid's" are religiously significant and socially exciting days, but to me it's just another day. The same goes for spending holidays like Christmas here - to the people here, it's a normal day - but to me it's one of the most meaningful days of the year. All this got me thinking. What is a holiday, anyways? It's a day that we look forward to. It is full of memories (both happy and painful ones), so it makes us extremely nostalgic, extremely depressed, or some of both. It's a time to spend together with the people we love. There are traditions, special foods, beautiful smells, and joy. This is true of every important holiday I know, whether in the U.S.A. or anywhere else.

For this Eid AlAdha, the festival of sacrifice in Islam, which celebrates the faith of Abraham and commemorates the end of the Islamic Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, I enjoyed observing the celebrations around me. There is food, dancing, and more food. Speaking of the food, I also felt very sorry for all of those poor sheep that were slaughtered. It's very similar to how I feel for turkeys on Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. Me and my parents were driving home on the Eid, and we saw a truck driving next to us with several sheep in the back. My mom so sensitively observed, "They're going to their deaths!" And my dad responded, "Well, at least they don't have to walk."

Tonight there is a festival for the families on the compound, and I'm looking forward to having a feeling of community. It can get a little desolate here during holidays because most people take the time to travel and leave the country for a little while.

One thing I respect about Saudi holidays is that they know how to take a vacation. When they have time off, it's off. No thoughts of work or the responsibilities that await them at the office. In the U.S. I think we have forgotten how to slow down and set work aside. Although the work ethic here may not be what I'm used to in the U.S., there is definitely something we can learn from the perspective of having a higher priority of living and enjoying life. From being in a completely new extreme, I think I'm beginning to see into a balance of the cultures.


Eid Mubarak! Kul 3am wa entum ba5eir. (Happy Eid and best wishes for the year!)

 !كل عام و انتم بخير...عيد اضحى مبارك

Courtney

Safe and Sound

I just wanted to take today to remember that even though life may not always be pleasant and convenient, and even though adjusting to a new place has its hardships, for today I have my family and my safety, and I'm so grateful for that.

Look at this area of the world. Search any news site or channel, and many of these names will come up frequently. (Warning - soap box ahead - A note to reading news: check multiple sources, cross reference facts, and try not to read too many things that you already agree with...challenge yourself to be balanced in your perspective. There's a lot of propaganda out there. I'm still learning how to be a smart researcher. - soap box over -)

So here I am! I feel so privileged to be here, and I am realizing more every day how few people see into this window of the world. It's going to be a very challenging year, but I'm excited to learn, to grow, and to see what comes of it.

I hope everyone is having a good week so far!

With love from KSA,

- Courtney