Viz Lab News and Events

Saudilogue 40

Yup. 40. This is the start of my fourth year here.

As a service to you all, since I noticed while in the states that the national news there doesn’t carry much international news:
• Congo erupted in violence again – 250,000 refugees have fled the rebel area. The dispute is over an oil agreement negotiated with the Chinese. The rebels believe a better contract should be written.
• Flooding in Yemen, Gaza and now Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as all areas of have too much rain.
• Worst flooding in 20 years in Viet Name, particularly around Hanoi

Meanwhile, my flight to KSA was short to me, as I took too many sleeping pills on the plane. The first one didn’t seem to work, so I took another one. Slept like a rock until just before we landed. Sadly, I do not remember getting off the plane or riding the bus to the terminal. I tuned in just before customs. I’ll never do that again. Geez.

Here, we have had three days of rain – unheard of. The storms have consisted of lots of lightning, thunder and even some rain. Parts of southern Jeddah have lots of water standing on the roads from last night’s storm.

In fact, last night a group of us was at the Green Island, a wonderful restaurant built out over the Red Sea. We were seated outside when the first band of rain came through. The ladies wanted to wait out the rain, so we ate in a light shower… then it got heavier, so we moved into one of the rooms built over the water. All the windows were open, sea breeze. It was lovely… we watched an electrical storm come ashore from far off in the sea.

THEN… all of a sudden my body felt so weird. I mean weird. I was about to stand up or ask for help, when there were bright bursts of light behind me and three explosive sounds. The top of my scalp went wild. One of the others said the lightning hit just north along the sea from where we were sitting. I have never heard such a loud series of noises. The same lady said the lightning in Texas is the same way… So, my friend Craig, who has been hit by lightning a number of times can confirm if that was a very near miss…

This illuminating even followed Obama’s win in the election. I was so happy and so were my students. Other faculty and staff congratulated all of us Americans and expressed a deep relief that America will become, again, a positive force in the world. I’ve told you that our reputation abroad is horrible – the bully nation that attacks anyone with or without warning… memories of a kinder USA are out there…

….my own included.

saudilogue 38

June 20

Gee – I didn’t realize nearly two months have transpired since my last communiqué.
Spring semester is nearly done. Classes have finished, grades are in and I still have
course files to make up for every class. Summer semester starts tomorrow.

I have started packing for a return to the US on July 20. A month from today Wow, time
flies.

Saw a cute sign across the street from the Hospital I use: a restaurant selling sandwiches
including: Humbergers. Yup. Humbergers. The musical sandwich. Funny.

There is a critical water shortage in Jeddah, so we are all doing our part to reduce water
consumption. Practice for when the same ordeal hits the US.

Seems like the world is physically falling apart. Course, we have a lot to play in some of
it. On the upside, I think the Gaza/Israeli truce is holding. That’s a good thing.

I was very distraught with all the wars and human catastrophes in the world recently.
Then this truce came from nowhere. Well, folks. It really is up to them. If they decide to
stop fighting, they will. Just as I have the choice to be vindictive or angry myself. My
choice. So, I hope they continue to choose peace. It will work.

We had our spring student exhibition during the first week of finals. It looked very good,
but was exhausting.

I am attaching a few photos. A couple are of the Red Sea Mall foundtain show. I did take
a long shot across the fountain to the main food court so you get get an idea of the size of
the place…. Since the food court is only a small part of the center court of the mall which
has 4 wings.

Also, I have taken photos of the color coded garbage containers, attending trucks, etc.
Am still trying to snap-poof a shot the workmen, portable bins and brooms. A package
deal, you know.

Tim Russert’s death is saddening. I am grateful that so many other people noticed how
special he was. How can we hold a national election without him. And what about his
son. I was really impressed with his presence.

So – that’s it for now.

Saudilogue 35

Saudilogue 35

Happy Hijjra – the Moslem new year. 1428 is gone and 1429 is just begun. There were
celebrations yesterday at school. People wrote the worst incidents of 1428 on sheets of
paper which were put through a shredder. Not a bad way to celebrate a new year.

The Moslem calendar is based on lunar cycles and the beginning of the year as well and
the year itself, are based on the date Allah (God) told the Prophet to move from Mecca to
Medinah, where he is buried in the grand mosque in Madinah.

So, today is the second day of 1429 and the 10th day of January. And something
miraculous happened. It rained. We haven’t had rain in over a year. For a brief while it
poured. The skies are still cloudy, but the streets and patios of the compound are drying
rapidly.

It is winter here. A joke for any of us from northern climes. But, the weather has been
beautiful – upper 70s. Breezy. Low humidity. Locals complain about the cold. It’s great.

School has started again. I swear these fall semesters are unending. Two more weeks of
classes, then two weeks of final exams. We started the 10th of September.

Incoming crop of freshmen are super. We have had lots of fun.

Here, security has been beefed up for a variety of reasons. Some Al Qaeda activity in
Jeddah – 28 guys were picked up over Hajj. They were going to bomb some of the holy
places around Mecca and Medinah. Another bust at a local compound has pulled the
strings tighter. More check points. More car searches. I am looking forward to going
home, I admit. Not that it is that dangerous, but I fantasize about jumping in my car,
driving to Wal-Mart, then stopping by a friends house on the way home.

I told one of my Saudi friends that the country is finally beginning to get to me. She said
– congratulations, you are now a Saudi. But I can go home, says I, because I am not
Saudi.

On the yippee front, I am now able to get Minnesota Public Radio on iTunes. I probably
could have gotten it years ago, I just didn’t understand that simple feature of the program.

Music club is dwindling. It always does because students find out that fingers get sore
and practice is a must.

I have been watching the beginnings of the primaries with great interest. I look forward to
voting in the election next fall.

I think Bush believes that "the surge" is working. Maybe. I just think there is a lull in the
sectarian violence. I wait for the day that moderate muslims decide that somebody
claiming to be muslim and wants to blow up holy places in Mecca is not on the side of
Islam. This time of year, the new year, the solidarity of Islam is part of the practice.
Because unity is so important, I think moderates are less likely to go against extremists,
even though they don’t agree with the extremist points of view.

Happy (both) new years to everyone.

Oh – general celebration that the King pardoned the young raped woman. Conservatives
have put the lean on our school so the next exhibition will be strictly segregated.

More later.

Jan. 24.
My Dad’s birthday. I miss him.

We have had quite a bit of rain. The skies have been very cloudy and the rain floods the
streets a bit. People don’t drive well in dry clear weather, the rain makes things worse.

Jan 25,
More rain. It’s getting down right tropical….

Cultural differences:
One of our colleagues is very ill. She is from the Western Hemisphere, and like most of
us want to be left alone when very ill. The tradition here is "sitters" where family and
friends take turn sitting with the person. In fact, anyone who cares can sit with the person.
So, our colleagues was inundated with caring Muslims. She, being western, felt obligated
to be hospitable to them. Talk, talk. This brought forth discussion the next day at school.
We appeared uncaring because we weren’t there and we saw them as inconsiderate.
Interesting, eh? So after further conversation, the "sitters" realized the difference in
perceptions as did we. But since the college was sick, all visitors have been turned away
as she got sicker and eventually ended up in a major cardiac unit here in town.

We also had to hold an exhibition using the old-old rules of Saudi. The turn out was
rather poor for those who qualified to attend. Whereas we still see constrictions "the new
way", this was a reminder of how things used to be and it irritated quite a few of the
students.

I willl turn in my notice of non-renewel next week. I am coming home end of June for at
least a year. We are so short handed that we will be teaching six courses a piece…
maybe more next semester plus we have the opportunity to take a course online through
Harvard’s grad school of education.

Going to be a very busy semester. I will have to cancel music club.

Look forward to cold weather. Snow.

S of a

saudi 34

Responding to questions about the "ceremony" for the wedding, there is none. What is
called the wedding is the feast, the celebration of the marriage.

The actual marriage takes place when the father of the bride meets with the groom and
his father and a maazoom, a muslim cleric. The papers are signed. It is a done deal.
Within Islam, the couple could start sleeping together. By Saudi tradition, they are
married, but cannot cohabitate or have sex until the wedding feast. The feast can follow
the paper signing immediately or be put off for years. If the couple decide to not have the
feast, they have to get a legal divorce. Sometimes there is an engagement party, but that
celebrates the soon to be signing of the paper or something like that.

I admit I kept waiting for the culminating moment when the crowd burst into applause.
Nope. Not a local custom. No one stood at a certain time. A great time was had by all!!!!

Another topic:
Someone told me recently that drinking diet soda causes brain damage. Other than the
fact that it rotting my teeth and adding unwanted weight, I had not heard about brain
damage. The broader view, however, proves that my memory (what’s that?) is getting
worse and worse.

This semester I have 80 new students. Egad. Remembering names and faces is so hard. I
wonder if the two are related.

Ironically, the head of the nursing school sent out a paper on improving their memories. I
noticed the first suggestion is to tell yourself to remember it. This is the exact opposite of
my telling myself – oh, crumb, I have to remember all of this.

Wednesday nite I went another dinner theatre. It was hysterical. A British comedy called
"Natural Causes" about an assisted suicide to be performed by a guy from "Exodus".
The meal was very nice. I was going to say quite nice, but my British friends tell me that
"quite good" means not very good.

Anyway, the play was very funny – black humor about death and dying. Hoho

Last night was Thanksgiving. I ordered three turkeys and made 4 loaves of bread worth
of stuffing. I was lots of fun. The rec room on the compound has really taken a beating
though from earlier parties and the compound kids who have treated it harshly. No fridge
anymore and the stove was horrible. It boiled on every setting… At least the gravy was
hot. Not as many people came as last year. One group had a "by invitation only"
Thanksgiving by the pool. Kinda weird,

The meal and the company were terrific. One guy works for Mazolla here in the Middle
East. He brought some presents for people – t-shirt, oil and mayo. First Thanksgiving
I’ve ever attended where there were gifts. I love the cultural mixes here.

Today, my legs ache and I am relieved that soup makers have the carcasses, extra turkey
doled out with a supply for my lunches next week.

The compound chicken
So, I noticed a chicken (live) panting under a tree a few weeks ago. It was not afraid of
me when I walked by. I asked another resident about said chicken. He didn’t know about
it either, except that some of the guys had designs on it. Later, I found out that one of the
assistant managers purchased two chickens. When he butchered the one, he saw a tear go
down the cheek of the other one, so he doesn’t have the heart to butcher it. It is now
named Coo-Coo. It follows his wife as she works about the compound and scratches at
the door if he isn’t out at his normal time to go to work.

The square dancing group put on a demonstration at another compound’s Tday dinner
yesterday afternoon – another reason the day was so hectic. That went well too. I sure do
enjoy square dancing. We have a new group of students who are learning very quicklcy.
One couple is from Minnesota.

School is very busy. There are the regular classes as well as accreditation papers with an
upcoming visit by U.S. officials. This is for U.S. accreditation. That has made classes
longer, so the workload is heavier. I am tired most of the time, but faculty 15 years
younger than I am complain about it, so I guess I’m not doin’ too bad.

November 30
Egad, I’ve been trying to get back to this without much luck.

I recently noticed that all the pick up trucks in Jeddah are white. White with detailing,
white with logos, but white none-the-less. Since I started trying to confirm this discovery,
I have seen a silver pickup with detailing around the box. Then I saw anothing silver one
with the same detailing. It could be the same truck.

A U.S. Congressional delegation was in Jeddah on Wednesday. They visited our school. I
met a very astute woman from John Conyers (D-Michigan) office. I was very proud of
the accomplishments listed in the presentation made about our college. We are making a
difference and will continue to do so.

