Family vs. Men-only sections

We went to eat at a Subway in Riyadh. But as we went to sit down, the guy at the counter told me I couldn't sit with my family; as it was a men's only section. He said my family could stay, but I had to leave Subway and eat my sandwich outside of the restaurant.

 This was their turkey. It was more like bologna. In fact, much of their lunch meat in restaurants and in stores.

This is my family eating in the restaurant...with me on the outside.

We went to a park and it had lots of grass AND trees! Many parks don't, but this one was great. We had a picnic with some friends and the kids got to run around the weather was perfect!

Liberty and Daddy snuggle-time. Liberty was about three weeks old here.

Look, Happy Nuggets! I've learned that anything that says "American," and especially the brand Americana Quality does NOT taste like American anything. Most frozen foods here require deep frying to cook them. This includes fish sticks, some hamburgers, and all the chicken nuggets that I've been able to find. I've experimented with an alternative, less-oily way to cook them by spraying them with cooking spray and microwaving/baking them in the oven, but they still don't taste quite right.
See the "Halal" in the corner of the box? That basically means "kosher" -- that it doesn't contain pork.

Happy Nuggets! Hooray!

Many stores have stacks of deep fryers available for sale, which includes many different styles and brands. I don't know that I'd ever seen a deep fryer back in the States at your typical store. And 99% of the frozen food you can buy here, including chicken nuggets even, don't have oven instructions on the back; only frying instructions.


Misspellings are common. This powdered sugar is "icing suger." Another common misspelling are salons, which they are often labelled as "saloons."

"Suger"

 We went to a park and Maren was too afraid to get any closer to the water. She was in the middle of a good stare when we took this picture.

Delmon Pottery and the Bahrain Sea Festival

We had a fun day in Bahrain a few weeks ago. We started out by going to Delmon pottery. The kids got to make their own pottery with help from the nice Bahraini man below. There was also an amazing pottery shop with beautiful pieces of ethnic-looking pottery. The owner of the shop said that his grandfather started Delmon pottery before there was much of a building in the present location.


We came back a couple weeks later to pick up the kids' pottery that they had baked in the kiln. The next step is to paint them with acrylic paint.



I got a picture in front of this old cemetery we drove past. I have no idea what the banners say, so comment if you read Arabic! It's always nice going to Baharain for the weekend because women are not required to wear abayas there.


Since Bahrain is so close (less than an hour, on a good traffic day), we like to drive across the border to this tiny island that is connected to Saudi Arabia by a causeway. See that tiny blip on the map in the Persian Gulf (they call it the "Arab Gulf") that is just east of Saudi, and north of Qatar? That little island is the Kingdom of Bahrain.


Our next stop was the annual Bahrain Sea Festival. Upon entering, you step on this interactive sea floor. The kids would have spent the entire night on that floor had we not forced them to move on! The loved "splashing" and stepping on the fish and making them swim away. It's funny to see the things that the kids loved the most. Not the aquarium, or the ship building, or the Mexican food. This fish floor.




Because we arrived so early, we were one of the first people there. These Bahraini men were showcasing fish trap building and pearl diving--both things that Bahrainis have a long tradition of doing. See those round, metal fish traps on the right?



They used nose plugs to help with pressure when they did deep pearl diving. And they would put this basket around their neck as they swam along the bottom of the gulf floor, running their hands in the sand and picking up clams. When they would find a clam, they'd pop it into the basket.


Apparently an average pearl diver could go on about 8 dives in a day. Good ones could go on 10. And exceptional ones could handle up to 15 dives, though that was very rare. Apparently it wears you out--and they need to be able to hold their breath for about 3 minutes.

Doesn't Avery look thrilled? :P







They even had this stage set up for a virtual reality pearl diving experience. You put on the VR goggles and it looked like you were on a pearl diving boat off the coast. You got to watch the men on the ship prepare for the pearl dive, and then go with them in the water when they did it, and then go back on the ship while they opened their clams in search of pearls. Avery had so much fun that she nearly walked off the stage trying to explore the VR boat!

See Sam with the VR headset on? He must be checking out the top of the water...or the VR sky or something.


