Science and Technology Exhibition

Feast or famine, baby! It seems as if I go days without anything happening and then boom! I'm swamped. Yesterday was such a day. I had a bunch of events yesterday that piled up on each other. I was completely exhausted by the end of the night.

My husband is a scientist doing some energy research. There was a big Science and Technology Exhibition featuring not only his work, but the work of other (all male) scientists in the area. Most fields of science and technology were represented.

We took the kids there knowing it would be a fun afternoon, and it was. T and B loved the planetarium. W was enchanted by the robotics exhibit. He's taking a robotics class at school and really enjoys it.

I was impressed with how the scientists took time to try and explain to me, often in slow, halting English, their experiments and work. English is a hard language to learn, but to throw technical and scientific jargon into the mix makes for a real challenge.

We enjoyed the unfailingly kind reception we received from the scientists. Saudis really do love children and always interact with my kids. They treated me with dignity and politeness. There weren't many women at the exhibit, but a lot of kids.

It's always fun to wander around exhibits like this because they usually offer fun little toys. This exhibition was no exception, except the quality of the toys and gadgets was much higher. But, they do have money to spend.

Toward the end of our stay, a film crew was filming the exhibition when they spied my Bubba J--two-year old boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. When the crew saw him, they followed him for about 5 minutes and filmed him, and then later my husband and I. I don't know if we ended up on the news as we don't get television at our house. But it was fun to watch the crew enjoy Bubba J.

Camels

I am a little bit obsessed with camels. For some strange reason, I find them completely adorable animals. Don't ask why. I can't explain it. It just is. I have not yet been able to ride a camel. But I plan to when the right opportunity arises. I always get a little thrill when we are driving around Riyadh and see camels in the back of someone's truck. Or when we are driving out in the desert and I see herds of camels in the sand dunes.

I keep imagining what it would be like to have a camel of my own in the U.S. Sadly, I don't think camels are really well-suited to the damp and cold of New York. Wyoming has the requisite dryness, but not the stable heat. I don't think my dad would be very keen on inviting a camel to hang out with his horses.

The other day I met a co-worker of my husband's who actually owns camels. My children were charmed by a nearby camel exhibit with Bubba J proclaiming that "The camel is cute!" when the co-worker whips out his cell phone and shows us picture after picture of his camels. Very cool. He invited us to visit and see his camels. Inshallah. Whether or not that happens, and whether or not I'll actually be able to ride one of his camels, I don't know. But either way, if we get to at least interact with some camels a little more closely, I'll be good with that, for the time being.

You will, I promise, see a picture of me on a camel by the pyramids in Egypt. Until then, I'll keep enjoying my camel sightings.

What do you think about camels? (Yes, I know, not a very intellectual topic, but I'm kind of worn out mentally. And anyhow, it's fun to think about silly things!)

My life as an ex-pat

I've trying to post to this blog often to keep a record of our experiences. I enjoy sharing what we are learning and doing with others. And I don't want my readers to lose interest. I'm probably the least interesting ex-pat to ever write a blog though. A lot of my life is spent at home. I'm okay with that because I'm a bit of a homebody and I also have some health issues that necessitate me carefully budgeting my energy resources. But that doesn't always make for interesting blog fodder. The other challenge is that I'm using this year as a chance to regroup and recharge. I've got personal projects that I can finally focus on with more time on my hands. Again, that makes for less than exciting blog posts. But that is the reality of this experience. Not every day has an earth-shattering cultural experience. I'm still the mother to 5 children. That requires cleaning, cooking, homework monitoring, etc. All of those things take time. Add to that my personal projects of scrapbooking, spiritual practices (such as studying scriptures), piano practice, and an effort to exercise more and I don't always have the time to run outside the compound for interesting excursions. And did I mention that I have a 2-year old son who stays home with me? I believe in naps with my whole heart. So we are usually home in the afternoons so he can nap and function normally. That is why I've made a personal goal to go out at least twice a week. I don't care what it is, I try and go out. And I try to make the most of those experiences. I'm always observing people, architecture and trying to interact with others. Sorry if my posts are less than riveting. But that is reality.

I can't really speak for what other women do on the compounds. I think that if I didn't have children, my life would be very different. I would probably try and work or volunteer extensively. Some women take classes like art, music, or cooking. I see a lot of socializing with mums meeting and visiting. The pool is becoming a real hot spot.

I appreciate the opportunity to meet and socialize with other women from all over the world. I love learning about their lives and hearing them talk about cultural differences. That kind of stuff is so rejuvenating.

I also appreciate the quiet pace of my life. I like being able to work on my projects without interruption. I am happy that I can sit down at my piano and play for 30 minutes. It's lovely. I also enjoy writing for this blog and compiling recipes for my cooking blog.

So believe it or not, I feel very content with my life right now. I adjust things as needed. If I feel stir-crazy, I make going out more of a priority. If I need rest, I pull back. That is definitely working for me right now.

