New definitions of Fast Food

Rory eating Pho Bo in a bag

This post is dedicated to my observations of food transportation. It's amazing to see how clever people are when it comes to wrapping an article of food to sell or just simply keeping it clean. Such as wrapping rice goo of different sorts into a banana leaf (just like a tamale). The leaf is also used regularly on top of a plate with the food on top of it, it's nice visually but I think its more for cleanliness. Considering everyone washes their dishes on the street in the gutter with what type of water? Definitely not hot and soapy water, in this case it seems safer to me. I noticed in Ethiopia they commonly serve a slice of lime with your silverware for the same reason, for you to sanitize your fork with.
I love watching how the merchants master the art of bagging your produce or take out lunch or better yet your drink. Rubberbands bound around little bags with small amounts of soy sauce or honey for dipping, Drinks ballooned in a baggie also rubberbanded around the straw. Sometime you just hold the bag handles in your fingers drinking from the straw, we saw this a lot in Thailand on the train.
It's also common to see thin bamboo strips (like string) used to bind herbs in bunches or flowers or even bowed on top of the banana leaf tamale things. Every possible thing is transported on motor bikes and the same methods of  binding is used to strap everything onto the back of the bike, it's amazing to see what people are daring enough to carry. We live near a flower market and I'm constantly passed on the road by mountains of fresh flowers or herbs windburned and covered in exhaust on the back of a bike. I'm reminded of how important it is to bleach everything first before consuming. Just this week me Rory and City sadly witnessed roasted dog in the marketplace riding past on my bike.

Flavors full of Yin and Yang

You've heard about the amazing flavors of Vietnamese cuisine and I can attest they are all true, oh how I love the street food here. Honestly I am more cautious than I remember being in other countries but even still, these are the yummy dishes I've tried so far.
First: my favorite Bun bo Nam bo somewhat like pad thai. Rice noodles flash soaked in broth then topped with sprouts, peanuts, jerky stuff, a few crunchy things (probably crushed fried bugs or something), chili, vinegar, sugar, fish oil etc. Yum!
Second: Bun cha (Rich's fave) BBQed pork with a bowl of fish sauce broth to dip in served with a pile of fresh herbs that we don't even recognize.
Third: Hot Pots. We ate this on a boat on our lake, served piping hot with a few ingredients and a bunch more ingredients (raw chicken etc.) on the side for you to add as you like, also with a pile of fresh yummy herbs on the side.
Fourth: Pho a national favorite, served breakfast lunch and dinner. Broth with rice noodles and meat with fresh herbs on top, eaten with chopsticks. Rich just thinks its glorified ramen noodles. I love it!
Fifth: Spring rolls usually served as piles of ingredients such as prawns, slivers of cucumber, pineapple, green mango, bamboo shoots, peppers, herbs, and of course noodles. After rolled in thin rice paper you dip into fish sauce. The idea here is to capture every possible flavor sensation in every bite, making you the master of taste.
Sixth: BBQ everywhere, we went to a place where you do it yourself. A bit challenging with the babies, but super yummy and of course burning hot off the grill. (pictured above)

Really all of these dishes combine rich combinations of salt/sweet crunchy/soft  sour/spicy hot/cold etc. I suppose it's the yin and yang right? Well I'm convinced that my family would love this aspect of Vietnam because I often reflect back on my childhood. I hear my dad's voice telling me to butter every little edge of the toast, or to take the perfect sip of milk just after putting the salty side down buttered saltine cracker in my mouth. Going out to the buffet wasn't about eating until we stuffed ourselves but about enjoying a wide range of textures and flavors.  Well Grampa McClellan you pegged me, I'm realizing I really am a texture person and even a picky eater. :o)

