Settling In

I've been long overdue for a posting, I know, but you'll be happy to know that my life has been busy and full not only with work (final exams are coming up) but also with meeting and going out with new friends. In addition to that I've signed up for an Arabic class in the Diplomatic Quarter (the section of Riyadh where all the embassies are and many foreigners live). The class is three times a week and I have found an all women's gym with a pool across the street where I can go swimming before class. So I haven't had time to feel homesick during this season which has been nice. I've finally got a few minutes to post some pictures of my daily life. On the day of midterms the teachers got to the school early so I was able to take pictures of where I work.
It's an all girls school and when the women get dropped off they are completely covered in black with only their eyes are showing. Once inside the school they take off their headscarves and abayas and act like normal teenagers. It's a world that is completely off limits to men so if our computers break or the roof needs repairing they have to wait until the weekend when no women are there and the workers can come in. Obviously I can't get any photos of the girls I teach but I got some of the school.
My morning class consists of adult women who have already finished their Bachelor's or Masters degrees and are now lecturers at the main campus of the women's section of the university. Most of them are taking extra advanced English classes so they can prepare to get higher education in the USA or UK. They are smart and constantly inspire me to continue my education. My afternoon class has about 30 girls who are age 18-19 and are preparing to enter the university for the first time. They can be rowdy at times (I suspect that the gender separation slows maturity) but I've found that by treating them with kindness and respect I will get the same treatment back from them. This is my classroom:
We have fancy e-podiums to teach from but things in this country are never simple and we still haven't been able to persuade the university to get us printers and copiers and audio speakers to hook up to the regular computers. There are no pictures or films or music allowed, nor can we discuss pop culture, politics, women's rights or anything that would upset the status quo. It makes it difficult when our lesson might be about adventure sports like skydiving or traveling to different countries and experiencing new things. Sometimes I feel like I'm teaching as much about life in the real world as I am English.
My accommodation is a small one room studio. My kitchen is in the hallway to the bathroom and I have only a mini fridge and a two-burner stove to cook on. I bought my own microwave. My bathroom sink is also my kitchen sink so I can't let the dishes pile up. (I only have one plate, one bowl, and one cup anyway, so it's not too hard). Not having a big enough space in the freezer section has also prevented me from buying ice cream which is turning out to be a good thing for me. You can see my mini washing machine which works surprisingly well. I just have to drag it into the bathroom to let it drain when it's done washing.
I bought an HDMI cable at the computer store to connect my laptop to my flatscreen TV so I'm all set to hook up my hard drive full of movies and music. I also have cable with 3-4 English movie channels as well as BBC and Al Jazeera English. The kissing scenes on TV are all edited.
I put up pictures of the Alaskan and Olympia Nat. Park rainforests all over my room but I still felt it lacked a friend to greet me when I come home from work so I went out and bought a tree from the garden center near my apartment. It's a ficus benjamin and it's taller than me so it was a hilarious ordeal trying to shove it into a taxi to get it home.
I named my tree 'Benny' and I hope it doesn't die since I only have one small window. I also went to the home improvement/everything store and bought a treadmill for the days I don't swim or do yoga. Now I have everything I need concentrated in a 15 foot radius.
The apartment building is all teachers from the company but it's at least mixed with the men teachers. Some teachers have bigger multi-room apartments but they also have to share with another teacher. It seems that when lots of women are together for a long time in a stressful situation the gossiping, emotional outbursts, and other issues start to surface. I'm really glad I have my own room!

Back in November we had a school break for the national Islamic holiday Eid al Adha which is for those who get the chance to go on the Hajj journey to Mecca - the holiest site in Islam and the home of the Kaaba, the huge black stone they have to circle around. I thought it would be fun to spend the week in Jeddah, the second biggest city in Saudi Arabia and the closest city to Mecca since non-Muslims aren't allowed in to the actual city. I went with another teacher, an older South African lady who loves to scuba dive and wanted to try the diving in the Red Sea. We saw lots of pilgrims getting on the plane since it's also the nearest airport to Mecca. You can tell because they have to wear a special garment that looks like a giant white towel. It was interesting to see them reading their prayer books and preparing for their journeys. When we got there we took a day or two to check out the old city first. Here I am in my abaya wandering around the old streets.
They had some restored houses from the time when Jeddah was a big commercial shipping port.
Jeddah also has a lot of random funky statues around the city and along the beach.
Uhh . . . not sure what this is supposed to be but it reminds me of the reckless driving here.
Our guide took us to a mosque that was constructed in the old style. It was cool to see at night.
It was actually closed for the holiday but the workers decided since we were foreigners they would let us step inside and see the beautiful ornate designs. Apparently Jeddah has the largest water fountain in the world. I didn't get a very good shot of it and I'm not sure what the point of it is because you can't get close enough to really see and appreciate it.
But we got what we came for: my coworker and travel companion, Joy, got to get some SCUBA diving in and I got to snorkel right off the pier. It was so nice being at a private beach where we could wear whatever we wanted and play in the imported sand. Most of all it was nice being in the ocean again with all the colorful fishies.
Back in dusty Riyadh another coworker and I found the local restaurant called Najd Village. It serves all Arabian food delivered and consumed in Arabian style. You sit on the floor and eat with your hands - well, your right hand, that is.

The food was delicious and my students were curious to hear about my experience. Boy was I full afterwards!
And finally a few weeks ago the teachers and other foreigners got together for a big Thanksgiving feast. Somebody got a hold of some turkeys and we had a pot luck with all the fixins. It was great fun but unfortunately the religious police found out that the men and women were intermingling without abayas on and threatened us if we tried to have a 'December' celebration. I enjoyed it while it lasted.
So I think a bunch of us women teachers will just end up going back to Najd Village for that day. It's alright, sometimes I even forget which month it is since it's still pretty warm. I wish all of you a merry next week!