They Call Me THE WHITE CHICK

Even though I'm tired, it is imperative that I record the ridiculousness of the evening so that I can remember it later. And it was a ridiculous evening. I really love Team Fabulous. And I think there's an excellent chance that we actually will start bowling on a weekly basis. We ended up going bowling and then going to dinner at a new restaraunt (affiliated with Pizzaria UNO) called the Chicago Grill which is kindof down the street from the bowling alley. Overall, a fantastic evening.

So we went to this place called Ice Land (two words) where they have a bowling alley. Near as I can tell, there is no reason to call it ice land. maybe there's a skating rink in there somewhere? I dunno. Anyway.... man, my typing is screwy now. The computer they put in my office is mainly Arabic, which means that the formatting in Word is all screwy and works backwards, even when you are typing in English. This means that in order to move the cursor this way -------> I have to push the button this way <-------- . So now I've gotten used to doing that and so here, on my nice English computer, I keep moving the cursor in the wrong direction. Anyhow, so we went to Ice Land. And by the way, apparently I cover my head like a pro now. Yes, Dima says she could barely tell I was a white girl. Go me! And, what's even stranger is that it no longer feels weird to have it on. I haven't gotten to the point where I feel naked without it - please, God, spare me that - but it doesn't feel bizarre any more. And I can get it to stay on pretty well, too. Yessir, I am on my way to being Saudi. And, if I do say so myself, I don't look half bad with a covered head.

So we found the bowling alley (with a sheesha bar attached) and got shoes and hiked up our abayas and went and bowled. And it was lovely. We were all quite bad, but it was a good time anyway.

The hilight in terms of entertaining comments must have been Dima. I got two gutterballs in a row, giving me a fancy zero on my scorecard, to which Dima says: "It's because you're a Christian." Thank you Dima, for that religiously tolerant point of view. Ah, it's good to know that your friends love you and are willing to keep you company in hell.

Also, we got to come up with bowling names. Dima was Dimzi (shocker), and Penny was... Penny.... and Mona was Melvi... so none of these are surprising. I suggested the Bozinator as mine, but instead they decided to name me The White Chick, and I think unfortunately that that name might stick.

Plus, we were endlessly entertained by the group of guys (two brothers and a third) who were "bowling" in the alley two down from us, who kept staring at us. Well, when I say "us" I mean "me". They were blatently staring at me. Like, STARING. Not surreptitious glances. Full-on can't-take-my-eyes-off-you staring. It was creepy. Luckily, they were young and stupid and had greasy hair, so I found it difficult to take them seriously.

I did, however, manage to secretly get a picture of them when I was pretending to take a picture of Dima (you can also see them laughing in the background of the picture of me, above, although it's not that clear).

There was also a little girl (teeny tiny) who seemed entranced by the whiteness of my skin. Apparently, I am noticable. Who knew? We spent some time sitting in chairs, as well (Penny compared the lounge area to an airport lounge, and I feel like she was pretty spot on) and hanging out, because of course it is haram to bowl during salat. When we were taking our shoes off at the end of the bowling extravaganza creepy guy came over and sat down right next to Melvi, despite the huge number of empty chairs that were available. I almost threw a very American fit and hit him in the face, but I wasn't mad so much as I was entertained, so whatever. Be creepy, creepy guy. Maybe if you stare at me long enough I'll go out with you. And then we went and hung around Toys 'R' Us for a while, playing with stuffed animals and fencing with foam swords and generally making a nuisance of ourselves (it's good to be silly) and then drove over to the restaraunt, where we had to beg to be let in because it was 'isha prayer and everything was locked, but when Dima looked pathetic and said "but the Ministry [of Preventing Vice and Promoting Virtue] will come take us away if we just stand out here!" they let us in the back and we got to sit down, cackling. And eat and drink and be merry. As one does.

Also, I am sortof a teeny bit learning my way around! Like, I know now three things that are on the same road with Ice Land, PLUS I accurately identified al-Andalus street and knew that there was a Panda on the other side of the ship roundabout. Heck, I practically know this city like the back of my hand already.

Future plans, however, include stealing a map of Jeddah from Dima and posting important landmarks all over it (namely malls and roundabouts and restaraunts) so that I can find my way around when the girls and their lovely drivers aren't there to drive me around. And Dima's driver Ramadan blatantly laughed at me today when I was singing "I will survive" loudly (and probably obnoxiously) in the parking lot of the Chicago Grill while we waited for Melvi's driver to show up. I think he finds me entertaining. Which is good. I like to endear myself to the people who are capable of transporting me.

Tomorrow we're off to the beach! Me and Dr. Annette, and some of the other staff here in the residence. It should be a good time... if I can avoid getting burned as thoroughly as I did this time of year LAST time I was in Jeddah; my face swelled up so that I looked like some kind of lobster-colored caveman. It was quite attractive. I hope to avoid that look this year. But I have to get up really early to get there (8:30 - who gets up at 8:30 to go to the BEACH?) so I'm off to bed now. Although to be fair I'll probably get to the beach and take a nap in the sun.

I was talking to Dr. Annette today about travel plans. That woman has gone EVERYWHERE. She is my travel guru. This past summer she and a bunch of highschool friends walked a couple of days from the border of Portugal into Spain to a pilgrimage site that has been around since the Middle Ages. Dr. Annette, her friends, and a stream of pilgrims, all wandering down a dusty road in southern Spain. How cool! I seriously want to do this sometime. Anybody with me? That's it for now. Off to bed.