The Abaya is a Facade for Modesty

The thought behind the Abaya is modesty. However, as I have done window shopping at the malls here, the underclothes advertised are anything but modest. The women here dress to impress each other because they can only be seen by each other and immediate family. So if I were in need of clothing while here there is the problem of immodesty and they don't have fitting rooms. If you are like me you have to try on at least 10 outfits before you find something you like and fits well. They do occasionally put fitting rooms in the women's bathrooms. However, the bathrooms are small lakes because they hose themselves off after using the restroom and wash up for prayer time. It is a public restroom nightmare personified here. Once we get a car we will do a desert pit stop before heading into the city.

To be respectful, some have said to wear the Abaya out in public but I don't have to cover my head. Some Westerns here never worn one but just dress extremely modest-- i.e. long sleeves in the dead of summer. I have gone out twice modestly dressed and gotten a lot of stares, and once in the Abaya that I borrowed. I haven't decided which I'll wear: shorts and tees with the Abaya in the summer, or long pants and long sleeves. There are also religious police who enforce the laws but they are not supposed to approach and talk with us. The only foreigners are workers or those Muslims who are making their once in a life time pilgrimage to Mecca.

A couple of observations:

Juice: They have the most amazing, thick, yummy juice here. I did not buy juice (empty calories) for the boys at home, but here when you see things like mango, cherry raspberry, extra thick strawberry, kiwi lime, pear, or pomegranate lime juice you just have to try it. So far we have not been disappointed.

Dry Skin: In Alaska my skin was ALWAYS dry. In the winter my fingers were always cracking and bleeding. I thought it would be ten times worse here. Strangely enough my hands are better. My face is still dry and only gets really bad when we have sandstorms.

Diversity: We went to a Festival of Culture put on by the school last week. There were displays from all over the world. Everyone wore costumes from their home countries. The best part were the tables after tables of food from each country. We tried food from Egypt, Jordan, Philippines, Mexico, Canada (how exotic!), India, Pakistan, Venezuela and others. It was awesome because unless you visit those respective countries you don't often get to try something authentic. At home things were often Americanized. Poor Graham does not like my adventures in eating. Often after I am adventurous in eating he pays the price the next day. There are so many spices here he is not used to. I decided I need to stick with the mild things and next year I can really experience all the curries I have wanted to try.