Christmas and 2014

Life has been quite busy around here the past month or so.  We enjoyed Christmas and New Years.  This Christmas was so much fun since it was Zoe's first Christmas where she was somewhat aware of what was going on around her.  On Christmas Eve, we drove with some friends to a nearby town.  This town is a little outside of the capitol city we live in, and it has a Christian majority.  We had heard from many people that we needed to go and see their Christmas lights there, that we would feel like we were in America.  So, we set off on what should have been a thirty minute drive to this little town to see the lights.  When we finally arrived, an hour and a half later, we saw maybe four buildings that had Christmas lights (read: a strand of lights) on them, there were a couple of stores that sold lights, and their door/entry ways were quite lit.  They also had a famous Christmas tree in the center of town, so naturally I'm expecting a Time's Square Christmas tree, what we found was maybe a seven foot tree, no ornaments, just a few strands of red lights.  Our Christmas Lights outing was a little bit of a bust, but it was fun anyway and we did get to see people celebrating Christmas.

Christmas day, we had some friends over for Christmas dinner.  We had a huge feast with Turkey and stuffing, and Andrew put a video of a fireplace with crackling fire on the TV so it felt a bit like a Christmas back home.  This was a fourth Christmas overseas, and it was the first one that has actually felt like Christmas.

We did not really celebrate much for New Years, but we did get to hear a lot of fireworks at midnight.  A few days after the New Year, we went with some friends to a nearby tourist spot just outside of town.  There was an old castle (something like 300 BC), and a network of caves in the side of a mountain.  We took a picnic and enjoyed the afternoon away from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

Now that all the holidays have passed, we are settling back into the normal routine and fast paced flow of life. 

Snow Days!

Over the weekend we got quite a bit of snow here.  It has stopped snowing, but we are still homebound due to all the snow still in the streets.  Since we rarely get significant snow fall here, there is not a good system in place to handle this much snow.  Because of all the snow and the sheer amount of traffic that it produced, people simply abandoned their cars in the middle of the street to walk the rest of the way.  Needless to say, that has not helped the clean up/clear up process any!  But in-spite of the craziness on the streets, we've had some fun playing in the snow :)

The evening before this major snowfall, we went over to some friend's house that live nearby.  Everything was just wet and cold when we walked over, but when we opened their door to leave that evening, there were huge snow flakes falling and snow was covering everything.  We enjoyed a peaceful, beautiful walk home in the snow.  It's amazing to me how much prettier everything is when there is a layer of snow covering everything.

Return Home

We just arrived back home after a three week vacation visiting family in the U.S.  We loved every moment with our families, but it feels good to be back home.  As I lay in bed this morning, snuggling a little with Zoe while Andrew ran down the street to buy some eggs for breakfast, the call to prayer went off.  Zoe turned her head to the window (which the Mosque is just outside of) and we listened.  I was hit with how much this place has become our home.  We loved being in the States, and now this place feels like home, but still we are foreigners living in a foreign land.  We are at home, yet not at home here.  This is the truth of our lives in Christ as well, we are strangers and sojourners in a foreign land, and this is not our home.  We have the hope and future of a better place.

Mosque next door to our house

Freedom: Myth or Reality

Living overseas, especially in an Islamic Kingdom, has changed the way I look at our world.  We have lived here now for 2 and half, almost 3 years, and when I think back to America, I can't believe how much freedom we have.  I see daily on facebook and twitter, people posting articles and statuses about how as a nation we are loosing rights left and right.  It may be true, and I am 100% for our rights and freedoms, it is what makes us the United States of America.  We were founded by those fleeing the oppression of their native countries, seeking freedom.  But I have to ask the question, what are you doing with your freedom?

