Sri Lanka

It would be a fair assessment to say that none of us would have told you that we would spend this Christmas in Sri Lanka if you had asked us a year ago where would be celebrating the holidays. However that is where we were and it was an amazing experience. For those readers who think of Sri Lanka as part of India, you would be wrong. Certainly India has had an effect on the people and culture of the Island but Sri Lankans have a culture all their own. I had always wanted to go to ‘Ceylon’ as it was known in my youth but had never really considered going there until we arrived in Saudi Arabia.




We were keen to travel in the region but have found flights to be quite expensive out of Saudi Arabia and even went to a travel agency or two to get prices on a Christmas vacation but found nothing within our budget. Some fellow teachers had taken their November holiday there and said the Island was wonderful. All we really knew was that the civil war had ended a few months before and there was not a resurgence of violence. Chris checked for flights on her own and found that we could get there as a family for half of what the travel agents were charging. Also, in our favor was that Chris knows a fellow IB trainer, Anne Evans, who had been to Sri Lanka to help train early childhood teachers and she could set us up with a person to help us get a tour. Karu Gamage is a native Sri Lankan who had worked with Anne and he made us a suggested itinerary, recommended hotels and even had a driver arranged for us. His help was invaluable to us on having such a wonderful trip and we will remain forever grateful. We were somewhat worried about the trip when a week before we arrived, Karu had a heart attack. However he kept up with us through Facebook and his daughter e-mailed us to keep us abreast of his condition and what would happen for the trip.


We boarded a Sri Lanka Airlines jet on the 23rd out of Riyadh at 11:00 pm and made the five hour flight to Colombo with little fanfare as we arrived on Christmas Eve. The flight was notable for two reasons. The alcohol was free and started flowing over Saudi Airspace and the female cabin crew was abuzz about the new secret uniforms that would be unveiled at the start of the new year.

After getting through customs, we met our driver, Gihan Mahesh. Gihan is a 27 year old Sri Lankan who has a wife and child and would be our driver and tour guide over the next week. He loaded us in a Toyota van and we headed north toward the ancient city of Kandy.

On this first day, we stopped at an elephant orphanage run by the government. There were probably 50-60 elephants and we were able to pose for pictures in front of the herd with the beautiful mountains of Sri Lanka in the background. While there, the elephants needed a bath so they were herded to a river across the road we came in on and we followed to watch the elephant’s bath in the river. The river scene was beautiful and surreal as if it were something you would watch in a National Geographic special.

We left there and went to a privately owned elephant tourist attraction where the four of us rode the elephant for 20 minutes. It was fun, but any longer would have meant the end of our vacation as Chris and I spent the next two days suffering from leg cramps from having to ride such a large animal. We didn’t realize that these elephants were the same size as African elephants and are much larger than those found in India.


We then stopped about 4 miles down the road at a spice garden. There, we were taken through a path of well swept dirt on a tour of the various types of trees, spices and plants that were grown. It was a very educational tour and of course we had to buy some of the ‘organic’ products that they offered. In the end we bought some of the lower priced goods but enough to make the time the guide took us on worthwhile.


Our next stop was quite shocking when we arrived and there was Santa Claus. We saw him dressed in full regalia at a tea plantation. He had the beard pulled all the way up below his eyes. At the plantation factory we saw how tea was processed and given sample cups of tea. There was a grading process and drying process and we saw both. We bought a great deal of this very strong tea and love it so much more than Lipton. Also interesting is the fact that the 100 year old factory is still using the same equipment that they started with. These electrical machines were built to last.


We ended the day in Kandy where we visited the Buddhist temple of the relic of the Tooth. Apparently, there is a piece of the Buddha’s tooth there with this site being considered very sacred. It was also the home of a terrorist attack several years before by the rebel faction that was just defeated by the government forces in the civil war. The temple is an interesting place but nothing of amazing grace or beauty. We checked into our hotel which was quite literally on a hillside above Kandy. This room was well appointed and quite nice. It was a new hotel and we had a wonderful room that had A/C and views of the city. This room proved to be the highlight of the trip. I won’t go into details about the other places we stayed, but 2 star hotels they were not. All of them had one issue or another from lack of A/C to the four of us sleeping on one bed, to being 50 yards from a railroad track where trains passed every 15 minutes during the day. We chose to go budget and we got budget. None of the rooms were filthy or dangerous however. Some were just less comfortable than others.


Our second day was primarily a transit day where we went from Kandy to the southern coast. We could have gone on a wild elephant safari but had already spent 6 hours in the car, would have done another three hours on the safari and then another few hours on the road to the hotel. We decided to skip that and just go ahead to the beach.

Along the way we drove through villages and larger towns, rubber plantations, tea plantations, and rice paddies framed by beautiful soaring mountains and the ubiquitous King coconut tree.


The king coconut is an yellow/orange coconut that is sold for various prices around the island depending on what the seller thinks he can gouge the tourist for. We paid anywhere from 50 rupees to 20 rupees (.46-.16 cents US) for a coconut. The seller would then take out his knife, and chop off the top and then chop down making a hole in the coconut for you to then drink out the fresh coconut juice. We have never seen Alex so happy as when he got that first coconut and started drinking. The juice is clear and sweet and oh so coconutty. Chris and I agreed that it was absolutely the most refreshing drink we had on the trip. It can then be split and the Jello textured flesh can be scraped out and eaten. It is even used to make soups with and we found out to how good effect that was on our fourth night when we went to a beachside restaurant next to our hotel. Chris had seafood soup that was a cream based soup that had a decided coconut juice flavor.