Our dean said we will open the first driving school for women in S.A. The guys need to
learn how to drive, trust me.

The press is controlled here, but Saudi is making the news worldwide, thus I can keep up
by watching CNN, BBC and MSN. The 200 lashes case is now being discussed in local
media – which means someone has allowed it.

Quite a few of my students are very embarrassed that this has happened. A few thought
she must have done something (adultery) to get this punishment. One report said that she
staged a protest or wrote an open letter demanding that women drive. This means she is
"uppity".

The retired judge who appeared on one of the discussions must be a mutawa – no
headband and a long beard. He talked about protecting the marriage bed for the husband.
Some, he missed, that the marriage bed had already been destroyed by a gang rape. It
takes the pleasure out of being close. And then add 200 lashes (no back) and that further
diminishes the desire to be close to anyone.

Her lawyer is right – this case could help institute the changes in the legal system the
King wants. He has just established a council to protect women’s rights. Within Islam,
women have equal rights with men. It is local cultural traditions which put women in a
submissive, objective position. I have said it is over protection, in many cases. I still
believe that. Anyone who has been overprotected knows how awful that feels.

Anyway, because of the international media attention, I do hope the woman does not
have to serve a sentence or get 200 lashes. Lashing is common here, though. I don’t kow
if they have probation.

On a lighter note, music club has started again. There was a mob scene last week. I feel
overwhelmed. A good feeling though – knowing that the students who play are finding
each other – they can keep the club going.

S of A

saudi 32

Aug 30, 2007

Hey, the world is full of little victories. I have another computer which successfully
allows me to use Skype without me sounding like a verizon commercial. There are still
some bugs to work out … and I can now listen to Minnesota Public Radio. Yippee.

So, I just finished listening to the local station that plays Arabic music and now listening
to something wonderfully baroque…. Life is good.

I’ve been here 10 days, square danced twice, scrabbled nearly every day. First day back I
was clobbered 915 to 556 (super scrabble, more tiles and quadruple score squares).

Customs went rather well. At first they complained about something when looking at my
passport so I thought they questioned my citizenship. No red ink, I finally understood. I
had filled out the form in red ink – a no no. I was told later it is a throwback to
communism. Once I filled out the form in black, it went very smoothly. I did receive
some minor scrapes and bumps in the line around the baggage claim machine.

I had to rework my office and I admit the first days back at work have been filled with
hugs and coffee. The main cafeteria is closed. We have a Coffee Bean (like starbucks) on
campus. The ladies came in to get set up for the start of school, but they made the mistake
of leaving there door unlocked. A small herd of us walked in and the marketing teacher in
the herd convinced them to open since we were thirsty and starving. So, the first day
there were some kinds of coffee and the ladies who work there haven’t spoken English in
two months. The most challenging part of the first week at work was communicating
with the Coffee Bean staff. But one must understand when there is a will there is a
way… and when humans decide there is mutual trust it is even better. So, I paid for
breakfast (for 2 of us) with a 50 riyal bill; the lady had no change. So she wrote 16 on a
piece of paper. Later in the day I went down for another coffee and something, and paid
for it with a piece of paper with 16 written on it along with some more cash.

I look forward to seeing some students next week. We are registering freshmen next
week as well. I hope they will let us cap enrollment at 40 – no more than 50. We are still
short faculty – so any MA or MFA female is interested, let me know.

The world is an amazing place. When I came back to the US, the first new thing I saw
was Coke Plus. What’s that? Coke with vitamins and minterals. An oxymoron if you ask
me. Her a company is making a sorbet, either raspberry, lemon/lime or mango. Oooooo
are they good. The company name is Miranda (I think). I did find flavored water in the
US that was not carbonated and sugar free. I hope to find it here, too, so I will be
encouraged to quit diet Pepsi. Pepsi, by the way, is a much bigger brand here than Coke.

My dishwasher died while I was gone. They brought in another one from an empty villa.
The guys hooked it up and within minutes they were shutting it down and running for the
mop. So, #2 was hauled out. Good that I got used to handwashing dishes in the States. No
choice, as my dishwasher died just after I came to Saudi Arabia in 2005.

Oh – a new restaurant opened a couple weeks ago: UNO Chicago Grill. I guess it is
American chain, but it is very good. One of the desserts is beyond brilliant – a chocolate
/peanut butter filling on an oreo cookie crust with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, covered
with chocolate and peanut butter sauces… ooooooooooooooo.

They also have the first pizza "pie" I’ve had since I left Kansas City in 1968. It is more
like a pie shell filled with the topping and cheese. Yum.

Recognizing that I am back in the land of carbs and great food, I have walked the track
once (sort of), danced twice and gone swimming.

Swimming – there I admit I am spoiled. I have always like warm water – a bit of a wuss
when it comes to cold water. I don’t like the adjustment period. The pool water is hot. It
would kill yeast. I thrive in that kind of water….

Otherwise, the world is good. The Kings Abdullah continue to press for peace and
understanding in the Middle East.

Sept 7

Friday. School begins tomorrow. Most of the freshman still haven’t registered yet.. I
expect next week to be a bit zooey…

Did I ever tell you that potato chips are in the ethnic food aisle of the super market?

The stores are preparing for Ramadan – a month long celebration. No one eats or drinks
between sunrise and sunset. It marks the month that the Archangel Gabriel started
dictating the Koran to Mohamed. (The Prophet)

There is a special colorful cloth that merchants use to decorate the entrances of their
stores. May stores hold drawings for gifts. One store is raffling off a Mercedes. This is a
time of generosity also. As Eid (the end of fasting approaches) merchants pile bags of
rice on the corners of streets for the poor to take.

This time I did not have visa trouble getting in, nor did Ms. K, the one who usually has
visa trouble. But, for those getting work visas this year, a last minute form has faculty
stranded in Canada, Jorden and Godknows where else.

Again, good see everyone this summer.

S of a

Saudi 30

December 27, 2006

Hope you all had a great Christmas. I bought myself a 12-string guitar and a computer
Scrabble game. I do not have any plans for New Year’s Eve.

Once I told you there were no privately owned airplanes in Saudi… I was wrong. There
are no SMALL privately owned airplanes here, but there are a lot of privately owned
747s set up with dance floors, business center, wow.

It is Friday with Saddam heading to the gallows, perhaps as early as today. I know the
guy killed lots of people, but it has an eerie feel to it. No sitting on death row for 14 years
for him. And, sounds like it will spawn more violence. More violence.

January 1.

Saddam is gone. It is very sad that those who executed him chose to take the lower road
by heckling him as they got ready to kill him. Don’t think any of this will end until
people realize that more blood won’t solve anything.

Hey – on a brighter note, did I even tell you that the ads on TV here usually are not about
products? Nope. Programming announcements, previews of movies on other channels.
There are a few. Some are really excellent – on empowering women (a Care.org
commercial) and AID/HIV alerts. Mercedes Benz has a short one about their armored
cars.

Other ads suggest traveling to other countries: Armenia, Croatia, Malta,Egypt, India,
Hong Kong, Singapore and some African countries. Other advertisers want people to
invest in countries. Nigeria and Poland for instance. The Kuwait Fund boasts investment
in African countries which are helping pull Africa out of poverty.

January 2, 2007
Well, whoever allowed partisan Shiites to participate in the execution goofed. Apparently
the executioners danced around the body. Not good.

I was quite disturbed while watching a BBC end of the year/next year discussion group.
Two panelists were adamant that Saudi Arabia is a very negative influence in the region.
One accused it, again, of state sponsored terrorism and being the source of Al Qaeda.
The government here goes to great extremes to find Al Quaeda people and though there
maybe individuals who contribute to that cause, I’m sure, if caught, they are stopped. Bin
Laden wants to over throw the royal family and install a fundamentalist Islamic
government.. There may be conservatives here who want that, but no one I know. Jeddah
is a more liberal city. The King wants to modernize some of the policies here. Dar Al
Hekma could not exist under a fundamentalist regime.

I’ve only been here 16 months. That doesn’t make me a middle east expert… I know that.
But, Saudi Arabia is not the evil country some people try to make it and neither are the
Saudi people. Dunno. Lots of sabre rattling. Doesn’t help that the King did say they
would support Sunnis in Iraq. Since Saudi Arabia is an ally of the US, that is seen as a
viable threat. It is true the Saudi government does not want to have a Shiite country (with
the Sunnis having been eradicated) being on a Northern border. The Saudis fear that
country with the help of Iran would invade Saudi Arabia.

If the current government in Iraq wants to unify the country, the PM is going about it the
wrong way.

So, 2007 is here. Somehow we made it into another year. Oh – one of my students
created a newsletter (the actual assignment for Editorial and Book Design, they could
pick their own topics) on war – keeping score on all the conflicts around the world. The
tagline is: War Watchers.

Hugs
S of A

photo 'abayas in souk'

Saudi 29

Saudilogue 29

It’s winter here now. It actually is not only cooler but lower humidity than before.
Currently 75 degrees heading for a high of 87. That’s cooler.

Thursday night a group of us walked along the Corniche (seashore area). Along the sea it
was cooler. It just felt very, very comfortable. Then, zooming around a corner: two kids
wearing mad-bomber hats (pulled down) and winter leather coats. Wow.

So, for folks who laughed at me when I turned heat on in the house when it was down to
63, plus I was wearing two layers of clothes… bodies adjust to all kinds of things.

There was a shooting in town Thursday night. A while ago the Saudi security forces
rounded up 139 Al-Qaeda suspects. I think the gunmen were trying to free some of the
new prisoners. Anyway, two guards at the prison were, alas, killed and the gunmen got
away.

I notice that there is a furor in the US about our Muslim representative wanting to be
sworn in on the Qu’ran. One fellow said no, because Islam is a dangerous religion.
Personally, I think any "holy" book in the hand of a fanatic becomes dangerous.

Students here are watching the Bush vs the world in Iraq with interest. He still doesn’t get
it. After living in the Middle East for over a year, I can tell you some things with
certainty. First, Arabic is a very difficult language. It is subtle and poetic. The same word
can have many meanings and the dialects vary from country to country. The spoken
dialects, that is. Written Arabic is the same in all Arabic countries, however the spoken
Arabic is quite different from written Arabic.

The Sunni/Shia separation is almost as old as Islam itself – and relates to how the
leadership of the faith succeeded. There are some similarities between that schism and the
Reformation in Europe. Remember those wars? Continuing into Northern Ireland to this
very day.

There is much concern here about all the looming civil wars in Lebanon and Gaza. We’ve
had some interesting discussions about Iraq, but probably not as heated as they would be
if I had ever supported the war. Supporting war. Wow, what a concept!

I am staying home over Hajj. Perhaps I can again get into painting and designing.

Music Club continues to be a hit. We only had six or seven people last meeting, but what
they lacked in numbers, is made up by enthusiasm. The harmonica player is a big Dylan
fan. She asked where I was from. Minnesota, says I. Wow. How cool.

Today, one of the faculty members said that she can tell the difference in her students on
Music Club days. They have their guitars, are much more relaxed even though the club
meets after her class. She said she has always wanted to learn how to play. Come one
down, says I. But I can’t read music. Neither can I, says I. Hope bursts forth in her eyes.
Oh, I just love country music. I want to learn how to play it. You, I can help, says I. I
think of the girls who want to play rock riffs. Not I, I know.

