BOO!!

There isn't a witch in sight around here; but this morning we found a little ghost floating around!  We were scared at first; but he told us he was a nice ghost :o)  The thought that Halloween was around the corner hadn't crossed our minds because there's no sign here in the market or stores of the candy eating frenzy!

However, there's always a story these days and this one started yesterday afternoon...

First, you must know... that he rides a bus to school and back, so we don't have an opportunity to talk with his teacher; therefore, we don't know much about what goes on at school :o)  They are not much on sending home notes/updates ~ here, when it happens, it happens and most of the time we find out about things after the fact!

So, Alex comes home from school yesterday to tell us that they are having a Halloween party.  Really, we said??  We weren't sure if we were receiving all of the information; but Halloween is Saturday, so we come to the conclusion that the party is today!  He told us that he had to dress up and they were going trick or treating in the middle and high school classrooms.  Ok??  We begin to ask him what exactly he wants to dress up as... waiting for an answer of something that we could only find at Party City; but he tells us he wants to be a ghost!  WHEW!  That was a close one :o)  We think we can pull that off with a white sheet.  So, off to the market we go to find one...

Here's our little ghost...

Happy Trick or Treating!

Are You Smarter Than a First Grader?

These days... no, not really!  Our son, Alex, is in first grade.  He loves his new school and his teacher.  For that, we are very grateful!  He studies the same basic curriculum that a first grader in the States would; however, here they add Arabic studies to his day.  He is beginning with the alphabet... just like we have this week.  Alex gets to learn one letter a day and our tutor has decided we should have already known the alphabet because he is ready to move on :o)  So, the other night... Franklin and I were suffering through these letters and Alex comes into the room and begins to "teach" us...

Us ~ aliff... baa... taa... thaa...
Alex ~ Wait, stop!  You're saying them wrong...
Us ~  No we're not.
Alex ~ Yes, you are... that's not how my Arabic teacher says it.
Us ~ Well, we don't know what to tell you; but we're not saying them wrong.
Alex ~ I think your teacher doesn't know how to speak Arabic.  He must be teasing you...  Or, maybe I can just speak Arabic better than you!
Us ~ You're probably right, Alex... maybe you can speak Arabic better than us...  Maybe, YOU should be our Arabic teacher!



It's truly humbling to know that we are NOT smarter than a first grader!  Alex will learn this new language very quickly and he will have to tell us what other people are saying before we will ever begin to understand anyone.  In sh'allah... it will come in time!

The Dead Cuckoo

You should have seen the look on our faces the first time we heard our new clock chime; however...

Alex LOVES this clock… the funny thing is that we left behind a beautiful grandfather clock for this… Oh well… it is slowly becoming a treasure and you can’t help but laugh when it chimes.

Alex is convinced there’s a cuckoo inside dying! Even though it sounds like it, I sure hope not… we couldn't take the smell on top of everything else that is going on around here :o)

Arabic Cartoons

Alex is a technology addict… most of us are; but he definitely has to be limited on the number of hours he watches TV and plays with his games!

We didn’t think that it would be a problem coming here because out of a hundred or more channels… only 4 are in English. That didn’t stop Alex from enjoying his Saturday morning cartoons… even if they are in Arabic?? I asked him if he could understand anything they were saying yet, and he said “No, but I don’t care… it’s still funny!” Not sure what is going on; but they were funny and we enjoyed watching him have so much fun… laughter is good for our souls these days!

By the way… Tom and Jerry is a very popular cartoon here! Hadn’t seen them in years...

The Park

It’s our second weekend here and we had to find somewhere for Alex to run around and play without getting hit by a taxi!

So, we went in search of a park… we were told that there was one at the other end of the city. There is an old castle that has been taken care of because important visitors will come and visit this particular place and stay here. We had a picnic lunch and Alex enjoyed feeding the cats and chasing away the birds!

We spent the evening watching the sun set behind the castle.

I believe we’ve found the beauty we have been looking for… it will become a special place for our family to go to and relax from the hectic pace of the city.

Me, Shoplifting??

... accidentally, I promise!!

No pictures… sorry; but I had to share this funny, crazy story!

Today we are going to a store to buy some kitchen items. We get in the store without any problems and buy a few things… chopper, hand mixer, etc. Franklin does most of the transactions as all the stores are run by men, so I just kind of stand off to the side. Well, we head out the door and I start to set off the security alarm. All of a sudden, there are about 3 or 4 guys standing around me… and they can’t speak any English, except to say “I’m so sorry!” So, I keep setting off the alarm, after I show them there’s nothing in my pockets or anything. Well, this causes a real stir… they begin to try and find a female that works in the store, which is hard to find! When she finally surfaces… they lead me to the back of the store and back outside to this little room. They are trying to show her how to use the security wand; but I don’t think she can figure it out (still no English!). She and I are standing in this room by ourselves staring at each other and all I can understand is that she wants to see what is in my pocket, which of course is still empty! Finally, I just decide to roll down my pants for her to show her that I don’t have anything hidden inside ~ as if much would go in there but a pack of gum :o) and she keeps saying that she’s still sorry! There turned out to be a security tag still inside my pants from the States! I’ve never seen a tag like this before and I’ve never set off any other store’s security before coming here… of course! So, she cuts the tag out of my pants… thankfully, they didn’t sell clothes and finally I’m allowed to leave! I never thought shopping would draw so much attention :o)

The Washing Machine

So, today we braved the washing machine...

It is an interesting machine. It didn’t take Franklin long to figure out how it worked. He is a nice handyman to have around! It takes a LONG time for it to wash clothes though… we truly thought it was going to shatter apart b/c it was shaking so hard! Then it stopped running. It appeared to be through… but we couldn’t get the door open. There is a system to everything in this apartment, we are slowly figuring that out...

To dry your clothes, of course, you hang them on the clothesline off the balcony. This isn’t so bad, except that I’m afraid of heights… so I made Franklin go out there and do it the first time. I decided that I can only hang clothes at night :o)  He goes out there and starts to hang the clothes without any problems… only for one problem ~ he doesn’t shake them out on the balcony; but rather over the balcony and down goes an undergarment of mine; which, of course, gets “stuck” on the clothesline beneath us!

I guess this is one way to meet your neighbors… that is, when I get the nerve to go down there and get it :o)

More to come…