We spent two good days on the beach. The sand was amazingly soft and the waves from the Indian Ocean came in hard and fast. There were large rocks in the ocean and surrounding the beach, there were coral reefs that could be seen just off of the shore and the beach was littered with pieces of coral. The people we met on the beach were particularly fascinated by Alex and Emma. There would be times where each kid could be surrounded by as many as 10 people talking to them, asking, “What is your country? What is your age? Your name is?” We were a little nervous with this at first but the people were always polite with the children and the kids never felt uncomfortable. Alex must have had his head rubbed about 1200 times. For the most part we feel that this curiosity was based in the fact we weren’t in the ‘tourist’ areas. We were where Sri Lankan tourists would go on vacation and that is who we saw. Many had likely seen Anglo people before but not with small children. Sir Lanka is full of German and American backpackers, surfers and hippies. But family vacations are a new cottage industry there.


Perhaps the greatest concern I had on the trip was food. I am not a curry eater and I saw myself eating a great deal of the amazing fruit they have such as bananas (which are about 2 inches long), pineapple, mango and papaya. To my surprise, I rather liked the curry. The Sri Lankan version and that of India is far different. The Sri Lankan version is very hot but does not have that curry taste that I don’t care for. We ate a great deal of seafood and there was a lot of tourist inspired dishes. I very much like calamari and had that dish in various forms three times on the trip. The kids ate well except eating curry at breakfast was a little too much to ask of them. They generally stuck to juice, tea and toast.

We also spent an afternoon snorkeling. Chris and Emma took to it like ducks to water. They swam and snorkeled and we saw lots of coral and fish. It was really very good and an activity we hope to do soon in the Red Sea where the snorkeling is said to be spectacular. Alex couldn’t muster his courage to do this activity. It’s a big ocean and he is a little man and just couldn’t conquer his desire to stay in the boat. On the way in we saw an olive sea turtle and followed it around as it came up for air. This was a sneak preview of the next day’s trip to the sea turtle hatchery. Sea turtles have had a rough go of it but locals have been persuaded to find eggs and bring them to a hatchery where they are born, kept three days and then sent off to the ocean. Most will still die before age one but are given a huge leg up just to get a little time on their sides before they set of on their sea journeys. The hatchery we went to allowed us to pick up one and two day old turtles as well as some as old as three that they keep for demonstration purposes. We even saw two turtles that would have died in the wild because they were brought with their front flippers amputated due to damage they suffered in the Tsunami of five years ago.


We also went to a moonstone mine. Shafts are dug vertically up to 70 feet down and then sideways up to 300 yards. Water is constantly seeping into the hole and has to be pumped out and men are in there with candle light as they dig out sand and gravel which has to be hand cranked to the top and then panned like gold to get the gravel where moonstones and other precious stones are taken out. The working conditions are inhumane and would never pass any semblance of safety in our country. We saw the other workers polish stones and make jewelry. We bought Chris a beautiful moonstone necklace and Emma a moonstone ring. It was a very humbling experience and one that Chris will forever remember…That necklace literally is the result of back breaking hard work!


On the trip we also went to tour Colombo, Galle and its Portuguese fort with all of the small antique shops and gem stores. We went to a mask factory, and viewed Tsunami devastation along the way. But what we will really remember is the generosity and caring of the people.

Ladies Only!

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away lived gorgeous ladies, all clad in black from head to toe. When in the confines of their house, they would loose their so-called Abaya and wear designer clothes, all in the latest fashionable colors and cuts. However, as soon as they left their houses, they had to cover with their black Abaya, in order to follow the Kindgom's laws and regulations.

Life under that Abaya is not all the time that sweet. Imagine going up and down escalators, not only having to watch your step, but making sure your Abaya does not get caught in the moving stairs. Walking down stairs can oftentimes be tricky too. It really bring s on a new meaning to the often heard expression "Watch your step"! At the mall, you will see groups after groups of the ladies in their Abayas. As a child, how would you recognize your mom as ALL the other moms are dressed the same? I figured that before leaving for the store, the moms make sure to point out the shoes they are wearing and the handbag they will be carrying that day. After a hard day of shopping, A great coffee seems well incicated: imagine having to sip your delectable hot beverage through a straw in order to not let strangers peak at your face ... Forget about eye contact when having a conversation, if the lady is wearing the full burka ... Sometimes, you will be able to view her beautifully made-up eyes through a slit of black fabric. Another huge caveat of the Abaya is its color, in the hot Arabian Summer Sun ... Black as we all remember from our science classes absorbs the heat ... so imagine yourself wearing a synthetic fabric abaya in 50 degrees F heat!

Now, what about some of the advantages of being a woman in Saudi Arabia ... For one, you don't drive so no need to worry about knowing the way to get somewhere ... you just tell the driver where you want to go and you chat with your gal pals all the way there. Also, you never have to worry about finding a parking place. Your shoes will not get damaged from hitting the floor when pushing on the pedals ... At the restaurant, you go to the Ladies / family section, away from the stares of single guys and you can enjoy your time alone / with the family / with the girlfriends without worrying about being harassed / accosted or addressed by strangers .... One of the newest malls here has a LADIES ONLY level, where ladies can uncover and enjoy coffee, shopping and pampering all among ladies. Even wait staff and store workers are ladies .. none of them wearing the Abaya. Some malls also have ladies only stores where the staff is not covered and where you are more than welcomed to take the Abaya off when browsing.