Today I realized I have never seen a hitchhiker in Saudi Arabia. I mentioned this to one
of my classes. A sea of blank looks. One student translated in Arabic what a hitchhiker
was. Oh, no, Miss. We don’t do that here.

The weather is noticeably cooler. Almost chilly in the morning. We do not need the air
conditioning on the bus, it is that cool. The mosquitoes aren’t as bad as last year. I
wonder if it is because it is cooler with much less humidity.

I’ve started reading the Qur’an again. I’ve been looking up the verses that pertain to Jesus
and Mary. It sure raises a lot of theological questions. For instance, it talks about the
Archangel Gabriel telling Mary she will have a son, name the son Jesus and that he will
be the messiah. Muslims accept Jesus as the next to the last prophet, Muhammad being
the last prophet. After saying Mohamed, one is supposed to say "peace be unto him",
Muslims also add that after talking about Jesus or Moses "peace be unto them."

The Qur’an is not a history and though I have only read a few chapters, no one has been
killed. I tell you – no smoting.

I keep saying that I do not understand the violence from a non-violent religion – though
one can say the same about all religions. Guess there’s a group in the US now – terrorists
for Jesus…. Unreal. And there were the Crusades, and the Inquisition so no one is
perfect.

Students in my Editorial and Book Design class are creating a four page newsletter.
Newsletters are unheard of among this age group because there is no mail service in the
country yet (door to door) – due to start in January… anyway, all these things are a
learning experience for me. Each culture takes so much for granted.

I think I told you that any Muslim can attend or pray in any mosque. It never occurred to
them that in Christianity people belong to different denominations, belong to different
churches and that a church would claim exclusive rights to the truth. Within Islam, all
Jews, Christians and Muslims are going to heaven if they have lead good lives, given to
the poor, etc etc, because each group believes in one God.

I was reviewing symbols today with one of my Symbols and Trademarks class. I was
going over the icons on my digital camera – obtained in the US. The envelope on the
camera indicates sending the picture (over the internet). I mentioned this symbol – they
thought it might relate to storage. Bang. It hits me. Since there is no mail service, the idea
of sending something in an envelope is rather foreign to them.

I still say I have learned more than I have taught.
S of A
Me again.

From e-mails I’ve received, I guess I forgot to mention Thanksgiving. Over 60 people
this year and truly a compound-wide event. We had a great time. Somehow we scored
three turkeys. The toughest one was a butterball, by the way. And they were small by my
let’s have a feast standard. 2 12s and 1 15. So, I cooked two, Maggie cooked one,
Stuffing and gravy from me, also. I invited everyone on the compound, but the workers
didn’t feel comfortable eating with the rest of us, so when the crowd had cleared out, they
all dashed in for a plate of food. Reham and I fixed huge plates for the security guards
and the army guys.

I am disappointed that King Abdullah of Saudi wants the US to stay to restore order. I’ve
heard the government doesn’t want a Shiite Iraq on its border – particularly if they fear a
genocide against Sunis.

Have a super Christmas. I’ll probably write before then. And, I’ll try to attach the other
photos I tried last time.

s

Saudi 28

Saudi 28

An amazing couple of weeks, folks.

First, Saudi Arabia will have door to door mail service here after the first of the year.
Each house has been assigned a number somehow related to global positioning. Many of
the streets here do not have names and none have house numbers. I think I told you that
the fire brigade had a hard time finding the Dean’s house when a fire broke out in the
kitchen. This will eventually create a new phase in Jeddah – junk mail. Since there is no
mail service, there are no flyers mailed to anyone. As shopping is a major pursuit here,
now large malls and retailers can access the community.

We were able to partake in a market survey for a new magazine targeting young women
in the Middle East. I think we can continue this relationship with this company in the UK.
Though many of you think I am in danger here, Saudi Arabia is a very politically stable
country. Much of the middle East publishing business has been located in Lebanon. Alas,
that country is in tough shape, soon to be in worse shape as the Shiite – Sunni
confrontation continues in that country. If the local censors back off a bit, I can see
printing companies comihng here, particularly since we are now graduating Saudi
designers who can continue the Saudization plan here.

As you may know, many jobs here are held by foreigners. Saudi Arabia wants Saudis to
eventually hold these positions, thus educating Saudis so they can replace us is very
important. Saudi women have a better reputation for having a strong work ethic, so right
now there is a female hiring preference. Yay, Team.

So, we had our Thanksgiving celebration – a major meal held in the recreation room on
the compound. Probably had 60 plus people! We cooked three turkeys, I made lots of
filling balls which were a touch too dark, crumb…. Started a serious smolder in my
stove… 15 pounds of mashed potatoes and there was little left in the way of food. I am
tired today because I was on my feet all day yesterday chopping bread, etc.

I started a Music Club at the request of the student affairs office. I expected maybe 15
ladies to join. Over 100 have said they want to join. Many have guitars they have had for
years and not been able to play. So, we had our first meeting. 20 students turned up the
first meeting. I made up a survey and a first guitar lesson. Quite a few students brought
their guitars. So, I taught them a G chord and a down strum on the count of three. The
students were thrilled. One student was shaking from excitement being that close to a
guitar. Then I gave her mine to learn a G chord.

In 1990, you could not buy a guitar in Jeddah. Jeddah is the most liberal city here. Now
you can buy guitars and music is not completely banned. There are bands which play at
small clubs.

The students sat in rapt attention (unheard of) as I talked about music, guitar action and
how we would proceed. They want to meet twice a week. I said maybe once a week
considering my teaching schedule.

Few of you probably know I play a guitar. I’ve been a closet player for years…. My stage
fright has gone away, I notice. I taught myself how to play when I was 12. I am unable to
read music – rather dislexic with it, but have learned through chord charts, tableture and
picking patterns how to play folk music, rhythm and blues and lighter rock and rolls.
Honestly have not learned a new song in 20 years and rarely played at home. I know,
however, that when a person gives another the basics of playing a guitar, they move
themselves into the music they want to play. But they need a start, the basics and some
transpositional theory…. Wow.

So, ironically, it may be that the gift I give my student is not graphic design, but music.
And, as often happens, the gift to me is having to play in front of people on the fly which
meant I didn’t have time to panic, I just sang.

Office politics are awful. I focus on teaching and the music club. One of the Vice-Deans
is organizing a talent show for spring. This is all ground breaking stuff. All forms of
entertainment are banned in Mecca women’s college, 40 miles away.

Hope you call had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I miss you all lovingly. I probably won’t
be back in the states until Aug 10 or 11 because of the 330 day rule – so the ten extra
days I stayed have to come off the end. But I will get there.

Day one of music club included 7 guitars. The second meeting included new members
and 16 guitars. To have 16 students with a down beat and major strumming on a G chord
and me singing Michael Row the Boat Ashore is a first in the Kingdom. Wow. As the
group continued, one girl showed another one how to play the theme from the Godfather,
one note at a time to another student. Good stuff, I say.

One student brought her harmonica and asked if I knew Blowin’ in the Wind. Life is
grand.

I was able to attend a tour of Balad (old Jeddah) yesterday with official tour guides so we
could take photos.
More later,

S of a

Saudilogue 27

I went to a Halloween party here last night. It was a costume party and I was surprised at the variety of costumes considering that you cannot buy adult costumes in Jeddah. Toys R Us has kids stuff. There were a few more belly dancers than one might expect in the states. One of the ladies at our table had an axe in her head (plastic, only plastic) and a rubber knife in her stomach. She gave up on the long nails part way through dinner. Nails were too long to enable eating. It was a charity affair. The funds raised pay the tuition for 14 –18 non-Saudi kids in Jeddah so they can go to school.

I thought it might rain in the last two days. Skies were very cloudy and the wind was brisk. A few drops may have fallen or I could have imagined that. However, no storm or thunderstorm. Crumb.

I notice that Ramadan is blamed for the violence in Iraq. That is like blaming violence on Christmas. A truce by warring factional parties in Iraq was signed here in Mecca just before Eid (the celebration of the end of Ramadan), King Abdullah has been trying to bring the fighting to an end, as he is not only the King of Saudi Arabia, but the Protector of the Two Mosques (Mecca and Medina), so he feels obligated to try to settle the 1000 year old rift in Islam.

In some ways the rift is much like the Reformation in Christianity.

Then there is the furor over veils. This has been quite interesting to watch. Though the abayas are not really a sign of chatteldom, some women here do not like wearing them, or have made them fashion statements. I saw a woman wearing a beautiful burgundy abaya in a grocery store yesterday.

Also, during Ramadan stores do not open until 9:00 at night, I have not done any major shopping for a very long time and not been to Balad since I returned to Saudi. So, for those of you who gave me money to purchase abayas or blouses, as the weather cools I will head off to Balad to make those purchases and well as see if there is a reasonably priced way of getting these goodies to you before I return next August. Keep the faith. I have not forgotten about you.

S of A

Sunday morning school started with a bang. Thunder that is – lightning. It was so cool. I awoke in the middle of the night to the sights and sounds of a thunderstorm. Then next morning it was still raining. I have had my first experience with a storm in the desert.
The temperature dropped to 70F, the coldest daytime temperature since I arrived.

Remember, Jeddah does not have any storm sewers, so the water backs up quickly. Streets were flooded, traffic slowed to a crawl. We left the compound at 7:10, heading for school. It took nearly two hours to travel the distance normally covered in 35 minutes. The Ring Road was a sight! The road was dry, but half the town decided to try it so there were six lanes of southbound traffic (both shoulders were traffic ladened) plus another three lanes on the sand. Cars were going under the underpasses on the upward slope of the structure. Nine lanes had to merge into four so we could then merge with another three coming in from another freeway. Eventually we made it off the Ring Road to a major thoroughfare. The water was over the curb and still rising. We talked about a video camera on the bus. At the next intersection, five men, two of them cops, tried to direct traffic approaching the intersection correctly, as well as those driving the wrong way on a one way street hoping to miss some of the congestion.

Finally made it to school, only to have classes cancelled at 10:30 because of the rain and that very few students made it. Stalled cars. Hydroplaning Pepsi trucks – you name it. Most of the men wear thobes (the long white robes), so they were walking along the streets holding up their thobes.

I now know how much water needs to amass outside my villa door to avoid a long drive for nothing. It has been an amazing experience.

One of the ladies on the bus said that a bad storm was coming. Bad storm? What is this, I asked. It has rained. Oh, says I. The advertised storm did not appear.

If it has been a sandstorm, though, I understand they do shut everything down because no one can see.

Meanwhile, I am getting better at square dancing. This is like a class somehow and by the end of the year I will have some kind of name tag that indicates I am some kind of recognized square dancer and can dance with any group in the world. Okay. I will be part of the Red Sea Squares.

S of a

Saudilogue 26

Saudilogue 26

Wednesday (Humda’allah) (thank God).

First, let me say how much I enjoyed being with all of you during holiday. I did not lose
an ounce, but ohhhh the food was so good. See you again next year – really I will.

Meanwhile:
Cars
So during my marathon drive around Jeddah that first night back, we were passed by a
goldenrod Dodge Viper and then found ourselves behind a Porsche SUV. Porsche SUV?
For those who asked, I have been looking again at the car dealerships we pass on the way
home from school: FAST MOTORS, they carry Ferrari, Mazerati. Another outfit carried
Lamborghinis. There are BMW, Citroen, Astin Martin, Lexus of all type, caddies. I saw a
Margane (something like that) parked in the compound. Mgs, Corvette, Lincoln Town
cars. Ducati. I’ll look again on the way home tonight… Jaguar, Mercedes (lots of them). I
saw at least three Mercedes dealerships on the way home. Probably all owned by the
same dude, but three none the less. KIAs even, for the appliance shoppers and Honda.
Mitsubishi, Hyndai. On the streets the really fast cars are hard to identify because they
zoom by so quickly. The guy who took me home from the airport said that his Dad had a
Viper, but totaled it in a really bad accident. Ououououououou, poor car. I like them,
actually. Oh, and Jim, how could I forget – Audi! Jeep for my sister. Oh, and those little
Coopers.

