Six Hundred Days

Greetings,

We used to live in Seattle, where David and I bike-commuted every day - before we had children - from Ballard to Downtown Seattle so that he could take the Bainbridge Ferry and I could take the Vashon Ferry to the schools we were working in at the time. Prior to that, I had been completing my Masters in Teaching at Seattle University (SU), to which I had also biked daily - including the year during which it rained 100 days in a row. I always arrived at SU soaked to the bone, but I was able to shower and warm up in the locker room before heading to class. Putting on my wet clothes to bike home was extremely unpleasant, but I inevitably warmed up quickly enough, making it safely, though water-logged once again, home to a hot shower. For a bit, we didn't even own a car.

Once we had children, we replaced our old Subaru and bought a much newer Outback. Loved the car but found that, as a mom, I was driving much more. Still, David continued biking and I bike commuted as was practical.

Move ahead several years. We are now in Saudi Arabia, living on the edge of the desert next to the Red Sea. Once again we do not own a car, and all four of us bike to school every day. We bike to the store, to friends' houses, to the cinema, to yoga and badminton, to the golf course, everywhere. Granted, our university compound is not that big. Honestly, I bike maybe 1.5 miles one-way to school each day and, unless we go to the golf course, which might be two miles from our house, that's generally our longest ride at any one time. Plus it never rains, so I always arrive warm and damp (or sweaty) from the heat.

Yesterday there were big rumors of torrential rains expected in Jeddah, which is just 70 km to the south of here. Everyone was really excited. The first year here we had huge rain, and everything flooded: the streets, many houses, the post office, the schools. School was canceled because of the rain and floods, but many people showed up anyway to help clean up. The entire community was untested for severe rains and faced the floods with perseverance and enthusiasm - except for the people whose houses actually caved in from rain. The roof of the then-secondary school didn't drain because the drainage pipes were all filled with rubble, so our assistant principal went to the roof to siphon the water off; students arrived to mop up and clean up; teachers moved books from dripping water in the library and rivulets in their classrooms; kids played and played in the flooded streets. The second year it rained again. Streets flooded and the buildings suffered some, but not as badly as the first year. Still, it was rather exciting. We were at some friends' house when the rain got heavy and started running down their stairs from the large front picture window on the stair landing. We immediately headed home by bike, of course. Eventually, I realized how foolish we were to try to 'ride' home in thigh-deep, so we walked our bikes on the slightly higher sidewalks, also mostly underwater. Again the community came together to enjoy the change and the thrill, to stand in awe at buses stuck in the flooded intersections, and to clean up. Last year it only briefly rained once for a few minutes, not even enough to have water running down the gutters.

When the rumors of massive thunder and rain showers came to naught last night and this morning, I must confess that I was deeply disappointed. Not, I hope, because I wanted more damage and destruction, but because the rain, particularly when it's a lot (and even more when school gets canceled for a day), changes the monotony of sameness. It's exciting and refreshing, powerful and exhilarating, reminding us that Mother Nature is all-powerful in the end. David tells me that we are going on or even beyond six hundred days without rain here, other than a few drops which quickly dissipated. I am not hoping for massive floods in Jeddah or on our campus nor do I wish for so much rain that destruction ensues, but I would be thrilled with a real solid rain that cleans the air, washes away the sand and dust, and cleanses our souls. Perhaps it's also time to test the rain-worthiness of our new school building, still untested!

Thanks for reading, Jennifer

Vienna and Budapest

Budapest - Mom and Logan

Greetings,

Mom and Dad - Budapest

We recently were fortunate enough to celebrate the Eid holiday with a trip to Vienna, Austria, where we met up with my parents to celebrate not only family and time together but each of my parent's birthdays as well. We toured the city's palaces and museums, enjoying frequent stops in cafes to warm up from the cold. One morning, we awoke to a dusting of snow. Once again, we ate wonderful food, including pork and veal, as well as sacher torte and apfel struedel. We went to a former palace called Belvedere and visited an amazing art gallery of pieces collected by members of the Hapsburg family, including Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss." As I stood in awe of this original masterpiece, Logan sauntered away, muttering darkly, "It's just a bunch of scribbles." When I asked him about that, he showed me some squiggles, which from his perspective was about all he had seen. Once I pointed out the faces in the painting, he admitted to seeing the scene but remained unimpressed. This is why art museums have to be limited to an hour or so for the boys.