Here was another undersea virtual reality setup they had. These pods moved and had sound effects that went with your undersea adventure on the VR headset. The kids loved this one because they really felt like they were swimming through the ocean and were being chased by the imaginary sea creatures!


In the middle of everything were these Bahraini singers and drummers. Maren covered her ears the entire time we were in the place because they were so loud. One of the guys even let Avery come on stage and beat the drum with him, though I didn't get a picture of it!




This was a hand-built ship that the guy in the next picture below made.


He said the boat he had been working on was already sold. Someone saw him working on it, wanted it, so he went up to him asking him the price. It costs around $2,000-3,000 for a small boat this size.


After the activities inside, we went outside where they had more displays and tables set up for food from the vendors. We ate at a place with Mexican food. We joked with the food vendors about not being Mexican, and they joked that they were Indian-Mexican and Filipino-Mexican. They were fun to talk with. They even brought our food to our table when it was ready.

The deck area overlooked a bay with several classic-made Bahraini ships.


Avery really wanted me to post this picture of her and the face she was making.


Then this man came over and said, "Do you want a picture with me in it?"
Why not?


This was one of my favorite parts. They had a blacksmith display! They had samples of the things they had made, including anchors that were too heavy for me to pick up!


They were making a post digger-upper (that's the official name, I'm sure); a tool they use to remove posts in the ground.


See the Bahrain flag on the back of the ship?


This was incredible. This man was in a thobe (white robe), waving the Bahrain flag, and on the water hover board!






These guys were opening clams for pearls. When they found one, they would hold the clam up and cheer.


Just before this, a Bahraini woman wanted a picture with Liberty. I passed her off to the woman so I could take a picture of her holding Liberty, but Liberty gets wary of strangers, and she started bawling. So the woman just took a picture of Liberty while I was holding her. But by that point, Liberty was not in the mood to smile, no matter how much I tried to cajole her or make silly faces at her. It turns out that the woman was taking a video of both me AND Liberty, not just a photo of Liberty, like I had assumed. So she got me making some really lovely faces on film while I was trying to make Liberty smile. I hope their posterity enjoy that video. :)

The woman asked my baby's name, and when I told her "Liberty," she smiled and told me how to say Liberty in Arabic: "hurria." The woman was pushing her (I assume) grandmother in a wheelchair, and the grandmother's eyes lit up when she got to reach out and hold Liberty's little hand. Kids are such great barrier breakers.

More performers on the terrace outside. Maren had to cover her ears up again when the started playing. Poor girl couldn't get a break! But it was fun music to have playing in the background, even if Maren didn't appreciate it.


In other news, in the last several days, we catch Sam being quiet. Usually that means he is coloring. But now we have caught him on the ground reading the scriptures in Matthew! He says, "Mom, I am reading this and I can actually understand it!" Makes my heart happy. I love that boy.

Sweet Saudi Nurse, Sam's Sweet Notes, Avery Loves to Read, and Learning About Abraham

When we were waiting in a long line at the pediatrician's, this sweet, smiling (although her face was veiled, her "smiling" eyes gave her away) Saudi nurse squatted next to Avery and started asking her about her book, so Avery explained the plot line.

They talked with each other about it for a minute before I reached the front of the line and had to move to a different room. Such sweet people here.



A few weeks ago, I went to an appointment at Saad Specialist Hospital, and I picked the wrong day. I had only seen news reports that some of the administrative staff were on strike due to unpaid salaries. As it turns out, everyone was on strike, including the doctors. All the side offices and back doctor's offices were empty. It was kinda weird. I was wandering around back there trying to find out if my doctor had happened to stay! But he hadn't, of course. Everyone was just hanging out in the foyer.

No one I talked to knew when the strike would be over, so it looks like I ended up finding a new doctor at a different hospital. Hopefully these people get their salaries paid and get things worked out. One receptionist there said they haven't been paid in seven months!