Ramadan has started and the number of traffic accidents has gone ballistic. Some of these
are very severe. Hope everyone’s okay.

The square-dancing was a kick. Night one was the first lesson. It took me back to
elementary school when square dancing was part of phys ed. Again, folks from all over
the world. I have learned some Arabian dancing and Scottish steps since I got here. A
whole crew of South Africans were also first timers. Everyone is going back for another
shot at it. I ran into more Americans there than I have in one place since I got here. That
was rather nice. Couple folks from the Midwest.

I confess I am a bit more homesick this time coming here. I already know the routine, so
coming back held few surprises. Today, however, was one of those days my daughter
cheers about. Per centage 80/20 today…. (that is 80 – come back/ 20 stay here next year.
Haven’t had too many days like this really in all the time I have spent here.

Considering that state of the world, that’s really pretty good. 70/30

There is an IFTAR on the compound tonight. Iftar is the break-fast held every night at
sundown during Ramadan. Since I am picking a colleague up at the airport HEY, that
means we finally have a full staff!!!!!!!!, I will, alas, miss it, unless it is still going by the
time we get back.

Hope all is well with everyone. More later.

Now a week later. My colleague arrived. Went through hopping heck to get a ride to pick
her up when other entities would not do it – but when I got there, someone from the
school was already there. This is a good thing, though I was really ticked. Cosmically, the
camel who is a regular at Wednesday nite, transmitted sanity vibes and after a hefty Step
2, I felt much better the next day.

We have some wonderful new staff members. This has nearly eliminated the bus
squabbles. Hurray.

Maggie found two more folks interested in playing bridge, so we now have a Tuesday
nite bridge game on the compound. That is so nice because even though it is easier to get
to square dancing on Monday nites (one of the square dancers is a guy on the compound
is in the group and he has a car), it is great to have something local.

One of the newbees is trying to arrange taibo lessons for us – also on the compound. I am
still trying to wrap my head around that one. Kick boxing? Jake tells me I should pursue a
form of exercise that I will actually use longer term. Taibo. Dunno. I might need more
than a surrogate camel for that one.

Gotta trot.

S of A

PS
Hiho-Ramadan break going well. Basking by the pool, putting together classes.

I saw the ultimate electronic devise in a new store today. Watani is another superstore.
Football fields in size – everything you can image. So, I saw a small oven (about the size
of a microwave, perhaps a touch larger, with a three burner hot plate on top and FOR NO
EXTRA CHARGE – a mini ironing board. All packaged together. Amazing.

One of the swimming pools sprung a leak, so it is being torn up for repairs.

Bridge is going well. My partner (new to the game) refuses to pull trump right away. If
he was partnered with my late father, he would be a late bridge player. I confess I have
gotten very irritated with this, but we is doing it his way. Some folks learn the hard way –
I sure have.

I had a gecko in the bedroom for a long time. Named it Harvey. Last night is was on the
wall such that I could catch it with soft lid and a piece of stale flat bread. (Don’t ask)
With some success I moved the slightly beat up gecko (scrap the stale bread) outside.
Said a little prayer that the little guy survived the ordeal. This morning the gecko and the
flat bread were gone. I assume cats ate the flatbread.

The cat population seems to be regulating itself through inbreeding and feline leukemia.
There is another cat disease which seems to attack eyes.

One of the compound dogs is gone, so the evenings are quiet. As always, except for
howling cats (on occasion).

Keep the faith!

Saudilogue 25

September 11, 2006

Well, I’ve made it as far as Frankfurt on my way to Jeddah. We were stacked over O’Hare for 20 minutes on stage one. Stage two (Chgo-Frankfurt) we left l hour late because two people didn’t show up, but their luggage had been loaded, so they had to unload it. I had my first experience with a 747-400. The flight was very smooth, but the plane was very hot – either that or I had continuous hot flashes all across the Atlantic. We arrived a tad late, but I can attest to dinner being quite a nice meal. Breakfast was a sandwich with a twix bar.

The problems began when I decided to get a diet pepsi or coke. I accidentally left the area where I arrived and where my Jeddah departure gate are. I couldn’t get back without a security check. And the security ports didn’t open until 8:00 am. I would have to wait in a line for a half hour before it opened. So, I wandered off looking for a coke. Found it, but then couldn’t find a place to sit down. So, I went to another gate just to sit and drink the pop. Being very spacy because I did not get any sleep the night before I left and haven’t slept yet due to a) a crying child on the plane again and b) I still haven’t mastered sleeping on a plane.

Sooo, I realize I had lost my jacket. Went back to the gate where I drank the coke, found my jacket there. Okay. Then tried to go through security check so I could go back to my gate. Well, they won’t let me go through until 11:00 am. It is 8:20 am. Finally found a non-gate on the shaded side of the terminal so I can sit, write this and try to keep myself together. I am so tired. I am trying to stay up until 9:00 tonight because I have to go to work tomorrow and advise students on which classes to take…. A dangerous thing, if you ask me.

I sure enjoyed being back In Cloquet with family and my family of friends. I gained weight, ate at least six meals at the Mexican Restaurant … I love you all.

So, as the clock SLOWLY ticks, I have just one leg left on the journey back to D-2. Supposedly one of the college drivers will be there to pick me up.

Sept 23, 2006

Well, no one was there from the college to pick me up. This was discouraging as I was tired and resembled toast by the time I got here. I didn’t have enough cash to get me home with a taxi and was hesitant to do so because the compound is small. My mobile phone wouldn’t work so, at last, a young man who worked at the airport took me home. He thought he knew where I lived, but it became quite obvious he didn’t. I told him if he could find Prince Sultan street, I could find my way home from there. So, after flying all day all night maryann, we drove around Jeddah for another hour and 45 minutes until at last I was home. Wow.

Went to work the next day thinking I could at least pull classes together. I always late at that somehow, only to find that I had to move to a new office immediately. Thankfully, I have my trust powerbook. It functioned nicely in the new office until the mac my old roomie and I shared, came into my new office. Phone worked after a couple days.

I ended up helping with registration, which was a learning experience. On the first day of classes, the only fulltime faculty members on campus were the new lady from Poland via Canada, and me. Newbie to senior staff in one year.

The program is enormously popular. We all were overwhelmed by the number of new freshmen. We need more faculty pretty darn soon.

So, I am back. Have joined a Monday night square dancing group and already played quite a bit of scrabble. Maggie has me signed up for bridge, too. Nice to have things to do besides school.

I do admit that all the plans I had for this weekend were put on hold by the Ryder Cup.

So, keep the faith.

S of a

And happy Ramadan!

Saudilogue 24

I think I started this before and can’t find it. It is July 15th. I leave for the states on the 27th = wow, 12 days from now.

The conflict north of here is very sad and very out of control. I am not afraid for me, but I now have friends all over the area. Huda went home to Beruit. My dentist is in either Gaza or the West Bank. A colleague planned a wedding in Beirut for July 26th. So much for that. My office mate is from Lebanon but I think she’s in Canada right now. Another colleague is from Lebanon but is in Brazil right now.

On the local front – 4 more days of classes, turn in grades, process the clearance forms so I can get paid, then head home.

The construction north of the compound, it turns out, is not just for any princess, but rather the widow of King Fahd. Or so I’m told. We’ve been thinking that when she moves in, we should do the neighborly thing and take over warm rolls.

I have one more trip to Balad, the major souk in the old city before I come home. Goodies. Sandy’s sleigh.

I look forward to seeing lots of friends and family. My garden probably needs major attention. I really look forward to meetings as I am getting very fuzzy around the edges.

I have taken more photos of Jeddah and the statuary. I am giving a talk at the VDIL on August 1st inshallah on teaching graphic design in Saudi Arabia. Amazing Saudi sweets will be served. Yum.

So, hang in there. I will do the same. See everyone soon.

Sandy

Saudi 23

June 2, 2006

Friday afternoon. Tis hot and humid… low hundreds…

Two nights ago I attended another dinner playhouse event. The play was called Bouncers – a British play about pubs, drunkenness and sexuality. The thick British accents and pub slang made it difficult to follow and some of what I did understand was disgusting, taking me back to the not-so-good old days, as they say. The ladies sitting next to me were appalled and my friends David and Maggie were less than enthusiastic.

I went to bed feeling yucky. Then I thanked HP for the best meeting with multi-drunkalogs. A great reminder.

The next night I went back to the same compound for a Scottish Kalee (misspelled). The food was stupendous and the dancing was wild. There were Scottish dances to learn (sorta did that) and then regular rock and roll. I realize I have done more dancing since I came here than I have in the past 25 years. If I did the dancing thing every night without taking in so much rich food, I would tone up and lose weight. Oh well.

The biggest part of the evening was real you know what. So, I was very glad to have seen the play the previous evening. I told one fellow who kept offering me liquid refreshment that if I did that I would re-act the previous night’s play. He laughed, but I was dead serious.

The westernern/whitish expat community in Jeddah is very small. When going to one of these events, one sees all white faces. I think only one or two of us is American. Most are Brits, South Africans, Irish, New Zealanders and Australians. It seems so foreign to me because the environment I live and work in is so different. But, after a while, I begin to recognize familiar faces, even if I don’t know who they are.

When I first moved to Northern Minnesota I wondered where everyone went. Chicago is multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. Where were the Hari Krishna people? Everyone was white with blond hair… gee.

I was pleased to learn that Saudi Arabia is also blessed with great mineral wealth which has never been developed. They are starting to do that now as oil’s future dims.

Saturday night I am one of the jurors in a photography competition at the Saudi Natural History Society – which has also been an interesting group.

Almost July 1at.
Just watched Germany defeat Argentina in the world cup.

Spring semester is concluded and summer classes 25% done. This is my first experience with the expat year end. Of the four of us who came over this fall, one is already gone and another chose not to stay for next year. Of the 4 who were here (Americans, this is) when we got here, one is already gone, two are leaving, with only one coming back next year. The compound is clearing out. One family of South Africans moved to Dubai yesterday. My Scrabble buddies are gone until fall. Quite a few of the other ladies who worked on staff are gone, also, so the compound is getting very quiet. A few new people have moved in, including the family from Scotland I met through these Saudilogues. So everyday someone leaves. It is kinda sad. Some I won’t see again and others it is just summer holiday.

My friend Maggie says that here we learn how to make friends fast because often you don’t see people again or since time is limited, one must develop the ability to decide who will be good friends and who won’t very fast.

With Spring semester done and summer underway, I spent quite a bit of time bobbing about the pool without feeling guilty. I’ve started packing myself for the journey to the US – to happen July 27.

Politically, I am distressed that Israel has launched such a severe reprisal against the Palastinians in order to secure the release of the kidnapped soldier. 10 to 1 the guy is already dead. But blowing bridges and the only power plant negatively impacts millions of people who are already undernourished. Even CNN Hong Kong talks about the hospitals in Gaza which have no medicine. Just like Basra in Iraq. There is no money to rebuild the bridges or the power plant. The headlines in one of the English speaking Saudi newspapers was: Crimes against Humanity. War never solves anything. This is very sad. All this does is polarize the area even more.

