Yesterday morning was very interesting, but my story needs a little explanation first.
Usually when it rains here, it happens at night. The earliest that I've actually seen it start raining has been around 10 pm and it's always finished in a fairly short amount of time. (with the exception of the huge storm 3 weeks ago that went all night and left our soccer field underwater) So the weather is pretty predictable...hot all the time except when it rains, which is hardly ever.
So Saturday night it started raining about midnight, which wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But, it was still raining on Sunday morning, (well, not really raining but more like sprinkling) and people were freaking out! My supervisor's kids asked her if she thought they would cancel school (these are American kids!)...one of the girls on my team actually called around to get some opinions on whether she should cancel her language lesson with her tutor...my neighbor's daycare called to tell them that were going to be closed because it was raining and their national language tutor cancelled their lesson. Today, he told them that it was just too hard to be worrying about getting wet and walking around all the puddles, so he just stayed inside and went back to bed. People were driving like it was an ice storm in TX, 5 miles an hour but then almost running each other off the road to avoid even the smallest puddles. So rain in the day time is actually about as rare as snow in TX, I'm guessing. It was a lot of fun to just watch people...they all looked so confused!
What's really paradoxical about this is that it was just 3 weeks ago when we last got a heavy rain. (heavy for here, normal for home) There were puddles and water all over for at least a good week, but no one really thought anything of it then...life just went on as normal. But for some reason, the idea that the rain was actually falling out of the sky while the sun was out was enough to make people crazy.
Oh...and happy Labor Day. We don't actually celebrate that here, but I do fondly remember getting a day off from work for no reason...it was nice!
04 September 2006
02 September 2006
Special Treats
One of my recent assignments was to compile a list of every kind of grocery item that we have available in this part of the Sandbox and how much it cost. It was actually a really fun and interesting evening, but here are a few of the things that we can sometimes find here.
Ritz Crackers $7.50
Keebler Chocolate Chip Cookies $11.00
Marshmallows (walmart brand) $5.00
Philadelphia Cream Cheese $8.00
1/2 gallon Baskin Robbins ice cream $32.50
small whole frozen chicken $23.00
Cheetos 7oz bag $10.00
Brownie Mix $6.25
Kelloggs corn flakes $7.50
Old El Paso 8 flour tortillas $7.50
Old El Paso cheese dip $10.75
Campbells Cream of Chicken soup $8.00
I have friends who are living in places that have absolutely no western products available and I try not to take for granted that I actually (sometimes) have this stuff. When I came to the Sandbox I was told that we could get just about everything...what they didn't tell me was to bring my life savings!! So I've been learning to make a lot of things from scratch, which it's probably good that I know how to do that anyways, and, sometimes it actually tastes better, that is if I don't mess it up.
These are just a few examples of the things that I took for granted in the states and are now considered extra special treats in the Sandbox....and then some of them, like the ice cream, are just dreams.
Ritz Crackers $7.50
Keebler Chocolate Chip Cookies $11.00
Marshmallows (walmart brand) $5.00
Philadelphia Cream Cheese $8.00
1/2 gallon Baskin Robbins ice cream $32.50
small whole frozen chicken $23.00
Cheetos 7oz bag $10.00
Brownie Mix $6.25
Kelloggs corn flakes $7.50
Old El Paso 8 flour tortillas $7.50
Old El Paso cheese dip $10.75
Campbells Cream of Chicken soup $8.00
I have friends who are living in places that have absolutely no western products available and I try not to take for granted that I actually (sometimes) have this stuff. When I came to the Sandbox I was told that we could get just about everything...what they didn't tell me was to bring my life savings!! So I've been learning to make a lot of things from scratch, which it's probably good that I know how to do that anyways, and, sometimes it actually tastes better, that is if I don't mess it up.
These are just a few examples of the things that I took for granted in the states and are now considered extra special treats in the Sandbox....and then some of them, like the ice cream, are just dreams.
25 August 2006
Trash Troubles
Since we moved into our new place at the first of the month, we've been having some issues with our trash...mainly the issue being that we don't know what to do with it.
The system here works like this; the trash man comes whenever he feels like it, sometimes once a week, sometimes 3-4 times a week. Apparently there's some kind of route that they have, some kind of routine, but we haven't quite figured it out. All we know is that when you hear the kid walking down the street blowing a whistle, the truck will follow roughly 4 minutes after.
