We were in the U.S. during Hurricane Sandy, and here are some of the images I remember most.
While we were in the U.S., Jordan started out the month with a telephone interview with Senator Isackson in hopes of being nominated to go to the Air Force Academy next year. She needs a congressional nomination to even be considered. She kicked her dad out of the room and made him wait in his bedroom until the phone call ended. She was really nervous, but was pleased with the call.
After church, the next day, Bruce went to the Dining Hall for brunch with two other dads. They make fresh waffles for about a dollar! (That's 5 riyals.) Flag football began and Jordan was hired to referee the games--she made 70 riyals for a hour and a half of work!
The next day, Jordan had another telephone interview--this time with Senator Chambliss. Some kids only get one interview, so Jordan was very blessed to have another.
Brooke, Reese, and I headed back to Saudi the next day via New York. The flights were all full again, and we were concerned about flying through New York after Hurricane Sandy, but everything was running smoothly through JFK. We had an uneventful trip from Atlanta to JFK to Amsterdam and on to Dammam. I met a man from England sitting next to us on the plane who had just been hired by Aramco. He even lives on the same street as us.
Jordan is showing us how to wear a hijab, which she has learned from her Muslim friends in school.
Shadow got really dirty on his walk in the desert, so I'm giving him his first full-bath. I hope he doesn't mind the salt water :)
One evening I sold tickets to Brooke's show, "Waiting for Godot". The director's father had a stroke, so he flew to Australia and left a substitute director in charge, promising to be back in a week. Brooke also got her costume that night... she can't wait for the show!
Earlier this month, Iranian jets fired on an American drone in the Persian Gulf, and Saudi Arabia warned that it will retaliate if Iran continues to intrude on the airspace and waters around its offshore oil facilities in the Persian Gulf. This was a little close to home for us since this is the field where Bruce was working last year.
On a lighter note, Jordan made the soccer team at school again this year and Bruce went to a parent/teacher conference at the high school and met all of Jordan's teachers.
I invited the man I met on the plane to join us for shawarmas at the pool, and we enjoyed Eulian's company for the evening.
Jordan taught a swim lesson at our local pool.
I went to a ladies' tea at my friend, Karen's house. All the ladies from church were invited, and she made all kinds of exotic goodies. Her daughter, Danielle, had a birthday this month, and Jordan's friends baked Danielle a giant cookie and gave her a surprise party.
Brooke got in on the refereeing with Jordan so she could make some money, and Jordan quit refereeing. Now Brooke works two games each weekend and makes 140 riyals! Here is a picture of Reese and her team on the practice field.
Reese and Jordan went to the Splash and Dash swim meet this month while Bruce helped set up and tear down the meet. Here, Reese is getting ready to swim.
Now Jordan is swimming.
A lot of women cover their heads... even at the pool. The weather is cooling down quite a bit, but the sun is still hot!
In Friday school, we had some African ladies sing a song for us. Their dresses and hats were amazing!
There was also a baby dedication.
I always love the way the Africans dress for church. This man is wearing his Sunday best.
Once a month we go to the used book sale on camp, donate our old books, and get some great deals.
On Friday, November 16, Jordan received word that she received a nomination from Senator Chambliss for the Air Force Academy!!!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR HER. Only one more requirement to get through... and that's actually being accepted. We just pray now for God's divine guiding and we wait until March when we will hear one way or the other.
Here she is, reading the e-mail from Senator Chambliss.
The very next day, Jordan had her third telephone interview for a congressional nomination to the Air Force Academy--this one was with Representative Westmoreland.
Bruce drove me to the nearby mall so that I could have dinner with six other home school moms that live outside our compound. We ate at the Bamboo Kitchen, a very nice Chinese Restaurant. Their nationalities from left to right are Filipino, South American, American, American, American, and Dutch. It was neat to see that we all had Christ in common and wanted to teach our children to love God.
On November 19, we had our first evening of rain! Reese rode her bike to the pool for swim practice and then walked next door to the school for her AWANA meeting. By the time it was over, it was lightly raining. She was offered a ride home, but chose to ride her bike. When she got home, the back and top of her new yellow jacket from Target was covered in mud! We got all the mud to wash out, but it's a shock for us newbies when we see how muddy the first rains are here. There's so much dust in the air that we just get used to, that we forget the first rain has to wash it all out of the sky and off the trees!
Here is a picture of hail that fell around 5am at my friend's compound which is only about 8 miles away! They said it covered their decks and was the size of large marbles.
This is Brooke texting her friends. I guess once a monkey, always a monkey!
