Seahorse

I know I am a bit late posting, but what’s new? I’m potentially one of the worst bloggers in history. I’m unorganized, not super creative, bad at handling criticisms, lazy, unmotivated, inconsistent, and the list goes on. But more on that later….   Who am I kidding?   Anyways, this year I found myself in…

chocoffee

One thing I learned about living in Saudi is that food plays a central role in everyone’s life here. Every week I collect so many chocolates and candies from students as sweet as the goodies they give me. It is common for my colleagues to knock on my office door with fresh baked goods. Saudis…

Choklava

The other day while walking around the mall with my husband, he got a craving for something sweet. While standing in line and waiting for him to buy some desserts, I happened to spy something I’ve never seen before- chocolate baklava. I’m usually not a huge fan of sweet foods like baklava, but I do…

Bird Paradise Bahrain

On my last vacation to Bahrain, I stumbled upon a new favorite place- Alazizia Birds Kingdom. Many of the places I have visited in the MENA region that have animals haven’t really taken good care of the animals (with the exception of NOFA), so I was a bit skeptical about going to the Bird Kingdom…

Dahlia

Whenever I see someone I haven’t seen in a while, I’m always greeted with a “I noticed you’ve stopped blogging.” And, in my awkward state, I always groan “yeahhhhh” awkwardly in reply. Not totally because they are right and I have stopped blogging, but mostly because I am surprised anyone at all reads my blog….

Barefoot on a summer night

It can only be described as the perfect evening as I am sitting around with my loved ones, laughing and enjoying ourselves the same as we did  in old times, before everyone got busy and wrapped up in their own lives. Everyone is so jovial, content just to be in each other’s company. I’d forgotten I…

What no one tells you about being an expat

When I was still new a co-worker invited me to an event under the notion that I wasn’t Muslim. As soon as she realized I was Muslim she basically gave me the ultimatum of taking my hijab off (not that eloquently- she told me to ask my husband if I could take it off, as if its his decision) or not coming at all. Clearly I chose the latter.

What’s really under the abaya?

If you ask anyone to describe what a Saudi woman wears, most likely they will say a long, black garment. Technically, that answer is correct. Saudi women are required to wear an abaya, or robe-like garment when they are in public. With that being said, just because women wear abayas in public, doesn’t mean that they aren’t…

Why do you blog?

Recently I received a message from a former professor I had in my undergraduate career at Marshall University. He informed me that he would be teaching a class in the spring semester focusing on blogging and other forms of social media, and asked me to write a few words about what I do and why…

Presentation day

I always love it when my students have a presentation. It’s so amazing to watch them progress in their language abilities and come out of their shell. Their progression is made better by their visual aids- FOOD! That’s right, every presentation yields enough food to feed us for a week. No matter what their topic is,…

Typical Thursday

What’s one of the best things about Saudi Arabia?   Going for a walk in a park and finding a camel, of course!