In the U.S., we have the freedom of speech.  We can say whatever we want about whoever we want.  We have the right to peacefully protest, to have marches, to start petitions.  We as normal people, through our State Reps, can actually change things if we are determined enough.  We can elect who we want to be in office.  Granted it may not always feel like we have a voice or a chance, but we do.  In the country we now live in, people are allowed to protest, if they contact the appropriate officials in advance and get permission.  Police will meet them at their designated location and make sure nothing gets out of hand.  If you say something bad about the King or the Prophet, you go to jail.  The people can get the opportunity to vote on their parliament, but the King can (and has) fired them all and set up a new parliament.  But the same people run again for election to Parliament, they pay off people for votes, and get elected into the same positions for their lifetime.  Regardless, the King does what he wants, and has the authority to do so, the average citizen has no ability whatsoever to instigate change.  Thankfully in our Kingdom, we really do have a good, kind King who listens to the people and what they want.  We are blessed to have a King who is looking out for the welfare of his people, and although it may not always be felt, a freedom is lacking.

In the U.S., we have the freedom of Religion.  We can believe anything we want, we can change around from religion to religion if we so desire, we can make up our own religion.  We can do it, and no one can stop us.  Here, we have freedom of religion as well.  You are free to be of whatever faith you were born.  Zoe is free to be a Christian because on her birth certificate it says she's a Christian and that's all she's free to be, well, except Muslim.

Now, here, we may live under a Monarchy and not have the voice or the freedoms from government that we have in the U.S., but the aspect of this country which really impedes upon a persons freedoms is the culture.  I have been talking a lot about this with my language tutors recently.  The difference between religion and culture.  While the religion between Christians and Muslims in my country is quite different, their culture is the same.  I have the freedom legally to walk outside dressed however I like, but if I go out in a mini skirt and a tube top, the culture is quickly going to catch up with me.  I will get harassed, probably grabbed and most likely propositioned.  Therefore, long sleeves, long pants/skirts and loose clothing it is.  I have the freedom legally to go out of the house by myself at any time of the day I want, but if I go out by myself after dark, the culture will quickly catch up with me.  I have the freedom to walk on the street with a man who is not my husband, but the culture will quickly catch up with me.  A girl has the freedom to have sex outside of marriage, but a male family member (brother or father) might abuse or kill her and he might go to prison for 6 months.  That's right folks, this is cultural not religious.

So, as I read tweets and status updates about people's unhappiness with political changes in the U.S., I challenge you to be thankful for the freedoms that you do have.  Put feet to your words and do something about those things you are unhappy about, because that is your right, your freedom, and you have the ability to make change.  Live life, take advantage of the freedoms you have.

On another note:  Happy Easter!  We are free to celebrate Easter, but if we do, we must celebrate on the day the King tells us to.  

Zoe Phyllis

Zoe Phyllis was born on September 27, 2012 at 9:45 in the evening.  She weighed 7 lbs and 10 oz and was 19.5 in long.  Hopefully within the next few days I will be able to post a little more about her birth and the past week and a half with a newborn.

The first time I got to hold her, it went by way to quickly

After letting me hold her for a minute (they didn't even really want to do that but Andrew insisted) they whisked her away to the NICU to monitor her breathing.

After monitoring her for a few hours, they finally returned her to us!

Sweet little Zoe all bundled up (definitely more to come on this)

At home, 3 days old

I believe this is on day 6

1 week old, Daddy cutting her little fingernails as she sleeps

Beach Weekend

Last weekend we headed down to our old city for a beach getaway.  We stayed at one of the nice hotels in the tourist area of town.  Even though we were at a tourist hotel, most of those tourists were from Saudi Arabia or other parts of our Country.  There were a few scattered Europeans, but for the most part, it wasn't quite the typical beach getaway we love and enjoy in the States.  We were also able to spend some time with some of our good friends from that town and enjoy a few meals together with them.

Andrew excited about being at the beach

When we go to hotel beaches I get to wear my swimsuit, but I usually wear leggings with it in an attempt to be more modest but still get some sun :)

Some ladies enjoying the pool

Andrew's best friend here came out and spent one day with us at the beach

Enjoying a refreshing Watermelon juice

We had a lot of fun!  We went sort of for Andrew's birthday which was yesterday and to see our friends as well as have some time relaxing :)

We celebrated Andrew's 29th Birthday at Fudrucker's with some friends

28 Weeks ~~ Already in my third trimester!!

Well, this was all a bit random, but I hope it got ya'll all caught up.  Happy 4th of July!!!

