Ramadan Kareem!

Hello all. Sorry for the blogging hiatus for the last week or so. Things have been.... not busy, exactly, but distracting.

Ramadan mubarak everyone! Yes, the holy month of Ramadan started here in Saudi Arabia last Thursday. I did my very first intentional fast on Saturday (those of you who were around during the funness of my last Ramadan in Saudi will be aware that I have done plenty of unintentional fasting before) and I have to say that it's much harder to fast on purpose. Suddenly, food seems so very attractive when you tell yourself you can't have it. It's also not at all fun to get up at 4:30 to eat before dawn - but obviously not eating before dawn is even less pleasant. And I did more than this - I did the very typical Saudi thing, watching for maghrib (sunset prayer) on TV as the azan (call to prayer) was recited in Mecca and Medina, breaking my fast, and then I followed that with the VERY traditional (at least in modern times) Saudi sitcom of Tash ma Tash. And for those of you unfamiliar with this Saudi phenomenon, it's not quite a sitcom. It's more like SNL, in that the same actors play a variety of characters. Each episode presents some sort of tragicomic look at Saudi society; it's become quite scandalous in recent years, having a "Terror Academy" show last year and just yesterday airing a highly dramatized episode showing an honor killing.

This show is, of course, in Arabic, and in a very strong Saudi dialect of which I understand not a word (wala kalima, as we would say in Arabic). I can get the gist, though, from the fact that it is HUGELY overacted. I also hope to one day perhaps understand some of it, but since Saudi friends tell me there are bits even THEY don't understand, I feel like perhaps I will have to have patience.

Speaking of Saudi friends, my dear Dima (and her mother, grandmother, and the entire rest of her family) were kind enough to invite me to their Friday family gathering for iftar and dinner. I felt a little like I did going to meet the ex-Queen two years ago, because I knew I would be expected to speak some Arabic which, of course, is blatantly terrifying. But it turned out wonderfully. Granted, I didn't say much, but it's hard to break into a vernacular-language conversation occuring very fast and with a lot of overlap. But I took a lot in, and understood a fair amount of it (albeit generally scattered words only - putting the whole thing together will take a bit more time). Her whole family was extremely nice to me; one of the four-year-old (I think!) little girls brought over her English workbook (with lots of prodding from her father) to show me the vegetables and the milk and other supermarket items. I dunno if she was reading, or if she'd memorized it, but it was very impressive. If only American children could be taught second languages from this early an age. I also spoke to one of Dima's cousins, the only one in the house who remained fully covered the whole night (face, hair, etc). Her name was Basma, and it was a bit disconcerting to realize mid-conversation that I probably won't recognize her if I see her again, but she was delightful to talk to. And of course, Dima's grandmother and the other older members of the family were extremely friendly (apparently Dima's grandmother used to be an amazing seamstress! I ooze with jealousy.) although it was hard to communicate with them since my Arabic is stilted. In the future, inshallah, it will be better.

AND, um, aside from that, work is really picking up, which is fantastic because a) I hate being bored and b) I am figuring out what I'm doing. I am really digging in, and I think I may one day actually be good at this job!

Phew. That was a lot of random catching up. I have nothing of particular interest to announce, unfortunately, beyond the fact that I have recently discovered a fantastic not-quite-blog The News of the Weird, which collects fantastic and ridiculous news stories from around the world. I say it's a not-quite-blog since it's syndicated in a number of newspapers and does have a fair amount of journalistic integrity. I have been back-reading the archives because it's so entertaining. Here is, thus far, my favorite piece:

Good News / Bad News: Stevie Long, 4, was successful in scaring off two home invaders who had been holding a gun on his mother, her boyfriend, and four children; Stevie had quietly excused himself, put on his Mighty Morphin Power Ranger outfit, grabbed a plastic sword, and then burst on the scene, yelling, "Get away from my family!" The startled men fled empty-handed. The bad news is that a counselor, after talking to Stevie, said that the kid "fully believed he morphed" into the Power Ranger. (from News of the Weird, December 4, 2006)

Finally, I want to mention briefly that my littlest little sister is starting college today/tomorrow! Yay for Alice! Many congratulations to her, may life be lovely.

And on that note, I will go watch an episode of Star Trek and read Guns, Germs and Steel, my most recent book.

Farewell!