responsible

I am making you responsible for the life of those three fish that are now down on the right side of this page. they need fed. just put your mouse over the pond and click and they get food. they will follow your cursor around waiting to be fed but please don't tease them. it is not nice. if they die it will be your fault, and I will be depressed.

raw

i have begun a challenge for myself. I am so bored here in KSA that I have elected to go ahead and try to do something difficult and potentially beneficial for 30 days. My challenge is to eat only raw food. nothing processed and nothing cooked. Thus I will be eating a lot of veggies and fruit and some nuts. I have been doing it for three days so far and I find that the food isn't the problem it is getting excited for the food. Thus I have been eating only one meal per day. I will probably make it to the end but we shall see at day 14 and 27 it is a long way to go. While deciding to do this I mentioned the concept to some of my coworkers and many of them got on board with their own challenges. One guy is running 1 mile the first week 2 the next 3 the following and 4 the final week. Another is going to eat only 500 calories a day and take supplements, another is writing 1000 words per day. And there are a few others that are going on. It is funny though when I have the choice to eat anything I tend to eat lots of veggies anyways and I dont really eat the sweets. However since I began I have walked into the store and found myself eyeballing the donuts with affection, I think it is just because I know that I can not have them that I look at them. It will be an interesting 27 more days. I just need to find a routine and a way to get enough calories into my body. What could you do for 30 days?

figs

I have a new problem. It comes in multiple sizes and is not expensive at all. I cant get enough of it. Fig jelly. so good, its not sweet like other jellies but tastes like the fruit, did i mention it is delicious? So the seeds are all there and the fruit is still chunky I think in USA it would be closer to a preserve. I used to eat peanut butter sandwiches as I never saw the point of jelly as it was never very good, I have tried schmuckers and all the rest but to no avail. Yet here I find myself having a jelly sandwich without the PB. Remarkable really. I wish everyone could try it, it is that good. Tomorrow I return to work with a smile. Looking forward to it. I will get paid shortly after that. I havent done anything really but I am also not going to complain about being paid to relax.

holiday

i slept in late this morning and eventually got up and got started with the entire moving around and being productive and eventually I got hungry so I went out to find some grub. I guess that today is some kind of special day for this part of the world as every restaurant that I entered told me that I could have take away or eat after the evening prayer. Mind you the evening prayer was 4 hours in the future. they were happy to have me sit in their establishment and drink coffee or tea or soda but not eat. So eventually i gave up and came home to make myself a sandwich. I will try again to go out and get some dinner in a few hours. On a completely unrelated note I went out with coworkers to dinner last night and after sitting around chatting I walked back home which was about 3 miles. I was a bit worried at first as I left their hotel at midnight and I was unsure what sort of scene there would be late at night in the streets of riyadh. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that for the entire hour of walking through neighborhoods it was just me and the cats. I did not see another soul, I may make it a habit of strolling around late at night while the rest of the city sleeps.

and i walk

I went for a stroll through the streets if riyadh yesterday and realized that this is not a beautiful city. it is working on becoming on and there are loads of high-rise buildings going up and the few that have been completed are architecturally interesting so I have hope for the future of the city. But right now it is low and monochromatic. There are not any places for pedestrians and the sidewalks that do exist are shabby at best. On the bright side i walked by well over a million dollars in cars just sitting in small showrooms. Until yesterday I wasnt aware that lamborghini had showrooms, nor bentley. But I walked by both and each model that they sold was shiny and new in the window. I went into a few malls and it was odd to see people shopping, not just because I hate the activity myself but the women are of course covered but walking into shops that sell western clothes Zara etc. Makes me wonder what exactly is under those long black robes. I have plans to meet some coworkers for dinner tonight about 3 miles from here, I will probably walk over as I want to see the city and get a better bearing on the areas. I still eat lots of goat cheese and olives they practically give the stuff away at the supermarket.

kingdom

I have landed in the land of cheap gasoline and veiled women. As I boarded the flight to Saudi Arabia I began to look around. It was my 28th hour of travel and I was getting on a smallish plane from Dubai to Riyadh and the gate agent was taking passport to look at the person and their ID. Ahead of me was a family, a father two young boys and a mother and I guess an aunt. the mother and aunt were completely covered. Head, hands, feet, shoulders, face everything except the eyes and I wondered what exactly is the screener looking at? Can he tell who s under there is that safe? Of course nothing happened on the flight nor am I saying it was going to, just if the point of handing him the ID is to authenticate the bearer shouldnt something be done to actually authenticate him or her. So after landing I made it to immigration control where they take an eye scan as well as finger print and photograph you. I waited my turn and approached the officer. He did his business on the computer and then told me to place my right hand on the finger print scanner, after a few seconds I said "OK?" and he said "No." I looked at him and he called over another guard. They argued in arabic for about 30 seconds and the the first guard looks at me shoves me my passport and says "GO." I am not sure what happened but I know that none of the usual process for entry were followed. Just nuts. The hotel that I am in is nice I have a big apartment style accommodation which though not my style is furnished and comfortable. The job seems like it will be a breeze with little to no reason to worry and already I have found a dinner joint down the street that serves a bowl of chickpea soup and flat bread with a really nice tea for very cheap. There are of course all the regular western restaurants here from KFC to McD, pizza joints to dunkin donuts. I plan to stay away from the western food for awhile but already I can here the Dunkin calling my name. I cant have a beer so I deserve a delicious cup of coffee right? Right. Looking forward to getting started working and trying to pick up some basic arabic. Should be fun

tired

Recently I have been really tired all day long. I think it might be because I have been eating 3 times a day. Not only do I feel lethargic but also bloated. I think I will go back to 1 or 2 meals a day and see how that treats me. Just not feeling healthy these days. Every meal is huge and loaded with fried thing I have tried to go the salad route but even the salads are chock full of cheese and croutons not to mention he cream dressing and so on. Hopefully I will feel better when the meals get cut.

