When it Cools Off......

So I have found that in the past 2 months I have developed a new motto: "when it cools off".  This pertains to many aspects of our life.  But before I get more into that let me give you some background information.  I grew up in humid south Louisiana, south Texas, and I spent several college summers in Oklahoma.  Hot was a normal aspect of my life.  However, NONE of those places are as hot or even as humid as it is here in Saudi.  Yes, it is a desert but we are on the coast and the humidity is some of the most I have ever experienced.  The other day here was the weather information:

CAUTION! 

 

We are currently showing LEVEL-4 conditions at the Operations buildings! 

 

PLEASE see Information below and PLEASE follow the guidelines and pay close attention to your signs and symptoms.

 

@ 11:00 AM

 

45.1C + 43.3% = 62.7C Index (144.86F)

 

So this means that the temp was 45.1 degrees Celcius which is 113.18 fahrenheit plus 43.3% humidity!

The second you walk out the door your sunglasses and camera lenses fog up, your entire body gets sticky wet, Gizmo's leash gets condensation, and sometimes my flip flops even become slippery.  Micah even spends almost his entire day working outside in this heat. Now I say all this just to get to my main point...my new motto.  Again, I find myself often saying the phrase "when it cools off..."  So here it goes:

 

When it Cools Off I(we) will...

-start running outside again

-walk Gizmo more often and for longer periods of time

-go to the beach more often (yes, even the ocean is hot)

-take walks at night with Micah

-explore the Souqs in Khobar more (open air markets)

-sit outside and read a book

-grill

-explore old Jubail 

-play tennis 

-go outside and take some more pictures (I need to do this now to practice)

Although I say this in a complaining mannor, I have adjusted well.  I still go out often, walk to other peoples homes, shop, and spend days by the pool.  However, when you think your hot in the States just think of me and Micah and it will make you feel better :)

Ramadan

We are well into the month of Ramadan here in the Magic Kingdom.  It started on August 11 and lasts until September 9.  Just as I was getting used to everything, Ramadan changes it all.  Here are some interesting facts about Ramadan for those of you who are wondering what the heck I'm talking about:


-starts in the 9th month of the Hijri calendar at the spotting of the new moon
-it is one of the 5 pillars of Islam
-special month of fasting, repentance, increased prayer, increased charity
-muslims fast from day break to sunset; this includes water, gum, cigarettes...anything that touches the mouth
-there are a few exempt: pregnant women, children under 10, elderly, sick


These are just a few of the basics of Ramadan.  There are many activities that go along with it as well.  At sunset after the prayer around 6pm Muslims have an "Iftar" party which is arabic for breaking fast. It is at this time of day that you do NOT want to be on the roads!  They drive like crazy on a normal basis and when you add no food or drink all day and that they are headed to a party the craziness triples.  


What does this mean for us?  We are not allowed to eat or drink in public during the day which makes long shopping trips a little more difficult.  It's hard to go all the way to Khobar and not be able to take a lunch break at a restaurant.  Also, all of the store hours have changed.  The average times are now open around 12:00pm and stay open until 5:00pm.  Then the workers get a break for Iftar and the stores open back up around 8:00pm and stay open until 2-3 am!  


Once Ramadan is over the muslims have a celebration time called the "Eid".  They typically have a huge Eid-ul Fitr which is a feast to mark the end of Ramadan.  I can't wait for the feast!

Changes

Wow!  Our lives in the Magic Kingdom have changed drastically in the past couple of weeks.  For my first few weeks here I spent many nights feeding all the lonely single men.  When we would do things on the compound it was all quiet and almost lonely.  No kids running around screaming, no one at the pool or beach.  Now there are people everywhere and we love it.  In the past couple of weeks and large group of girls/families our age have arrived, and of course I was SOOO excited to have the Perry's here.  Lately we have been hanging out with 4 other couples all basically our age.  Two of the couples, including the Perry's, have 2 year olds which adds a whole new dynamic for those of us with no kids.  So far we have taken turns cooking for each other, spent evenings and days at the pool or beach, and even played a few games of Settlers of Catan.  We are also very lucky that all of our new found friends really like dogs and Gizmo even gets invited to the dinner parties. He loves not always being left at home.  Here are a few pictures from our fun times with our new friends. 

Settlers of Catan

Some intense games of Catan

Micah, Dan, Brent, Laura, and Heather

Playtime at the Pool

Laura, Heather, Cherie, Lindsey, Me

Boys having a biggest splash competition

Gavin

Tucker

Dinner with Friends

Heather, Dan, Brent, Micah, Laura

Home Sweet Home

AT LAST! I finally feel like our apartment is home.  After a couple hours on video skype with Mom telling me what to put where and how to move stuff around, my apartment is decorated. Even living across the world doesn't stop me from forcing my mom to help me decorate.  Gotta love Skype.  Here are a few before and after pictures.  
Dinning Room:

Dinning room nook:

There is no before because it didn't exist before.

Living Room:

Entry:

Bedroom:

Home Sweet Home

Bahrain again....Girl style

Last week I decided I needed a girl trip to Bahrain so that we could spend all of our time doing girly things.  For this adventure I drug along 3 other ladies: Laura, Jackie, and Nikki.   We hoped in the car early Monday morning and headed straight for Bahrain.  The first stop was the rental car company where somehow I was nominated as driver.  Now, I have been to Bahrain quite a few times before this and my parents had offered to let me drive.  Never once was I brave enough but this time I had to step up to the challenge.  

Once we had the car and dropped off our stuff we headed out for some shopping.  I was able to stop at some of my favorite shops that Mom and Dad used to take me to.  However, it was one of the hottest days  (all days are hot) and I didn't last long with the outdoor type shopping.  We decided to head to our lunch date a little early to cool off and get some drinks.  A few other ladies met us at CoCo's for a fabulous lunch. 

After lunch we attempted to find a hardware store called Manazels.  Needless to say "Jane" the GPS led us astray.  We ended up in some crazy back alley ways in Bahraini neighborhoods.  I'm pretty sure they weren't expat neighborhoods either.  Along with the scenery many of the little roads were only big enough for one car which led to some interesting driving maneuvers.  Jackie has the pictures from this part and even a video.  If I get them from her I will add them to the post....

We finally admitted defeat to finding Manazels and headed to the camel farm! They were tied up and we felt so bad for them.  Camels can also crane their necks in some crazy ways. 

We went to a place called Delmon Pottery where I think we all bought some form of pottery. The guy that owns the place does all of his own baking and hand painting.  Of course we have to come back to pick up our purchase. 

Another stop we made was to the Grand Mosque of Bahrain.  They were having a public seminar that day so our tour was a little restricted.  We also had to put our abayas on and cover our hair.  The inside was very beautiful.  Notice the picture of the seminar.... The men are on one side and then separated by a large wooden partition were the women.  Funnily enough the seminar was on gender equality. Also notice the little boy on the floor in our group picture.... He was from NYC. 

Now back to our lunch at CoCo's.... Some of the ladies there were talking about "The mustache man".   Apparently he is this older man with a crazy mustache like a Texas longhorn and he walks around the Bahrain City Center mall.  We were told that he charges people to take a picture with him.  Well low and behold who did we see during our trip to the mall.....THE MUSTACHE MAN!   I saw him first and was cracking up.  It took the other girls some time to figure out why I was smirking.   Then we followed behind him for a little ways watching peoples reactions as they walked by.  It was highly entertaining.  In the picture, check out the guy with the cane and the luggage.  Now look right about his shoulders and you will see the mustache sticking out. 

For most of the time we drove around, shopped, ate, and even watched a movie.  We had a great time.  Also, thanks to Lori for giving us a place to stay.  

Unpacking

Our sea shipment finally arrived.  It was a great day here in the Sperling house but also a very very busy day.  The movers showed up on Thursday around 12:30pm.  Those poor workers were covered in sweat by the time they were done.  It was probably only 115 degrees outside and HUMID.  All I can say is that I am so glad that was not part of my job.  Our stuff was delivered in two trucks.  I got a picture of the trucks from our bedroom window.  


We brought a lot more stuff than the average person moving here probably did.  Not many people that I know of brought their couch, bed, all clothes and all their Christmas stuff. Check out all of our boxes!

A couple of our friends whose wives weren't in Saudi at the time were suckered into helping us out.  Brooks and Brent helped us unpack a lot of boxes and then we fed them some pizza for their help.  I had to keep my fingers crossed that there was nothing too incriminating in any of the boxes they unpacked.

  

It was so wonderful to have our couch and living room set up....all except for our new 58" tv.  The movers in Houston crated the tv but failed to realize how breakable the stand was and it shattered.  Micah was very sad to not get to hook up his tv. 

We put all of our trash and empty boxes into the hallway right outside our apartment.  At the end of the night we started loading up the elevator to take them down to the trash.  We covered the entire entrance to our apartment building. 

Gizmo was excited to have his own bed back as well!

By the end of the day I was exhausted and sore but it still felt so good to have all our things.  It made the apartment officially feel like home.  Once I get everything in place and pictures hung I will take some final product pictures.  

Getting Everything Ready

Our sea shipment is coming TOMORROW (Inshallah)! I am so excited I can't even describe it in words.  It will be like Christmas getting to open all my stuff.  So far what I have missed the most is my kitchen supplies, our bed, and our couch.  I am SO grateful Micah agreed to bringing our couch because if he had not we would be buying new ones.  I can not stand sitting on these couches.  They are hard, uncomfortable, and ugly.  Plus only one of us really fits on the couch and the other is banished to the love seat.  


Today I have started getting things ready for the arrival of all of my things.  I packed up basically all of the kitchen items they supplied and put them under the bed in our guest room.  There were two twin beds in the guest room so I disassembled one and stacked it on top of the other so as to have more floor space.  Our second shower is now a storage closet with shelves and everything.  Here are the before and after pictures. 

Before we left Houston Micah and I searched and searched for a tv stand that we both liked and wouldn't break the bank.  Needless to say we never succeeded.  So now we have a 58" tv coming and only a tv stand to fit a 42".   Ever since arriving in Saudi I have continued searching and I finally found one that I love.  There is a neat little shop in old Khobar area called Anteaque that has such cool things.  Their items are made from old Saudi doors that are made of mostly Teaque wood with really ornate decoration.  Here is the tv stand that we bought and it didn't break the bank!

I still have way more to do before our stuff arrives tomorrow but I needed a short break and I also need Micah's muscles to help out.