Bikers

Dad would be so proud, That's what I think about while I'm maneuvering the traffic with grocery bags in my lap and in between my legs, or just before I shout back to the girls to hold onto my waste tightly, or put my foot down to the ground sliding to do a tight turn on my motorbike. Yep Rich and I have become bikers, well not in the sense that we ride around on Harley Hogs with Leather gear and the whole getup. But to and from everywhere here in Hanoi on our Mo ped (Yamaha Nauvoos). Its the most exhilarating thing and best of all very very common here, its really the ideal way to get around. I've spent the last two weeks renting bike after bike to find the right one, not sure if I have yet but it's fine for now. I have yet to go find a baby seat for Rexy to sit more comfortably. Yes I said Comfortably not safely. You'd think my main priority of getting a seat would be safety not comfort right? Well unfortunately that's not really an option here in Vietnam, see what I mean?

When travelling with precious cargo though, I use precaution and go no more than about 20-25 mph. I pray every time I go out with the kids that we don't have an accident. And so far so good.
I really have to admit something about traffic here, though its chaotic and very congested I am amazed to see how well people get around and safely too. Click here to see what I mean

Crazy traffic in Hanoi

The key we have found is to be predictable and move moderately slowly. This video is very accurate and when I see it I can't imagine myself in it, but out there on the road its really easy as pie.

Lack of Fourth

Well I'd like to say that we spent our fourth of July in front of a big blue sky full of amazing Asian fireworks, I mean Hey isn't that where we buy them from anyways? I'd like to brag about our fourth picinicking at the Lake before touring Ho Chi Minh Museum or the Pagodas in the Old City. Heck I'd even settle for the excuse of catching a movie or something basic, but we didn't. Actually it was about 8:30 pm before we even remembered that it was our American Independence day, no radio commercials every five minutes in the car to remind me about the latest Holiday. Heck if it wasn't for the commercials in between all my errand running right before the move I'd have missed Fathers day.
And even this being our first time forgetting an American Holiday while abroad my sweet girls didn't even fuss, no begging for us to take them out, or whining poor me I missed the Fourth of July. Our life has been full of shopping, unpacking, and moving furniture. Although a little time eating out a bit and even going to the community pool (yes there is one, actually two that I've found.) I guess you could say we're not tourists yet. Just trying to get used to everything in our new residence. So unromantic!!!! Oh well, maybe my kids feel like we made up for it yesterday with some American friends coming over for our burrito bar, such a nice and refreshing night (entertaining ourselves with card games and great conversation.)

We're getting there.

Harder than it looks

Well after a week and a half of eating out at amazing restaurants and gobbling up delicious street food I felt so inspired to try my own hand at Vietnamese cooking. Started with diced carrots sateyed in garlic and onions, then bokchoy, little weird mushrooms, of course sprouts, fresh squeezed lime juice and fish sauce. Then rolled in rice paper. You'd think i hit the nail on the head!!! Umm no. So yucky that I actually took the initiative to throw everyone's away before they could even have an opinion about it. Ha h , needless to say cooking lessons are desperately needed.

Arrival in Hanoi Vietnam

We've been here in Vietnam now for a couple days but still excused for our actions as "jet lag" is still in full force around our house. A couple of times a day we really let the beast out but for the most part we are still quite civil to each other. I could not stay awake past 7:00 pm last night so me and rexy and pyper were wide awake this morning at 2:30 am, we decided to unpack and then play with toys. Rory and city enjoy having the freedom to stay up until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning hanging out so they can get a full nights sleep. Everyone loves the new house, although it's stressful carting groceries and goods down our ally ( not big enough for cars, and we don't have motorbikes yet) to our house, I have to admit that it's quaint and even kinda romantic walking down the path with each house right up close to each other, everyone in each other's living space. It feels a little like some parts of Europe, we've never lived this way before and it's really quite refreshing. I love the view on one side of the house where you look out and see many other houses (my neighbors) each terrace crowded with laundry and music echoing through the ally ways. Although last nights wasn't so cute when I woke up from the dog barking. Such a different life to get used to.  Rich's favorite view is the other side of the house facing the lotus pond, although you really have to go up another level to enjoy it to the fullest. Rory and city have been officially claiming their rooms on the third floor, with the babies down on the second floor with me and Rich. The Mosquitos have also staked their claim but I bought some raid, the battle is on! Maybe it's time to start the malaria mess.

