Saudi National Day

Yesterday was Saudi National Day - their patriotic holiday similar to the 4th of July or Canada Day.  Around 7 or 8 p.m. that evening, we noticed some cars painted green (the color of their flag) and bearing flags or the king's face.  My thought was, "Interesting...I hope the paint comes off."  It was pretty similar to people in the States attaching flags to their cars, so I didn't think much of it.  I thought "This day isn't much different from any other day", as we kept driving to our destination.
It wasn't until much later that night when we were driving home that I was shocked and almost afraid for my safety.  We were trying to merge into traffic when a caravan of cars and motorcycles zoomed past at top speed with teenage boys hanging out the windows waving flags.  Some of the boys were decked out in green body paint, much like you would see at a soccer or football game.  Once we merged into the traffic and it slowed down, I noticed a young boy of about 5 or 6 hanging out the driver's side window of the car next to us.  Thankfully, the father's arm was around the boy, but I was still nervous that the little guy would get hurt.  Almost every car was painted and had people car surfing - some boys were even riding on the windshield.  Somehow, the driver was still able to see where he was going even with the boys' legs blocking most of his view.
There were so many people out celebrating that it took us a couple of hours to get home, and it normally would've only taken us 40 minutes at the most.  At one point, a mob of teenage boys came in front of our car.  Thankfully, we kept driving and they moved to the side.  I think our car was the only car not decked out with green and teenage boys.  We might as well have had a sign on our car that read "foreigners".  The sound of honking horns and yelling boys filled the air as I silently prayed for us to get home safely.  Thankfully, I was surrounded by a group of military friends, so I felt as safe as I possibly could in that situation.  However, that is the last time I will go out at night on Saudi National Day.

Eid Mubarak

The moon has spoken...it is now Eid, probably the most important Muslim holiday of the year.  The Eid following Ramadan marks the end of fasting and a new year.  My roommate and I had the unique opportunity to attend the special Eid prayer and family gathering with a local Saudi family.  This holiday is somewhat like a combination of our Christmas and New Year holidays.
We awoke before dawn (about 4am) to get ready for the special prayer.  We dressed in nice clothes for the family celebration later on, and then covered our finery with the abaya and hijab.  My roommate and I struggled with our hijab (head covering) for a good five or ten minutes before it would stay on our heads tightly.  Since we were going to an outside prayer gathering near a mosque where only Muslims are allowed, we had to blend in.  Our Saudi friend advised us, "If anyone asks, tell them you are Muslim but that you don't speak Arabic."  His daughter jokingly added, "Tell them you converted on the internet."  Thankfully, we did not have to do either.
As we arrived at the mosque, there was an excitement in the air much like one might feel on Christmas morning.  We followed the women of the family to an outside area near the mosque, while the men (dressed in their finest thobes) gathered inside the mosque.  The women lay rugs on the ground wherever they could find an empty spot.  The children, dressed in fancy outfits often matching their siblings, were given baskets of candies to take around to the women and other children gathered outside the mosque.  It is customary to give gifts of candy, toys, and money to the children on Eid.
The soft murmurings of the women echoed the special Eid call to prayer, praising Allah for being "great" or "almighty" and thanking him for his blessings in the new year.  As we waited for the Imam to speak (their equivalent of a pastor), I glanced around at the women fanning themselves on the rugs and wondered why any of us had even bothered to do our hair or makeup that morning.  My roommate loosened her hijab to pull her hair back and I felt sweat dripping down my back and legs.  Almost all of the older women waved some sort of makeshift fan in an attempt to cool off.  
Finally, the Imam began the prayer.  Our Saudi friends gestured for us to remain seated on the rug as they stood to begin the prayer.  I looked around and noticed some other women doing the same thing, but not because they were not muslim.  If a woman is menstruating, she is considered unclean to pray and is therefore not required to.  So, my roommate and I just pretended it was our time of the month as we observed the prayer which looked almost identical to the one our students perform after lunch each day.
Once the prayer was finished, some of the families left.  Our Saudi friends stayed on our rug to listen to the Imam give a special Eid "sermon".  We were told later that it had something to do with not fasting on Eid, since they fasted for Ramadan.  Our Saudi friend explained to us that the fasting and abstaining from certain things for Ramadan is a preparation of sorts for the Eid prayer in which they ask Allah to allow them to go to the highest degree of heaven when they die.  Apparently, there are 100 degrees of heaven.  Each degree of heaven takes 500 years before you can go up to the next one.  However, you can skip some of the degrees and go nearer to the top if you do things like fast for Ramadan and give Eid money to the poor. (If you are reading this and you are muslim, please forgive me if I got something wrong.  I am relaying what I understood from my Saudi friend, but I may have misunderstood something.)
We left the heat, gladly welcoming the A/C as we drove to our Saudi friends' extended family for breakfast.  We socialized with the women in broken English before enjoying a breakfast of pitas, foul (beans and olive oil), spicy mangos, olives, cheese, scrambled eggs, turkey slices, etc.

A new house, a new year!

I'm baaaack!  I could not believe how much I missed Jeddah until I left for two months in the summer.  By the end of the first month back in the States, I was ready to come back.  I have developed some great friendships over here, which makes Jeddah feel like my home.
After a tough year of managing 1st grade boys, I look forward to teaching a class of 1st grade girls.  I will post pictures of my classroom once I get it set up.  I get to keep my same classroom, but thought I should probably change the "frog" theme to something more gender neutral or "girly".  My plan is to implement the CHAMPs classroom management program in my classroom this year, which will hopefully help me keep my class a little more structured and disciplined.  I highly recommend the CHAMPs program to any teachers or schools.
In addition to the excitement of teaching girls this year, I have moved to a more "western" compound.  I am sharing a villa with two other teachers at my school.

Our new villa

Living room with our newly recovered brown couches.

Our living room opens into our dining room.

Our dining room

My bedroom - small but cozy :)

The compound itself feels like a resort, from the Mediterranean architecture to the bougainvillea trees adorning the landscape to the 54 pools sprinkled throughout the compound.  Conveniences like a restaurant, small grocery store, gym, salon, dry cleaners, bowling alley, library, travel agency, clinic, and taxi service are all located in a central building across the street from our villa.  I love it because I can walk to the gym (which means I am more likely to use it!) or pick up a quick item from the grocery store if I forgot something.  As a woman, it is such a hassle to do something as simple as grocery shopping because you have to arrange a taxi and shop around prayer times.  The store on our compound is open all day.  The only thing we don't have on our compound is a bank and a pharmacy.
Living on a resort-like compound and teaching all girls...what could be better than that?