Our Adventure to Dhahran Mall!

Today we took the Eurovillage bus to the largest mall in Al Khobar. Free ride...sorry Aziz!

First stop is Billy Beez! Kids have been begging us to take them there! here is why...

We wanted to beat the busy rush...clearly we did! We were the first people there! Kids loved it!

And yes...we look like Westerns! People are very nice here! They love Miles blonde hair!

Next stop...Crepe cafe...amazing! Soooo good!

As you can see...the only colors you see people wearing are black and white. Minus the westerns of course!

Panaramic view

Here is one of first Saudi purchases...smells sooo good! 

Terry says the smell is called Frankensence...an Arabic smell!  It's lovely! 

Now that we spent 5 hours at the mall, we are all tired! It was a great day...even got a crockpot. Super pumped about that! Now to relax and put some of our goodies away!

National Saudi Day

It is National Saudi Day on Monday. So on Thursday students were aloud to wear  custom wear or green and white. It was so fun to see all the different clothes! 

This our Director named Jim! He is a great guy. He is wear a thob. Some of the boys also had this on at school. I think Terry wants to rock one of these!

These are some of my students! Aren't they sooo cute! 

Miles made the crown at school and he added the ribbon to it.

We do not have school on Sunday or Monday due to this holiday. 4 day weekend....sweet! 

We still can't leave the country. Don't have our exit visa yet! Hopefully this week. Terry and I got our iquamas which means we can open a bank account and get our SIM cards put into our iPhones! So we will do that this weekend!

Grocery shopping

So we have to take a taxi every where we go! You also have to plan around prayer time! We make sure we have some good lists before leaving as well! Being prepared is key!

Some random apartments!

Somewhere in Saudi...random shot with some little fingers!

Ocean is just past those buildings!

Our grocery store...Tamimi's, which is owned by Safeway! Lots of American stuff! 

The entrance...so when you get produce here you put it in bags. Then you go to the counter with a man and he puts stickers and the price of your produce on it. Kinda strange but it works out fine! I have heard the lines can be really long at times. Once done you call your taxi for a ride back home. Also...kids don't use car seats. Yes, they are crazy drivers and no we don't have car seats! 

A few things...

On the right is Ayla practicing writing her name in Arabic...pretty good! 

Little Pringles....

And yes folks...I can still get my Doritos! They are even sold at the little grocery store in our compound! That was very exciting for me! If only there was beer in that store...

Eurovillage Pool

We went to the pool at 9 this morning. We wanted to beat the crazy heat. Kids just love it! It is about a 4 minute walk from our villa. Kids also get to use this pool during their PE time. Which is twice a week. I think we will have some little fish by the time we come back next summer!

Something different

The keyboard with Arabic 

Riyals...Saudi money. It is a cash economy here, so you always want to have cash on you!

Rogge Pad 5...our house

So here are some pics of our villa...

Front door

Living room

Kitchen area

Dining room

Kitchen with a microwave/convection oven that we could not figure out...Edith had to show us! Ha!

Ayla's room

Miles' room

Our bedroom...isn't that a lovely comforter. Yeah...we gotta change that out!

Our bathroom...we actually have 3 in here!

Laundry room, which is on the way in to the villa.

Backyard 

Love this picture mainly because you can see the newest member of our family...Mr. doodles. He lived with the family that lived in this villa prior. He is a nice kitty! He was lost this summer when someone was looking after him. He showed up at our door 2 days after we arrived and made himself right at home! 

Mr. Doodles

Just realized this weird palm tree is in our backyard when taking this picture. 

Hope this gives you a little glimpse into our lives here! Miss you all, but yes, we are enjoying life here!

Saudi life...

Here are some pictures of life in Saudi...

Kids are ready for the day! 

This is our nanny Edith. She keeps our house so nice and clean. Also has all the laundry done...it is so awesome! Kids are warming up to her nicely! 

My handsome husband! 

Here is my classroom! I have 20 kids and a full time educational assistant named Joanna! She is amazing and so very helpful! Every teacher needs a Joanna in their classroom! 

Traditional Indian Food

So our awesome taxi driver Aziz recommended this place. It is a little hole in the wall, but the food was super good! It was my first experience eating traditional Indian Food! Ayla liked it too! Miles not so much!

Abut our taxi driver, Aziz...he is such a funny guy! He is A super energetic Indian dude that brings us everywhere! We can only understand about 40% of what he says...his laugh is so funny! He has a ton of stories too! What would we do with out him...he knows Al Khobar soooo well! 

We went with 2 gals that teach at IPS with us. Samantha, we met at the Iowa job fair. She is from Indiana/Colorado and teaches 3rd grade boys. Margaret is from Canada and teaches grade 4 girls. Both really nice. It is fun getting to know all these new faces and hearing their stories! 

Sam, Terry and Ayla

Miles, me and Margaret...doesn't Miles look happy? His big first week of school is making him very tired!

If we look super sweaty, it is because we are! Very hot and humid day today! 

So exciting!!!

Grandma Sue and Grandpa Vern sent scooters in the mail for the kids! They were sooooo pumped up! We have tile all over our house so they can glide all over the place. The wheels light up, so at night all the lights come off so they can see them light up. Thanks Sue and Vern!