Ricky Bobby's coming soon

Well the time is getting closer at hand, baby is due in three weeks. I'm guessing he'll really come about a week later, but we'll see. Rich is still activly job hunting, with a few really great ones in the hat he is feeling very good. Our options could take us to Mumbai, London, Ethiopia, Jo Berg, or Qatar. I'm most excited about the Mumbai option, or London. Two really great areas that we have not really explored yet.
We moved into the Phipps home about a month ago and today moved out onto our own. It's like we are newly weds or something, finally getting a place of our own. Ha Ha.  Well we are close enough to having the baby that we thought it best to just settle in for a couple months even if he does get a job sooner.  We just didn't want to wear out our stay with them. We like our new place, its a hotel apartment near the girl's school, and a couple restaurants and mini market next door to us. Our experience today was quite similar to how it is whenever we visit a new country, its been really fun. Seems like living here in Saudi has not had that fun new and exciting adventure taste because we came and lived on a compound right away etc.  Where as now we are rambling and unstable just like when we go on trips. Last weel was Eid and so the girls had time off from school too, so each day we went out and did something fun and different. Me being so close to my due date has kept us from being able to take a trip :(  but thats ok we made up for it.

So last week we went out to the desert with the Mortensens, and Galis to have a BBQ. We searched for four wheelers everywhere but couldn't find them, they are usually all over. But it seems like the stands were all replaced with large camping areas that everyone was renting for Eid. So finally we just gave up looking for them and found a nice BBQ spot to set up camp. Then after a few minutes of hanging out and setting up we noticed a couple of local guys parked near by on the four wheelers watching us. Being a bit nervous about it I asked Rich to go shew them off but they offered to rent their bikes to us and then a bunch more guys came over too give rent their bikes. It was really cool to have finally found what we were wanting. I guess we stuck out like a sore thumb. About an hour of riding was all we could get in before we noticed the wall of Sand heading strait for us. One we noticed it, we literally had about 7 minutes to grab all our stuff and get into the cars. Wow I had never really seen the wall of sand like that before. Last year there was a bad storm but I didn't see it coming at us. This one didn't get as dark as the one last year but it was still really hard to see as we drove slowly towards the city. Rory and City loved every minute of it. We ended at the Mortensens for dinner and just hung out the rest of the evening.
The next day we went o Salam park (our favorite friday afternoon destination) with the Turno family.
Then later that week we met the Pooleys, Turnos, and a few others to go out to the Wadi Hanifa (a national park type place) its a dry river bed where eveyone goes to picninc. We found a nice spot to hang out and cook our chicken over coals. The kids had fun playing and making up skits. I'm so glad the girls have really gotten a lot of playing with friends in this week. Their main source of social time is just school and friday friends now days. I am surprised that they don't really seem to miss the compound life though, although it was ten times more social. (I'm glad) I am ok with being out of the compound life too.  Our girls seem to be a lot more productive and they get a long with each other better too.
Being exausted a lot lately I'm happy with the amount of my involvment last week, but now my life is about staying mellow and getting ready for our little newcommer. I am a little annoyed that my body hasn't been as active this last part of my pregnancy. Oh well, can't always get what you want right?

