Back in Old Yanbu

One of the good things about being home sick from work is that I can make the soup I want without any concerns about whether anyone else will like it or not. Unable to sleep, I am now enjoying a soup stuffed full of garlic, ginger, cloves, fennel seeds, chicken, tomato, green and red onion. Delish. And, to add more spice to the sniffly, coughy, headachy day, Canada is about to play France in the Rugby World Cup (having upset Tonga already).

It seems a bit odd to have a full blown headcold in such a hot country, but germs are democratic so moaning about it seems pretty useless. Our return to the land of sand was in many ways much easier than our arrival at this time last year. The weather's better for one thing; still hot, but not as hot, and for obvious reasons not nearly so much of a shock to the system.

Rose is in her new Indian top, a lovely gift from Preetha, an Indian woman who teaches grade two and has a home in the south of India. We often see students in this type of top; in fact, often some Indian or Pakistani students will come to school dressed in the native dress of their homeland.

Speaking of traditional dress, here I am looking like a sharp dressed waiter this past Friday morning, serving tea to Rose and our friends Robert and Marsha on the pool deck about 7:30 in the morning. I'm wearing a traditional men's wrap from what were once the Dutch East Indies. Those are the red socks Rose knitted me for our 33rd anniversary, draped so stylishly over my shoulder. They should serve well on the cold Saudi nights.

We aren't the only ones dressed in seasonal finery. The frangipani trees are in full bloom, as you can see below. These trees abound on our compound but they don't grow anywhere outside of the well-tended gardens of compounds like ours.







Classes are well under way and it has been a real treat to see the students again. Here's a shot of my grade ten class, quite large by international standards: 26.

A few other typical sights include the watermelon seller at the side of the road,








the gorgeous parrots at the local mall,

the unfortunate camel at the local meat counter, and the beautiful bouganvilla outside our back door. And this is our latest acquisition, an unusually dark carpet we found at the local brass shop, hand stitched (as they all are, in fact) and about 40 years old.

Finally, or almost finally, we were out at the local night market where I took this shot of the bounty of produce on hand, all of it shipped into the country, probably from South Africa, the Jordan Valley, or the US. Not all that different, really, from the fruit and vegetable section at Zehrs, except maybe for the cleanliness of the floor.

So we're back and back at it, too. The year will slip along quickly and we'll be home again. I leave you with this photo of the two of us at our anniversary breakfast this past Friday morning. That red rose is from the bouquet Claire and Neil and Scott arranged to have delivered to us the evening before.

Warmest wishes to you all. May the coming snows not be too deep nor the winter winds too cold. xoxox