So, I’ll see y’all soon.

My daughter is planning a party for August 12th at her Dad’s place in Moose Lake. It is a combination graduation party for her and a hello and maybe good by party for me. Let me know if you want to come.

Hugs
S of A

Saudi 22

May 24,2006

So, have I told you about all the singing here? Everyone sings, together and to themselves, as they work in supermarkets, walk down the street or the students, even. Everyone dances, too, but within the gender segregation that happens here.

There was an interesting program on Lesbianism on campus last week – looking at it as a part of Saudi society and that it may be attacking the structure of the society. I know the woman who organized the event for a student who wanted this program put together. Part of the discussion is that the genders are so segregated that homosexuality is inevitable, beyond genetic predisposition. And, as I think I have said before, many women here are afraid of men or male contact. Neither gender has much experience communicating with the other so here, men are from Mars and women from Venus – literally. Alas, I was so busy, I was unable to attend. I am so used to working in an all female environment, when men are around, I feel invaded, mostly because then we have to wear abayas and tarhas so the men won’t see us. Plus, they (the men) seem out of place.

I take it as part of the job, but some students are getting frustrated with it and abaya designers are getting more bold all the time. In fact, I have my Basic Design class designing abayas as their final project. Wow, are we getting some fabulous designs. That I can send you – so we’ll have a fashion show…. One student is designing her abaya based on typography by Ian Swifty. Great fun by all. One student said her Mom was so excited by the project, she ran out and bought two plain black abayas for her daughter to use. Quite a few students are designing more than one abaya.

They are (abayas that is) becoming slimmer, with interesting belts. We have discussed making them more useful. The male thobes have huge side pockets. Abayas don’t have pockets. I think they should have them. It would be quite helpful.

On the way to work today we passed a construction site where the workers were talking before they mounted the heavy equipment. All of them were wearing sandals. Many of them would be driving steamrollers. Not that steel toed boots would make much difference against a steamroller.

I have made flight arrangements – should be arriving in MPLS on July 27. Jen will pick me up from the airport and then drive up north the evening of the 28th.

More later.
S of a

June 1, 2006
The actual course work is done. I am exhausted. Six classes is tough. I think I have groaned about that before. But, the students did a super job. We are now in a two week finals period, but art students finish up the last week of classes which gives me plenty of time for grading and course files…. Except that we are creating a Graphic Design Dept magazine. The deadline is looming and it is still in the air a bit… And we are having our GD student exhibition in two weeks. I handling submissions. In previous years, faculty chose the work that would be in the dhow. We are trying to wean students from faculty dependence, so we’ve asked them for two works per student from the last 12 months. This has generated into some interesting faculty ego conflicts. That utterly surprised me.

Oh – the big news is the fashion show. One of my basic design students asked if we could hold our fashion show in a larger room so more people could attend (besides just classmates…) So, at the last minute… this Saturday, I signed up for Room 151 which is a small auditorium…. The size of the Dudley. The class made posters, then were dispersed on the campus to post them. I used Ida’s uncle’s CD. So at the appointed hour, with Soewe Mesna in the background, the students walked the runway to an amazingly large crowd of faculty and students… I was the commentator, describing each abaya as the student modeled it. One student, who is normally shy came into her own, organizing the girls behind the scene and showing them how to model. Another student, who usually is in my face about class projects and “when is the class going to end….� Would not walk across the stage alone.. So, I escorted her. Both times, since she created two abayas.

The crowd roared and cheered at each new design. The director was in the crowd, front row, no less. So she had us all wait around until she found the dean (equivalent of Dr. Martin)…. And eventually all the students, plus the director wearing one of the extra abayas, modeled their wares (wears…?) infront of the administrative staff of the school. Turns out we are considering adding a fashion design program. One could see the enthusiasm.

So, if anyone had told me a couple years ago that I would be on the faculty of a private women’s college in Saudi Arabia, putting on last minute fashion show, I would have looked at them with two heads.

To keep in the flavor of the moment, I wore one of my favorite thobes…. Life is grand.

S of a

Saudi 21

May 14, 2006

I should send these out more often. Saudilogues generate replies and though I am having a good time here, I sure appreciate the e-mails.

The rumor on the bus this morning was the someone(or two) attacked the American Consulate in Jeddah and that one security guard was killed. My office mate said that the shooting had nothing to do with the American Consulate, it happened near her house and no one was killed. There you go.

Today I had the opportunity to give my students a real world designer experience, presenting their work to a local company which had asked for a design student to create a logo for them. I made this part of a class project. The students were quiet (for once) and did a great job of presenting their work. The clients were impressed and had a hard time sorting through the possibilities.

Part of teaching here that still is just wonderful (though frustrating) is the way the class suddenly shoots into Arabic. The students are critiquing or discussing something related to the topic and I haven’t a clue what they are talking about. Inglisi, I say, Inglisi. Someone translates and away we all go again.

I am learning Arabic, slowly, very slowly. It is a very interesting language.

The semester ends May 31 with finals the week after that. The end is in sight. I am grateful that so far next year we are only scheduled to teach 5 classes. 6 is a beast, just a beast. I am tired, but rather upbeat about it all since faculty 15 and 20 years younger are more tired than I am. Of course, I turn into a pumpkin by 9:30 an am in bed trying to get enough rest to go for the next day.

Yesterday was steamy hot – whew. Checked the temp – 108 F with high humidity. Wow, a scorcher, for sure.

May 18, 2006
My office mate celebrated a birthday, that was fun also, accentuated with chocolate cake. I gave up on my diet. It was a great cake.

Before I said that birthdays weren’t celebrated here, that isn’t true among the younger generation.

We are preparing for the annual Graphic Design students show. Hopefully it will go well. With so many students and limited space, one faculty member suggested students take the responsibility of submitting their own work, which is a change from the old way of faculty selecting the work for the show. Somehow I am the head of the submissions process – so thank you Alyce! The UMD system is now going to be used here.

Congratulations to Dr. Tom Hedin, who is retiring. Condolences to the students who will no longer have the benefit of his knowledge and teaching skill. I’m thrilled to have studied under him as I took one of the last classes that Mr. Chee taught.

I dreamed about being in the States last night. I must be anxious to come home for a while.

Oh-saw a horrendous accident on the way home from school this week. It happened right in front of the cab with the driver saying oh oh oh oh oh, as dust flew all over the road as two cars flew off sideways onto the side of the road. I hope no one was hurt.

I did hear last night that Al Jazeera is going to start an English speaking station. Then I can get the news from all directions! CNN world is different than CNNUS, BBC is yet another twist – then Orbit and MSNBC and our version of FOX – SKY NEWS…. SKY NEWS has dramatic background music for the potion of the broadcast that is dedicated to just printing the news on screen. It sounds like a major war is about to begin … geez.

My basic design students are working on designing patterns for their own abayas as a final project. I think this should be quite interesting. We need to experiment with different paints on a black background. The materials are quite different and the final product should be washable.

Life moves slowly forward.
One day at a time. It is easier to live here that way, sometimes. Just spent a half hour sitting by one of the swimmijng pools, just watching the water, the neat birds and the gorgeous flowers.

Salam (peace in Arabic)
Sandy

Saudi 20

Saudilogue 20

Day 4 of my 5 day weekend. We are on spring break. Having reread all the Saudilogues, I thought I might bring you up to speed on positive changes here. Remember I said there was no recycling? Well, the LIFE club at school started a paper recycling program at the beginning of the semester. Two weeks later they had bins out for plastic by all the water coolers. I started putting my spent water bottles in them also. The funds received are going into the student scholarship fund. Because recyclers only pay 10 SR per ton, the money is minimal, which is why the administration of the school wasn’t interested in this project. But the club is doing it – so that is great and it is being supported by students and faculty.

Internet troubles have gotten worse. This time it is the major provider, not just the local provider. It is now Friday and internet has basically been down for three days. Seems better this afternoon. At least they say it is the problem of their supplier…. My computer is fine.

Tomorrow marks the second half of this semester. I gave a written midterm to one of my classes and half the class flunked it cold. Great. They have a project due tomorrow. Hope they do it on time and with good craftsmanship. I know. Don’t we all. After bombing the midterm, my attitude is sagging. The other classes are doing very well. I am just surprised by this one.

I’ve been here nearly 8 months now and can report that we have had a nearly 100% turn over in cats. Their numbers have increased because enough females remained to produce even more litters, but at least the current crop of cats is quite feral and therefore don’t walk right under you feet.

I see President Hu of China is in the US and is coming here next. The general rap on TV here about all this is that Americans need to recognize that China is waking up, has a 10 to 1 ratio of engineering graduates to the US and in the US 50% of engineering grads are foreign students. As more Chinese people drive cars and motorcycles and build companies which require energy, that 70 years of oil here may only be 35… (that’s my thought… nothing scientific. Just logical. I’ sure he’s here to make sure China and Saudi Arabia are on good terms. KSA provides 485 million barrels a day to China. I think that was the figure. Man, that’s a lot of oil.

March 10, 2006
Probably a month since I started this. I finally saw a construction worker wearing a hardhat. As I mentioned none of them do and some even wear sandals when they work. No steel toed shoes here, maybe tennis or leather shoes… Anyway,, this guy was sitting in a lawn chair watching some other fellows working. He had on the hard hat. My Mom called them sidewalk supervisors.

I created my first oil painting in years for a fellow who teaches at a local elementary school. He wrote a musical about the origin of weathervanes. The main character is “Half chick.� The play is set in Spain, so he decided to have two painters working on stage, painting away. One is supposed to be Dali, the other Picasso. So, I painted the Picasso (sort of) half chick. This was so much fun and so good for my soul, that I bought an easel and more canvasses.

I am scheduled to teach a Digital Imaging class this summer, then back to the states for a 35 day vacation. By the time I get back, the new wing should be finished and I will have my own office. I’ll miss my roommate, but the extra space will be wonderful. Currently we are teaching 12 classes between us and you can’t see the floor or walls because of the influx of projects.

No matter how fast I grade work and return it to students, the incoming is faster than the outgoing.

I’ve been taking Arabic classes from a teacher at the compound and can now read most of the Arabic alphabet. I try to read signs on the way to work, though I admit I can’t read very fast, but if I can identify the first 4 letters in a word on a sign, I feel rather proud of myself. I don’t know what the sign says, but Arabic is phonetic.

A new Panda store has opened near the compound. A HyperPanda, the biggest Panda,, the biggest store in the MiddleEast… I will go there Thursday morning. Some of the other ladies from the compound say it is toooo big. I’ll wear tennies.

This week I was invited to a restaurant premier. A new very high end Italian restaurant is opening and the manager asked a friend of mine to invite three others to attend and eat a 7 course meal. Lucky me. Wow. We ate in a leisurely fashion from 7:45pm to 10:15 pm. I didn’t eat again for nearly two days. We did get some pictures. Hopefully I can get some copies. David and Maggie are my Scrabble buddies. I have no idea howmuch the meal would have cost us. Bet it would have been over 2000SR. ($500 US) for the four of us. Maybe more. The desert was fabulous. So, I decided when it officially opens, I’ll have the bread and sauces (free), two crab cakes on avacados with other additions and then the to die for chocolate… ooooooo

Scrabble is getting very interesting as David collects Scrabble dictionaries – the ones with two and three letter words acceptable in international competition. Friday mornings are still pancakes and Scrabble at Maggie’s house.

Oh-the play I told you about…. Said teacher asked me to play in the band accompanying the kids. Since I got to Saudi I have been playing my guitar more and played it in public twice (blush). David did get a banjo, but it doesn’t tune well. Don’t know if I’ll bring mine back from the states next trip.