Hotel shmotel

Settling back into Riyadh life now, well I guess that all depends on how you define settled. Trying to, and doing quiet well if you ask me, although City might disagree. She had a little break down the other night about being sick of living in a hotel. I can't say I blame her, but really there are those who are worse off. I guess what I mean by "settling in" is that we are falling into a nice routine. We have mastered the art of rooming together, our meals are a mix of long life shelf food and eating out with friends. We all share a bathroom nicely and the girls see lots of Daddy (who can complain?) Well hopefully we can make some more decisions soon about where we will live and who Rich will work for etc. I just think its so cool that we get to stay for free, using up Rich's reward points. Today was my first day working at the Art and Skills institute, my students come next week and I'm just doing curriculem development and meeting other teachers this week. I have enjoyed thinking through what I want to do with them. Its hard to get use to the Saudi work pace, I really have to lower it down a notch or two or else I will go crazy. Rory and City are going to the Multinational school again this year and love seeing their old friends. They had their first horse riding lesson this weekend and loved it. I was surprised they liked it, English style with a strict instructor. He made them stand and sit over and over the whole half hour. But in the end City got to wash and brush her horse. Rory was sore today. Rich just got called in as the second councelor in the Branch Presidency, he's pretty stunned still. Im excited for him, he has such a natural touch with people and everyone adores him. I think he will be over primary so we will work together a lot. He kept checking in on us yesterday during the meeting, it was so cool to have him around. We will start to get ready for the program presentation soon, hopefully it can be done before the baby comes in November. I am a little nervous to deliver my baby here, but I have an amazing partner who will be with me every step of the way. Little Ricky Bobby activates every time he hears daddy's voice. He's so sctive and I just can't wait till he joins us. Rory and City love to snuggle me at night and feel him and talk to him. Pyper is super cute and happy all the time, we are so lucky to have such a great two year old. She loves to learn, and talks like crazy. She is becoming more and more interested in books just like her sisters and really likes to sing. Daddy taught her his and my names so she regularly calls us Rich and Heather. She knows how old she is (two) and still likes to dance on the table and bounce into the splits for entertainment.

Shedding

Well as of yesterday our villa is almost completely empty and all furniture stored away for the summer. We will detach for the summer and go home to ohio and then re-engage this fall. We are so excited about going home we can't see strait. Rich has left already and me and the girls go Thursday night late. This summer We plan to get some camping in and lots of library time. We are registered for a week long camping outing where we will learn how to do natural building. Rich wants to build some kind of cool building on our property some day, so now he can learn. I love to take the girls to The metro parks where we can go feed ducks and ride bikes and even take fun classes on nature subjects. I miss nature sooo much, well green nature anyway.  The desert is beautiful, but we never ever get out to it. Occasionally we go to a big beautiful park, but it's so restrictive to be in an abaya all the time. Oh yeah! Well I have already shed my abaya (its packed away) summer here I come!

Mozambique paradise

Rich and I went to check out a non profit group in Beira Mozambique. We had been to Ethiopia last spring so knew a little of what to expect. However the average life here was quite different than in Addis Ababa. We landed in Maputo (the capital) and drove up the coast of about half of the country's length. Stopping in Vilenkulos for a couple days of beach time, we were amazed to see the village still unaffected by the tourism industry. Yes there were a couple of resorts spotted along the beach but right along side of them were people living in grass huts cooking over fires, carrying water or large capalana wrapped packages on top of their heads. Villagers walking for miles instead of driving (if there was a car in town it was because they were a visitor). There seemed to be a strange dichotomy of life. Barter and trade markets with people selling freshly caught crabs and home grown vegetables. My favorite time here was spent sketching in this market, stinky fish and BO filled the air with people almost piled on top of each other selling there goodies (exactly the same as their neighbor's goodies). What a scene for visual inspiration. I loved the stilted canopy with mismatched hand tied ripped fabric over each person's three sq ft of space, stretching across the entire yard like a single rooftop (only about 4 feet high).

At first I got the evil eye, when sketching someone's portrait. But then after a few moments of feeling squirmy and uncomfortable with me looking right at them, they noticed that it was a sketch of them. Suddenly they were filed with joy and excitement, they were shocked to see themselves that way, as if it was a miraculous invention or something. Perhaps this was my favorite way of bonding with them. Children patiently watching, mothers proudly waiting to see their profiles. One woman was very proud of a scar on her chin and was insistent that it appear just so. I have always been attracted to painting or sketching such beautiful people as these, but to be here LIVE in Africa!! Wow, I was loving it.