Our problem...we're never at home when the whistle-kid comes. We knew how the system was supposed to work, but after a week, the trash was piling up inside the gate and we didn't exactly know what to do. So, we just put it outside in the street and figured now it's there when the whistle-kid comes and it will get picked up, right? Besides, taking a look at our street, it's not exactly the epitome of a suburbian neighborhood with manicured lawns, to us it looks like that's what everyone else does. And, in one of our other apartments, you actually were supposed to take your trash to the corner and put it next to the hole down to the sewer...not in the hole, but next to it. So we thought this idea would work.
Wrong. Apparently there's a herd of about 15 goats that lives across the street in the soccer field/lake and they really like it when you just put your trash in the street. So they spread it all over, especially in front of the neighbors house and when he got up in the morning to go somewhere, the goats were in his way and he couldn't get his car out of the gate. So our landlord heard about this, and then we heard about it. Time for a new plan.
This time, we thought that surely we can get it out to the guy with the whistle, we'll just have to listen real hard and drop whatever we're doing as soon as we hear it. Well, that didn't work...we had the same problem as before, we never heard the whistle.
Now again, the neighbors are complaining...we don't really know why...we just realize that our trash is becoming the talk of the neighborhood and, being new, we'd really like to make a good impression on the neighbors.
So the new plan is this...there's a whole bunch of young guys who sit in lawn chairs across the street outside of their organization. They're always asking us if we have any odd jobs to help them make money....enter Omar. We figure that since he's just sitting around over there all day long, he's bound to be here and hear the whistle every time. So we pay Omar $1 every time he takes out our trash with one exception....if we hear the whistle and beat him to it, he doesn't get paid. So now, it's not like we're racing him down there or anything, but it is kind of fun to watch when you hear the whistle. Omar jumps out of his chair, races full speed into our gate and then out with the trash like he's playing capture the flag or something. So we've solved the trash problem and we get a little entertainment!
The system here works like this; the trash man comes whenever he feels like it, sometimes once a week, sometimes 3-4 times a week. Apparently there's some kind of route that they have, some kind of routine, but we haven't quite figured it out. All we know is that when you hear the kid walking down the street blowing a whistle, the truck will follow roughly 4 minutes after.
Our problem...we're never at home when the whistle-kid comes. We knew how the system was supposed to work, but after a week, the trash was piling up inside the gate and we didn't exactly know what to do. So, we just put it outside in the street and figured now it's there when the whistle-kid comes and it will get picked up, right? Besides, taking a look at our street, it's not exactly the epitome of a suburbian neighborhood with manicured lawns, to us it looks like that's what everyone else does. And, in one of our other apartments, you actually were supposed to take your trash to the corner and put it next to the hole down to the sewer...not in the hole, but next to it. So we thought this idea would work.
Wrong. Apparently there's a herd of about 15 goats that lives across the street in the soccer field/lake and they really like it when you just put your trash in the street. So they spread it all over, especially in front of the neighbors house and when he got up in the morning to go somewhere, the goats were in his way and he couldn't get his car out of the gate. So our landlord heard about this, and then we heard about it. Time for a new plan.
This time, we thought that surely we can get it out to the guy with the whistle, we'll just have to listen real hard and drop whatever we're doing as soon as we hear it. Well, that didn't work...we had the same problem as before, we never heard the whistle.
Now again, the neighbors are complaining...we don't really know why...we just realize that our trash is becoming the talk of the neighborhood and, being new, we'd really like to make a good impression on the neighbors.
So the new plan is this...there's a whole bunch of young guys who sit in lawn chairs across the street outside of their organization. They're always asking us if we have any odd jobs to help them make money....enter Omar. We figure that since he's just sitting around over there all day long, he's bound to be here and hear the whistle every time. So we pay Omar $1 every time he takes out our trash with one exception....if we hear the whistle and beat him to it, he doesn't get paid. So now, it's not like we're racing him down there or anything, but it is kind of fun to watch when you hear the whistle. Omar jumps out of his chair, races full speed into our gate and then out with the trash like he's playing capture the flag or something. So we've solved the trash problem and we get a little entertainment!
24 August 2006
Lakes
It rained again last night, adding to what was left of the lake across from our house last week. I wish it looked like this, but sadly, it's still just a mudhole.
