In India, socks come in right/left pairs, not interchangeable like ones we get in the US. An Indian friend at work told me this. She said whenever her Mom comes to visit, she stocks up on socks because she loves not having to care which foot each goes on!

For some reason, I love learning about insignificant cultural differences like this. Do you know of any?

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I don't get it how are they different? Both feet are the same.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

She said they're shaped like our shoes are shaped, so they don't fit right if you put them on the wrong feet.

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

Oh that makes sense.

__________________
The political system is broke and it's a joke.

I like the things that I've read about gestures meaning different things in different countries. I recently read that in Australia if you get in the back seat of a cab you have insulted the cab driver. They consider everyone equal and to show this you sit up front with the driver.

Muslims find the soles of the feet offensive. It's the lowest part of the body so to show your sole to them is an affront. It's funny because I could have sworn that I've see photos of Arabs with their legs crossed.

In Brazil, what we use as the "OK" hand gesture is considered obscene. I'm referring to the gesture where you make an "O" of your thumb and index finger and put the rest of your fingers straight up. To Brazilians, it's a way of telling someone you think they're, uh, a body orifice.

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

Ha Jujubee....it is the same in American Sign Language if you make the sign and tap your forehead with it......

I had a trainer at work that lectured about the importance of the Diamond--a figure used to represent the customer, the owners, the employees and the product. Unfortunately, the Diamond sign she was making by touching her thumbs and pointer fingers together is ASL slang for female genitalia that starts with a P! I was just too embarassed to tell her!

In England, what we use at the two fingered 'peace' sign means the same thing as our 'one-finger salute'. I just thought they were promoting Peace and Love!

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"It's not about how much baggage you have, it's about whether or not you can carry your own baggage with grace and dignity."

Amazing how easy it is to get yourself in trouble!

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I actually think socks that are shaped like our feet are a good idea. I have a thing about socks that don't fit me right. Drives me crazy if they bunch up when my shoes are on.

I am living in Saudi Arabia now and it is considered terribly rude to hand someone anything or point with your left hand. It takes some getting used to for me as I am used to holding my packages or my purse with my right arm and leaving my left hand free to pass things like my drink cup to the waiter or to pass my checked package or coat slip to the concierge. It has been a learning experience and I have only been here five days!

We shouldn't cross our legs, show our ankles, touch a person of the opposite sex, look a man in the eyes, speak first to a man if you are a woman, get into an elevator with the opposite sex if you are not married, I cannot hold hands with my husband or display any form of affection in public.....etc...etc.

Women cannot drive a car or be out in public without covering with an abaya (a long black overcoat) and a scarf. I do not have to wear the scarf unless I am asked to by one of the religious policemen.

There are lots of do's and don'ts for women here when we are not on the compound. I learn something new every day.

__________________
GO NAVY WRESTLING!!BEAT ARMY!!!
RJB 3/18/60 - 5/22/04
We miss you, sweet brother
God Bless the USA!!!!! Praying for my Youngster son at United States Naval Academy, class of 2014!!

http://mylifeundertheabaya.blogspot.com/

Wow usnamom - I was aware of the left hand thing, but not the things about not looking a man in the eye or speaking first. I'd be in trouble in no time!

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

Well I guess I'm lucky to be here then. When the first Gulf War was starting we were in Cairo on vacation. President Mubarek had called a conference of Arab leaders. Many were staying at our hotel. They had set up a buffet for breakfast with a table set apart with some very unusual, to my eye, breakfast ingredients. I saw a very tall man in full sheik regalia approaching the table and I went up to him, tapped him gently on his arm, probably with my left hand, looked him in the eye and asked if he could explain the breakfast ingredients to me. He didn't flinch or walk away. He very nicely, but not really warmly, told me what they were and how to eat them. I thanked him, prepared my plate as he had directed and that was that. No telling how many other offensive things I did while I was there. We went just as Egypt was becoming less open and more strict. In Cairo we didn't see many that were not dressed in modern clothing. Recent pictures make me think that has changed. Alexandria was different. We were only there for a few hours but didn't see anyone dressed in western influenced clothing. It was a strange trip. Because of the war, very few tourists were anywhere and Alexandria had none.

I've been wondering how things were going and whether you had actually made it over there. Keep us posted. It sounds very exotic and exciting. I want to hear all about it. Do you eat out a lot? Have you been driving yourself and how are those clothes? I sweat in the winter time. Just the thought of wearing something that covered gives me claustrophobia. What is missing that you can't get there that you can back here? So many questions...lol

I think Saudi Arabia is the strictest Muslim country in the Middle East and we live in the most liberal city in the country and it is still very strict in relation to the US.

In some of the other ME countries the women can wear colored abayas....we can only wear black. I have to wear it anytime I leave the compound, even to walk to another compound. I carry a scarf with me all the time though I only have to wear it if a member of the Religious Police ask me to put it on or cover my hair. The young men dress in very western ways but the women are all covered.

