Inclusion International

Mar-Haba! (That's hello in Arabic)...not to be confused with- haadha al-walad kaadhib which means "this boy is a liar." A handy phrase for those of you who plan on traveling to the middle east. I'm writing this from my hotel room in Jeddah on a computer I borrowed from my new friend and teacher of history in Virginia, Bettina (She is actually named this, it is not a nickname.) I've only got a few minutes so I'll make this quick.



Since the last post I've really seen and done way too much to keep up with or write about here but here are a few pictures and thoughts...The day after our camel adventure we took a tour north from Dharan. Along the way we stopped by a pottery workshop where the dude up above was hard at work. I wanted to buy his hat but he kept trying to sell me pottery. Unfortunately the only thing I could think to say was "the dj's really cool." It didn't help things at all. I really need to branch out on my arabic. Afterwards we also checked out some interesting rock formations:
Here is some Arabian graffiti artist's idea of a funny joke :):



The women in the picture above are named Abeer and Michael Anne and they are teachers on the trip with me. The guy is Ali who is our Aramco provided tour guide. The women in my group have to wear abayas which are long following dress like black robes. Any woman you see anywhere in public is required to wear this. In certain places they have to where the hijab as well which is the scarf that covers their hair. Even their barbies are dressed like this!:



This is Fulla! She is seen here wearing her "outdoor fashion." I think it is safe to say that she is a little more conservative than barbie. In Saudi Arabia there is also no public "mixing" which means that there is no place where single men and women can mingle. At all restaurants there are "family sections" and "men sections." Women do not go out alone, and can not drive. If women are out in a group they go into the "family" sections. It's pretty intensely different.

Most Saudi men dress in a Thobe (the white robe) and Gutra the White or red and white checkered scarf on their head...like this mobster looking guy I managed to snap a picture of at lunch the other day Hiyo!:

Anyways, all of this results in bathroom signs that look like:

I can't tell if the person in the wheel chair is a man or woman because their head appears to be...well, it appears to be a ball, and not a hijab or a gutra which makes way way more sense. So we flew from Dharan to Jeddah a few days ago and have had excellent opportunities to meet and speak with numerous groups of Saudi's. Here are some picks of us showing up!:

I just think it's a cool picture...like it could be from the 70s or something.

Yikes! I'm totally out of time...so...super fast we visited a school for handicapped children:

They were pretty cute...and speaking of cute check this out!

Also look at their little project. They are making little kaaba's like the one Muslims make the pilgrimage to in mecca during the hajj.

You know, like this:

Ok I'm Fresh out of time. There is so much more to say! I'll try and post again soon. Tomorrow we head to the a market (souq) and then to the beach. The next day we head to Riyadh. (Look it up.)

Adios! (That's a spanish word)

Mr. Bliss

PS.

Ha Ha!