USA

Went to the grocery store and was reminded how great the US is. I have been to grocery stores in many countries, it is one of the things I do while on vacation, I think it gives you a kind of window into the culture that simply being in a country cannot. For example in china there are whole rows of instant noodles (ramen) but not a single pickle to be found. So yesterday I went to the grocery store here and my god what choices what variety thousands of different cheeses, hundreds of types of chips, fruit for days, and it was cleaned and not crowded and the people were friendly and helpful. It was a real treat to be there. I must say that when someone asks what is so great about america in the future I certainly know what my response will be. Anyways I bought a bunch of things to eat and I am now enjoying my vacation much more.

footie

I finally got to play a footie match today. And I Sucked. I guess that should come as no surprise when I havent played in like 7 months. But it was the fundamentals that killed me, I missed two traps completely. The ball just rolled on by. I was not amused. It was rally fun though. I wish I could play some everyday. Perhaps I will try to make it a habit of going out there at least two or three times evry week to play. I did score one goal on three attempts so the day wasnt a complete bust. Other than that I went to the market to buy some wine and food. More wine than food. The wine here in china is surprisingly palatable. At first when I arrived I bought the mid range stuff and found it was really sweet and almost like juice. But as I moved down the price range it got less and less sweet. I have found a decent cabernet that has good body for 22RMB per bottle. Thats about $3.50. Try to find one of those in ylur local grocer. Also the store I went to was clearing out all there indian mixes. The other week I had made a tikki masala from mix and it was really good. Now usually the mixes are like 18RMB each, but today sale price 5RMB. I bought one of everything. I have food and wine for a week, no work for 3 days and the nice weather has returned. Happy Happy Joy Joy.

meatloaf

I would do anything for .... no not that meatloaf the tasty one. Thats what I had for dinner tonight. And it was awesome. I made it myself and it will surely be on the menu in the future. It is funny that when I smaller (I am not sure I was ever a child) I remember not liking meatloaf something about the word loaf doesnt sound appealing but I thought why not give it a go and damn it was tasty. Mashed potatoes and gravy with wilted spinach and sauteed asparagus. I am hungry again thinking about it. So now I have to do the dishes. Why is it always with every really good thing comes a bad thing? Why cant food do its own dishes? or better yet why cant I cook without making things dirty. I truly hate to do the dishes it is the bane of my existence I dont mind ironing or laundry or cooking or sweeping or mopping or any other housework but the dishes. I think it is because of the dish pan hands. Oh calgon take me away.

phone it in

So last night I tried for the first time since being here in china to order food over the phone. So nice to be in a real city again. So I pick up the phone and dial the number that is on the take-out menu and I get a ringing. Oh so exciting I get to order food in chinese over the phone.. ring....ring...ring...ring...hummm, what is taking so long to answer the phone? Ring... ring... ring.. ring... What? What the hell? ring..ring..ring. God damn it. Why oh Why do these things happen to me? I hung up and tried again. Endless ringing. So instead I had a ham sandwich and and some ramen. Not that I mind sandwiches and noodles but I was so excited too order over the phone in chinese. Now I have to get back to the grind and lesson plan a bunch of classes for next week. Sometimes it feels like there is no rest for the wicked.

meetings

I had two different meeting today, and neither of them were very productive. The first was a general meeting and classroom viewing, in this meeting I understood absolutely nothing as it was all in chinese and at the end I was able to ensure that the laptop actually connects to the overhead projector. I did. two hours later and I have figured out something I was already 99% sure about. Them off to lunch but not lunch on my own oh no lunch as part of the college group, fun more sitting around and not understanding. Lunch was average at best, For all the love of food that is evident in the way most chinese talk about the food of china it is constantly a source of amazement how much of the food is more or less the same. Of the 13 or 14 dishes that the restaurant brought 10 were in a brown sauce only one was uncooked, and the others were stews of some variety. I really wanted a big salad with fresh lettuce and tomatoes and cucumbers but alas this is not in the repertoire of the cooks. After lunch I had another meeting with the dean of a different school where I will have a part time job. He was nice enough but a little strange. I am not sure if the way I look threw him off but he seemed under the impression that I had not taught before. Just a feeling that I got. anyways now I am home getting ready to cook dinner, chicken and mashed potatoes and a huge salad to start.

sleep sweet sleep

Yesterday I went to a Tex-Mex place here in chengdu, and it was passable a nice change of pace from the usual noodles and rices. I do of course have a high expectation of tex-mex food having lived in arizona and mexico for years. At any rate that seems unimportant to this story. I ate way too much like I needed a vomitorium. Had too many margaritas and too much beer. I got back to the house latish had a night cap (who doesnt now) and went to sleep. This morning I had nothing to do. Sleep. And Sleep. So can you guess what happened? I woke up bright and early of course. Have been awake for some time now and have been laying in bed trying to go to sleep. No luck, so now I have to find a way to spend the morning while my host naps and we wait for the repair man to arrive and install a hood into the kitchen. I must say I would have preferred the dark oblivion of sleep.