You Are With Your People and the Way Is Flat.

Before I get into this entry I would just like to mention that I recently received word that back in Portland my students are having their 4th snow day in a row. While I am very happy that no one back home has to go to school or work I must say that discovering this news made me want to say a whole bunch of bad words in a row. I grew up in Portland and never, ever, in a million years did we even dream of getting four snow days in a row. One day yes, two we were lucky, but four? Four! This is a once I a lifetime jackpot of snow days! Anyways, since it basically looks like like the picture above here I don't feel that bad. In fact, I would just like to officially take this opportunity to say that I hope everyone at home is not too busy being cold because being cold for me is so like totally not a problem: ) Total JK! I hope everyone is having fun playing in the snow!

Guess what? While you are doing that I am staying in this fancy rocket ship hotel:

Salaam from Riyadh the capital of Saudi Arabia! Salaam means “peace” in Arabic and it is yet another fancy way of saying hello. Today I learned a few important things: Number one is that Riyadh means gardens…well, ok actually that’s not that important at all. It’s just a thing I learned. Number two was how to say: ah-lan wah-sa-ha-lan which means nice to meet you. This is a great thing to know how to say when you are meeting lots of new people like I have been for the past 8 days…so it’s good that I learned how to say it now. You know, because I have two days left. Doh! The literal translation means: you are with your people and the way is flat.

Since the last time I wrote we’ve done a ton of things. We headed to the old part of Jeddah a few days ago and into the markets where I managed to purchase a gutra and a thobe and abaya for show and tell when I get home. It was nice to get out into the streets a little bit. We have basically been rushing around and meeting people the entire trip.

After the old market we headed out to spend the night at the beach and got a chance to listen to some live Arabic music and have a barbeque. Lots of women in our group got the opportunity to get henna done. Henna is a traditional temporary tattoo that women get to decorate their hands on their wedding day or to celebrate the Islamic holiday of eed. It looks like this (on the hands of my friend Sherri who was Arkansas teacher of the year in 1999. Woot!)
Most of the time henna is a great thing but it can be a little annoying when it is decorating the “whatever” sign a friend of yours named Liza from Portland Maine may or may not be giving you in the middle of a really cool story you are trying to tell:

Oh yeah, the next day (as in today) we got to do this:


That’s right, not big deal. Just me riding a jet ski in the Red Sea! I’m not sure what this has to do with enriching my work as a professional educator, but quite frankly I don’t care. I mean it’s a freaking jet ski! I’d never ridden one before but they are the kind of machine I like the best because they were designed with the specific purpose of making it more fun to be a human being. People, in general, are way way more excited about this kind of machine than one that is designed to perform some boring task like, say, sucking up dirt from the floor, or keeping food cold. I am one of those people. Jet Skis are fun :)

Anyways, after the Jet Skis we headed to the airport and flew to Riyadh where I am currently sitting in a super fancy hotel room typing up this entry. I just went to the mall and let me tell you that was a totally weird experience. I felt a little weird with a camera in there so this video is the best I could do. Like a moron I had the camera on its side so you are going to have to crane your neck over while you watch to get it in the right perspective. I'm posting it anyway because all of the pictures I took were really bad:

This country is like nowhere I have ever been or probably will be at any time in the future. For Instance, these are some typical scenes:
I mean, this seems like stuff from star wars...not a country.
There are massive sprawling glitzy malls but in them the MacDonalds have signs like this:
Check out the men’s section (left) and the women’s section (Right). They are even divided by the little wall next to my massive friend Daniel (the guy with the backwards hat on). Wow! Men and women can’t hang out in public here. For serious. Oh yeah, and I’m not sure why women are buying all of these clothes in these stores in these malls anyway because it’s not like anyone can see their new clothes because everywhere they go they have a big giant black curtain on.

The “butler” (that’s right, every floor in this hotel has a butler..thank you Aramco!) came a little while ago to get my laundry (thank you Aramco!). He is from the Philippines and has only been here a year. I told him I went to the mall and it was a total mind freak and he just laughed really high pitched for like 30 seconds and then scurried out the door still laughing. Weird! I think even he pretty much got why I was so bewildered.

This country can be confusing and overwhelming at times. However, I must say that despite these things we have met some incredibly intelligent and open and thoughtful people on this trip and my perception of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi people is much deeper and more complex than it was before. Overall they want the same thing we want, and that’s peace and a better world for their children. I think sometimes it is hard to look past the differences between our countries and I’m glad I’ve been given the opportunity to meet so many amazing individuals here. I look forward to teaching about the real Saudi Arabia when I get home.

Before I go, here are some other random things I’ve seen:

#1. A little boy putting his shoes back on after praying at a mosque. (Cute!)
#2. Fully covered women playing with their little kids and pushing them on swings in a park. (Also cute! …and weird.)
#3. I guy in a throbe and gutra sitting on a bench and looking the other direction and totally ignoring his kid in the airport who was having a Hiroshima sized melt down. (I guess the old “ignore the tantrum” thing is a universal parenting technique.)
#4. Garbage collectors who wear head to toe pastel purple outfits and use pastel purple garbage cans:

I’m not sure who was behind this decision or who made it. Maybe the city council thought purple would cheer up the garbage collectors? I personally don’t think it matters what color they wear…they’re picking up garbage. Picking up garbage sucks.

Ok that’s it for now. This will probably be my last entry. We have a busy day ahead tomorrow and then Sunday I fly back to the states. This trip has been totally unreal. I feel super lucky to have been able to travel in this region of the world and can’t wait to share all my stories when I get home. I can’t wait to see everyone so soon! Also, thanks to everyone for leaving comments. They are fun to read from half way across the world. ☺


Sincerely,

Mr. Bliss

PS. Dr. Phil! Ha!

PPS. Looks like the Suadi's are down with the toyota Previa also! Nice!:


PPPS. If any of you from Mrs. Hinkle's class in Virginia are reading this here is a picture of her taking a picture of...well, it appears to be taking a picture of nothing. Her decisions are often questionable :)