August 27, 2013

The Learning Game is on!

As with any move you always have learning happening. We are learning new things about our new home every day! I am going to just put some thoughts down about what we have learned so far from moving to Saudi Arabia!

1.       Our new friends that we have only known now for about nine days are the most generous and caring people around. Really! Last night we were at a dinner, a friend came up to introduce this person who had connections about getting a golf cart. The guy told us the price, and our friend was like I’ll spot you until you until you get paid….what, I mean that was so sweet of him to offer. Another example (we don’t have a washer and dryer in our house they are on back order) so we have had at least a dozen people say just come over to do your wash and you can use our Internet too!

2.       I/We don’t like the public restrooms outside of camp! I didn’t know about the squatty potties! Well in most public restrooms you’ll find basically a basin/drain with spray hose to clean yourself. I guess they don’t use much toilet paper! There are regular potties too but most of the time they have water (and god knows what!) on the floor! With no toilet paper! So the lesson learned is I will be carrying toilet paper in my bag when we go out!

3.       It is okay to be up at the crack of dawn! I mean it happens around 5:15! I actually enjoy this! I get up and go for a walk! I walk either along the beach or on the boardwalk that is along the beach! It is peaceful listening to the ocean wave’s crash against the shoreline. I feel safe walking alone. But. I’m not alone because many others are out walking/jogging! It’s a reflection time for me and a time to take in God’s beauty. It’s quiet although I did see a boat and heard it blowing its horn the other day but basically you don’t see any boats.

4.       I learning to adjust from being a working mom to a stay at home mom! The way things are working out as of right now I may not be subbing this year. Trying to find child care that would be reliable and would take Macey for half day and Caley for all day is a bit difficult plus trying to figure out how to get ourselves around camp and on time. As of right now Macey will be in the afternoon which I hope it will change to mornings. If that happens then I could sub in the mornings and have the afternoons off and only need childcare in the morning for Caley. We will see what plays out. Several moms that Michael has talked with wished they didn’t work their first year. I am comfortable either way we choose.

5.       Michael is still in shock about his schedule for school! He showed me his schedule and was like I’m going to get my work done at school. So here is his basic schedule. He goes in at 7 at 8 he teaches his A class. Then he has a 15 minute nutrition break. Then he teaches B class (short time than his A class). Then there is lunch for an hour. After that he goes back teaches another class and then has two planning periods till 4. I think he is going to love this plus he doesn’t have any more than 16/17 students in each class! No high stakes tests to stress over, there is some testing but nothing like what he has done before. This is a dream and we are still pinching ourselves!

6.       Riding the bus to places is not a bad ride at all. The company just replaced all their buses last year after a 15 year contract and bought some really nice Mercedes buses that pretty nice! They have two seats and two seat on each side on the inside and should you go shopping a but a lot of stuff there is a ton of room under the bus to store it!

7.       People here are kind. We went on the shopper’s bus to Al-Kobar last week. Caley fell asleep in my arms. I had my phone under my leg/under my abaya. When I stood up to get off the bus my phone fell, but I didn’t know it. When we got back on the bus I started to think about my phone and was going to play candy crush but realized I didn’t have it. Okay take a deep breathe leaned over and told Michael…We decided we would be the last ones off the bus so that we could check the floor. Then as we were stopped at security I hollered back to our friend Andres and told him. As soon as I did someone a couple of rows back said I found this phone and was going to turn it in when we got back, is this yours?? YES, YES!!! I was relieved! Thankful for the kindness of this person giving it back. Heck I wonder if that happened at home (TX) if someone would have given it back…

8.       The pool here is COLD!!! If you know me I don’t like the pool cold. Here the pools are on chillers so they don’t get bath water hot. But wow!!!! The girls get in and say, “COLDDDDD!” It is cold. So I stay in the kid pool where it is warmer!

9.       Michael has had to start his Hepatitis shoots over since his count in his blood wasn’t high enough. So, I’m thinking that will happen to me too! But I can’t get in to do blood work until all the paperwork has been processed and I’m in the system which should happen any day.

10.   Bowling only cost about 2 buck to play. We had fun the other day when we played! The girls had fun too even though all of theirs went into the gutter!

11.   Budget meals in the local dining hall are cheap and you get a ton of food. We got two meals and had left overs for the next day. It’s sad to say that it is cheaper to eat camp than to cook at home!

 

I guess that is all for now. I’m sure there is a lot more to write about but this is all I can think of for now. We are all doing well. We still do not have Internet but will soon! Macey seems to be adjusting and has had some emotional rollercoaster days but finds things that she likes to do and feels better. We now have satellite TV and this has helped now that we have access to the Disney channel!

 

Until next time be blessed!

The Myers