I stole this picture off of my friends blog...no, it's not National Geographic, she actually went here. If you want to read the whole story you can got to: www.aprilcoffman.blogspot.com
I stole this picture off of my friends blog...no, it's not National Geographic, she actually went here. If you want to read the whole story you can got to: www.aprilcoffman.blogspot.com
23 August 2006
Never Get Your Hopes Up
In a previous post I mentioned that I was going to have the opportunity to actually watch a Cowboys game. I was pretty psyched up, we even splurged and bought ice cream. Around 8 I went next door and we turned on the tv only to find out that ESPN wasn't working...every other channel (even the one that only shows a picture of Mecca with audio of some guy speaking in Arabic 24/7) was working just fine, but ESPN was just a blue checkered screen. So they started messing with it, started typing in codes trying to figure out what the problem was. 15 minutes later, still no ESPN. At this point, I started to prepare myself for the reality that I actually might not get to watch this game. I even started reprimanding myself....why did I let myself get so excited about something when I know that in the Sandbox, nothing ever works?!?! You should never get your hopes up! And then, PTL, they got it to work. We missed the 1st quarter, which in a pre-season game is sometimes the only one worth watching, but still, we got in about 2 hours of good 'ole American football and it was all that I'd hoped it would be and more!
Come to find out, every week we'll have 3 opportunites, count them, 3, to watch the Monday night game. We can watch it on Tuesday (our time) either live at 3 am, at 11 am, or at 8 pm. As appealing as it is to get up at 3 am, I'm fairly certain that in our minds Monday night football has now been replaced with Tuesday night football and I know what I will be doing every Tuesday night until December! Now...these ESPN announcers...well, they're no Troy Aikman, but, when it's all you got it's all you got, and I am thankful for ESPN satellite!!!
Come to find out, every week we'll have 3 opportunites, count them, 3, to watch the Monday night game. We can watch it on Tuesday (our time) either live at 3 am, at 11 am, or at 8 pm. As appealing as it is to get up at 3 am, I'm fairly certain that in our minds Monday night football has now been replaced with Tuesday night football and I know what I will be doing every Tuesday night until December! Now...these ESPN announcers...well, they're no Troy Aikman, but, when it's all you got it's all you got, and I am thankful for ESPN satellite!!!
21 August 2006
Good Things
Today I got a care package from my mom, it was so sweet. To most of you, this might not sound like anything great, in fact, just about everyone I know who lives overseas gets care packages on a regular basis, but, here in this wonderfully developed country that I live in, there is no mail system. They just don't have one. It's not that it's slow or unreliable, there actually aren't addresses and definitely no postal system which makes the whole care package idea a little more difficult. You might be wondering how this whole care package thing worked. Well, my supervisor has been in the states all summer in TX not far from my parents, so my mom filled an entire suitcase with wonderful surprises (70 lbs exactly!!) and sent it with him.
This afternoon, all the girls from my team came over. We waited until everyone was here and then opened it together...it was like Christmas only better! We were all so excited to get clothes and food and good stuff from the states. M&Ms, hundreds of packets of kool aid (gotta stay hydrated in the desert), pepperoni (turkey, of course, the real stuff is contraband!), muffin mixes, pants, shorts, shirts, pens, and, my personal favorite, the rain gauge. The rain gauge might sound a little odd, but the one time it rained alot we were interested to know how much and you can't even find an umbrella here, much less a rain gauge. Plus we figure that it can be used to measure sand too!
We all even enjoyed an afternoon snack of popcorn with M&Ms and Reeses Pieces mixed in. Don't get me wrong, we're not usually just all sitting around, hanging out at 4 on a Monday afternoon, but the riots are continuing and they're moving out of downtown (ie. closer to us, but not too close yet) so just to be safe we all had to kind of stay where we were, which just happened to be in my living room!
So thanks mom and whoever else helped to put this package together. I can only begin to express how much it meant to me and to the girls here.
...At this point, most everyone I know would have included a picture of everything they got neatly arranged on a table. However, we were so excited that things got spread all over the room and no one even thought about getting out the camera. So just imagine a small living room filled with something from every aisle of WalMart and that's what we looked like!
This afternoon, all the girls from my team came over. We waited until everyone was here and then opened it together...it was like Christmas only better! We were all so excited to get clothes and food and good stuff from the states. M&Ms, hundreds of packets of kool aid (gotta stay hydrated in the desert), pepperoni (turkey, of course, the real stuff is contraband!), muffin mixes, pants, shorts, shirts, pens, and, my personal favorite, the rain gauge. The rain gauge might sound a little odd, but the one time it rained alot we were interested to know how much and you can't even find an umbrella here, much less a rain gauge. Plus we figure that it can be used to measure sand too!
We all even enjoyed an afternoon snack of popcorn with M&Ms and Reeses Pieces mixed in. Don't get me wrong, we're not usually just all sitting around, hanging out at 4 on a Monday afternoon, but the riots are continuing and they're moving out of downtown (ie. closer to us, but not too close yet) so just to be safe we all had to kind of stay where we were, which just happened to be in my living room!
