Back to the Homeland...

I've been living in Saudi for almost 4 months now and I'd say I've done a damn good job of adjusting. All my friends here have been surprised at how quickly I've adjusted and how much I actually like it here. But it is about time I paid a visit back to the homeland...I miss the crowds, the traffic, the chaos, the car horns, the food, and most of all my crazy relatives.  Everything here is sooo...organized. It's almost like being back in the States (well, with a few exceptions). So it will be nice to be back in Damascus and get a change of pace, cause over there, you just dont stop. Let me fill you in on what happens when you come in to Damascus for a visit:

•  With Al and I, we've got my mom's family, my dad's family, and his mom and dad's families that all want to see us. Numerically speaking, thats like 400 people that we have to make time to visit. Now we usually only get a short amount of time being in town (in this case 3 weeks) so seeing hundreds of people in 21 days....like I said, non stop.
• Not only does everyone want to see us, they want to EAT with us. In Damascus, a visit doesn't count if you haven't shared 4 appetizers, two types of salad, 3 entrees, dessert, fruit, coffee, and tea together. So even if we went to my aunt's house for a short visit and some coffee, we've automatically obligated ourselves to another visit for lunch or dinner since we did not partake in a massive feast on our first visit.
• And even if we did come and gain 4 pounds in one sitting with them, there's the question "so when are you guys coming over again?". Yep, even when you have a limited amount of time, they still don't accept only one visit.

I know that this is all done by our families out of love. Syrians in particular show their love and hospitality by always wanting to take care of you and feeding you until you cry uncle. It really is nice to be catered to like that, but sometimes it is tiring to get pulled in all sorts of directions so time management is key on vacations like this.

This time around, Al and I are going to Damascus particularly for his sister's engagement party. So add another family (his sister's new in-laws) into the picture described above, and you get 100% pure, Arabic chaos. I'm stressed but excited at the same time. I thrive in chaos and being busy all the time. It's going to wear me out, but I'm willing to accept this since I'm going to be eating massive quantities of the best food in the world and zipping around to see people that I've dearly missed these past few months.


I'm leaving this Thursday and will be back on Dec. 30, so I thought I'd post this update before I leave since my internet time will be severely limited while I'm there. Also, mark your calendars cause I've officially booked my flight to Nashville and will be there from Feb. 18- June 26....woohoo!!! So much time, so much food to eat! Seriously, why does everything I talk about always end up being about food in some way?? 


Anyways, until my return to Saudi, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year's!!

By popular demand...

Ok, I heard you...you wanted a picture of my baby bump, you got it! This is my bump at 13 weeks :)

And yes, those are maternity pants! Love those elastic waistbands...I feel like I can finally sit and eat comfortably. For some reason, I couldn't get a good full-length picture of myself so maybe for the next baby bump picture Al will be home to lend a hand. I'll try to post more pictures as I inevitably get bigger. Omar's going to be a big boy! :)

Misadventures in Maternity Pants Shopping

The past few weeks, I've started gaining some weight...and noticeably. I've had a love-hate relationship with this weight gain. For one thing, it makes me happy because it makes the pregnancy more real for me. With no major symptoms during my first trimester, its been hard to believe that I actually am pregnant (even with seeing all the ultrasound pics). But now that I have a little baby bump growing, I can tell he's really in there! On the other hand, my belly is not the only thing err, expanding. My trunk has been gathering a bit more junk which has caused a few wardrobe malfunctions. As a result, my rubber-banding-it-instead-of-zipping-and-buttoning-it method is now obsolete. 

So, with my drawstring linen pants now being the only bottoms I have that are big enough in diameter, it was time to go shopping for some real maternity pants. Lucky for me (and not so much for him), Al was on hand for me to drag along to the shopping spree. The first store we went to was Mothercare. It was hard for me to distract myself away from the cute baby clothes but I was on a mission. I desperately needed some pants that didn't require an antelope mating dance to get into. 

Mothercare had a pretty good selection of jeans, but when I started looking through them I realized I had no idea what size I am now. And further, I didn't even know how maternity pants were sized! So naturally I went for the smallest size I found, which was a 10. Ok, so I know that I've started widening in some areas, but no way did I move up 8 sizes. Now remember that there's no fitting rooms to try on clothes for women here in Saudi (which made this whole expedition even more difficult), but even just by eyeballing it I knew I'd have to multiply myself in order to fill out those pants. Al and I went through rack after rack of maternity jeans trying to find a better fit but with no luck....so I started panicking. What if all the stores are like this? What if I can't find a size that fits me? I'm finally shedding my stick-figure and I still can't find pants that fit right? What am I supposed to go pant-less?? THIS. IS. NOT. FAIR!!!!!!!