Seems like I remember what I want to tell you when I’m no where near a computer. Then I draw a blank – oh

On the Mom bragging front, my daughter is graduating from St. Scholastic with a degree in social work and has at least one job offer to date. My son has also landed fulltime employment and took third place in a strongman competition held recently in Chicago. MY SON, son of slug, pulled a 25,000 semi truck 72 feet in 37 seconds. I am impressed.

May 13
Two days ago I went to the new HyperPanda, a store the size of two football fields – they sure had lots of stuff. Bought some double-sided tape and found jeans that actually fit.

My daughter graduates Sunday and landed the job of her dreams working for the court system in Mankato. What a thrilling time in her life.

Proud Mom signs off.

Saudi 19

Saudilogue 19

Semester is well underway. The classes are large, but enthusiastic.

Biggest bummer lately is the internet service. Expats keep in touch with the world
through the Internet and it has been down most of this week. It cut out when I was talking
to my daughter on Skype (a very cheap way of making overseas calls). Growl.

But, as long as it’s down, I moved my computer downstairs and have gotten loads of
work done sitting on the couch with my laptop on my LAP, Easier to use that way than a
small desk and I have lots of space to spread out my material.

It is very windy. I wonder if a sandstorm is blowing in. The breeze is cool, a nice touch
on an otherwise warm day.

Have gotten some interesting responses to my Saudilogues lately. One of them addresses
the issue to Saudi Arabia and oil. I believe the country is trying to expand its economy
because the King did say there was about 70 years worth of oil left. I remember that the
figure used to be 300 years left when I was in high school or early college. World wide
consumption has obviously gone up a lot.

Since the Al Quaeda attack on an oil installation in eastern Saudi Arabia, the police have
tightened up security. There was some other kind of shoot out with terrorists a day or
two later, with them all being killed.

Very stressful week at work. Wednesday I finally threw caution to the wind and ate the
last piece of chocolate cake in the cafeteria. The ladies there are wonderful cooks. They
not only make their own pasta, but they bake all desserts and finger foods. Yum. The joke
is that after you get here and eat the wonderful food, you fill out your abaya.

March 24

Other responses to the Saudilogues have required me to reread and edit them. Sorry to
those I offended. Live and learn.

Meanwhile, the wildlife has taken a dramatic turn. It is now late spring, early summer.
The large tree by my villa is full of ripe berries. I don’t know what kind of berries, I still
don’t know what type of tree, but the berries are a major hit among all kinds of birds and
fruit bats. Yes, folks. FRUIT BATS – which a wing span of probably 12 – 15 inches but
it looks wider when you see them for the first time. They are beautiful to watch (from a
distrance.) One can feel the air pressure change is they fly by, but you cannot hear their
actual flight. Among the many birds in the tree, I spotted what looked like a wild canary.
Never seen one before, but it was little and yellow. How scientific is that?

Geckos are back. Guess they sleep a lot during the winter (mid 70s low 80s). I did see
one of the big ones outside the day after I spotted the FRUIT BATS. It was very large.
The little guys I’ve seen in the house are 3-4 inches long. This thing was gray, had a head
that was over an inch long. The whole thing was probably 8=9 inches long. I realized that
the loud clicking I’ve heard since arriving here is probably from it – outside. The little
guys inside aren’t old enough to mate (maybe?) But I there has be a consistent clicking
from the front door area since I got here.

I have started learning Arabic, both written and spoken. Read my first sign a couple days
ago – not a big move, mind you. But I read the Arabic for "baba" which means father or
papa – and guess what! The sign was for Papa Johns Pizza. Hey, it’s a start.

We are five weeks into classes; I am feeling the mental exhaustion from teaching six
classes with five preps.

Gotta trot.

Sandy

April 3

Still have internet problems. Am getting quite frustrated by this. I think I need a new
cable or something.

We are involved with a college fair today and tomorrow. The College looks quite festive.
One faculty member designed a very spiffy polo shirt graphic, then converted it to a gray
scale which looks good on the pens, mugs and notepads. Most of the student groups
coming through today spoke Arabic, so I handed out goodies. Luckily some students
came by and helped with explaining the program and walking visitors through the booth.
This was a very good experience for them.

April 13
The internet has been a horrible problem. They finally ran in a new cable. It has been
working much better ever since. It is horrible to not be able to contact people. I felt the
distance much more acutely.

I am being offered a new contract for next year and am taking it. I do like it here,
particularly when the internet is working. My students are wonderful.

We will be moving into a new wing of the building. The entire third floor will be graphic
design. The acting director has been asking for budget requests and furniture suggestions
for the new studios and offices. Unfortunately, no one thought about water when the wing
was built and here all walls are cement, so when I indicated a few months ago that sinks
were of primary importance in an art studio classroom, I was told no sinks. NO SINKS.
EGAD.

Somehow they have managed to get a sink into one studio. We sure do need the space. At
last report we have nearly 200 GD students. Wow.

The College fair was successful for the whole school. Our booth suddenly doubled in size
within the first 15 minutes of the show and it looked kinda disorganized for a while. I
said that could be a good thing since we already have more students than faculty can
comfortably teach. Usually a large class is 17 and they are rare. This semester I have 22
students in one class and the smallest is 12. Last semester, the largest was 17 and I had
two classes that were 5 and 6 respectively.

So, I have spent many hours revising my Saudilogues to protect the names of those who
do not want to be named. That’s only fair. David and Maggie (my scrabble buddies)
don’t care if they are listed. Maggie is currently on break in Ireland, so David and I have
been playing some one on one games. He has a dictionary of 2 and 3 letter words so these
games are getting rather technical. A colleague calls them cut-throat but they are not. In
fact, (sometimes without a comfortable lead) we help each other.

It rained twice this week. I teach a late class on Saturdays and Mondays, so I take a cab
home. The street were wet and in the distance it looked brown. I asked Mr. Khan (the cab
driver I always call) if it was a sandstorm or rain because it was brown. He said it could
be either one, which surprised me. I thought, also, that after the rain it would be less
dusty – washing off things, but it doesn’t rain long enough to do that and mostly it stirs
things up so there is sand in the rain (if that makes any sense).

So, gotta go. I am sorry it has been so long since I last wrote, but this internet thing has
been just awful and in the few minutes I was on line I barely had enough time to read
incoming messages.

Hope to be back in the US the week of July 26. Please keep Bush from attacking Iran…
Please.

S of a

Saudilogue 18

February 22, 2006

When I first sent these Saudilogues I thought I was sending them only to friends and
colleagues. The VDIL started posting them on their website and again, I figured that the
only people who would read them were curious folks at UMD. Guess what. If you do a
google search for ice-skating in Jeddah, my comments about ice-skating in Jeddah appear
very near the top of the responses.

I have heard from a new administration member at Effat College, the other private
womenÕs college in Jeddah. The VDIL staff let me know I had a response to one of the
Saudilogues. Recently, the new manager of the New New Sawari mall I spoke of earlier
contacted me. He isnÕt even here yet ? will arrive next week. The audience for these
ramblings is much wider than I thoughtÉ blush. I should at least put these things through
spell-check. (I know, I should have done that anyway.)

The first week of classes is over, thankfully. It is a non-week. Most students cut the first
week, which leaves the professor with a pile of syllabi staring at mostly empty seats. I
feel for the student (note singular form) who actually shows up and is face to face with
me for an awkward ten minutesÉ both of us hoping someone else will show up. Oh well.

Heavy load this semester. Six classes. Art of the Poster, 2 sections of Symbols and
Trademarks, Drawing, Editorial and Book Design, And Basic Design. Whew. Still donÕt
teach on Wednesdays, so that is a good time to grade and prepare for classes. Everyone
has a heavy load because one teacher, as I said earlier, left.

There are rumors that bird flu is in Saudi Arabia, but nothing official yet. Just in case lots
of people here have quit eating chicken.

A group of us were eating at a mall this week. A mosquito flew into the hamburger that
one of the women, who is a devout Muslim, was eating. She put down the burger and said
"hallas" meaning finished. We asked why ? the mosquito had contaminated the food. The
mosquito had already flown off, but the damage was done. We asked if she could break
off the part around the area where the mosquito landed and she said no. Most of the
dietary requirements in Islam come from the Quran. Like the Bible, these codes protect
people from diseases experienced thousands of years ago and even today of food is not
prepared correctly. The 5 second rule (if you grab it off the floor in less than 5 seconds,
the food is not contaminated) is not applicable in Islam.

Feb 24
ItÕs getting hot. One of the compound folks said summer has startedÉ a bit early.
Winter,, in my mind lasted 4 or 5 days ? when the temps were in the mid to upper 70s.
Sigh. It felt hot, but I must be adjusting. I figured mid 80s and it is 93.

Classes start for real this week. I am looking forward to it.
And I fear a civil war in Iraq and that it could lead to inter-Islamic wars anywhere that
Suni and Shiite Muslims live. If a person thinks the street riots were bad regarding the
cartoons, that is nothing compared to destroying that mosque in Samara. It will be
interesting to see the reactions on campus tomorrow.

For anyone quick to point a condescending finger at the Moslems, please consider
Northern Ireland before making any negative judgments. There is enough blame to go
around here. One thought is that Alkawi his Al Queda network did this. Seems that if that
were true, more Moslems would turn against the Al Queda movement. Never know.

Food: Ate at a wonderful Turkish restaurant last night. We ordered lots of food, thought
the bill was wrong because it was too low (87SR or $23?) and took a doggie bad (here it
is call takeaway) for our cab driver Mr. Khan to munch on during the night. If I havenÕt
mentioned it, a very common tasty drink here is green tea with mint. Fresh mint. So, pour
hot water on said Green Tea bag and add 3-5 mint leaves. Yummy.

March something.
February 28 was my birthday. A student in my first class that day gave me a CD mix of
her favorite songs. Between that class and the next a larger group of students burst into
song (happy birthday to you), gave me two brownies and a small chocolate cheesecake.
We divided it all, had a great quick snack and went into the next class. Still had some
brownie left, so I gave it to some other students.

We had an emergency faculty meeting later that day. Cake appeared for that, also. Went
to a mall that night ? had dinner with friends and topped off the evening with scrabble
with Maggie and David. A very nice birthday. Received greetings from friends in the
states, an ecard from Jen and another from Angelo and Gretchen. Nice day.

Classes have switched quite a bit since the beginning of the semester. The enrollment in
graphic design is ballooning. I remember those days at UMD. Though it is great seeing
the program grow, I hope recruitment efforts at CAA were successful.

Had a baby shower for one of the ladies whose baby is due March 8. Any day now, as
they say.

Went to a party given by two Indian faculty members. It was awesome. This morning I
remembered one of the major differences between Western and Middle Eastern/Asian
partiesÉ Here there is talking and snacks and dancing which can go on for hours. Once
the meal is announced, everyone eats and then goes home rather quickly.

In the West we tend to visit, eat quickly, then talk, dance and play games with desert
later. Not here.

Parties like the one last night, were women only. And the dancing was just great. I am
trying to learn how to dance in an Arabian fashion. So far I look like a stuck tippy doll.
Try moving your hips without moving anything else. Course, if I ever figured this out, I
could probably lose a lot of weight.

Started Arabic classes tonight. One of the women from school is teaching us. She is a
special education teacher and that is very important with three older ladies trying to learn
such a complicated language. I figured we would just learn conversational Arabic. Nope.
Started with the alphabet. If nothing else all the signs on the say to work will make more
sense even if I donÕt know what they say, I can identify how to read them. (In timeÉ.)