Easter in the Middle East

In our part of the world, things tend to move a bit slower.  That was my first thought when we showed up at a local church on Easter morning and they were just celebrating Palm Sunday.  In actuality that is not why they were a week behind our Western churches.  I remember growing up in Catholic School, there were several students in my class who were Greek Orthodox, and they always celebrated Easter a week after the rest of us.  Here in our current country, there are several varieties of Christian.  The King decided that he didn't want the Christians celebrating all their holidays on different days, so he made them all come to an agreement on holidays.  So, we celebrate the Eastern Easter and the Western Christmas.  It was really neat this year to be able to attend an Arab Church and see how believers here celebrate these holy days.  It was also very encouraging that we actually understood most of the Sermon in Arabic!

Happy Easter from the Middle East!

On another note:  We're having a baby girl!  It was very anti-climatic at the doctor's office when they told me she was a girl.  Partly because it's just not very Arab to hype something up and make a big deal about it, and partly because in their eyes, girls just aren't as good as boys.  But we're incredibly excited about our little girl!  Andrew was actually hoping the whole time that she would be a girl.

This past week I've really been able to feel her moving around in there.  I felt her some last week, but this week I am feeling her more and more.  It is exciting and surreal all at the same time :)  We can't wait till she gets here.  We plan on naming her Zoe Phyllis.  Zoe means life in Greek.  I have always loved this name, thinking if I had a little girl I wanted to name her Zoe in hopes that that she would bring life and joy to all those she comes in contact with.  Zoe is the Greek word used in John 14:6 where Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  Phyllis was my Grandma's name.  She passed away when I was 13 years old, but I was very close to her and she had an incredible impact on my life.  She loved the Lord, and even though she spent years battling cancer and continual pain, she always kept an optimistic view on life.  I can think of no better name than Phyllis for my little daughter.

Rearranging

Well, we have been living in this apartment for a few weeks now and we have had a few troubles, but in spite of it all, we still like it alright :)  When we returned from Christmas (we went back to our original city) we had a bit of a mold problem.  We have since been trying to treat it.  It's been slow going with the mold, but it is getting better day by day.  On New Years evening, we had a pipe "fall off the wall" in the bathroom.  It was truly just like the movies where water is spraying out everywhere.  Andrew was trying desperately to get the pipe back on, and all I could do was laugh uncontrollably at the situation.  There was so much water it was flooding the bathroom and beginning to come out into the rest of the apartment.  Fortunately I could hold it together long enough to keep squeegeeing the water into the drainage hole in the bathroom (remember the one from the laundry).  Andrew ran down to get our landlord.  A few minutes later the two of them come running through the door frantically and they get the water turned off. Our landlord told us 5 minutes and a plumber would be up to fix it.  The first thought I had was, "An Arab 5 minutes?"  Arabs tend to be more free with their time, not using clocks and things of that nature.  Their day runs mostly off the sun and moon.  Incredibly though, about 5 minutes later a plumber and the building manager showed up and probably within 20 minutes had the thing fixed!  We were a little late for our NYE plans, but things turned out okay and we had a great story to tell when we got there :)

Here are a couple of pictures.  We have recently rearranged our little apartment.  We were able to acquire a small dinning table.  The place is beginning to feel like home.

Here is a little section of our mold.  It's along the bottom of the walls in the entry way and a little behind the big sofa in our living area.  This is not mold in the picture.  We have scraped off a lot of the paint to try to get to the mold's roots.  We had been spraying chemicals on it, but recently we have been washing it with baking soda water and then Andrew smears a baking soda paste on and leaves it, that's what you're seeing here.  Baking soda is not only supposed to kill the fungi, but also helps keep away moisture.  It's been working the best so far.

Washing Wednesdays

Now for the long awaited post about our washing machine!  Since we have moved to the big city, we now have to deal with limited water.  In our old town, we lived right on the sea and an aquifer so we had unlimited water.  Now that we are in the city and miles and miles from the nearest source of water with millions of people to water, we are limited.  Unfortunately, our first full week here we found out just how much this limited water affects us when we ran out on a Monday night and found out our tanks wouldn't be refilled until Wednesday.  Wednesday is when the water comes to our area of the city, so we can use as much water as we want on Wednesdays and it won't affect the rest of our week on the tank.  With that in mind, Wednesdays is when I try to get all the laundry and cleaning done.  So, without further ado, here's the procedure for laundry these days :)

Here's my washing machine (in the bathroom)

First things first, I have to plug in the washer.  Yes, that's right, I plug in the washer outside of the bathroom.