I've discovered a ladies only Spa, Salon and Boutique Hotel ... Haven't had a chance to get pampered there yet, but I will before I leave the city ... The staff is so welcoming and the atmosphere is just relaxing. Again, that will be an adventure to be shared with several girlfriends and we'll make it a day trip ... in the middle of town geographically but miles away from the sometimes gender-biased atmosphere.

But my favorite so-far is going to a specific bank and its ladies section. I've visited that branch twice, to cash my paycheck and get brand new Abdullaziz .... Again today, upon entering the branch, I was greeted with smiles and truly felt welcomed. The entire bank staff is female and none of them are wearing the Abaya. I was seated at a desk, handed my check to the teller. Meanwhile, while the teller is entering the millions of numbers and codes needed to cash a check, I was served a delicious perfectly sugared and milked coffee, with a tall glass of water AND a scrumptious chocolate. I'd go to that bank daily if I could ... but gosh, I have to work to earn the paycheck so that I can go cash at my favorite bank at the end of the month!!! Oh, and the best of all, my dear driver (Worth not to name him) was patiently waiting in the car, under the hot sun, listening to Arabic radio station, without a sip of water in sight while I was having my Ladies Only banking adventure. There is some justice in this world!

Marine Corps Ball

Yesterday, Worth and I attended our first Embassy function with a handful of our colleagues. The way to get started is to be invited by someone who is already involved in the Expat community. The tickets cost us 200 Saudi Riyals each, a little over US 50$ per person. The function was formal, so I wore my full-length ball gown and Worth who does not have a tux, wore a suit. The evening started at 6:00, with the doors opening at 5:00 and we were advised to be there for 5:30 because the lines get long due to the security checks! Unlike our compound security which is a running joke amongst residents here, the Embassy takes it beyond seriously. In fact, Worth had to go back outside and turn in his key to the rental car because it had a remote unlocking sensor.


We left the compound at 5:20, dropped to kids at two of their friends where they were spending the night and we were off. The Diplomatic Quarters are less than 10 minutes from the house. To get in there, we went through 2 check-points: imagine very curvy road blocks, where you have to basically zigzag to avoid the concrete blocks. I had to laugh at how I must have looked sitting in the car. I am wearing my black abaya over my beautiful gown, just to get into the DQ. The diplomatic complex is quite vast, organized behind barbwire fences and with two entry checkpoint and one exit only. The embassies are organized around 9 roundabouts. It’s surprisingly green and has lots of trees. The American Embassy sits towards the back of the DQ with a huge parking lot in the back where all of the guests left their car. Before entering the embassy, we went through another check point, where we were asked to leave ALL electronics…so no cameras, cellphones, NOR remote-entry keys were allowed in the embassy. Worth had to leave the keys in an envelope and was given his claim ticket. Imagine that over 500 people attended this function..that makes a whole bunch of envelopes!

After going through the X-ray machines, metal detectors and handheld detectors, we were finally inside the US embassy complex. The abaya I wear has some metallic ‘bling’ that caused the metal detector to go off and required that they search me with the hand held want. The ball was taking place inside a large courtyard and was accessible through an underground parking lot… Remember that we access this event from the back of the embassy!

The set-up was amazing! They had strung “icicles white Christmas lights” across the courtyard, and the large round tables, with 2 color contrasting tablecloths, beautiful fresh-flowers centerpieces, wine and water glasses and pressed cloth napkins. As we entered the courtyard, we were greeted and shook hands with each one of the Marines there. The last one even handed me a red rose and we both received commemorative pilsner glasses - what irony to have that in a dry country!

We found the master of ceremonies who showed us the seating chart. There were over 40 round tables each seating 10 people plus several large rectangular tables. Overall I would say about 500 people were attending. Our table was toward the back, so pretty far from where the ceremony was going to take place BUT close to the buffet lines AND the BAR!

The ceremony recognizing the Marine Corps started at 7:00 PM with a good old Christian prayer, while at exactly the same time you could hear the call for prayer. It was quite surreal to listen to the prayer and hear the call for prayer at the same time. I just loved it.

The Ambassador stood and did his speech which carried the hallmark of all good speeches….It was short. Then his wife read a letter from Secretary of state HRC.

Then it was dinner time, with buffet lines…Oh, so sweet dinner…Two pigs had been roasted and cut in pieces, with some especially crispy skin. We even found some pork ribs! Tempura shrimp and vegetables, smoked salmon, and prime rib too. All sorts of salads, vegetables and breads were available as well. Now, knowing me, I left some room for dessert…and that was a good decision: carrot cake, chocolate mousse, cheesecake, petits fours, various Arabian desserts, pecan pie, apple pie…

After dinner, the ball itself started. We had wonderful conversations with the people at our table and did a bit of drinking. I was especially fond of a juice cocktail mixture that you can buy here which tasted REALLY good with Ciroc Vodka!

We left there at 11:30, tired, a little tipsy but happy to have attended our first (of many, we hope) functions at the US Embassy in Riyadh!

A "regular" birthday party

(The lack of names, specific locations and pictures are out of respect and to guarantee the privacy of the people involved.)


