Greetings all,
This last week saw us all busy back at work and in school, missing the pristine and calming aquamarine waters of Koh Samui, the aromas of grilled seafood and steaming bowls of jasmine rice, fragrant coconut oil massages, the peaceful and soothing sounds of the waves on the beach, the laughter and calls of the boys in the pool, and, for Hayden, heaping piles of bacon for breakfast.
This week we taught classes, played at the recreation center, and discovered that the large new supermarket had finally opened. It's called Tamimi Market, but, somehow it's also a Safeway. It's excellent, and you cannot imagine how thrilling it is to stroll through the aisles of a large supermarket, knowing that those items are now available five minutes from our home instead of 75 kilometres. We can now buy, here in our community, Tillamook cheeses, parmes
an cheese, coffee, fresh lettuce and greens, frozen organic pizzas, Argentinian beef and lean freshly ground hamburger, all manner of toiletries, raw and roasted nuts of many types, baguettes and rolls, boxed brownie mixes, granola bars and Cheetos (Hayden hopes), and most other items we might find in a grocery store in the U.S. The manager promises that canned pumpkin is soon to come, so we might actually have pumpkin pies and muffins. The mini-mart was doing its best with essentials, but this is truly helpful and will mean we do not need to go to Jeddah to buy food.
Just returned home from a shower for a 20-something colleague who is getting married in Connecticut in December. David is heading to a men's tool shower for this woman's husband-to-be, also a colleague. Among us women, there was a lot of laughter about the tool shower, wondering how much fun the men would have compared to us. I doubt if their cake, should they have one, will look like the cake I just enjoyed! One of the gift ideas was for each person to bring a Christmas ornament for this couple, and they received - like David and I did at our wedding - an amazing assortment of ornaments from Oman, Istanbul, Jordan, London, Italy, Thailand, Starbucks, and even the Jeddah Marriott!
Love to all and thanks for reading,
Jennifer
Dear Evans of Arabia Quartet,
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to have a more than adequate super market so close. Also the Evans trio's descriptions of the Thai vacation were delightful and informative. We have over two feet of snow. I'll tackle Crystal Mountain on Wednesday. Grandma/B joins in sending much love. Grandpa/G
Hi to the Evan's family!
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm overwhelmed by so many things that you are doing and by how magnificent Hayden is writing his blog.
Your trip to Thailand sounds like it was everything you hoped it would be, Jennifer, after an absence of so many years. And, it also sounds like Logan in particular fell in love with the country. The gift of traveling and meeting so many new people is something you, David and the boys will never forget.
I love looking at your pictures. It helps enhance the stories that go with them.
So glad to hear that your local 'Safeway' has opened up and you don't have to go to Jetta for groceries anymore.
I'd like to hear more about the number of students in each of your classes, what countries they're from and what differences you experience from teaching here at home.
We're going over to your folk's house tomorrow nite for dinner, bridge and to celebrate Xmas together a little early. I'm sure they'll have many more stories to share about your incredible journey.
We send you holiday greetings from coolish Colorado to very hot Saudia Arabia.
Judy and Steve Stazel
Hello Evans Family.. very nice blog. Can we exchange email addresses to converse about Saudi Arabia? I write a blog and web service on US-Saudi relations and always enjoy hearing from Americans living in the Kingdom.
ReplyDeletepatryan@susris.org ( blog.susris.org and www.susris.org )
Cheers, Pat