Things to Think About

A couple of days ago, I posted the following:

"I read this very passionate article today from an Egyptian woman about the plight and status of women in the Middle East. Before moving to Saudi Arabia, I would have read the article and thought about it a bit and then moved in. It is much more poignant and real to me after living in Saudi Arabia. If you do read it, let me know what you think.
Beware: this post does have some graphic language in it and is pretty harsh."

In retrospect, after reading a few comments, I made a couple of mistakes.
1) When I posted, I didn't clarify my own position or thoughts about the article. I also didn't give the article closer examination or look at it critically.
I posted the article because I was interested in what a Muslim woman had to say about the experience of women in the Middle East. The author, highlighted a number of terrible offenses against women. Other news reports have confirmed some of the incidents discussed in the article. But the author's whole purpose is to pull together a very bleak picture of being a women in the Middle East. A Saudi man, whom I know, commented on the post and pointed out that the actions of a few men shouldn't characterize the whole of Middle Eastern culture and society. Alhasan's comments reminded me of conversations I've had with my husband where I rail on gender inequality and evil actions of men and my husband gets defensive. In the past, I would get so mad at my husband, but as we've talked, he's reminded me that  (Please read his comment--I think it was an excellent one.)
2) I was looking at Saudi Arabia culture and judging it from my own context and culture. After living in Sweden for such a long time, I've realized that is an incredibly arrogant thing to do when you live in a different culture.

My life in Riyadh versus My life in New York

A purely humorous exercise: comparing my life in New York to my life in Riyadh. I'll let you decide if the things I experienced were good or bad. Either way, I had a good life in New York and look forward to returning to it. I also have a good life in Saudi Arabia, though I don't think I would want to go back to Saudi Arabia again.

Life in New York
Expensive living costs--required a lot of tight budgeting
Rented a smallish house
Owned and drove my own car
Husband drove his own car
Great access to great medical care
Busy with PTA and church responsibilities
Hobby shopping (i.e. scrapbooks, paper, and books)
Limited access to gyms and swimming pools (too expensive)
Gravel driveways meant that my kids had a hard time biking, roller-blading, or scootering
Snow
Snowy driveways
Catching the train to Manhattan
NYC
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Manhattan LDS Temple
Pork and pork bacon
No helper or housekeeper
Gorgeous scenery
Apple picking in the fall
Farmers markets
Wildlife: deer, raccoon, skunks, turkeys, birds, mice (yuck)
Humidity
Small school
A great ward with many friends
Friends
Family
The Hudson River
Lots of work cooking and cleaning
Lots of work raising 5 children
Dh has long work hours
Netflix
Pandora
Playdates require time and planning
Activities for kids are expensive and time-consuming
Busy life
Lots of shopping choices

Life in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Access to 5 swimming pools
Warm weather
No humidity
Shopping buses
Taxis
Private school
A helper who cleans my house twice a week
A piano
Friends
No temple in a 1000 miles
Camels
Falafel
Camel burgers
Lots of middle eastern food choices
Opportunities to meet people from all over the world
Free time to spend working on hobbies
Lots of work cooking
Lots of work raising 5 children
Dh has weird work hours, trying to juggle Saudi Arabia and New York work hours. . .
itunes (it is becoming a vice for me)
Paves roads so my kids bike, skate, and scooter all day long
Friends are close so playdates are instantaneous
Activities for kids are cheap and easy to schedule
Not so sure about the great medical care here
Close access to a great gym--lots of opportunities to work in exercise
Slower pace of life with more time to do things I enjoy
Not being able to drive
The chance to travel and see places in the Middle East

Fewer expenses and so we can save more and pay off debts (thanks to the company)


I'm sure I'll think of more, but in the meantime, it is kind of fun to compare the two.

A Kinder, Gentler Mutawa?

A new head of the mutawa (religious police) in Saudi Arabia has been appointed. Rumor has it the new leader has counseled the mutawa to be kinder. Are changes on the horizon for the mutawa and the enforcement of religious practices in Saudi Arabia? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I don't think this would ever happen in the U.S.

I was sitting at a table in the Family Food Court at the mall, waiting for half of my children and my husband to return with their food. While I sat, I noticed a group of Saudi women, heavily veiled, as is normal, covered in black abayas. They were chatting while wrangling little children. One woman was holding her little baby--probably about 4 months old, and talking to her friends. The baby was exceptionally pretty with dark, abundant curls and beautiful dark eyes. I smiled at the mother and using a form of signs, told her how pretty I thought her baby was. The mother smiled in return, enjoying my obvious adoration of her baby. The women left, carrying the children away.

Five minutes later, the women returned to my table, where the mother held out her extremely pretty baby and motioned for me to hold the baby. Initially I was reluctant as you just don't hand your baby over to strangers, at least not in the U.S. I couldn't resist the lure of the baby though and opened my arms to accept her. I cooed at her and enjoyed her for a couple of minutes. Then I returned her to her mother. I was rewarded with an enormous smile from the mother. And then the group of women left.

I was a little shocked by the whole exchange, but enjoyed it anyway.

I do appreciate going out in public with my family because no one frowns at me for my large family. On the contrary, I frequently hear compliments about being a mother to 5 kids. The only people who are ever disparaging about my large family are other expats. Oh well.