Alex was invited to one of his classmates’ birthday party yesterday. Since it was the first invitation he had received, we decided to take him. To start, the invitation looked just like a regular birthday invite from the USA. The invitation had balloons, “you’re invited”, and a map… The only REAL difference was the map. Instead of showing where the house was, it indicated a WHOLE city block as the location of the house. This was our first indication that wasn’t just a regular birthday party! Since we are still new in Riyadh and streets don’t have names well indicated (or written in English) we really had no idea where this whole city block was located! So, I called the number on the invitation and talked with someone who asked me if I knew where certain locations were, which I didn’t know ANY of them… After a while of this, he just offered to come get me and bring me to the party, so we were going with our private chauffeur.

So, Alex and I arrived to the house. It is guarded and is behind huge walls (pretty usual here, but these walls were really high, and the entrances were multiple.) The driver honks and a beautiful wooden ornate entry gate opened and we are let in. There is a drive-way leading to the house, with trees all over the front and a beautiful green lawn (remember, it’s the desert here). The Driveway was particularly fascinating because it was not concrete…it was all marble tiled. The house that I should probably refer to as the mansion was all faced with marble too, and was either 4 or 5 stories high. We are led to the back of the house in a huge courtyard where the party is held.

There, I see one of my grade 6 girls and finds out that she’s the big sister of the birthday girl! She’s very happy to see me and ran to hug me, called her little sister who is very happy to see Alex. The little ones take off running after each other, playing tag and hide and seek. Although we arrive on time, we are the in the first ones there. I see about 10 large round tables, all decked with table cloths, with covered chairs and centerpiece decoration (what you usually see at formal weddings). There are also plastic lawn chairs, all along a wall. I am not sure where to sit so I head that way. My student grabs my hand and says that I cannot sit there, because that’s for the nannies! So I put my abaya and purse down at one of the table. Still holding my hand, my student takes me around the house and tells me that this is her grandmother’s house, that her house is under renovation and they’re having the party here, on the women’s side (as there is a whole other side reserved for the men on the grounds of the house). She takes me and shows me the full-size grass soccer field, the pool house with an Olympic sized indoor heated pool, the playground for the grandkids. It was nothing unusual for her to show all this to her teacher! It is what she’s used to and it does not occur to her that some of us may not ever have seen such a spread of wealth and privilege.

She guided me back to the party area. The guests start arriving, each time accompanied by their own nannies. Before the end of the evening, there must be over 40 nannies sitting on those plastic patio chairs! Moms and dads are not there. I was one of the very few moms there. After a while the father the birthday girl came by to survey the scene and stayed for about 5 minutes. The birthday girls’ mom arrived a little after the father has left and will stay for the remainder of the evening. So, who was taking care of it all? The maids, nannies and various workers were working to make the party a success! The mother never got up the whole time, except to visit with the other very few moms. I went talk to her and she was just very nice. She seemed genuinely glad to see us there and visited with me for a while.

As for attractions and activities, the children were not disappointed. There were 2 large inflatable jumpy thing, pop-corn and cotton candy machines, a stage with light that would rival with the Varsity and a D-J mixing table ready for any party! The stage was covered with a large Persian rug and another one was laying in a corner of the courtyard…because later on a clown was in charge of entertainment with magical tricks, games, make-up, dancing on the stage… Alex was very happy and kept busy all evening. The older girls put on a talent show, with amazingly organized choreography. I have the sneaky suspicion that they do those pretty often as they have certain moves that go with certain songs and they all know these. I also have seen them browse youtube and watching videos to learn the moves (they were doing that when we arrived)

Party started at 6:00PM, by 9:30 the food was brought on the large table! The spread included hummus, mini pizza, white rice with a parsley sauce, hotdogs, chicken wings, French fries, curly fries, spaghetti and two huge cakes! We all sang happy birthday and then all the nannies fixed their child a plate of food, sat them at the tables and went back sit in their plastic chairs. During that time, I started talking with the mom about the green parsley sauce (and I cannot remember its name) telling her that it was really good and asking her what was in it…Before I know it, the mom brings me a covered dish with about half a gallon of the green sauce for me to take home. There was nothing I could have done but accept graciously the dish! She also tells me that everything was fixed in-house by her kitchen staff, that nothing was brought from the outside, because and I quote “you never know what could be put in there!” Remember that we are dealing with some members of the Saudi Royal family and you can’t be too careful. All the food was delicious and the children (and moms and nannies) were all ravenous by the time it was served!

Since this was our first party in a Saudi home, I wasn’t sure what to expect…well, in a nutshell, it was a regular birthday party thrown by (almost) regular folks. Unfortunately I did not get to see the inside of the house…but as I was saying my goodbyes to the mom, she thanked me for coming and said that I needed to come visit her in her house soon, to which I replied that I would love to! So, if that invitation comes through, it will most certainly be another blog entry.

Dress Code in Saudi

I've been here a little over a week and today, during a shopping trip at IKEA, experienced my first encounter with a Mutawa representative.  Now, a Mutawa'een is a member of the Saudi Religious Police.  They usually wear a shorter white thobe, sandals, a long scragely beard, and a  head scarf (gutra).  Their job is to make sure that people are following the religious mandate, that they pray during prayer and that all are covered properly.  So, here I was, in line at the register at IKEA, with Worth and the kids when, low and behold, prayer time was here.  This meant that ALL registers closed, that ALL IKEA employees disappeared and that ALL customers either stood in line waiting for prayer time to be over or left their shopping carts and left the store.  We needed our stuff so we just stood in line waiting for check outs to reopen.  After a few minutes of this, I just decided to go back in the store and browse while Worth and the kids stayed at the register.  I'm walking toward the back of the store and start up a conversation with another French speaker I had overheard..She was from Lebanon and were chatting when we heard somebody in Arabic talking...  I turn around and here is a Mutawa'een, walking toward the back of the store as well.  You should have seen me...I was wearing my abaya but quickly grabbed my scarf and pulled it over my hair!  The other lady was not wearing hers and did not have any.  As we just were the two of us, the Mutawa'een let us be and did not address us..Actually he is not allowed to address women and as Westerner, I probably will never have to worry about it...  But, a few steps in front of us were a Western couple.  The lady's hair were not covered...So the Mutawa'een looked at her, pointed to her husband, pointed to the woman and made the gesture to cover up!  Obviously she was very quick to follow suit!  For once, I was glad to have my black scarf handy!