This month we were told that the play that Brooke had a part in, "Waiting for Godot" has been postponed until January. This means that Brooke won't have her rehearsals three times a week which she really looked forward to.
Jordan stays after school and takes the late bus home every other day for various reasons, such as seeing a math tutor to try and get some help with her honors calculus class, attending student council meetings, Habitat For Humanity meetings, soccer practice; and she attends swim practice when her studies allow her.
This is our regular Wednesday night (desert Friday night) activity -- walking to the pool to buy shawarmas.
This is the stir-fry station.
This is the mutabbaq station.
It looks like he's making a meat and cheese mutabbaq (kind of like a quesadilla). I like the sweet mutabbaq that have banana and honey in them.
This is the shawarma station.
For our Thanksgiving dinner, I brought a turkey in my carry-on bag from the States. We can buy a turkey here, but they're four times what I paid. I tried my hand at making home-made crescent rolls as well.
We invited some guys from Bruce's office to join us: Harry, Jeff, Kurt, and Kurt's wife, Joni.
The girls are drinking grape juice, in case you were wondering :)
and had lots of food!
And desserts too!
The day after Thanksgiving, we had the Ternes family over for a "left-overs" dinner. Karen was in the States with her parents and oldest daughter who attends college, so we got to eat with David and his two younger daughters, Danielle (Jordan's friend) and Claire (Brooke's friend). They brought their Thanksgiving left-overs and we added ours and we had another wonderful dinner with a fun game afterwards. Too bad I forgot to take pictures!
In the news this month, we heard that Saudi women's male guardians began receiving text messages on their phones informing them when women under their custody leave the country. Under laws influenced by the strict Wahabi interpretation of Islam, women are not allowed to leave Saudi Arabia without permission from their male guardian (a husband, father, or brother), who must give consent by signing what is known as the "yellow sheet" at the airport or border. I sure hope Bruce lets me go home for Christmas! :)
We took a taxi one last time to the Al Rushaid village to swim with our friends, but it rained again, so the pool was wet and cold. Reese and Gabrielle swam anyway, but Brooke and Micaela played in the game room while Cene' and I played a board game by the pool. They're leaving for the US in a few days, so we'll miss seeing them until January.
Brooke has been enjoying her Ballet and Jazz class on camp.
We had maintenance show up and trim our palm tree out front. These guys climb up the tree barefoot and use their knife to cut the dead limbs. He wraps a rope around the tree and around his waist and then puts this rubber band around his bare feet! And this tree is taller than it looks! I zoomed in for this picture.
We set up our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving! We were blessed to win the tree in a lottery from our church a couple of years ago. We brought some Christmas lights and decorations in our suitcases.
Bruce enjoyed several of his football games this month -- it's a game of dice that is played with teams of men at each other's homes.
Here's Jordan in her locker room at school. The students don't have lockers in which to keep their books, so they have to carry their books around school all day. But they have lockers in the gym (which is not close to their classrooms.)
Jordan's school celebrated International Day this month where students celebrate their heritage by wearing their country's traditional costumes to school one day. Parents bring traditional food to serve at lunch, and then the students have a cultural fashion show and talent show. I'll show you those pictures in the next blog.
Bruce drove Jordan and I into Khobar to order Jordan's Christmas present. She wanted an abaya made for her that didn't come unsnapped in the wind :) First, we visited our favorite place in town, Al Mango, and ate a cup of fruit.
We had trouble finding the abaya shop that was recommended, but we finally found it during prayer time (that's when everything is closed.) Here is the mosque down the street from the shop. The streets are empty during prayer.
We waited outside the shop for the owner to return from prayer.
After prayer, the streets filled up again with swarms of people and cars.
Jordan chose the fabric and trim for her new abaya while she was measured.
I love this order form.
As we were walking, we saw this police parking lot.
This shop sold gutras (the red & white checked cloth that men wear on their head)
Bruce's cell phone quit working, so he stopped here to buy a new one.
One weekend, Reese's AWANA club had a bicycle rodeo on camp
Reese and Grace came in first and second place.
When Bruce picked up the girls, he saw a helicopter in the adjacent parking lot; so they went over there and got to sit in it.
I finally got a picture of my next door neighbor. I can't pronounce, and therefore remember her name, but she seems really sweet. We have a bit of a communication barrier. This is her second son, Mozam. She is always wearing something bright and colorful--just like a true African.
I got tired of stepping out of the car into the grass after the sprinklers had come on, so I decided to lay a few stepping stones. Our gardener was nearby and came over to help.
That was our November.
Thanks for stopping by.
- Pattie -