She is very patient. I still have a great blank look when I have no clue what is going on.
Many of the letters sound the same to me, but IÕm sure the fog will lift here pretty soon.

Back to work tomorrow, but wanted to say a quick hi.

Hi.

S of a

Saudilogue 18

February 22, 2006

When I first sent these Saudilogues I thought I was sending them only to friends and
colleagues. The VDIL started posting them on their website and again, I figured that the
only people who would read them were curious folks at UMD. Guess what. If you do a
google search for ice-skating in Jeddah, my comments about ice-skating in Jeddah appear
very near the top of the responses.

I have heard from a new administration member at Effat College, the other private
womenÕs college in Jeddah. The VDIL staff let me know I had a response to one of the
Saudilogues. Recently, the new manager of the New New Sawari mall I spoke of earlier
contacted me. He isnÕt even here yet ? will arrive next week. The audience for these
ramblings is much wider than I thoughtÉ blush. I should at least put these things through
spell-check. (I know, I should have done that anyway.)

The first week of classes is over, thankfully. It is a non-week. Most students cut the first
week, which leaves the professor with a pile of syllabi staring at mostly empty seats. I
feel for the student (note singular form) who actually shows up and is face to face with
me for an awkward ten minutesÉ both of us hoping someone else will show up. Oh well.

Heavy load this semester. Six classes. Art of the Poster, 2 sections of Symbols and
Trademarks, Drawing, Editorial and Book Design, And Basic Design. Whew. Still donÕt
teach on Wednesdays, so that is a good time to grade and prepare for classes. Everyone
has a heavy load because one teacher, as I said earlier, left.

There are rumors that bird flu is in Saudi Arabia, but nothing official yet. Just in case lots
of people here have quit eating chicken.

A group of us were eating at a mall this week. A mosquito flew into the hamburger that
one of the women, who is a devout Muslim, was eating. She put down the burger and said
"hallas" meaning finished. We asked why ? the mosquito had contaminated the food. The
mosquito had already flown off, but the damage was done. We asked if she could break
off the part around the area where the mosquito landed and she said no. Most of the
dietary requirements in Islam come from the Quran. Like the Bible, these codes protect
people from diseases experienced thousands of years ago and even today of food is not
prepared correctly. The 5 second rule (if you grab it off the floor in less than 5 seconds,
the food is not contaminated) is not applicable in Islam.

Feb 24
ItÕs getting hot. One of the compound folks said summer has startedÉ a bit early.
Winter,, in my mind lasted 4 or 5 days ? when the temps were in the mid to upper 70s.
Sigh. It felt hot, but I must be adjusting. I figured mid 80s and it is 93.

Classes start for real this week. I am looking forward to it.
And I fear a civil war in Iraq and that it could lead to inter-Islamic wars anywhere that
Suni and Shiite Muslims live. If a person thinks the street riots were bad regarding the
cartoons, that is nothing compared to destroying that mosque in Samara. It will be
interesting to see the reactions on campus tomorrow.

For anyone quick to point a condescending finger at the Moslems, please consider
Northern Ireland before making any negative judgments. There is enough blame to go
around here. One thought is that Alkawi his Al Queda network did this. Seems that if that
were true, more Moslems would turn against the Al Queda movement. Never know.

Food: Ate at a wonderful Turkish restaurant last night. We ordered lots of food, thought
the bill was wrong because it was too low (87SR or $23?) and took a doggie bad (here it
is call takeaway) for our cab driver Mr. Khan to munch on during the night. If I havenÕt
mentioned it, a very common tasty drink here is green tea with mint. Fresh mint. So, pour
hot water on said Green Tea bag and add 3-5 mint leaves. Yummy.

March something.
February 28 was my birthday. A student in my first class that day gave me a CD mix of
her favorite songs. Between that class and the next a larger group of students burst into
song (happy birthday to you), gave me two brownies and a small chocolate cheesecake.
We divided it all, had a great quick snack and went into the next class. Still had some
brownie left, so I gave it to some other students.

We had an emergency faculty meeting later that day. Cake appeared for that, also. Went
to a mall that night ? had dinner with friends and topped off the evening with scrabble
with Maggie and David. A very nice birthday. Received greetings from friends in the
states, an ecard from Jen and another from Angelo and Gretchen. Nice day.

Classes have switched quite a bit since the beginning of the semester. The enrollment in
graphic design is ballooning. I remember those days at UMD. Though it is great seeing
the program grow, I hope recruitment efforts at CAA were successful.

Had a baby shower for one of the ladies whose baby is due March 8. Any day now, as
they say.

Went to a party given by two Indian faculty members. It was awesome. This morning I
remembered one of the major differences between Western and Middle Eastern/Asian
partiesÉ Here there is talking and snacks and dancing which can go on for hours. Once
the meal is announced, everyone eats and then goes home rather quickly.

In the West we tend to visit, eat quickly, then talk, dance and play games with desert
later. Not here.

Parties like the one last night, were women only. And the dancing was just great. I am
trying to learn how to dance in an Arabian fashion. So far I look like a stuck tippy doll.
Try moving your hips without moving anything else. Course, if I ever figured this out, I
could probably lose a lot of weight.

Started Arabic classes tonight. One of the women from school is teaching us. She is a
special education teacher and that is very important with three older ladies trying to learn
such a complicated language. I figured we would just learn conversational Arabic. Nope.
Started with the alphabet. If nothing else all the signs on the say to work will make more
sense even if I donÕt know what they say, I can identify how to read them. (In timeÉ.)

She is very patient. I still have a great blank look when I have no clue what is going on.
Many of the letters sound the same to me, but IÕm sure the fog will lift here pretty soon.

Back to work tomorrow, but wanted to say a quick hi.

Hi.

S of a

Saudi 15

Saudi 15
Nov 27

It has definitely gotten a bit cooler. All the trees are flowering and the cactus, too. (Photos will follow.) Here it gets too hot to bloom.

The mosquitos are very small. You can’t feel them bite, but the bites do itch. They leave me alone, perhaps because anatomically I have very thick skin. I have been told by surgeons over the years, that my hide is hard to hack into, perhaps that’s why the mosquitos leave me pretty much alone. Obviously, my skin emotionally is quite thin, though it has slowly thickened a very little bit.

It’s midterms at school. It is scheduled for midterms. I wrote midterms and am prepared to given written midterms. All the UMD faculty on this distribution list are saying “duh�. The students told me they have never taken a written midterm in an art class, except maybe art history, ever. So, I asked my department head today about it. She confirmed it. But, I am sure they will do well. I have given them a sample test. Spent two days reviewing all the information I discussed which might be one the test and will give the first of their kinds written tests at Dar Al-Hekma in art/design.

I learned more today about the issue of women driving. In order to allow women to drive, the police force must expand to include policewomen. A male cop could not give a female driver a ticket. He could pull her over, but they would have to wait for the female cop to arrive to issue the citation.

We also talked about conducting usability tests in the malls around here and some of the problems which might occur. I was overly sensitive to some and completely ignorant of others. Big surprise. If just young women were conducting this they would be swarmed by young men. I think I told you about Kiki’s field trip to the Corniche for sculpture viewing. If I didn’t let me know. So, I could see this could cause a very big problem.

The students in my typography class want me to meet them at a mall in Jeddah so we can eat – they can introduce me to more local foods.

Dec. 20, nearly a month later. Much has happened.

First, I have been quite sick. Just after Thanksgiving I thought I had a lower intestinal bug. Kinda like getting ready for a colonscopy – only it didn’t stop. So, after two days of this one of the other faculty members in the compound said she would take me to the ER. I have now experienced an emergency room in Saudi Arabia. As you all gasp, this was a wonderful experience – seriously. I was immediately attended to – they started an IV because I was dehydrated. That went in rather fast, so they gave me another one. Here, the doctors insert the IV lines. The nurses clean up the mess. Margaret said blood spurted all over the place. I was pretty limp and didn’t care. Anyway, I received an IV antibiotic and mild pain killer for the headache. Tests came back (stool sample folks) – bacterial dysentery. Ooooo. This puppy wasn’t going away.

Doctor sent me home with a pile of drugs, a diet: rice, potatoes, toast, apples, tea and water. He strongly suggested some prayer. He specified Egyptian rice – not just because he is Egyptian, he said, but because it is very high in starch. So, I missed three days of work – unheard of for me… and probably should have stayed home another day. Though it has been a couple weeks, I still am weak. I finally added peanuts and meat and some milk to my diet for the protein. One interesting note is that NO TIME during my stay did anyone ask if I was allergic to any medications. Not once. And when they started giving me the IV I was quite interested in what they were giving me, since I am allergic to so many meds.

There is some humor to this. Remember this is Saudi Arabia, so when I left my ER bed to go to the can, I had to drape my abaya over my shoulders because of the IV holder. And, Jeddah, city of 3 million people --- would you believe that a student was at the ER to visit her Dad, saw Margaret who said I was in the ER. Before I left the ER many students already knew I was very sick. You can’t get away with a thing, I tell you.

My return to school was amazing. Hordes of students greeted me with hugs and concern. They are either the best brown-nosers in the world, or one bunch of caring souls. I vote for the latter.

During my typography class one of the students reported that she had to go the ER the night before because the computer file for the project she was making for me, died without a back up. She was so upset, she couldn’t stop crying and breathing too hard. They gave her an IV, too, so we compared IV marks. They give Ivs here for nearly everything – lots of saline….

And the students are very emotional and quite expressive. It is quite a trip.

We have organized a Christmas potluck dinner at Kates for Christmas night with a gift exchange. Should be nice, but we’re really gunna be tired the next day. The school kindly gave us Christmas day off, but it is nearing the end of the semester and I am still trying to catch up from being sick, so I’m working anyway.

We are having a faculty art exhibition. This is a ridiculous thing, folks. It only last ONE DAY – with invitations that are just ready now and posters that were just printed. You must remember the mail doesn’t work here very well, so drivers take invitations to people…. The show is Christmas eve. I wonder what our director was thinking. Because of events scheduled at the college,, we have to go in on Friday (the weekend) to hang the show which will be up Saturday with the opening and closing that NIGHT from 7-10 pm. Bus back to the compound, work the next day and then do Christmas. Yawn. Am tired thinking about it. (Having worked all day Saturday, mind you…)

Probably lots has otherwise happened. I am just not on top of it.

Looks like my trip to Egypt will really happen. Thank you BJ for being so flexible. Because I am still on a visitors visa, I have to get a new one in Cairo. This presented huge logistical problems, which have been resolved. Like I said.. thanks BJ

So, Keep the faith

Watch out for contaminated water and bear this in mind: if you are constantly going to the bathroom and your bones = get that BONES ache – it could be dysentery.k

Still alive and nearly kicking,
S of a

Saudi 14

November 22, 2005 (this is rather a long one)

School has been in session for nearly two weeks. I have much to report. Though I should
take notes on this rather than trying to remember it.

Oh- construction workers here do not wear hard hats. They wear their muslim head gear.
Sometimes they don’t wear shoes or just wear the sandals that everyone wears.

The quiet still amazes me. There are no trains, sirens, no dogs barking – just large jets
coming into the international airport and some fighting cats.

Cats. There are so many cats now that even the cat lovers are asking the staff to catch
some of them for the fish market. Mr. Dong, one of the managers, assured me they really
do go to the fish market – it is why they live trap them.