While I was throwing my mental temper tantrum, my more resourceful husband had found other types of pants for me to look through. I found a pair of black maternity leggings which I thought would be cute with some long sweaters and boots in the winter. They looked like they could fit, and the sizes were much simpler to work with...small, medium, large. See? Now why can't they make everything like that? (That was a rhetorical question). So I came out with a small pair of black leggings from Mothercare, some relief, and hope that they will actually fit once I get home to try them on. 


We went through a couple of other stores with no luck. Not because of the size issue, but because they didn't carry maternity clothes at all. I had no idea which stores had or didn't have maternity clothes here so that was another problem. I heard that H&M had a small maternity section, and with it being my favorite normal people clothes store, I had high hopes that I'd find something cute that would fit me there. 


I immediately felt better with the first pair of pants I picked up. Cute grey corduroys that actually looked like they could fit perfectly (size 36 in European sizes...can't we use some kind of universal sizing system?). Then I found a 38 which looked like it would give me some more room to inevitably grow. But dammit, I couldn't try them on to see which fit better! Solution: buy both. I had to try them on at home anyway, and I didn't want to risk getting the wrong size then going back and not finding the right size. I also found a pair of jeans, some dark khaki pants, and some comfy black pants that I called my "overseas pants" because they looked comfortable enough to travel overseas in. I was sooo happy and felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders (cause obviously it hadn't been lifted off my butt or belly) and Al was happy because that meant that this shopping trip was over with hopes that my nagging would be over with it. I was still nervous about going home to try all the pants on, but was confident I had done well.


Turns out, I got some mad eyeballing skills because all the pants I bought fit great, and I was right in thinking that the size 38 corduroys fit bitter because they'd still fit even if I continued to gather some more junk (which I will). So I only have to return one pair (the size 36 corduroys). So far I'm doing ok with the tops that I have, but I'll probably have to start buying some maternity tops within the next month or so...so stay tuned for that shopping trip adventure! I think Al will probably purposely try to be out of town on a job for that one...hehe :)

 

A blog about nothing...

Hey guys remember me? Yeah, it's been a while...to be honest I haven't had anything remotely interesting going on in my life worth blogging about lately. So I've waited until I had enough random tid-bits to put together to make a semi-interesting blog post. Plus, its Monday and you know you weren't going to do any actual work anyway...so enjoy!

Ok first and foremost, Eid Mubarak* to my family. Inshallah* next year we can go to Hajj* together :)

Pregnancy update:

• Yes, we're having a boy! Thanks to 3D ultrasound technology we were able to find out the sex of our baby at only 11 weeks. His name will be Omar, and I've already started buying clothes for him hehe. 
• I'm slowly getting bigger (from the front and rear unfortunately) and now I'm having a hard time wearing my jeans even with the rubber band holding them together instead of the zipper. I should probably go look for some maternity pants...

School update:

• Still kicking my ass.

Bahrain update:

Awesome building in Bahrain

• Me, Al, and our neighbor Walid went to Bahrain for the day a couple of weeks ago. It was Al's first time there (my second) and he loved it! It really is a breath of fresh air from the suffocating closed-mindedness in Saudi.

• We went to a restaurant on the beach that served awesome Lebanese food and I officially out-ate both the guys. Then we went to this street called Shabab* Avenue which was awesome...it had every kind of coffee house and fast food place you could think of all on one street. Definitely one of my favorite places in Bahrain so far.

Al and I at the Lebanese restaurant

 Other randoms:

• Hoping to be back in Damascus in a few weeks...my sister-in-law's engagement party is in December and I can't wait to go back there to celebrate with her and see our families. I really miss the organized chaos of the city, and a part of me even misses my daily cab ride adventures there. Let's hope they actually give my husband some time off...
• The weather here has finally turned from blistering hot to almost-fall like! And quite suddenly too...we had a barbeque a few weeks back with some friends on the beach and once it got dark I was actually shivering cold. I sort of forgot what feeling cold was like. And then one day last week I heard a weird noise outside which turned out to be rain! Apparently, I forgot what rain sounded like...I love the desert.

