Eid al-Adha

A couple days ago was the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha. Brendon’s good friend asked if we would like to celebrate with him and his family. We were very excited for this experience and we arrived promptly at 8:00am at our friend’s house the next day. We were told that this holiday was in honor of when Abraham was obeying God and was about to sacrifice his son but instead God provided a lamb to take the sons place. Eid was a special holiday that praises God for the substitute of the lamb. So every Eid al-Adha families come together and slaughter a lamb and have meals together.

When Brendon and I arrived I was shown the ladies door and Brendon walked through the men’s door. After coming into the house I was greeted by all the women with sided kisses and assalam wa alaikum (Peace be upon you). The women of the home showed great hospitality to all their guests. I wasn’t even allowed to throw my own trash away because they didn’t want me to have to get up. They had amazing food! They had a gigantic chocolate platter, another platter of pastries, coffee, tea, and dates! I loved it all!!

            

Brendon’s friend had the honor of slaughtering the lamb this Eid and it was a great privilege for him. By the time we got there the lamb had been slaughtered and skinned and now they were cutting up the meat that was hung in the backyard. They brought in a bucket of blood and meat from the lamb and I was told that for breakfast we were going to have the liver of the lamb. So about an hour or two later they brought out breakfast that consisted of liver, lettuce, bread, and Foul. The liver was interesting and I couldn’t eat a lot of it because my taste buds were thrown for a loop haha! We all ate on the ground which was really fun.

After breakfast we had more chocolate and pastries and just hung out and talked. There were about seven women and four younger girls. They all spoke Arabic but three of them knew English so they would help interpret conversations or questions. The family was so sweet and they had a lot of questions for me and vice versa. We had music on in the background the whole time and then there was a song that every liked so we got up and danced. If you know me….I was loving this!! I don’t know exactly what style of music this was – maybe Egyptian hip-hop? We danced Saudi style which is swaying back and forth and moving your hands. It’s a very peaceful/elegant way of dancing.

They served lunch which consisted of a HUGE platter of rice with lamb meat on top. I was so full by this time that I couldn’t eat too much. Everyone was so polite and kept me in the conversation by interpreting Arabic to English. After lunch ended it was around one so I was trying to feel it out to see if we had over stayed our welcome and it was time to go. I asked one of the sisters and she said, “oh no not at all!” So we talked a lot more and had a lot of fun talking about American culture and Saudi culture. Around 3:30 I heard that the boys were ready to leave so I got my Abaya back on and walked out the door to meet Brendon. We were there for 7 ½ hours and had so much to catch up on. Brendon also enjoyed his time with the men. They talked and played video games haha! The family was so welcoming and Brendon and I felt very honored to be a part of their day!

Heading Back

Well believe it or not but the Hunt's are going back! I know you all had your doubts but it's official! We got our tickets two days ago and are heading out today. We leave this afternoon and should be there by about 9 pm on the 11th. Seems like it should be a nice and easy trip but we are going during the Hajj, which means a few extra million people traveling to Saudi! Either way we are headed back and looking forward to starting up again. Love you all and would love to keep in touch!

Sa-udis in Au-dis

Ok so this is pretty cheesy but we thought is was really funny. My Saudi friend alerted us to the new internet phenomena in Saudi. Enjoy!

A New Way to Contact Us

Hello all! We now have one more reason to love Google. If you look over on the right hand side of our page you can see an icon that says "Call Me." That is a product called Google Voice and is now a  super easy way for us to stay in contact with you all. Here is a video to explain more about it -



So to leave us a message it is as easy as entering in your phone # and leave us a message. We will get it in our email and we can text back. Get this - it's all for FREE! No international phone charges or anything! So easy and such a fun way to keep in contact. If you want to see more, here is a link with some fun videos: http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html# Enjoy and hope to chat soon!

Summer 2010

Here are a few highlights from our summer!

Summer 2010 from Brendon Hunt on Vimeo.

What I learned on July 4th

Well everybody, Brendon's back!! Sorry there was no heads up beforehand but this was actually a pretty big surprise to all of us. I actually really didn't even find out about the flight until about 7:30 pm on July 3. That's 6 hours before I left!!! So in that six hours I scrambled around throwing the suit cases together, packed up the rest of Staci's bag (first time we have ever used skype to help pack), cleaned the apartment and tied up all loose ends before heading out. It was nuts but I got out just on time and I got home safe and sound on July 4th.