I have a new friend from the Jedda Prep compound which adjoins ours. A bunch of us
were playing Boggle – I had to run home for the timer, which I had forgotten. Between
his place and mine there were 6 cats in his compound – 1 only in mine. Dashing back
moments later, there were no apparent cats in Conty Village and 11 in Jedda Prep. We’re
talking less that two city blocks. Tonight Heidi and Kiki asked if I wanted to go to the vet
with them; Heidi’s cat needed another shot. They had her cat in a carrier and another 6 or
7 hissing fighting cats around their feet. No, says I. They left with their herd of cats.

Some of them are feral, all of them are hungry for both food and attention. Drives me
nuts. They are not very well taken care of. The idea is for them to eat mice and rats, but
they would rather be fed by locals and raid the garbage. I think I said that before. And
cats are all over town.

It is very good to be back at work. Classes are wonderful and students continue to be a
delight. One young lady told me just before Ramadan that she knew she was doing
horribly in my class and that she had already failed intro to graphic design once already.
She looked at me with deep sad eyes and said. "I’m a loser." Followed by a soft smile.
No you are not, says I. "I hate design, I’m not creative…." A couple of days later she
wandered into one of the Basic Design classes I teach. She knows some of the students
and for some reason I end up with a few floaters from time to time. Well, she really got
into the project we were doing. Made some great suggestions and was all over the
concept.

Next time she was in Intro, I told her she was creative, she could do it, I had seen this in
the Basic Design class. Well,…. She said. So, I saw her just before Ramadan Break. I
wrote LOSER on a piece of paper and told her to burn it over break. Okay, she smiled.

Attitude is everything, as they say. So, she said she didn’t burn it, but she threw it away
and proudly announced she wasn’t a loser anymore and is creating some beautiful work.
She is such a sweetie.

Some of these girls have never been allowed to do anything in their lives. They have a
nanny from birth who follows them everywhere and does everything for them. Hence,
they don’t have self confidence because often the opportunity to play and explore had
been denied AND the K-12 educational system is based on rote learning AND their
families expect perfection on rote learning, so the approach each project with fear of
failure, there are no parameters.

Betsy asked about family dynamics and how young people live as they become adults.
First, single women cannot live alone or in a group in an apartment in Jeddah. My
students have said they wished they could have the opportunity we do in the compounds
of having there own places.

There is no dating – the word means nothing, but many of the students have boyfriends –
they text message each other on mobile phones they have that their parents do not know
they have.

Marriages are often arranged. The actual ceremony takes place in the courthouse where a
muslim cleric has everyone sign the papers. At that point the couple is married, but do not
live together until the feast/reception – which often follows on the same day. I have not
seen one yet, but I hear they are fabulous.

Getting married is a serious obligation. The male must support his wife and any children
– even if they get divorced. The woman may keep all over her salary and use it for
whatever she wants. The man must pay for everything. If he is wealthy enough to have
more than one wife (muslim males may have four wives. Many kings have had more than
that), he must also provide another house for the second wife to live in. The wives talk to
each other, so if he buys one a necklace, he better buy the other one a necklace, also.

One situation I have recently seen is very distressing to me. If a couple is engaged and
one of them becomes seriously ill, it is that person’s responsibility to IMMEDIATELY
end the engagement to free the other person so they can marry someone else. To stay
engaged is a dying person brings shame to the family. There is no room for compassion
for a soon to be mate. The person I know in this situation has lived in the west and is
caught between two cultures. It is awful.

My radical nature would be to stick with the person to the bitter end (if the feelings were
still strong..) but to be caught between the pull of the heart and not wanting to dishonor
parents is very difficult – it is cultural.

Color: I asked my students what feelings red brought to mind…. Love and caring. In the
west it is anger…

Had a class creating to music when one student said – Miss, miss, turn it off… I raced
over thinking someone was dying outside. No, Miss, they said. When the call to prayer
goes out no other music can play. Oh, says I. I learn something everyday.

Last night I went to a dinner theater at another compound. The play itself was "The
Importance of Being Earnest." The play itself was very good, the food was wonderful.
The people were disconcerting. I think I was about the only American in the place. I have
been told that after 9/11 and particularly after the bombing in the American Embassy in
Jeddah last year, most Americans left town. Since I work and live with six Americans, I
don’t really think about it much. Most of the people last night were from Britain,
Australia and South Africa. Without exception they were all white. That in itself was
weird to see. Usually, I am the only or one of the few "white" people in the room and it
doesn’t cross my mind as a race thing. One of the Brits at the table last night said he had
just moved into that compound because it was mostly "white faces" like were were
supposed to think that was just great. I went with my friend David, who is a Scot and not
to thrilled with British attitudes. He lives in Hungary.

Anyway, I said listening to them talk about big boobed black African nurses and brown
this and blah, blah, blah. Didn’t like it. They asked where I lived – a very international
compound – people from all over the world – all sizes, shapes and colors. And I love it.
They didn’t talk to me much for the rest of the evening. I didn’t care.

And, they talked against the Saudis. I like Saudis. I think as a group they are a wonderful
people. Arabs are just great. If more people had a chance to meet arabs on a regular basis,
I think a lot of attitudes would change – just as the cold war was really ended by Russians
and Americans meeting each other in person and finding out that we were all just people
with families and fears and a sense of humor. So, all the condescending attitudes just
blew my mind and ticked me off.

Those of you who know me very well know that the arrogance of white people drives me
nuts and since I am also white, is embarrassing. Some people want a sex change – I could
go for a body die on occasion.

Lastly, I went downstairs yesterday at school and there was a tall Saudi man standing at
the bottom of the stairs. I knew there were men in the building – I had on my abaya and
tarha but was not expecting a man to be in that part of the school. It actually startled me. I
hope you understand that there are NO MEN in the school. NONE. The maintenance
crew is female. So after less that three months, I am so accustomed to just women in the
workplace, that a male seemed very out of place and I felt like my space had been
invaded. We can all dress the way we want until some guy shows up – and the students
and other staff feel the same way.

Even more lastly – I started reading the Quran over break. I am not looking to convert to
anything, but I understand the culture better. Did you know that the entire Quran can be
chanted? That millions of muslims have memorized the entire thing – all 800 pages?
Wow, I’m impressed since I have a mind of mush.

Well, Thanksgiving approaches. We are having a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday – our
Saturday. The school is suddenly having a whole day of strategic planning. I’m making
the stuffing. It is a mandatory meeting. Supposedly.

But, the plan is for 45 people around the pool from all over the world. Dr. Houda (who
loaned me the Quran) isn’t sure if she can make it because she has a disk problem in her
neck. I told her were would bring her a plate. Really? She was surprised.

So, she got this amazed look on her face and said – oh, so Thanksgiving is not just
thanking God it is sharing. Sharing. Huge smile. That’s wonderful, she said.

So – have a great turkey day. I even found jellied cranberry sauce in the foreign food
section of the super market – that’s where some American foods are easily found –

Oh – yeah – at the store this week Kate and I spied Cracker Barrel cheese. Together we
said "IT’S CRACKER BARREL CHEESE1111" and gave each other a big hug. People
around us thought it was kind of silly, but hey, what can I say. It truly is the little things
in life that are so charming.

S of A

Day after Thanksgiving.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast last night by the pool. Attendees came from the
US, Australia, Britian, South Africa, Scotland by way of Hungary, Canada, Brazil, Egypt,
Lebanon, Denmark, Bangledesh, Pakistan and India. Two turkeys gave it their all. The
US women brought lots of the traditional Thanksgiving side dishes. I chopped up 5
loaves of bread for stuffing to actually stuff the turkeys and made 4 dozen filling balls.
Those who have eaten Thanksgiving dinner at my house are familiar with them – an old
Pennsylvania Dutch recipe.

Proudly, the only plate licked nearly clean with the few remaining going to new filling
ball fans, were the 6 I placed in the fridge for later.

Party lights glistened by the large swimming pool. It was probably 82 degrees and the
usuall group of cats tried their darnest to get at the food.

I took a place to Dr. Huda who was too tired from a meeting to attend. She was so
surprised. I said, geez, Dr. Huda, I told you I would do this…. It’s what Thanksgiving is
all about…

I missed my kids, as can be expected, but had a wonderful time. I got to tell everyone
who wanted to know about the filling balls and how Mom taught my sister and me how
to make them. My son knows how to, so it is on to the next generation. I told them that
somewhere in Midland Michigan, my sister would be fixing the same thing. Some things
I just take for granted in this world.

Had another gecko in the classroom experience on Tuesday. This one was caught on film
by students who brought a video camera to class to prove they their attempts and their
sculpture met with failure… So, if I am able to get a copy of the video shot in the
classroom and permission to send it to you, I will. With the insistence that you not pass it
on. Between that and a discussion about animal rights which suddenly switched to
Arabic in the Intro class, my jaws ached from laughing. The students were, also.

More on the Intro class later. You are probably hoping I have run out of things to say –

So, happy Thanksgiving,

Love,
Sandy

Saudi 12.5

From Sandy:

Nov. 6 (I guess) 2;25 am

Can't sleep. Just heard from my good friend Jim that another good friend, Dennis, died last Saturday night. What a shock that he is dead. And what an honor to have known him.

I call this 12.5 because I'm being superstitious.

Meanwhile, I started noticing what I don't see or hear here. In Cloquet I felt a comfort from hearing the trains move through town, blowing their horns at road crossings. It occurred to me suddenly this week that I have never heard a train in Jeddah. Then I realized I have never seen tracks or a moving train. I did see one that is parked like the steam engine in Cloquet. I will have to ask if there are trains anywhere.

Today, while sitting at the pool, I saw a sweat bee. Then it hit me. I haven't seen any bees. I did see one hornet a month ago. One. No snakes. I wonder if the lack of anything except ants, a few mosquitos and a few pesky small non-biting flies is a result of all the spraying. There are song birds and morning doves. The morning doves have a different call than the ones in Cloquet --- yea, yea, yea - they speak Arabic. Gr. Did see a monarch butterfly, or something similar by my front door. Didn't know they existed outside North America.

I have started using the gym at the compound lifting some weights and fiddling around with some of the machines. And, have also started taking advantage of the pool tables in the rec center. Once upon a time I was a real pool shark, but after I quit drinking, I no longer went into bars. I never learned how to shoot sober pool that is, see the pool balls through clear eyes. So, for two days now I have been shooting pool alone trying to regain the vision of the angles. The first day was embarrassing even for being alone.

Today was better. There was no chalk, which makes shooting difficult. I asked about it and the managers said they would try to find some. Meanwhile, it occurred to me that my chalk pastels were a chalk. I selected a nice gray and used it today. Don't know if it was the chalk or just the practice, but today went much better.

We have one week of vacation left. I still have classes to work on, but believe I have used this two weeks well. I look forward to a return to school, though and trying to establish a new routine. Until the next break, which is in January another two weeks for the Hajj. Return from that, teach another week, then begin finals on Jan 29. Long semester. Very long.

Captured and released another gecko tonight. The silly little thing wouldn't come out of the plastic cup, so I left the gecko cup and all outside.

Oh tonight I got take out, called take away, from a Chinese Restaurant. It was run by Indians and Pakistanis and truthfully, it was the worst Chinese food I have ever eaten. Bleck.

Just wanted to let you know a bit more about Jeddah. And say a few words about Dennis who was also a retired high school art teacher. Once he came and taught a project in one of my intro to art classes how to make a face with clay, starting with creating the skull, then adding parts. I enjoyed the project so much that I have used it since (with his permission). In fact, I scheduled it into my 3D class here after the Ramadan break. I always think about Dennis when doing this project. Before it was g