My Blog has Moved

My new blog address: Just click the link below:

 http://moonbabytravels.wordpress.com/

I think that you will find the layout and the presentation much more appealing. Also, you can leave comments more easily! Thanks for your support!

Stay Tuned

I am in the States but I will be back to posting soon! No later than the first week of Feb. Thanks!

Culture

This week I had the opportunity to fly to Abu Dhabi and on my flight I was seated with a very large Arab family, approximately 20 people.  The gentlemen must have been 85 years old and he had several women with him. Many commented that they were his wives, and I do believe that two of them were but perhaps the rest of daughters.  I had never seen so many family members on a flight before but I also was able to observe the culture aspects of family more closely.  The family was very attentive to the older gentlemen needs but it was the relationship among the women that intrigued me the most.  The younger women were very quick to administer to the needs of the older women and to their own mother. My flight was disturbed by two daughter seated near the front of the aircraft that spend their whole time in the aisle checking on their mother. They would help her with her headdress,bring her snacks, just total attentiveness.   You could tell that the younger women have a sense of obligation to their mothers. 

I noticed that all the older women in the group had a metal like mask on their face. I have not seen this in Saudi but I was told that in theUAE you tend to see it more on older women of status. It's an older Bedouin tradition from some of the tribes. The first glimpse of it is very shocking!!

 I was so intrigued that I began to research it and learned that it's called a batulla/batula, which you may see  in Qatar, UAE, and sometimes Bahrain. I have been told that it is traditionally worn by married women, but it is also worn by young women who either want to remain unmarried or who believe they may never marry. As such it represents a symbol in progress through the stages of life as well as a mark of traditional respectability and family status. The decision to wear it can be personal or induced through decisions in the family.

 I am learning that every piece of the Muslim apparel has such significance attached to it that I would like to explore it more, perhaps I will write about it tomorrow.  Thanks for following me, my knowledge base is growing and I am glad to share with you.

Sorry Folks

Well it has been a couple of days since I have had an opportunity to blog. This past week was my birthday so my husband took me to Bahrain to celebrate.  It was wonderful. It was so nice to have a little of a normal Western lifestyle for a couple of days.  The diffrence between diffrenty countries within in the Middle East is enormous.  Just a hour and half drive away their is a world where I can have pork, and people drink alcohol. 

We were able to go to the movie theatre while we were in Bahrain and upon purchasing our ticket we had the pleasure of picking our seats from a computer screen. Wow, I really like that concept. You don't have to rush through the popcorn line. 

Check out my wonderful birthday cake!! Stay tuned for more adventures to be revealed this week. 

I Survived

Today I had an experience that I never thought that I would enjoy...I spent all day with a room full of kindergartners. When I walked into the room, thousands of little eyes from different cultural backgrounds were looking at me. It was a wonderful sight to see so many cultural from around the world represented. One little girl from India locked eyes with me and smiled at me all day long. The classroom was full of action and I was impressed by the curriculum. These children could read at a first grade level, and I helped them do a game of subtraction. Do you remember doing subtraction at that age? The day went by very quickly.

I never thought that I would enjoy spending a whole day with children but it wasn't so bad. There was one child who had recently been diagnosed with autism. You could tell he was very intelligent but at every play break he was excluded. At the last play period I sat down and played a game of cars with him. He was polite and friendly. I am so proud that I survived kindergarten!! I should get a sticker for this accomplishment.

The Fish Market

It's a small world.  This week I met someone that I knew from my hometown. She was here visiting her daughter, who is an Aramcon.  We took the shopper's bus today into Khobar since both of our husbands had to work.  We went to my favorite mall, the Mall of  Dharhan. Her husband offer to take us home instead of the bus and to take us to a really fancy restranant. This would require us to spend over 9 hours in the mall, but it was wonderful. I am still amazed at the size of the malls here, I spend those 9 hours and still did not see everything.  I am sure I gained about 10 pounds because during each prayer call we ate a snack. Smoothies, pizzas, desserts, and cookies were all scrumptious. 

Later that night I was taken to the Fish Market. The Fish Market was an experience.  When you entered the restranauant you had to walk up four flights of stairs. There was aquariams everywhere full of all of types of fish.  I was required to pick out my own seafood from a large selection of very fresh product on ice.

We were able to obtain a seat by a window that overlooked a beautiful park. The park was filled with hundreds of families and there was a beautiful mosque in the distance.  I have observed in Saudi culture that everything happens later than in the states. For instance when we were dining it was approximatley ten at night but families were still arriving at the beach, and the restruanant. Children play in  the streets until very late at night. Society doesn't seem to get moving until Westerners are going to bed.  I was very happy to had the opportunity to experience the Fish Market.  However, am still ready to go home and eat some pork!!!

Only Me

It got up to 55C this week or 130F and it has been absolutely miserable for me. The hottest day of the year I somehow managed to lock myself out of the house. I went to the garage for a few minutes and I guess my husband had pushed the lock in without my knowledge. Luckily I see my neighbor is home, so I quickly run across the street. Every week they publish who is on call for lock out so I thought I could simply use the phone and wait patiently. When I rang the doorbell she seemed very shocked to see me. She invited me in and I ask to use the phone. She told me I could walk to the Housing office and solicit their help. Can you imagine someone with a car in the garage telling you to walk in 130F weather? She did offer juice for my journey, how nice! As I walking out of her door she told me she once used the window to get inside her home. How lucky for me my front window was open.

What a sight to see! I jump over using a chair as a prop and go in upside down with my legs sticking straight out of the window. I saw so many pausing to watch this show that I was putting on. In the end I got inside and now I check that garage door every time I go out of the house. Asking someone to walk in 130 degree weather, unbelievable.