One of the things I enjoyed most on the trip was being able to come back to America on the 4th. Most of my life July 4th meant fireworks, family, and bbq, but this year was different. I got to see America more from the view of an outsider coming in. So for this post I'm going to list four different ways I appreciate America this year.

1. Freeways

I'm sure for most of you the picture above is not the most pleasant of sights. It probably reminds you more of headaches and long days than anything positive. But for us, what we see is: lines and order. It was almost funny merging onto the freeway once we got back and to see all of the cars completely in line, no one driving on the shoulder (or median for the mater) and everyone following the rules.

I got this next picture from the Holdermans and they took it in a parking garrage in Riyadh. Does anything look wrong with this picture to you? Looks like an open spot to me.

This is just one of those things you expect in a place where 4 lanes means 6, you can reverse on round when it's really busy, and where turning left can be done at a stoplight by jumping the right hand side median and swooping over four lanes before the light turns green (can't tell you the number of time we have seen this last one happen).

2. Ebonics

Oh ebonics, we missed you so much. Nothing says America like a good ol' foo, cap, or shawty. As soon as I heard the person checking my bag say, "Shevon, that is cazay" I felt right at home.

3. Reuniting with old friends

Sorry, I know that was cheesy. But seriously, this little toilet paper ring is AMAZING to see again. In Saudi you better have a back up plan because 9 times out of 10 you can bet there will be no toilet paper. Next amazing thing I saw... tissue paper seat covers. Is this heaven?

4. So excited that you can see fireworks from a plane!

I wasn't sure if I was really going to be able to see them but if look real close you can see little flashes of light below. I was lucky enough to be going over LA too, which I'm pretty sure is the city with the most bootleg fireworks known to man.

I didn't have my camera at the time but this video below shows exactly what it looks like from the plane. So crazy!

Top 10 things you don't see everyday in America

Hello all! For this post we are doing a top ten things you just don't see everyday in America. There are lots of things in Saudi we could put down, but here are a few that caught our eye. Enjoy!

#10 Little Rain = Big Problem

Yes, it does rain here in Saudi. Here are few pictures from one of the newspapers after a big rain a few months ago

Here in the desert, when it rains the ground does not absorb water very fast. Add that to a few sewage system back ups and it can be quite a mess.

All of this and it rained less than an hour.

#9 Class (hand) Pictures

Girls here never ever show their face in pictures, so class pictures can be difficult.

So how do they do it? The picture below says it all. I'd love to see the school's yearbook.

#8 Burqa Barbie

Not even Barbie can get break the law on this one.

#7 Anti-Woman Drivers Bumper Stickers

Yup that's right. That's a picture of a woman in an abaya with a steering wheel underneath.

#6 Cell Phone Mania

Sure you might be thinking that people are crazy about cell phones in the States too. Trust me, Saudi's are way more. How you might ask? Every Saudi I know has at least 2 on them at all times. It makes it great for teachers when you take away their cell phone for texting only to find out that they are now texting on their second phone. They aren't your run of the mill cheap phone either. About 80% of the students have Blackberries and another 15% have iPhones.

This was the lost and found at the school after one semester.

Just kidding

#5 Animals is the mall

I know this sounds crazy but in one the malls here they have all of these animals throughout the mall! Before you get too excited, they are all stuffed. But the malls here are immaculate. Not only are there tons of stuffed animals but there are also huge water falls and fountains. Oh and did I mention roller coasters? That's a whole different post in itself.

Where else have you seen a crocodile staring you down as you buy your Starbucks?

#4 Mosques in the malls

Hang a right after the food court.

#3 Full body bathing suits

That's right girls. Don't get a lot of sun in one of these.

#2 Sharpie time

We have mentioned this before, but here in Saudi, they blackout everything that shows women's skin. It can make for some really funny pictures. I think in this one that death is about to attack those children.

I'm guessing they were going for the black smoke from Lost look.

This one is my favorite. I like the teeth for effect.

And finally, the one you have all been waiting for...

#1 The Hunts are going all Saudi

Hope you enjoyed the list! See you all in 2 weeks!