So, let's talk about dress code. 

To go anywhere by car, I need to wear the Abaya and I usually have my scarf handy too.  In the morning, from the house to school ( a quick 5 minute drive) I wear the Abaya.  Once at school I can take it off.  Underneath, I've been wearing a professional get-up of dress slacks and dress shirt everyday.  However, because the school is split between what you could call two city blocks, when I go to the K-3 area, I need to leave the school ground and thus have to wear my abaya between one part of the school and the K-3 area.  It's kind of a hassle to have to remember to put it on, but it's also a sign of respect toward the Saudi culture.
To go back home, there goes the Abaya again.  If we need to go to the store/mall/Ikea/souk/anywhere in public, I need to wear the abaya and always have a scarf handy...just in case of a Mutawa encounter.

Just to talk Fashion, an abaya is not just a piece of black cloth...Mine is black with some embroidered design on the sleeves and back.  Some are totally black, others more intricate and like all clothing they can range from very cheap to very expensive.  I've seen older girls wearing abayas with TinkerBell embroidered on the back.  It looks like teenage girls like to express some individuallity through their abaya and those tend to be more colorful around the sleeves...
The first time we went to the Mall, I wore my abaya and had my scarf loosely around my neck.  I felt like everybody was watching us.  Emma and Alex were holding my hands and it seems that all the women (who for the most part wear a hijab or full burka) were looking at me.  I think I even saw kids point at us.  It was strange to stand out so much!  As a social and cultural experiment, I think one day I'm gonna try and wear the burka..to see what it is like and what the world looks like underneath all that!
That would be the subject of another post though!

Fore play.

I had a very active week.

This is our first week with students and I got a chance to meet them for the first time. And....it was a six day workweek. One weekend a month we will have to work on a Thursday (re: Saturday) and this was that weekend. The students stayed until 12:15 and then we have professional development until 2:30. Most of the teachers from the west then went to the hash. We walked in the same area as lastime but through a different part of the wadi (dry river bed). I had an nice talk with some other new hashers and the walk was easier this time with less up and downs over terrain that would give under your feet. There was one major climb that took a good 5-10 minutes depending on your fitness level but overall I thought it was easier than the first hash I partcipated in.

Today I had the chance to go play GOLF!!!! A man who lives in the compound and his wife who was only visiting for 4 days invited me to play golf with them at Dirab Golf Club. Nico and his lovely wife were gracious hosts and very good company. Even more amazing was that they were willing to take me considering she was only here to visit Nico for four days. I am very humbled by the fact that they were willing to spend some of their precious time with me.

Dirab www.dirabgolf.com/ is an 18 hole facility that is about 45 minutes from our compound.

It is a par 72 course and is a very nice facility with several interesting holes. There is a good bit of elevation change and you can bet that when the wind blow that this course is very difficult. I can't say that I know what type of grass they use but it was quite tighly grown and had very little grain. There was one bermuda grass green that was absolutly terrible but I have to admit that was the only putt of any length I made all day.

The course has a wonderful practice range and you can see there is the logo of the club on the back of the range on the hill. Apparently at night there is a lighted display behind the facility and there are light standards on the back nine for nighttime golf!!

Next week is the Saudi Arabia Amature golf championship and I am giving strong conideration to playing. The cost would be the equivlant to two rounds and they would acutally give us three rounds and goodies for particiupating in the tournament. I would seriously doubt that I have any chance to win considering I only played the course once and that was the only time I have played in 5 weeks. But I did knock the rust off and it has done wonders for my spirits. This place would be a great place to play often but when the family gets here there will be other things to do so a memberhips doesn't really make any sense. But if I can play once a month or so, it would be a geat thing and I am pretty sure Chris wouldn't mind that too much at all. After all we are here for new experiences and I intend to find them rather than 'just play golf'. Golf will always be my first outdoor love and the great thing about the game is that it is always there waiting for me.

Waiting Game

Today is October 6th...Unbelievably, Worth left 4 weeks ago and we still have not received our papers in order to apply for our visas...so we are playing the waiting game.  This past weekend we spent a few days in North Louisiana at Tante Elaine's house and played tourists in Shreverport and Bossier.   We did some shopping at the BoardWalk Shopping center and enjoyed the fountains.  Also went through an Science museum where Emma and Alex were able to touch, feel, jump and spin through various science set ups.  They enjoyed it a bunch and Elaine and I were just running back and forth between them calling us "Come see this, it's so cool!"

Last week, Alex went on a classfieldtrip to the New Orleans Aquarium, as the jumpstart to his unit of study.  It was great that he had the chance to do this, on his last day at the Lab School, but he will not have a chance to do the unit of study on Ocean Ecosystems with his friends. 

This afternoon, although it's a little early in the month, we carved a Jack-o-Lantern in a pumpkin that Aunt Lindy brought back from South Dakota for the children.  It was 91 degrees outside, with 85 % humidity and infested with mosquitoes...I guess a good preparation to Saudi, although the humidity and mosquitoes will not be there! 