Budapest

I confess to being, once again, amazed and impressed by another European city's public transportation system. We traveled all over Vienna, even to and from the airport, without ever using a single car or taxi. The subway system was immaculate, safe, and - of course - on time. We used buses, trams, and even the train system when we also took a day trip to Budapest.

Trying to understand the Hungarian menu

In the gardens of the Schonnbrunn Palace

Budapest was definitely an older city, with a language so unusual and challenging that we could not make sense of any words. People were friendly and engaging, particularly once we left the train station, which seemed like it really needed an influx of investment. We wandered around the city, found an old shopping street, and ended up near the Danube where we saw historical buildings and learned intriguing history about Hungary. We happened upon a lovely cozy restaurant where we enjoyed lunch, Gerloczy Cafe. The maître d' arranged a table for the six of us, made sure we were settled, and sent over a waitress who helped us with the menu, brought us a lovely bottle of Hungarian wine, and taught us how to say 'thank you.'

St Stephen's Cathedral

In Vienna, we explored the Haus of Music, which taught us about many composers who were from or who had spent lots of time in Vienna, and we were truly inspired by the musical atmosphere of the city. Mostly, it was good to spend time with my parents, to laugh about our adventures, and to enjoy new foods and restaurants. Though Hayden and Logan certainly have favorite foods - tacos, pizza, pasta - they are willing to try a wide variety of foods and both have eclectic tastes, ordering pumpkin soup, goat cheese ravioli, and arugula salads. Truly, they are comfortable to try so many types of food!

What an amazing trip. We were so grateful to explore a new city in one of our favorite countries!

Thanks for reading, Jennifer

US Political Scene from Afar

Greetings,
Once again a long time has passed since I last posted anything. Work. Planning. Teaching. Grading. Reporting. Communicating. A myriad of online sites which demand our time as teachers - too many honestly (now that could be a posting in and of itself).

I registered online to vote in the US election in my state of Washington, but the ballot never arrived, either in the mail or in my email inbox, so - with sadness and shame - I admit that I was unable to vote in this most recent election. I am sorry too because there were measures on the ballot in Washington that I would have been thrilled to vote on. Luckily, unlike past years, many of them passed.

From Facebook comments, I have seen friends who are overjoyed with the results and friends who are dismayed. I sense both anger and pleasure. I read about people who have 'unfriended' people because of political postings and/or opinions communicated. I can appreciate that some people are not thrilled that the majority has given Obama a second chance, but I would remind all of some key points:

Be grateful that you can vote and that your voice is heard.
Be amazed that you can complain and disagree without having to hide or without fear of punishment.
Be pleased that we can do it all again in four years.
Realize that the election was clear and the decision did not have to be made by the military or the courts.
Know that you can write what you wish about the candidates and no one will come arrest you in the night.
You may not be happy with the results, but no one died, no one attacked, no one was killed. It was not tragic. It may only have been disappointing.
Be grateful that whether you agree with the President's policies or not, he cannot make decisions alone, he is not a dictator, and no matter who he (or she) is, he must collaborate with others in our country who have also been elected by our own people.
Admit that Obama's success or failure will be partially dependent on both parties working together (or not). Blame can never fall on only one individual or one party.
Be proud that young people voted more than ever before, as did many minority groups.
Be amused by the fact that all of the states that begin with 'New' voted for Obama and all of the states that begin with a direction (North, South, West) voted for Romney.
Don't be hateful and resentful. Our country will rise or fall based on the parties working together. We will not make it if they continue to stymie each other's efforts because of political manipulations.

Personally, I am grateful that Obama has been given four more years. I hope he does some great things in those years, fulfilling promises, compromising when needed (but not too often), and moving our country in the direction that most people seem to want it to go.

Thanks for reading,
Jennifer

Four-Wheeling in the Desert

Greetings,

Thanks to the King's generosity and national pride, we have a four-day weekend in honor of Saudi National Day, which is today, Sunday, 23 September 2012. Since Thursday and Friday are our regular weekend, we ended up with Saturday and Sunday added on as well. It's glorious! Truly. Except for this one long weekend, we do not have any other long weekends throughout the year, so this is greatly enjoyed and appreciated.

One of our colleagues organized a desert four-wheeling trip, so we joined in. We all met at the Visitor's Center, got on a large bus, and headed towards Jeddah. As we approached the airport, we veered on the ring road to the east side of the city and ultimately headed onto the road in the direction of Mecca, though we were not going that far, of course. As non-Muslims, none of us would have been allowed to enter the city of Mecca anyway. The trip was organized by a hip Saudi man - a Saudi version of a friendly and engaging Harley dude - and so he directed the bus towards the desert site of the jeeps.

