Extremely Private or Cooped Up

The weather has turned hot in Riyadh with daily temperatures exceeding 100'F. This translates into more time indoors and less motivation to go out. On a positive note, this means that Jeff will be taking over the grocery shopping soon, as I can hardly stand to be out in my abaya. In the last two weeks I've had to cancel a number of outings due to miscalculated scheduling (failure to plan according to business "family hours"), family sickness (the children have been sick for a week now - NO, it is not MERS!), and single parenthood (Jeff's been traveling). I begin to understand why Saudi families stay indoors so much. However, they are certainly more adapted to the heat. They frequently picnic at parks as the sun is going down and typically stay up much later in the evenings. On a recent evening Jeff observed scores of Saudis picnicking along the highway as he was driving back from the airport. Apparently, this is a common gathering place until early hours of the morning. Early kid bedtimes are so deeply ingrained in me that I'm not sure I can make this "desert adaptation." However, it is only May and we need to get outside, so perhaps we will learn to make some exceptions.

Saudi people are extremely private. Driving down a city street, one will observe only a handful of Saudi men, and more rarely a Saudi woman. Houses come with high concrete walls and few windows. I wonder...what do the Saudi women do in their houses all day. Sleep? Watch T.V? Visit with neighbors? I know it must vary. But it is a mystery to me now.

I'm thankful for our industrious home. My kids are amazing at finding projects. As I write Elijah is planting watermelon seeds and Ellen is creating little chicks to put inside her plastic Easter eggs. I'm thankful for homeschooling and all the various ideas that our curriculum presents to us. I often hear Ellen playfully playing with words, as Eugene Field did when he was young. And, I love how Elijah's mind latches onto some idea for a project and he looks for ways to execute it. Yesterday we began a unit on knot tying and spent several minutes brainstorming how knots were used in ancient times. Five minutes after the lesson Elijah was creating a zip-cord across the living room! Kids are amazing and very entertaining.

Masmak Fortress

Stay tuned for Benjamin's First Haircut...oh so cute!