I cannot drive except on the compound and ours is so small that we walk everywhere. There are two buses that run four times a day to various places in the city and we have a driver if we want to take us to the doctor or somewhere at a time that is more convenient for us. My husband has a company car that he takes to work and we use on the weekends but I am not allowed to drive unless we go into Bahrain. We can't do that now because of the protests in Bahrain and the embassy has asked us not to go there for a few weeks because of the dangerous conditions that could arise.

We don't eat out a lot outside of the compound because we have a restaurant that serves American food and it is close and cheap and they deliver to our villa! LOl!

It hasn't been too hot lately but I know that in a few weeks it will start to get warmer and I am not looking forward to it. I am afraid that if I am out in that black abaya and have a hot flash, I might kill someone. They do make abayas in cotton but I haven't found one yet....I am going to a tailor this week to have one custom made that will be cotton and have a zipper and (gasp!) my initials on the right chest! (living large!) LOL!

We can't find chili beans, Bisquick, Kool Aide, a crock pot, or a Keurig coffee maker and the pods. There are a lot of American foods here though but we will pay a very high price for them. Safeway has a grocery store here called Tamimi and they carry some American things like some soups. But anything that is made with pork products....bacon, ham, lard cannot be found as it is against the law. Same with anything that has alcohol in it like mouthwash or some medications. Theaters are illegal now so if we want to see a movie in a theater we have to go into Bahrain to watch it.



The stores and malls are only open from 10 to 11:30 Saturday through Thursday and open again from 4:00 to midnight. During the daytime, prayers are five times a day or so beginning at dawn and go until sunset. The call to prayer is broadcast by loudspeaker from the mosques throughout the town very loudly. You can't miss it. All the stores and restaurants close when the call begins and if you are shopping, you have to either leave the store or be locked in until prayer is over. So it takes some planning to get things done in a timely manner.

There are women from all over the world in our compound.....Australia, South America, Great Britain, Italy and the US. We have excercise classes, language classes, cooking classes, a hairdressers, spas, indoor tennis courts, gym, bowling alley, small commissary, pools, etc here so there is tons to do.

Our cable is weird....being on the opposite side of the world, I can pick up some US channels on the military channels from Bahrain but this means that Dr. Phil comes on at 3 am some days. There is a closed circuit TV where the compound has uploaded some recent movies that are available on DVD that we can tap into and watch. There is a video checkout library as well though I haven't used it yet.

I am keeping a blog about being here though I haven't posted anything since I got here last week....it is at My Life Under the Abaya..... I will begin posting again as soon as I get unpacked and over the jetlag which is killing me.

We have skype so I can talk to my boys and see my granddaughter every day or so. I am glad to answer any questions at all....this is a once in a lifetime experience for us. We have been blessed to come and live in another culture so different from ours...we have met some very nice people but there are some extremely rude ones as well. I try to keep my eyes from rolling and my mouth from engaging before I think. It has been hard. LOL!

Oh, and you can't talk about the bible in public off the compound or buy a bible and from what I have heard bring one into the country. We whisper about bible studies.

__________________
GO NAVY WRESTLING!!BEAT ARMY!!!
RJB 3/18/60 - 5/22/04
We miss you, sweet brother
God Bless the USA!!!!! Praying for my Youngster son at United States Naval Academy, class of 2014!!

http://mylifeundertheabaya.blogspot.com/

Wow! Fascinating!

Thanks so much for sharing your adventure with us. I'd forgotten you were about to head overseas, and it sounds like a much more extreme situation than I envisioned you having. Just... wow!

I saw Oprah's show on a Hassidic (sp?) community in NYC recently, and that was so fascinating. I guess because their men dress a little like Amish men, in my mind their women were probably like Amish women. While they certainly lead life separated from society, I found it so interesting that it's really the men in that sect if Judaism that have the most restrictions. They have to dress the way they dress... whereas women can wear what they want, but it must be modest. The women who were interviewed were fashionable and you wouldn't look at them and think twice about what they were wearing. The husbands and children did not have cell phones... but some of the women did.

Sorry - semi-off-topic tangent there! It's just fascinating to me to hear how others live, especially in societies where there are restrictions that we don't have to live under here.

Thanks usnamom - that is fascinating. (Wow and I agree for once!) I'll have to check out your blog.

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

Very interesting! I would have to put a zipper on my mouth for sure......lol

I have been working on keeping my mouth closed...it has been a challenge! LOL! Seriously, mostly everyone has been nice and gracious but there have been a couple of times that I have had people (mostly men) give me dirty looks. I am sure it is because I have been less than modest in my dress or in my actions...things such as letting my abaya fly open, looking someone in the eye or not keeping my hair covered.

I have been trying to be cognizant of their cultural rules and religious laws but sometimes I catch myself acting like an "American" and have to catch myself. It will help when I can speak Arabic better and get really used to living here.

__________________
GO NAVY WRESTLING!!BEAT ARMY!!!
RJB 3/18/60 - 5/22/04
We miss you, sweet brother
God Bless the USA!!!!! Praying for my Youngster son at United States Naval Academy, class of 2014!!

http://mylifeundertheabaya.blogspot.com/