Arab wordage: (as used in this post)

• "Eid Mubarak"- Blessed Holiday. Islam has 2 main "eids"...One after Ramadan (called Eid Al-Futur) and one at the end of Hajj (called Eid Al-Adha). Eid Al-Adha officially starts tomorrow and lasts for 4 days.
• "Hajj"- Pilgrimage. Muslims are supposed to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives. Mecca is about 16 hours west of Al Khobar, where I live. Saudi is a ridiculously huge country...
• "Inshallah"- God willing. We say inshallah for everything...like, "are you going to Damascus anytime soon?" "yes, inshallah".
• "Shabab"- slang for a group of guys...usually teenagers or 20-somethings. The counterpart to this would be "Sabaya" or a group of teenaged or 20-something girls.

Sin Country

Or as some people call it, the Slut of the Middle East. These are just a couple of nicknames for the small island country of Bahrain off the East coast of Saudi Arabia.

Bahrain is the small green island in the center of the picture.

There are several reasons why this tiny speck in the Persian (or Arabian) Gulf has the reputation of that one 'easy' girl in high school. She's beautiful, easily accessible, and will let you do pretty much anything you want. The close proximity to Saudi Arabia's East coast (30 minute drive from Al Khobar) makes it Saudi's playground. With Saudi being such a strict Muslim country, most Saudis flee to Bahrain on the weekends to do anything and everything they can't do in their own countru. Such as:

• Drink- alcohol is plentiful in Bahrain, while outlawed in Saudi
• Random hookups- prostitution is legal
• Go to the movies- there are no movie theaters in Saudi because it encourages mixing of the sexes (and in the dark?? heaven forbid!)
• Try on clothes- there are women's fitting rooms in Bahrain (this explains why)
• Women can drive
• Women don't have to wear abayas in public

Basically, it is the most liberal country in the Middle East. And while most Saudis have this err, interesting strict interpretation of Islam in their country, apparently they think that God turns a blind eye in Bahrain.
So, this past Friday I decided to go check it out for a little change of scenery. Unfortunately, Al had to go offshore for a job, so I went with my neighbor May and her hubby Walid. I knew it was going to be a short drive, but was still surprised at how short it really was. From our compound it takes about 10 minutes to get to the King Fahed Coastalway, which is a bridge built over the water to connect Saudi with Bahrain. 

After a 10 minute drive on the bridge, we reached a man-made island denoting the border between the two countries. I heard that sometimes (especially on nights before a weekend) you can wait up to 3 hours at the border because of the crowd of Saudi's fleeing to Bahrain for the weekend, but we were lucky and it only took us a few minutes to get through the border patrol for each country. Another 10 minute drive on the bridge and there we were, in the middle of the captial city of Manama. 

Welcome to Bahrain!

With all the tall buildings and mix of beaches and city feel, it reminded me a lot of a mini-Dubai. And yall know how much I loved Dubai so I immediately took a liking to this place.

Cool buildings

Bahrain is a tax haven (residents and citizens don't pay income taxes) so I noticed there were a lot of giant bank buildings. After driving around the city (which took all of 15 minutes...it really is small!) we made our way to the City Center mall. It looks just like any other mall in Saudi, except it includes an indoor water park and movie theater. We ate lunch in the food court (Steak Escape!!!!) and then went to the movies and saw Dinner with Shmucks (hilarious!!). Then May and Walid wanted a few beers so we went to a great place called Trader Vick's close to the beach. There was a red carpet to the door, valet service, and all sorts of Bentley's, Audi's and other fancy cars parked out front (we were big pimpin the Altima...what what!). Inside was a large bar area then the restaurant area which had a nice view of the coast. It quickly got crowded with a hodgepodge of people from all over the place. Saudi's (and I swear it is SO weird seeing them drinking), Brits, Americans, Russians, Indians, you name it. People watching was very interesting and it made me wonder what all those people were doing in Bahrain. I mean what makes a mid-twenties British girl say "I want to go live in Bahrain"....?

May and I at Trader Vick's!