 These kids chased Rich around to see his phone, which he had taken pictures and videos of them on. They seemed as if they really had never seen such a thing, like they were in a different world. They were!! Moments such as this were a dime a dozen here. People live such simple lives, humble, wholesome, unpolluted. Women were stellar. They were definitely the work labor force here, no cattle sowing fields, no mules or horse drawn carts like in Addis, not even hand carts. Occasionally a wheel barrel, but everything was carried on their heads. The girls above teamed up to crunch the corn grits for porridge in their native american style mortar and pestle, what a work out.
Our time here in Vilenkulos was bliss but too short. Beach time here was wonderful, the sand literally squeeked when you walked in it. I collected 3 big conchs for my girls to paint (for prayer rocks). One morning my seashells kept ending up on the floor, and again and again throughout the day before I realized I had caught a couple of live hermit crabs. Poor things, don't worry I put them back. Although I still ended up with a surprise when I got back to Riyadh (a stow away).

The Holy Land experience

No this is not the Amusement park in Florida, but our spring break in the REAL Jerusalem and Jordan. (see my post on the Florida version of Holy land in my archive March 2010 "Just hanging out with Jesus"). Our travel buddies, the Sterns invited us out to their son Trevor's Bar mitzvah. So we decided to really take advantage of this trip and even get City baptized in the Jordan river. We accomplished a lot and had a great time. Walked where Jesus walked, trampled through Hezekiah's muddy water tunnels, hiked Masada, painted ourselves in dead sea mud, ate latza matza (because it was pesach and nothing leavened was available), touched the Tora, touched the Western wall, went to church at BYU Jerusalem (rich's old school), wandered the old city, Rode camels and mules just like Indiana Jones did in Petra Jordan. good fun.

What next?

Well its been a pretty fulfilling month. I have gotten into a nice routine with some friends, each week we have a day to do art together and another day preschool play/lesson time, and another day is piano. I'm really enjoying having these commitments, and something to look forward to. Especially our play group with Pyper, its her  first. We went to the farm on my friend Joanne's compound. Pyper was so excited to feed the horse, and he was very gentle on her little fingers. They had about 150 goats that she was NOT afraid of at all. She just walked right up to them, big or small. There were many babies, so cute.

To put a twist in all this, last month I had put in a resume for teaching at the girls' school. They just called me for an interview this week, I walked out with an offer. It felt so good for them to be excited about what I have to offer and even just to be needed in a job. Well it has been a while since I worked, so I have to admit I was a bit nervous. However I found myself more stressed and even picky about what I should choose. Last month I also got an offer at another school that I turned down. Its so strange to be in a society that is so desperate for teachers. In the states its just the opposite. In fact it's better not to go into teaching just because it s such a saturated field. Here they're a dime a dozen, and I have no more pocket space.

Well I do love to teach but I think I'm going to just stick to what I'm doing, rather then add a bunch of useless stress. I love having energy at the end of the day to play and exercise with my girls. My favorite lately is running laps together. Rory especially enjoys running with me, she surprised herself by running about 5 miles. Who knows maybe I'll get to give private art lessons to a Saudi princess. Its possible!! Really my big love right now, is making my own art. I jumped into oil painting, Grandma Dilworth would be so proud. I really LOVE it, I can't believe I never touched the stuff. My goal is to do 5 paintings before summer hits. Woohhooo! Canvas, here I come!

