Hats & Steaks

We have officially been overseas for six months now!  The time has flown by.  It has been great and challenging at times.  We have finally found a new language tutor that we still start with tomorrow!  I am excited about finding a new tutor, but we still really need to find a separate tutor for Andrew to work with.

To celebrate our 6 months overseas we went out to a fancy new steak restaurant that opened up in a new hotel in town.  In reality, we were just going out for a date night and wanted to try out the new restaurant.  While we were there, Andrew remembered it was our six months overseas anniversary, so we decided it was a perfect reason to splurge.  I believe we were the first customers they have ever had.  We were the only ones there (apparently they had a media group coming in right after we left) and they were very attentive to our needs.  Which is why I think we were their first customers ever.  While we were there, it was almost had to believe we were still overseas.  The place was so fancy, and I probably only one or two of the staff even spoke Arabic.

Andrew waiting patiently for his steak, enjoying his freshly baked bread and complementary soup.

Sarah waiting patiently, not enjoying freshly baked bread, but enjoying complementary soup

It was so good, we forgot to take a picture before we began eating

If you read here, then you will know about the hat I ordered off of etsy a couple of weeks ago.  Well, it finally came in!  I think it turned out super cute.  I haven't worn it out yet, but I am excited about it's debut.

SCUBA

Last week, since we have been out of a language tutor, we had a little extra time on our hands.  I have been wanting to get SCUBA certified.  Andrew is SCUBA certified and has been the main one wanting me to get my certification.  I finally had the time to do it.  The course usually takes 3 days of intense lessons, but I was able to complete the course in just two days.  Andrew got to come out with me the second day since I had already finished learning all my techniques and a majority of day two was open water dives.  It was a lot of fun.  Very scary though since I struggle with claustrophobia.  I was definitely having to fight panic attacks the whole time, but I think since I had to overcome my fears as well as learn to SCUBA, it was even more rewarding.  I can't wait to get back into the sea and really start feeling comfortable down there and getting to experience literally a whole new world.

Flower

Today at the local Friday handicrafts souq I bought this little flower that is perfect for my new nook case.  I think it's super cute and I get to help support local handicrafts.  What do you think?

I still need to find some velcro for the flap, but I think the flower is perfect :)

Sometimes You Just Need a Win

Today has been what I would consider a bad day.  A couple of weeks ago our language tutor called to say that she would not be able to keep tutoring us.  She and her husband have been trying for years to get pregnant and have a baby.  They have gotten pregnant many times, but have never been able to have a healthy baby.  She recently found out she is pregnant again, but the doctors have her on bed rest, indefinitely.  She was sweet enough to find a replacement for herself, her cousin.  Unfortunately, her cousin has another job as well as a busy, stressful life right now.  We only got to meet with her two times last week and this morning she informed us that she would not be able to come the rest of this week!  That was the first disappointment of the day.

Lately I have been using a system called ProVoc to help me study Arabic.  It is a really neat system.  You type in all your vocab words in English and Arabic and it comes up with Tests for you and all sorts of other neat stuff.  The first week our language tutor wasn't with us, I spent entering all 2,187 Arabic words we have.  I discovered a really cool thing this program does.  You can record audio too, which is great because I can read and recognize a word, but hearing it is a totally different ball game.  We took a little time last week at the end of our language lessons to record our new tutor saying some vocab words.  When I found out she would not be coming the rest of the week, we decided to take a little more time at the end of class to get a lot more words to help in studying.  Well, that time came and I pulled up my ProVoc program.  We recorded several words then all of a sudden the program freaked out!  We tried Andrew's and his did the same thing!  I was so discouraged because now we will spend another week without language lessons and I won't be able to study the way I was hoping.

After language today I just felt like I really needed a win.  I had seen a friend of mine's case for her Kindle.  I had been thinking to myself how to make one for my Nook.  So, the second our new language tutor walked out the door, I pulled out my sewing machine and fabric pieces.  It was not an easy to task.  I just kept in mind what my Mom always says, "That which you sew you shall also rip."  It made my ripping not seem so much like a loss, but rather just part of the process.  I still need a button and maybe some Velcro to keep the flap down, but I think regardless it still turned out as a win.