Load the big cylinder up with laundry.  You get to join us for towels :)

Next I have to fill up the cylinder with water.  There are two tubes I am supposed to hook together and connect to the sink in the bathroom to fill up the cylinder with, but it's too difficult and leaks a lot, so I just take the "shatafa" (kinda like a water hose for the toilet), turn it on and rig it up so it will be filling while I walk around and do stuff around the house instead of standing there holding it the whole time.

Add some detergent, put the lid back on and set the cycle for anything up to 15 minutes.  I was doing everything for 15 minutes, but I am noticing it is really rough on our clothes, so I've been putting it on for less time.

When it's done (no beep or anything I just notice I don't hear it anymore) it looks like this, sometimes more sometimes less suds.

Now for the draining.  This is a hole in the floor of our bathroom.  We also have one in the kitchen.  It's actually quite nice when you're mopping.

So I have to take hose from the washer and put it to this hole.  The water comes out too fast/strong, so I have to kneel here the whole time it's draining and hold the hose to the hole so water doesn't get all over the bathroom floor.

Here's a good view of the gauges on the washer.  Once I drain the water, I basically repeat all the previous steps except for the detergent to rinse the clothes/towels.

Once I have rinsed and drained, I then move all the clothes over to the second cylinder.  If I do a full load on the left side, I will not be able to fit them all in on the right, so I'll have to take several turns to get them all done.

There's this weird lid thing I put on top of the spinner cylinder.  I guess it keeps the clothes from flying out?

Close all the lids and set it to spin for 5 minutes.

They look kinda like this when they're done.  All smashed up against the sides.

I drain everything again and set to hanging up the wet stuff to dry.  Here's our drying rack.  I did another load of laundry after this pic so I was saving room on the rack for more clothes to come.

For big towels and jeans, I hang them on Andrew's pull up bars :)

Since our new apartment is so cold and it's quite wet in the city right now, it takes several days for clothes to dry and can take up to a week for jeans and big towels.

Well, that's just a brief summary of how we get our clothes done :)  If you're ever doing some cleaning on a Wednesday, think about us, we're probably cleaning too!

The Move

For those of you who have not heard, we just recently moved.  We were living in a small town/city of about 100,000 people in the South of our current country.  A little over a week ago, we moved up to a big city (almost 3 million people).  The main reason for our move was language.  For the past year we have been studying Arabic with tutors who may or may not be reliable to show up and who may or may not be well educated in Arabic themselves.  Because of these and a few other reasons, our Arabic was just not progressing as it should be, so we made the decision to move to the big city where we will now be able to attend an actual language school.  Our hopes are high that our Arabic will get a jump-start and we will be able to quickly progress.  Our language school doesn't begin their new semester till the end of January, so in the meantime, we are getting some tutoring from a tutoring center in hopes of bringing our grammar skills up so we will be able to test into the next semester at the language school.

The move and transition to the big city was fairly smooth.  We got settled in and unpacked fairly quickly. We are still getting to know our neighborhood.  We are not used to having everything we need right outside our door, and we are also not used to taxi rides taking thirty minutes or more (did I fail to mention that it is also extremely cold here right now).  Even though we have just moved cities, it feels like we have moved to a different country in a way.  I (Sarah) have a lot more freedom and independence in the big city than I did in our small one.  Because it is a big city, there is a lot more western influence and sometimes I feel like I am actually in Europe or the States.  I just recently read that our city is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, and sometimes looking out our window at the buildings surrounding us, I can see that it is true.

Welcome!

View from the entry of our place

Maybe the smallest kitchen in the world, but since it's open it doesn't feel as small

Our Bedroom....ignore the mess, it was a last minute decision to take pictures

Guest bedroom

View from our Bedroom

Bath

Washing Machine that will get it's own blog at a later date :)