Egypt in a nutshell

You know how you feel sometimes when you stand up too quickly and get a head rush, well that how I feel about Egypt. It was really quite amazing and of course very fun. But woah what a rush! Our awesome friends, the Sterns from chesterland, hosted our stay in Cairo, they moved there a few months ago. Our first few days were enlightened with Hanukkah and Christmas celebrations. We then spent a day at the pyramids, I must say they were definitely worth the trip. I really liked seeing people taking camel rides al around them, so picturesque.  We drove around an area that was well, shocking. I really loved it though. Its called Garbage City. This town is situated right on/next to the land fill, and the people who live there sort the trash, its to be recycled or re-sold or re-furbished etc. So cool, its kinda like my garage back in Ohio, except no racoons of course.
We then trained in to Luxor where YES the souq salesmen attack you. Its all true, everything that has ever been said about the crazy ways they hassel you. I quickly figured my way around though. My catch phrases became, "sorry, I don't speak to strangers" or "no Engles" or simply wearing a scarf on my head seemed to keep them off my back a bit. Everyone would always ask, hello m'dam where are you from? I would answer Saudi Arabia or Afghanestan and they would be puzzled and then just chuckle. I really did enjoy the game though, the Egyptians are so nice and have a great sense of humor. My responses became more of an ice breaker and a gentle way of saying "I'm just looking".
Touring Luxor was well spectacular! We walked and walked and walked. There were some men who had a stick gate blocking a certan spot with a view, after I was let in to go see, I was then harassed for payment. "backsheesh", :) Same with the bathrooms anywhere in Egypt. Anyone could come and stake their claim to a bathroom, they would keep it looking nice and occasionally offer tissue for you to use, but only in return for "backsheesh". interesting.

Private schools

Now we are back in Riyadh, with a re-design on our schedule. The girls are in private schools now and just having a ball. We don't have as much time together as we did last semester, but what we do have is more than we had in Ohio. I get more Pyper time too, I think she was a little bit neglected last semester. Each morning she drenches herself in her little water play station just outside my back door, while I organize and unpack (still). Then we see the girls about 2:45 for homework and all head out for a play at the playground before dinner. Life is bliss.

The regular sabeth day afternoon cruising

Kingdom Tower at its finest

the broom hockey club

Much needed trip home

Well finally a visit home. What a gift from the lord. I was just sinking into a depressing state of caged up reality when Rich calls up to tell me we are finally able to go to the states for Iqama (residency visa) processing. Yahoo!!! I guess the shock from Thailand back to my guilded cage in Riyadh was a bit too much because I seriously started to cry from happiness. We were outta there in about one week, packed and tickets in hand. My mom had visited Chestertucky the previous month but I missed her, so Janae talked her into coming back for one more week with me. It was such an amazing break. And we even got a holiday, Halloween, my favorite. Rory had such a great idea, Madusa. I love it when my girls give me a creative blank canvas to work with, costumes have become my favorite art project each year. City decided to be a "Man eating Siren". She did have a seductive blond wig too. (what am I teaching my children?)

Well being away from Daddy got old very quick, but he came at least every other weekend to see us. Mom and Dad McClellan let us stay with them, in turn I helped out around the house. My favorite part was the misc. tiling patch jobs. I forgot how much I enjoy tiling/mosaics.

My mom and me and the girls drove around downtown, I felt like tourist. We went to the West side market and drove around in the flats checking out bridges. and then to the Rock hall to teach the girls about Elvis. I couldn't stop taking pictures the whole day, even on Mom and Dad's street. I can't believe I already forgot how breathtaking it is in Ohio in the fall, I practically wrecked ten times, just staring into the woods. Wow.

Rory goes to my beautician Kelly

Siren City and Madusa Rory for Halloween

Pyper's first pumpkin carving

Shaylee came yardsaling with me and Janae and Gramma Lee,

we took a break to play on the grassy hill.

City loses Tooth # 3

Cousin Kaela's exclusive birthday outing

McClellan family eirloom buggy, soooo cool!

Thailand pics

Soncran, our baby elephant

Rory and her best friend Talia

Felicity's fish face

Floating market

Phuket

Hydrant

Rory's cute hat and thai pants

Wat Arun steps

Grand Palace