At 9pm a great Cuban salsa band came on to play and people started dancing. After a great dinner and a few drinks (virgin Mai Tai for the prego!), we headed back to reality. It was really a fun time and a nice change of scenery. I didn't realize how tired I was of looking at women in all black from head to toe, and it was nice to be able to be out in public without having to wear an abaya (I felt like 10 pounds lighter). Overall, I loved Bahrain and will definitely be coming here as often as I can...hopefully next time with my hubby!

Big thanks to my wonderful neighbors for a fun day!

Our little Mexican jumping bean...

Ok of course our baby's not Mexican, but you get the idea...yesterday Al and I went to my 8-week checkup. This was our first doctor's appointment together so I was so excited that he could be with me. I was also ridiculously nervous (and so was Al apparently) because I so badly wanted to see something on the ultrasound this time...truth be told I have had my doubts about my pregnancy since I haven't had any of the normal symptoms. So this was really going to be more of a confirmation for me that there really is a baby growing in my belly. 
First, they took me in to check my weight, blood pressure and temperature. My weight was 46.3 kilos (102 pounds) which means I've gained about 3 pounds since my last appointment a month ago (I did a small happy dance in my head since this was the first time in my life I've crossed the 100-pound threshold...leave it to pregnancy!) When the nurse took my blood pressure she said 'whoa! what happened??'...ummm it was something crazy like 152. Yeah. I was that nervous. When I told her that she said 'oh thats why'. Embarrassed face.

After a few more minutes of waiting we finally went in to see the doctor. As I was getting positioned on that table/bed thing you have to lay on I swear my blood pressure went up a few more points. Oh yeah and that gel stuff they put on your belly is COLD! Can't they heat that shiz up in the microwave or something? Anyways, Al and the doc were standing, I was laying down, and the second the doc put the ultrasound wand thingy on my belly...there it was! The most beautiful, amazing creature I've ever seen. And then it did something more amazing, it starting jumping and moving around! We all gasped and the doctor started laughing and said 'wow your baby already has some character!' She then pointed out where the head clearly was, and where the arms and legs are starting to form. We could also see the tissue in the center of the baby moving, which was the precious little heartbeat. How amazing it is that something so small could have a heartbeat!

Can you see the baby?

We just couldn't stop looking at it! I couldn't believe that that precious creature was growing in me. From that moment I knew I would love it unconditionally, and I wanted to protect it and provide the most comfortable environment so it can grow into a healthy and beautiful baby boy or girl...

After we tore ourselves away from the ultrasound, the doc told us that we should make an appointment to see an ultrasound specialist in three weeks at the same hospital. It would give us a much clearer picture, and if we're lucky could even show us if its a boy or girl! Now the hard part is trying to get an appointment with this woman...apparently she's the hottest ticket in town so wish me luck!


OH! And by the way...my official due date is May 26 (give or take 10 days). YAY for a spring/summer baby!

 

Some perspective...

I don't think anyone is ever ready to have a baby. No matter at what point you are in your life, there always seems to be something...some plan, some idea of something you wanted to do that would be hindered if a baby was in the picture. Although I am so happy and thankful and feel so blessed about my pregnancy, I can't help but go through so much of what Al and I talked about before we moved here to Saudi...a second honeymoon in the Maldives, a trip to Europe, me finishing my MBA, enjoying our time together and getting settled in before we think we're ready to have a baby. But like most major things in life, things come when you least expect them. 

Suddenly, Al and I are finding ourselves putting all those plans on hold. We're having conversations about how we're going to be this kind of parents and raise our child this way and not do this and do that...but the reality is, you can't plan on what kind of parents you're going to be or what you're going to do when the baby arrives...kind of like how its hard to plan on when to have a baby in the first place. Being the control freak that I am, it's hard for me to step back and not think so much about how I'm going to go about this. I'm trying to accept the fact that it's a learning process, and I'll deal with things as they come along and make decisions depending on the situation. I will learn as I go along. Man...that is giving up A LOT of control. But maybe that's a good thing for me...I think if anyone is willing to relinquish a form of that control that we all love in any situation, they will be more successful in life. Because if I have learned anything, its that the more you try to plan ahead, the more you are going to be disappointed and thrown off by the things that life hands you. You're more likely to be successful when you're good at dealing with unexpected situations. This is what I'm trying to do...I think I've been good at adjusting and adapting to the unexpected so far, but this is the biggest thing I've had to deal with. Hopefully I can do enough to be a good mommy to this wonderful treasure that we've been blessed with :)