So here I sit at Gloria Jean's Coffee Shop.  I was greeted by name upon entering (I think that's a win).  I guess they could tell I was having a more difficult day because I got three hearts on top of my Latte rather than a tree or just one heart.  Blogger quit working about half-way through this blog, but I was quick enough to copy and paste before I lost my blog, so I will also consider that a win :)  Oh yea, I won't even go into the fact that I didn't have the money to pay for my Latte so I've got to wait for Andrew to come pick me up for him to pay for it.

I hope your day is going well!

Hats

The part of the world that we live in is a mix of different cultures.  There are so many people who live in our city that are originally from surrounding countries.  I believe I heard somewhere that only about 30% of the population is originally from this country.  So, while the country that we currently live in is not all that conservative comparatively, those from surrounding countries bring in their more conservative traditions and attire.  We also live in a fairly touristy city.  Many people filter through daily from Europe, and they bring with them their liberal, scandalous for this culture, attire.  So where does that leave me?  What is considered conservative and modest in the States is okay for some of the cultures here, but not for others.

The major issue is the shabab, or young guys.  They are not used to seeing girls, so when they do they don't know how to handle themselves.  When I go out with Andrew, there is usually no problem except for a lot of staring, but when I go out with my girl friends, it can get a little more uncomfortable (don't worry, it's nothing too bad just lots of people staring and sometimes people saying things to us).  I would say that 95% of the local women all cover their heads with a hajab or head scarf.  All of those women are also Muslim.  Another American girl who lives here and I have been trying to figure out a way to dress modestly in this culture, but also not come across as being a Muslim.  Our new solution: hats!  We don't wear them all the time.  Mainly when we go into more conservative areas of town or go out in the evening together without our husbands.  We like to think we are invisible with our hats, unfortunately we are not, but I do think it helps a bit.

Well, all that ranting to say:  I am excited about the fact that I just ordered this

off of this Etsy shop yesterday!  I ordered the hat in gray and the flower in fuchsia.  I am very excited about it and can't wait till it comes in.  

Weekend Excursion

The great thing about the Middle East is that there are a lot of sites to see all in a fairly close area.  This weekend we were able to take a little trip and see some of those sites.  I have a friend whom I have not seen in three years, who has been in the area with her husband for the past two weeks.  I figured since she was so close, we ought to try to visit her.  We spent a couple of hours Thursday visiting with my old friend, then took the rest of the weekend to travel around and see the sites.  Here is a little of what we have to show for ourselves:

Our luxurious VIP bus ride

Mountain top overlooking Israel

Trying to find a restaurant by the Dead Sea

Overlooking the Dead Sea

Very steep mountain-side road we went up and down way too many times

Andrew floating in the Dead Sea

Old meets New at the Starbucks in the mall

Waiting in the bus station for our bus back home

This Week

This week has been busy but yet nothing too blog worthy.  Our language tutor called Saturday evening to tell us that she was having some health issues and has to be on bed-rest for at least one week, maybe more. So, thus far we have not had language lessons this week.  I have surprisingly been spending a lot of time studying though.  I am very proud of myself for this.  I have been getting up every morning and study the entire time that we should have been in class.  Our language tutor did set us up with her cousin who will be coming tomorrow to help us with our language lesson and maybe more permanently if our tutor cannot come back.  I hope that she will be okay and healthy.  Please remember her in your thoughts.

I consider no blog a good blog unless it has pictures, so here are a few of us hanging out at Gloria Jean's, a great coffee shop even if it is not Starbucks.

The other night a friend and I went key chain shopping.  I got two fabulous key chains, one for my house keys and one for my gym keys and lock.  I also got this lovely little tassel for my phone.  Every time I look at it I think my mom would be jealous :)