 Water was handed around, and we all piled into about 15 Jeeps. Sandy and breezy, hot and humid, we snaked out into the dunes. The drivers excelled at racing up and down the sand dunes, showing off the beautifully desolate landscape, stopping in several key spots for photos, and swinging by a Bedouin camp with goats and camels.

Hayden and Mazin, our driver

The drivers, all certified drivers for desert four-wheeling, do this on the weekends as their hobbies. They all had other jobs during the week, and other cars for those jobs as well. One driver is a bank analyst, for example, and drove a Nissan Maxima to his bank job.

Logan and William

We finished our trip after the sun had set and the darkness was coming on. Nearly everyone in our group was a teacher with his or her family, so we all knew each other and there were many kids. We sprawled on carpets on the sand, waiting for grilled chicken, flat bread, and cole slaw salad and drinking cold water and soda. It was a glorious day and an incredible way to spend one day of our long weekend!

Though, admittedly, it's not exactly an environmentally friendly way to enjoy the desert, the drivers all had a certain pride in their desert and in keeping the more remote areas cleaner than the garbage ubiquitously strewn across the landscapes near the highways.

Logan sliding down the sand

Thanks for reading, as always! Back to work tomorrow!

Cheers,
Jennifer

International Students

Greetings,

We have just finished our second full week of school - and I would say that we are off to a great start this year. One of the most interesting aspects of our school, other than our amazing colleagues, is our students. The variations on their life experiences speak to true internationalism. In classes of 6th and 7th graders, I have or have had such vast diversity among my students - those who are from England but have lived mostly in Saudi Arabia, an Indian student born in Saudi Arabia, an Egyptian student from Canada, a Pakistani girl from Manchester (who speaks strongly like a girl from Manchester), American students, Filipino students, Saudi students who have lived in the States or the UK, a French boy born in the US, an Egyptian student from Austria who speaks a mixture of German and Arabic and heavily German-accented English, a German girl from Sweden, Palestinian students from Jordan and Canada, a Canadian girl who has lived in Indonesia, Moscow and now Saudi Arabia, Canadian students born and raised in Dubai. I have a student from Korea and one from South Africa, several from Singapore and from Malaysia, a Russian-American and Indian-Saudi, a Fijian-Australian and an Egyptian-American ... the list goes on and on. In our grade 7 humanities class, I ask students to share where they were born and where they have lived - and I learn fascinating stories about their lives this way. It makes me realize that these kids, though they do feel they have a home country or two, do not necessarily feel they have to live in those home countries. They are global citizens who will be able to live wherever they choose. And, typical, of middle school students, they are funny and amused easily, eager to learn and play, willing to play 'thumbs up seven up' when five minutes of class remain, and - increasingly for our school - excited about reading (especially the 6th graders!).

Thanks for reading. More to come ...

Jennifer

End of Summer Updates

Greetings,

Summer was so full and busy that I sort of got lost in trying to keep up with the blog observations and comments. We loved Mallorca. It was rich and diverse, friendly and lovely. We ate wonderful food and enjoyed tasty Mallorcan wine, we played in the sea and the pool, we rented bikes and rode the entire bike trail near the sea of Palma, we explored Palma, Soller, and Valldemosa. We ended with evenings in front of the TV watching the Olympics and appreciating BBC's commentary and lack of advertising. I realized that I did not tire of watching the Olympics this year because we did not have to endure endless and tedious American advertising, interruptions, and the ethnocentric focus on American athletes. When we returned to Saudi Arabia and watched the AlJazeera coverage, we appreciated the continuous Olympic sport coverage on several channels all day with English-speaking announcers and - once again - no advertising. Fabulous!

For the last week and a half of our Mallorca summer Hayden and a close friend of mine from college days joined us. While David continued his studies, we continued to explore and play in the lovely blue water.

After David's program, our family headed to Menorca, another Ballearic Island. I expected it to be virtually the same, and I could not have been more wrong. It looked and felt different. Lower hills, fewer people, less busy, more Spanish. We spent an entire day at the beach and later at the pool with friends who used to live here on our same compound. Great chance to catch up since they have moved back to Bath, England. In Menorca we rented kayaks and paddled around, walked around a touristy/fishing village called Fornells, and enjoyed our rental car explorations.

