Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Happy Holidays from Saudi

So the holidays are upon us, and I am a little behind on blogging!! I spend a couple days before Christmas in Bahrain with some ladies from work. Its amazing how normal Bahrain feels compared to Saudi- you actually forget that you are still in a Middle Eastern Muslim country. No abayas, alcohol is legal, pork is legal, shopping where you are actually allowed to try clothes on, movie theatres, and no threat of being arrested from talking/mingling with men!! In other words- its pretty much heaven when one lives in Saudi!!

We flew back to Riyadh on Christmas Eve, and as soon as we landed my holiday depression kicked into full swing. Spending Christmas in a country where it doesn't actually exist may be the hardest thing I have had to go thru. To say I was homesick might be the understatement of the year. I pretty much spent the day off and on crying. Skyping my family and friends back home was pure torture. Work was like any other day of the week. None of my patients acknowledged that it was a western holiday- which made things that much worse. The staff did a lunch potluck which consisted of Arabic food, and pasta from Pizza Hut.....weird. Luckily, my roommate dragged me out of my funk and to a Christmas party. It was just what I needed in the nic of time!!

Last night I invited a few friends over for an early birthday celebration, as I am working my birthday. This afternoon I'm treating myself to a facial and massage at the spa. I'm stuck working New Year's Eve day- but have plans to head to the US embassy for an event after work to ring in the New Year!! That's about all I've been up to. Gearing up to head to Oman for a week in January, and am very much looking forward to it.

Merry Late Christmas, and a kick-ass New Year's to all!!!

2 comments:

  1. Aw, I just read this today, and I'm so sorry I took so long! Hang in there, I can relate, deep down I'm very traditional with celebrating the holidays and I'm sure that was difficult! I'm praying for you, and looking back I'm sure you'll find this a rewarding experience!

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  2. Thanks Nick!! Was a hard week, but luckily it based!

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