A Day of Surprises

The Barbie I promised to upload yesterday

The view from my balcony

Today was a great day.  We got up this morning and had enough time to take a quick pit stop at the Red Sea shore before our visit to King Abdul Aziz University.  It was all fun and games until one of our group members came face to face with a wave.  Then all but one was rolling amongst the rocks.  We, again, LOVED our university visit.  I never cease to be amazed by how amazing these women are.  Their facilities as well as their intelligence, beauty, passion, drive, and talent are impressive.  They were such gracious hostesses.  We were so grateful for our beautiful gifts, particularly our homemade ones.  The conversation was lively and productive.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and our new friends.

After that, we went to the Khadijia center.  It lobbys and advocates for women in business and society through the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce.  They were truly spectacular.  They had completed a research study with some interesting and surprising findings.  The complete summary of statistics will be sent to us via e-mail.  It was very impressive.    We were able to have a frank and open discussion about the problems facing the society, the obstacles that have been overcome, and the future for women.  It was an eye opening and substantive meeting.

After lunch we went to a tour of the old market in Jeddah and history lesson on the city.  We saw buildings that were 1400 years old.  My little brain cannot fathom that.  The thing that touched my heart the most was hearing the call to prayer all around the city.  We were up in the rooftop room to hear the call to prayer.  You could hear the call from every direction of the city.  It created a chorus.  We were able to see all of the stores close and the men direct themselves to the mosques.  It was a beautiful sight and sound.  It was an experience for a Muslim and non-Muslim alike.  It was a nice surprise to be awarded that beautiful experience of the call to prayer.

We had dinner in the same room that King Abdul Aziz had taken meals.  We enjoyed a traditional dinner (this time featuring two different banana dishes for me to try) eating on the floor and with our hands.  We were joined by the staff from the American consulate office in Jeddah.  It was fun to interact with our own again.  We were able to ask some of the questions that we still had about our relationship with Saudi Arabia that had not been answered yet.  It was a great experience to share with our fellow Americans.

As we were leaving the place that we had eaten at, raindrops were falling.  We giggled at rain in the desert kingdom.  It was only a few drops, nothing too serious.  Enough to catch us by surprise.  We were taken shopping through the old markets.  We enjoyed it so much that we are headed back tomorrow.  I was able to get a really good deal on a new abaya.  "The word classy was used to describe it by one of the other fellows, so I was sold.  Our male guardian takes good care of us, particularly when we are shopping.  The man drives a hard bargain.  Our shopping pro is our most valuable asset, bartering and saving us money every where we go.  It's going to be great to be able to see what else is available tomorrow!

We ate up on the roof top room of this building.  It was beautiful.

Jeddah