Finally, after three days, we headed to Barcelona. I expected it to be a little edgy and dirty, and - again - could not have been more wrong. It was clean and beautiful, neighborhood-like, and impressive. We had allowed only three days in Barcelona, but I could have stayed much longer. We managed the crowds of La Rambla, explored the city some by tourist bus so that we could see more of it, and found some enticing small neighborhood restaurants. I hope to return to Barcelona to actually explore the stunning main Cathedral and La Familia Cathedral.

We returned to KAUST, worked and prepared for school for 7 days, and then Eid holiday came around. We flew to Italy, spent three days with friends who have a home in the Piedmont region and then took the train to Venice. Wow. That's sums it up. Wow. We rented an apartment in San Basilio so we were just a bit out of the hustle and bustle of the San Marco and its narrow streets. Our apartment was in a quiet Venetian neighborhood with an incredible little restaurant just behind the apartment in a small plaza. We admired the flower-box windows and the shutters and the canals and boats and the shops and cafes. We were lucky to end up in the Bell Tower in San Marco plaza just as the bells were tolling 2 p.m. Pretty outstanding.

I have realized lately that in emails, Facebook, and blogs, I frequently write about or comment on amazing foods we eat when we travel. I think sometimes it must seem as though we have some fetish with foods, but really it's because the food in other places is so fresh and tasty. We get plenty of healthy food options here (we are hardly starving), but since the food comes a long way - almost none of it is grown locally - it just does not taste that flavorful. In both Spain and Italy this summer, the fruits tasted the way they are supposed to taste. I recently bought nectarines at the supermarket at KAUST and, although they looked good and I thought they would ripen, they just went from unripe to rotten. It was so disappointing. From my travels and time in Europe, I am beginning to understand the motivation for food movements around the world - the idea that food should be in season and should come from some place nearby makes a huge difference in taste. Even in Seattle we could get out-of-season fruits in the winter but they never tasted very good. I get it. In Europe you generally get the options that are available and seasonal. Though that might be fewer choices in the market or grocery store, the foods taste so much better and fresher.

School is back in session. We have just started The KAUST School's fourth year. Wow! Lots of great new teachers and students. More to come ...


Thanks for reading, Jennifer

Mercat d'Oliver, Mallorca

Greetings,
Yesterday, Logan and I explored this large market in Palma, the main city of Mallorca. We had heard about it from a guy in our apartment building, so we took the bus to the area and walked about until we found the market. From the outside, it's a large yellow-colored building, with small windows up towards the ceiling. It does not look like much. We went in to discover one of the most immaculate and interesting fish markets we have ever seen. There were rows and rows and rows of fish sellers, filleting fish and skinning fish. We saw skinned and cleaned rays, smaller sharks, massive tuna, tiny sardines, and a gazillion other types of fish that we didn't know the names for. It was so clean and intriguing to watch. People came in to buy exactly what they wanted - for their home or restaurant, presumably. In another section of the market, we found glorious displays of colorful fruits and vegetables, cheeses, olives, nuts, wines, baskets, cured pork and pork legs, sides of beef, eggs, chickens. It was the most immaculate market I have ever seen. We exhausted ourselves taking photos. The funniest thing we saw was bacon-wrapped dates, coming from Saudi Arabia where dates grow to a place where they take a similar product and ensconce it in finely sliced pork product. We had a good chuckle over that.


From the market we bought sushi to eat in the square and from there, we  proceeded through the old section of Palma with its narrow winding lanes, free from cars and filled with shops, cafes, restaurants, and gelato stands. I felt like we could eat our way through Palma, but we were selective and waited for what looked like the perfect gelato!

Mallorca, very popular with Brits and Germans, is less well-known among Americans. English seems to be spoken by many, but I find my years and years of junior high and high school Spanish coming back in a flash. Even all of those verb conjugations make sense to me. I cannot really produce great sentences or paragraphs of spoken Spanish, but I find that I understand a great deal and - except for the random sentence in Thai - I feel pretty good about that. With several months here, I might really be able to communicate with great efficiency.

While David is in class each day until about 1:30, Logan and I swim, play at the beach, explore different sections of the island nearby, shop for groceries, and generally enjoy our free time. We love to jump from the large rocks near our apartment into the salty and wavy sea, and we all spent an evening listening to an incredible orchestra play Mozart and Beethoven in the Bellver Castle. What a wonderful spot for live music!

We are thoroughly enjoying our time here. It's culturally rich, stimulating and incredibly beautiful. The view from our apartment ...

Thanks for reading,

Jennifer