Thursday, April 5th, 2007

I know my camel adventure happened a few days ago, but I have so many great pictures of them that I want to share. So...keep a look out for more camel shots!

Ahlan wa-sahlan! (Welcome).

I can't tell you how excited I was to see 24 new postings to my site last night. I really makes it fun to read your comments and it helps me to know what to write about in my blogs. Today was another incredible day. Before I go into detail on the day, let me start by saying it is important to know that the company of Aramco has gone to great expense to help coordinate a program that would expose this group of American educators to many areas of Saudi Culture. We have been given access to many well educated, liberal thinkers in all areas of the community and have toured many of the regions of this country. We are seeing and learning many things. Some of the things we are seeing are incredible and other areas need major improvements. Many of you asked about women's rights and the answer is, there is still a great deal of work to be done in this area. Freedom is a modified term in this country, but one that grows each day. What I am learning is that every society has areas of strength and weakness. This trip is helping us, as teachers to build bridges between nations that often have very different political views. When I return I am sure I will be speaking to many of you to share my observations and to answer questions that you might have.

Today, our day began with a visit to Old Jeddah and the building were the first King of Saudi Arabia had his palace hundreds of years ago. We walked through this building and climbed 6 stories to the top of the building. There we heard the Muslim call to prayer, which is broadcast across the country five times a day on loud speakers, which signals all Muslims to come to the mosques to pray. We were able to observe the traditional Muslim prayer ritual, and ended this visit with coffee (yes, more coffee) while sitting on oriental rugs at the top of this museum rooftop.

Then, the fun began! We went to the suqs (local outdoor shopping markets) to purchase items for our classrooms, friends and family. Because we were given only two hours to shop, we divided up our list of items we needed and groups would go and bulk shop for the items to negotiate a better price. Myself and one other woman, Mary, were in charge of the abaya and veil shopping. Others shopped for spices, Aladdin lamps, prayer beads, prayer rugs and incense. We had a great time selecting abayas for those who needed them. We did a great job negotiating and turned my hotel room into Filene's basement later on, and distributed all of our purchases to each other later in the evening.

Our evening was spent at a resort in Jeddah called the Fal Resort. The upper class Saudi families belong to resorts like this one, walled communities, with pools, swimming, jet skis, snorkeling, scuba diving, bowling, health clubs and a restaurant. We arrived just in time to see the sunset over the Red Sea and then took a tour of the resort. I bowled with a group of people until we were escorted down to the beach. As we walked, a group of native African singers with drums, performed behind us and led us to a large sitting area which was created on the beach front for us. It was wild to see 20 couches and 10 oriental rugs set out along the beach like an outdoor living room.

We sat and enjoyed colorful and delicious fruit cocktails (non-alcoholic), eating dates and yes, more coffee. As we sat, the singers began to perform native dances and invited the men in our group to dance. In this country, traditional families only allow the men to dance, so the women watched and talked. We ate dinner by the pool area and returned to the outdoor living area for more dancing, coffee and conversation. Women were invited to get henna tattoos, which I of course did. I have two long tattoos on my right arm and leg and they are very cool to look at. I hope they don't wear off too much before I return to the states.

Well, it is late once again, nearly one am and we are getting picked up at 7:15 to return to the resort for a half day of fun and sun before we get on a plane to Riyhad. I must say that I will miss Jeddah very much.

PS. I heard that we got 10 inches of snow and had a snow day back home. That seems crazy for so late into April. I hope that it is all melted away by the time I return. KEEP POSTING!