On this note, I hope to write my next entry from Saudi! 

The Desert.

I am sure most of you think that Saudi Arabia is all desert. For the most part you would be correct. There is an area of high mountains with ample amounts of rain that provides a great deal of the Kingdoms fruits and vegtables. When I think of the desert, I think of sand dunes. To be sure there are ample sand dunes here. However, this weekend I went hiking with a local walking/social club called a Hash. The area we went to is on a large plateau. In fact there is an escarpement that features a shear wall that drops in the order of 1,500'. It may be higher in fact, but let's just say your last step off of that cliff would be your last step.....

The hiking club is a highly organized group of expats who live in the community. They meet every weekend at different locations and go on 'walks'. Actually there are three seperate treks that you can take. There is a run that goes on longer distances and you move for speed. There is a long walk which moves relativly briskly over a long distance and there is a shorter, more leisurely walk. The club charges a nominal fee for walking and you have to sign in and out so that you don't get lost in the desert. To become a member you must particpate in 10 hikes and be a hare for one. A hare goes out ahead of time with a bucket of flower and you mark the trail with the flower so that people know where to go. The different trails have different marking systems so it really is quite an important job. Prior to the walks everyone gathers in a circle and there are proclomations, awards for making milestone walks and hare's, & introduction of guests. After all of that is done, there is then a cerimony for those who have breeched some form of etiquette like letting someone see you pee or you (or your guest) wore a new pair of shoes. If you have been selected, you kneel on a piece of foam while the group sings to you and you are then doused with a bucket of water. A mild form of hazing to be sure but done in good fun.

I chose to go on the long walk. The walk took around 1:30 minutes and we walked along down into a wadi. A wadi is a dry river bed that is now a canyon (immagine the Grand Ganyon with no water-a wadi). During the hike you could see evidence of why Saudi Arabia is an oil producer extrodinare. There was fossilzed coral all over the place. You could see pores in the rocks as well. The area we are in has no oil but you certainly can see where it wouldn't be difficult to find it elsewhere in the kingdom. I was fancinated by the rocks, the whirlpools that have been left dry, the shear power of how nature made this canyon....and yet there has been no water here for millions of years. To be honest, I was exploring and walking less. You could find me near the back of the group because I would stop and look at the rocks or just take in the view while looking up the canyon walls. There was a sweeper who is always at the back to make sure that noone would get lost and I stayed forward of them but behind the main body of the group. At the water break I just sat and stared at the landscape thinking about where I was and what I was doing. I thought a lot about my Dad and how much he would have enjoyed being there and seeing what I did. Though I would have loved to have a talk with him about the landscape, I am not sure that I needed to. I realized that there was no place I would rather have been at that time of day. Being outside and really observing nature was something that he taught me how to do. It took me 25 years to learn how to enjoy it.

At the end of the walk everyone signed in and there are barbques and people drink their homemade drinks. We didn't stay long and left about an hour after the Hash ended. There are campouts in certain areas and I think that when Christelle and the kids get here we are going to have to get a 4 wheel drive vehicle. The desert is going to be our playground and we just couldn't access it otherwise. I look forward to going again and can't wait for the kids and Chris to get here. Though.........she might want to get her brand new hiking boots broken in first. I don't want to get wet!!

Finally, some rest

I am very sorry it has been so long since I posted. I've been very busy with the beginning of school. We have had five days of orientation. The first two days were just the new hires and the entire staff for the last there.
Start of school and our arrival is coinciding with Ramadan.

Ramadan is the month where Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, neither eating nor drinking all day. Trust me when I tell you that in this heat it is indeed a test of your faith to make this sacrifice. Because it is Ramadan and so hot here, only a very few shops open during the day and then from only Noon to 4 pm. At 9 pm, after the breaking of the fast with others, is when shops, malls, and supermarkets open and people are generally out until 2:00 to 3:00 am.

This makes getting work done for the start of school difficult at best. I am now teaching 4 history classes. That is, subject and journalism. Thanks to Kathleen Richard for the loaner book and teachers resources. It looks like this is the book we will use. On Saturday (our Monday) I will go to the class and get it decorated so that the room is set up and ready to go. I will bring home the curriculum and start going through it and writing lesson plans for the year.



I am the first full time male teacher of females in the history of this country. This is a very big deal and one that excites and scares me. I really should have no problems discipline wise; I just want to make sure that I can slow down to make sure we cover the material well. English is not their first language which will make my teaching style quite challenging to communicate my expectations in a manner in which they can understand and succeed. It should be noted that many of the students I teach are in the elite of this country. If I thought UHS was power grubby and people there thought they were important, and then we were wrong. So I have to make sure that I gain the trust of these parents. I've taught well over 800 girls in the past 16 years including a few who had the name Princess. Now that will be the title of the girls I am teaching. No matter, they will have to work to succeed and I won't let them slide. Don't expect pictures of my students. They are not allowed for any reason due to security issues.

I did have an uncomfortable moment when I walked into the PA (principal assistants) office. She and another Saudi woman were talking with their head uncovered. The PA wears a scarf over her head and you can see her face but the other woman wore the hijab which hides her face except for her glasses. When I walked in and we spotted each other I backed out of the room faster than Udo Bolt and they had their heads covered in even less time. I have to admit that really bothered me. I so very much respect their culture and do not want to offend them in any manner. I took it quite hard as a matter of fact. I had to go outside and regain my composure. When the lady wearing the full hijab saw me she asked if I were alright. Apparently she took it less badly than I did.

My new boss is named Kathy. This is also her first year at the school. She is a middle easterner and totally my kind of boss. Suffice it to say after listening and talking to her I would run through a brick wall for her. I asked to have a meeting and we sat and talked and I asked lots of questions that she didn't have the answer to. We chatted about Emma and Alex, making sure they would continue to be up to speed. She and I are going to figure a lot of this out together. I think she like some of my questions regarding curriculum and I believe she already trusts that I am a capable teacher. Let's just hope capable in this environment.

Allow me to give an example of how cool I think Kathy is. For years, I have always thought the start of school had a lot of activities that were full of crap. This year that WAS an activity. All of the new hires had to go to the hospital and have our medicals done again, for what reason I don't know. One of the things we needed to do was provide a stool sample. We ran into Kathy at the clinic and she was taking her cup home. When we got back to school she asked if we were able to give a sample and we all had, she said, "I hate every one of you!" If my principal can discuss her inability to have a bowel movement on command with a sense of humor, they I can run through that brick wall. However, the funniest part of this is when we gave samples we had to go to X-ray for a chest film. All of us were waiting in X-ray when Ryan, a 39 year old Singaporean teacher walked in sweating as if he had just outrun a bear! He asked if we had as much trouble as he did and we were laughing our asses off. He was genuinely covered in sweat. For the record...In and out in with pee and stool in 3 minutes!!

As far as Chris and the kids getting here.......well, there are issues. I have to get my Incama which is my residency card to open a bank account or get a car or for that matter exist. All of this coming week is a holiday called Eid. Our human resources director is quite sure that the card will be ready the day we start school, at the end of Eid. Others aren't so sure. The process could take as long as 3 weeks. After receiving that Incama, I can then go and apply for Chris and the Kids to get here which we can fax to Chris, other documents have to sent to her as well but not faxed. Once she has all documents she can apply with the Saudi embassy in DC and after receiving approval make ticket plans and be on the way.

There is a possibility that school will be delayed till Oct. 1 due to H1N1. But that is for another post.

News from Riyadh

The Kingdom.

It is not a given that this post will be published on the blog in a timely manner but it is being written around 1:30 pm on the 11th. I am writing this at the compound restaurant that has one of the most diverse menus I’ve ever run across. French, British (fish and chips), Indian, Chinese, Thai, burgers are all on the menu. I certainly hope that the food is not compromised by the vastness of the menu. I am drinking a non alcoholic beer called Holstein that tastes more like a cow than a beer. And I have to admit, this is likely one of the few times I’ve ever needed a beer.

My flight in on Emirates airline for all practical purposes was an air India, or Bangladesh, or Pakistan for that matter. I don’t quite know how they knew the gate agent was ready to begin the pre-boarding process, but 150 people qued within 20 seconds. It was the fastest mass movement of humanity I have ever seen. I was able through a stroke of luck to board the aircraft prior to 80% of them. I say it was luck……however; I was watching the first one and got the jump on the second. I am trying to be open minded and such. Many people who read this blog likely think of me as inflexible, and I agree when it comes to doing things right or wrong, correctly or half assed. I like to think of myself as highly flexible and adaptable to new situations. But the smell of that plane made me lose my appetite. I tried the fasting Ramadan thing but admitted that I did have a banana and a bottle of water. I was hungry enough to eat airline food until they closed the door of the cabin.

When I got off the airplane in Riyadh, I was reminded of how pretty the interior of the terminal was and very much reminded of how small it was when it was time to get in line for immigration. I waited in line for a solid hour and moved 6 ft. While waiting, the lines had degenerated into a sprawling mass which the immigration official qued back up. I guess being white is quite an advantage because the immigration official read my passport and sent me to a much smaller line of ‘Europeans’. I then got sent to an empty line because I was the only American and got through immigration in 2 minutes. I found a porter and all of the baggage had been unloaded so we located the bags and boxes and went to the arrival area. Every other part of my trip had been fraught with misadventure; I was quite prepared to not be met at arrival at the airport. Perhaps the most welcome sight of the last month was a sign held up by a man that said “PHILIP WORTH”. This was the company’s driver and I met the Director of the school. I paid the porter…WAAAAAAY more than I expected to. The going rate is about $5 per item. We were forced to use a taxi and the company car. I rode in the taxi with a majority of my belongings following the company car to the compound. If I thought drivers in Dubai were nuts then I obviously wasn’t giving them enough credit. The taxi driver attempted to (NASCAR TERM) bump draft the school car. This time I was determined to die with my eyes open. We made it to the compound from the airport in about 20 minutes even though it’s a 40 minute drive.

The compound looks a lot like a retirement village in Arizona except with far more .50 caliber machine guns. There were two gates to go through that a Sherman tank would have difficulty in surmounting, razor wire and guards that checked the engine bay and trunk and mirrors to look underneath. The taxi was not allowed into the second gate and the driver told me “There were many problems with this compound” I asked if taxi drivers or residents had problems and when he told me drivers, it added a level of comfort for my visit.

The house we have has two dens a formal sitting room, dining area, a kitchen with a six person table, three bedrooms and two and a half baths……I don’t know how we made do with such a small house these past four years. I was able to sneak on an unsecure connection to email Chris and post my FB status. Currently all of the network connections are secure and I can’t log on. It will take several days to get the internet up and running and it’s the weekend here. The house needs a good scrubbing and I can’t (won’t) put anything away until it has been wiped down with a bleach solution. It isn’t dirty mind you….but it isn’t CLEAN. Also…..Shelf paper must be installed in the kitchen. There is lots to buy here…brooms, mops, trashcans, toilet brushes, clothes hangers, a new sheet set, towels, etc. But it will be home in short order.

Time for me to wrap this note up. Lunch was good. Pepper steak and fries. Not what I would call a pepper steak but more like steak with a pepper sauce. It was good and only cost about $8 US, so not too bad. I hope to send this to Chris and have it posted, perhaps with some pictures.

Worth

Worth's first impressions Dubai

I am posting this for Worth as he could not access Blogger.

I landed in Dubai. There aren’t really words to describe Dubai. Everything to say would have to be done in superlatives. The airport is magnificent. The Skyline is unlike that of any other major city in the world. To be sure they have their share of world class buildings, but by in large, they have all been built with some degree of architectural interest. They have the tallest building in the world here and it is incredibly impressive.

I met my friend Nora Kruk who took me to a mall so large that there are at least 5 information booths to give directions and help- per FLOOR. There were dozens of restaurant choices but we went to an Italian place run by a friend of hers that she knew from high school. The food was delicious and conversation interesting. I believe that mall was perhaps the greatest congregation of ethnicities and nationalities of any building in the world excluding the United Nations. Guess what this store was selling?

Nora had difficulty finding me, apparently the Hotel that Chris has us booked in is in the hood. Or more accurately the old part of town. This area is where the locals stay and expats are in the other, newer part of town. The hotel I am in is quite comfortable and I had an excellent night of sleep. The room is small but well apportioned. Never before have I slept in a bed so tightly made. I actually had to work to get to the bottom of the bed. This is necessary because the temperature in my room is about 62 degrees. I can’t find the thermostat to turn it up but don’t think they ever turn it up because the A/C has to work overtime in this heat. Now being from La. I get heat. I understand heat. I’ve been to Las Vegas in July, hot but not overwhelming. I have to admit that the moment I got out of the airport, the heat hit me like a ton of bricks. You might think you understand what I mean, but you don’t (excluding Matthew). This will take some getting used to.

I need to get this posted and check out of the hotel and get to the airport. I don’t really have the time or energy to go exploring. With all of the issues I’ve had so far in getting this far I just don’t want to chance anything. So if I survive the taxi ride, I should be in the Kingdom tonight. (*)

(*) Taxi rides here scared me. I am not really sure I can drive in this part of the world. If we define driving skill by attempting to avoid accidents then they do the opposite. Apparently the closer you get to killing your passenger without doing so is the true measure of driving skill here. On my ride home the driver asked if I was tired because my eyes were closed. Nope…just couldn’t watch .

Time to go

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time for me to leave. This decison and process has taught me a lot about myself, my relationship with Chris, and how blessed I am to have such a different and interesting group of friends.

I will go to Houston tomorrow and take a 15 hour flight to Dubai. This plays very much into what I have learned about myself..which is that I have a pretty high tolerance for waiting. All of the redundant paperwork, handling of other peoples mistakes and nagivgation to do this has been a real test and one that I would like to think that I handled with more grace than not.

I also would like to take some time here to mention my love and admiration for Chris. She has done so much in regards to packing the house, helping me get the paperwork done and been the rock on which our family is grounded. People often pick on me about how lucky I am to have her, but they are correct. I am quite honestly very luckyto have her as a best friend and wife. I hope that all of the BS that we are having to go through to get her and the kids over there soon passes quickly because I miss her when we aren't together. Chris...I love you and this is going to be a hell of an adventure.

To my friends. Thank all of you. For everything. If a person is measured by the impact they have had on others I may fall short. But if it is done by the opposite method, on the impact others have had on me; what a fantastic life I've had so far.
- To the posse, I wish more LSU roadtrips and full ice chests of fish.
- To the Rat Pack, I wish more +6's.
- To my collegues, I wish the school realises it isn't as important as you are.
This in my mind is not goodbye. Farewell is more appropriate. I hope all of us fare well.
For the moment, I am just going to check out what is on the otherside of a very distant hill.

Bitter Sweet Day

After 10 years at the Lab School, I resigned yesterday, saying that Friday (today) was going to be my last day. Telling the boss made it real, seeing the kids in the hallways really hit me in the face...that's it, I'm turning the page on 10 years, moving on to the next big adventure!

My office friends, Helen, Lillian, Pat, Carrie, Kathy and fellow language teachers Gina and Scott organized a little get together after work at Parrain's. They were the best bunch of colleagues you could dream of! And they were so sweet today, sending me off with a beautiful world map card, some sweet and heartfelt words ( of course, I cried when I read the cards) and two Louisiana Books and a beautiful journal! I've got some writing to do.

Leaving the Lab School is a bitter sweet moments: I went to my 7th graders' French class (Thanks, Helen, for letting me crash the party) and passed out work they had done when they were in the 2nd grade. Also, they started singing a bunch of songs they remembered from all their years in French class. Some of that bunch I taught for 7 years and really go to see them grow up from little Kindergartners to almost teenagers. I did really enjoy teaching them all these years and was really looking forward to teaching them again this year! Except that I am moving to Saudi Arabia!!!

Anyways, one chapter of my life just came to an end...not sure what my "legacy" at the Lab School will be. I enjoyed teaching those kids all these years and hope to keep in touch with some of them.