Black.

     Prior to leaving for Saudi, I had asked everyone if there was a clothing restriction or if I had to wear certain clothes to school.  The ONLY thing I was told is that it had to be long and cover the arms.  Ok, so shopping at the last minute, I was able to purchase 5 long, flowery, patterned dresses, and 3 long skirts.  Of all these items, I had just one black skirt and 2 black sweaters.  After being there for 3 weeks, with nothing being said to me, I was finally informed yesterday, in writing on a memo I had to sign, that there was actually a dress code for teachers and that we were required to abide by it.  The other teachers let me know immediately that the skirts had to be black, so I simply wore the same skirt and changed my tops.  When I purchased my second abaya, I had found some inexpensive black skirts so I upped my count to 4.  I still wear the same one every day, and take it off when I come home at lunch and at the end of the day.  I am also required to wear the black blazer/sweater top over whatever shirt I wear.  Someone was scandalized by the sight of bare arms.  It was not me, of that I am certain!
     On the subject of clothes, while I don't mind the abaya, I could not convince them to cut it short enough to keep me from tripping over it.  When I pick it up to keep from falling, I am certainly showing more skin then if they just took another inch or two off the bottom!  My long sleeve shirts from China have served me quite well, and meant I did not have to buy any new tops.  The one thing I do need is new shoes.  I wore out my go to shoes in China, but didn't want to buy anything new until I knew what I was up against.
     I am almost completely finished with setting up house so I will post pictures of the place next time.  After my last scramble at Ikea, I decided that this time I would take my time and look at everything.  If I am still missing anything, it is only because Ikea does not carry it.  Because I was going back on Saturday, I did my grocery shopping and cooking on Friday.

Behold, one pan of veggie lasagna with spinach noodles and a pan of brownies with pecans to take to work.  The lasagna will give me 9 meals plus a bit extra to share.  I wrap the individual pieces in saran wrap and foil and freeze them.  What you do not see here is the huge batch of chicken sloppy joes I made as well.  After spending almost 2 hours slicing and dicing the veggies for both items, a work space went on my Ikea list.

     I have to admit the second trip to Ikea was TONS better, except for the part where I lost my phone!  OMFG I FREAKED OUT!!!  The other teachers, who had been in Saudi before, told me not to worry it would show up.  After retracing my steps, to no avail, I was THRILLED to death when the security man handed me back my phone.  

     I have been remiss in blogging because I have had nothing but trouble with my computer and its various programs for the past week or so.  My internet, better then China but not by much, was fighting with my programs.  I was not able to connect without VPN and VPN was not letting me into my usual sites.  The help desk at ExpressVPN told me to uninstall the program and reinstall....yeah, remove the only program that let me into the internet kinda sorta!  It did not work and I was out of touch with the world.  I can use the wifi on my phone, but that is at home only, unless I find free public wifi...not so much in Saudi.  One of the teachers at school is a techno wiz and she told me to restore the computer to a prior working date.  I hit the wrong button and returned it to a prior version of Windows and POW, I was back online. 

      Ok, having caught up on the second debate, I have become more convinced then ever that I have to vote.  I have registered online, dropped my paper copy with signature at the embassy, and now I just have to keep my fingers crossed my school gets my ballot in their mail AND manages to get it to me...LOL  Now it is time to nap.  I have a long night ahead of me.  Did I mention I hate the hell out of working until 8:00pm?  I am taking left over lasagna for dinner.  I have a 20 minute break at 5:50pm and I am finding that if I bring food to eat then, I am ok to try and make it into bed at 10:30.  Baby steps.