On the bright side, I was in and out in 10 minutes. Fastest "appointment" ever! Below you can see all the nurses, doctors, and administrative staff on strike:


Sam is our early riser. He usually gets up between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. every day. Multiple times a week, he will come into my bedroom before I wake up, and hand me a note that he has just colored that morning. They are always the sweetest notes. This one says, "Dear Mom, I love to help you." Seriously, how could I ever be mad at him for waking me up for that?! He drew little pictures of some presents he got at a recent birthday party: bubbles, a rainbow slinky, and a Rubik's cube:


Avery had bought a police officer accessory set at a store. Sam accidentally broke a part on it. He woke me up the following morning to show me the note he had made her. He had taped it inside of a folded and taped piece of paper. It says, "Dear Avery, I love you and your police officer set. I am so sorry that I broke it. Will you forgive me?"



My heart melted. I hope this tenderhearted quality always stays with him. I want to do as much as I can to help him to continue to develop it.

In other news, it finally happened! Each day for homeschool, the kids read aloud for 20 minutes. Avery sometimes complains or drags her feet, or will try to sneak books that I know don't challenge her. Or only consents to reading a page if Nathan or I read one in between. We did our best not to be over-the-top pushy, and we tried to let her develop at her own pace.

Last night before bed, I was reading Magic Treehouse's "Tonight on the Titanic," to the kids and I stopped at the end of a cliffhanger chapter because it was bedtime. As she walked past the book to go upstairs, I saw her sneakily grab it and run up the stairs to bed. It was one of those times as a parent that I was happy to turn a blind eye. This morning, she told me she had finished that book, and was almost done with the next one on the series. I asked her, "Oh, who read them to you?" She looked at me with her proud little half-smile and said, "Me!"



She won't stop reading on her own. It was sometimes a struggle for all of us to help her get to that point, but now that it is finally here, it is worth it! It makes our hearts happy to see her sitting on the couch reading to herself now whenever she gets a spare second. She has been telling me, "I love to read on my own!"

Now we have a new problem: she won't go to bed because she stays up reading by lamplight late into the night. But those are the kind of problems we like around here.

She even found a new favorite reading spot. In our only tree, a Plumeria tree in our front "yard."



We saw this interesting place in the food court in one of the malls. It was called rolls and yogurt or something strange like that. It piqued my interest, and so we ordered one. It was fun to watch. You pick your "base" ice cream or frozen yogurt flavor (I picked Mango), and then order whatever fruit/toppings you want. I got mango again, strawberry, Ferrero Rocher chocolates, a Kit-Kat bar, and blueberries.

First, they throw your toppings on a plate that has freezer elements beneath it.


Then they pour the mango "ice cream" liquid on.


Then they chop it really fast with [what I can only assume are] paint scrapers.




Then he flattens the mixture out and lets it sit for a minute in order to freeze a bit more:


Lastly, he slowly scrapes the now-frozen ice cream up as it rolls itself up into perfect little cylinders.




They were able to fit all of it in one little cup. And they put a few chunks of each topping I ordered on top of the ice cream. It was delish. It was also overpriced, since it didn't taste any different than your average ice cream. But it was fun to see.

See behind me? This mall has a little ice skating rink in the food court. Amazingly, when I went up to the edge of the rink, it wasn't even cold! I have no idea how they keep the ice from melting.

One evening we were learning about the dream of Pharaoh that Joseph of Egypt interpreted. We had the kids get out paper and draw the baker's and butler's dream after we read it. Here was Sam's:


And then after we learned about the sons of Jacob, we had them draw their associated tribal totems. Nathan the got out this great game we have called "Feast and Famine" that has "Egyptian artwork" of each of the sons (plus Dinah) and their wives. The artist for the game incorporated the tribal totems into the artwork, and so the kids got to look at all the cards and see if they could tell which card depicted which son. It was a fun little reading that night!


Did I mention that this is one of our all-time favorite games? It was a Deseret Book exclusive, and I don't know if they sell it anymore. But if you like games, you should get this one. The artwork is incredible and the gameplay is fun!

Hey! It's your lucky day! It looks like it's on Amazon here.

The kids also got to go to a big gathering at a friend's house on Aramco for a fun drive-in movie night. They got to decorate cardboard boxes as cars and watch the new Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie.