Well.....lets see..... I have trained for filling in at the compound mail room for the month of June. That was fun... I will start June 2nd. .....My mom is on the mend back in the states after a prolonged trip down to Iowa and a emergency room visit on her way home to Wisconsin.... I got to go to the dispensary on compound as a patient myself last week.... got some meds and now I am about up to par myself.... little fever and sore throat ick...... hmmmm..... I bought some mystery meat at the grocery store..... it said beef sausage on  the package and I had seen a cat outside carrying one of the little red sausages around obviously protecting it as if it was a delicacy..... so what the heck I bought some and we tried it.... hmmmm .... it was dark red and very tangy tasting..... not what we expected.... Tim wont eat it any more.... maybe it was horse..... lol.... it did look and taste sort of funny.... so much for trying local meats.... tee hee.... Tim is at work now and I am just resting. I have not been subbing as I was down with a cold or something.... Last night we went to the US consulate for  a barbeque a the Marine house.... good food and a nice time to reflect on those who serve..... Tim was invited because he was a marine.... just military present or past and their  families were invited.... they had us stand and face the flag with our hands over our hearts as taps was played..... chill bumps.... it was good. I am glad we got to go. That is all for now. :)

Well I have been here two months now.... I had a call to sub yesterday but had made plans to go to Marjan Beach with some ladies from the compound. We had a very relaxing day at the beach and pretty much had it all to ourselves. That was nice. I went with 4 other ladies and two of the ladies brought their little ones. We each fixed up some grub and shared it on the beach. We had to take two different cars with drivers from the compound. The driver of our car spoke excellent English and shared pictures of his snorkeling and diving exploits... he spear fishes when he goes out and he showed us some of the fish he had gotten.... one picture was of a barracuda.... he told us that he would rather see a shark while out than a barracuda... the barracudas are a lot more dangerous, especially when he is fishing.... the barracudas are attracted to the fish he catches  and thus very aggressive and dangerous..... needless to say while at the beach, I went out snorkeling and of course I am convinced I saw a barracuda while I was out on the other side  of the island by myself in deep water.... freaky.... I told no one else at the time.... when I got back to the beach as I had no proof of what I saw and even to me it  sounded like a fish story......I Googled Barracuda fish when I got home and am now convinced that was what I encountered..... wish I had an underwater camera..... I did not even take my regular camera with me as I had other things I needed to keep track of and thought I had already taken pictures at Marjan Beech.... oh well.
I will be teaching second grade today...it is Wednesday and our Friday. Tim and I went to Kaust again this past week for ball hockey.... it is a nice way to break up the week and lots of fun. :) Well that is all for now.

we went on a tour of old Jeddah on Thursday night.... Tim hob knobed with the mayor of Al-Balad..... we took tons of pictures....

Jeddah Heart Tour group

building under rehab

Jeddah Heart Sponsor and Al-Ballad Mayor

Tim with Mayor

bathroom and water jar shelf

remnants of and old screen

tour party gathered in court yard of old housing units in Al-Ballad

rooftop view

another rooftop view

decorative stone work on old building

rubble of an old building

gathering of tour group in common area of a restored old home

This was a wonderful experience.... Tim took 127 photos..... I took several.... we met some very nice people.... ate some interesting refreshments...... just had a wonderful evening.

hippie day

high school

6th grader's spirit day

I took some pictures of the school I get to substitute teach at.... enjoy!

Just wanted to let you know we snapped a few pictures of Gary for you all.... he was inside on the back patio door blinds last night..... a little blurry.... we had to work fast as he is a quick little guy..... the blinds are 1 inch mini blinds by the way..... enjoy!

Last night Tim and I drove north out of Jeddah to Kaust, the King Abdulah University. We are privileged to play ball hockey with a group of people who live there. They like to meet on Monday nights on one of the unused tennis courts for a lively round of ball hockey.... We are welcome to join them when we have the car and head up. We drove up early enough to wonder around on campus and take a few pictures.... eat pizza..... have frozen yogurt on the bay.... and on the whole just have a very pleasant change of pace.... :)

look for the camels

On our way up to Kaust, we drove up highway 5. Lots of desert....trucks.... and look a few camels......

really there are camels in this picture

more camels... really

We walked around discovery square and along the bay..... taking pictures.... having supper.... just relaxing.... :)

Tim is walking in a pollen field....

see... I am still giving Tim directions... even in Saudi

supper....yum

Discovery Square on the campus

After supper and a little walk around we headed over to the tennis court we play ball hockey on.....

Tim unpacking our hockey gear

the other players are starting to show up

the tennis court we play on

before the game

one of the goalie nets....

Tim in net during warm ups....

We ended up with 14 players and 2 goalies..... (Tim and I).... and no I do not wear an Abayah when I play... :) in fact, at Kaust I was even running around in a t-shirt and capri workout pants..... Well, I hope you all are enjoying the blogs.... keep tuned in......

We went to a new beach today.... snorkeled.... swam.... soaked in the rays.... saw some jellyfish.... we enjoyed the day....

There are several wild kitties all over Jeddah. Tim and I walked through the compound on which we live and took pictures of just a few of the kitties that are still wild or have been adopted by the families living here.....