So thanks mom and whoever else helped to put this package together. I can only begin to express how much it meant to me and to the girls here.
...At this point, most everyone I know would have included a picture of everything they got neatly arranged on a table. However, we were so excited that things got spread all over the room and no one even thought about getting out the camera. So just imagine a small living room filled with something from every aisle of WalMart and that's what we looked like!
20 August 2006
What Happens?
What happens when you live in a third world country and your corrupted government decides one day that they want to double the prices of gas and sugar? Riots....yep, apparently that's the only way that people in a non-democrative country know to make their voices heard. So yesterday was an interesting day, but everyone is fine. The activity was mainly focused in the downtown area, but just to be safe, we pretty much stayed home for most of the day. Today we'll stay close to home, avoid large and angry looking crowds, and only run the necessary errands. I don't even know if this made the news in the states or not, but for anyone who heard about it, it's not a huge deal and we're all just fine.
19 August 2006
Cowboys!!!
I don't actually have satellite here, for multiple reasons, but the family next door does and they're willing to share (we go way back, they're not just random people) Yesterday, they were watching sportscenter (the US version comes on once a day) and noticed that our one American sports channel has on the schedule that they are gonna air the Cowboys-Saints game on Tuesday night!!! It's probably just a pre-season game or it might be from last season. (just last month we got to see the TX-USC Rose Bowl game...I was totally surprised by who won!) Either way, it's a cowboys game and I get to watch it! I have to admit that I was a little disappointed by the idea of a fall with no football, but it turns out that this one channel that we have will air every Monday Night Football game and then some others. It might be the end of the week before we get it, but at some point we'll be able to watch.
So don't tell me who wins because I'll actually get to watch for myself!
So don't tell me who wins because I'll actually get to watch for myself!
Bangladesh
The other day I was in the souq shopping and just trying to relieve a little stress when an interesting question was posed. To preface, I had already walked by these 2 guys who ran this shop and heard them talking about me in Arabic and so I just went into the store (if that's what you want to call it) across from theirs. I wouldn't normally go into a store when the guys running it are messing with me, but they looked like they had some things that I wanted, so I decided to suck it up and see what they had. When I walked in I understood what they were saying under their breath to each other in Arabic, but ignored it. And then they started with the 'I love you' 'I want to marry you' stuff in English. And so, instead of making a disgusted face and leaving, I just looked at them like they were speaking in jibberish and I had absolutely no idea what they were saying. After about 5 minutes of me ignoring them, one asked me 'are you from Bangladesh?'. Again, I just looked at him like he was the crazy one and the reason why we couldn't communicate, and then he looked at his friend and said 'maybe she's from Thailand'. At this point, I couldn't help but laugh, so I made my exit.
But I'm learning that this 'I don't speak your language' approach really does work and they'll stop messing with you once they think that you don't understand the language they're speaking...so I've decided to ask the men here to speak Spanish. I've put alot of thought into this one. Around here, it's really a 50/50 chance that the person you're speaking to speaks English, so I can't just say that I don't understand them. But, if after they rattle off a little inappropriate English, I can ask them (in Arabic) if they speak Spanish...that could really put a stop to things. Technically, I didn't lie by saying that I speak Spanish, but I'm fairly certain that no one here actually does and if they think that's the language I want to speak, maybe they just won't talk to me!!! I haven't tested out the Spanish approach, so I'll have to let ya know how it works.
But I'm learning that this 'I don't speak your language' approach really does work and they'll stop messing with you once they think that you don't understand the language they're speaking...so I've decided to ask the men here to speak Spanish. I've put alot of thought into this one. Around here, it's really a 50/50 chance that the person you're speaking to speaks English, so I can't just say that I don't understand them. But, if after they rattle off a little inappropriate English, I can ask them (in Arabic) if they speak Spanish...that could really put a stop to things. Technically, I didn't lie by saying that I speak Spanish, but I'm fairly certain that no one here actually does and if they think that's the language I want to speak, maybe they just won't talk to me!!! I haven't tested out the Spanish approach, so I'll have to let ya know how it works.
16 August 2006
Reminders of Home
It's always a little strange the random things that you find overseas that remind you of home. On the way to the camel market on Friday, we passed this herd of longhorns. Now, I realize that these probably aren't genuine longhorns, but, for the Sandbox, they're close enough. I have to apologize to Lauren for posting a UT picture, but I can't help it that we're from TX and that she decided to leave us go to school at OU.
