Play date

Evelyn had a play date this weekend at a classmates' house. Lets just say we are on the low end of the spectrum at the private school she goes to. We had some difficulties finding the house- as there was a detour- and the mom wasn't sure how to direct us around. So she dispatched her driver to meet us at a nearby shop and follow him back to their compound. Where we were greeted by a doorman. I stepped into a spacious hallway and was invited to sit down in the sitting room while the nanny helped Evelny round up her things. The sitting room had seven separate sitting areas- complete living room sets- and a fountain. It was all in a modern Middle Eastern style- so gorgeous! I felt like I was in a modern day Arabian Nights palace. (So glad Edward was in the car with Roger so he couldn't try to break anything!) But the people here are so gracious- there is absolutely no pretense. It doesn't matter at all that she is a teacher's kid instead of a oil baron's child. Evelyn has very, very nice classmates. I am so grateful that she has made friends here so quickly. It is interesting- it seems like Thursdays after school is a popular time to have a bunch of friends over for the evening for a swimming party, etc. I'll have to plan something here at our humble villa some time- but I am a little intimidated! These are kids with everything money can buy- so maybe don't try to compete but keep it old school. No karaoke machine, home theater system, catered snacks, pool or Wii, but how about Monopoly and some homemade chocolate chip cookies? Hmm....

Evelyn's baptism

Evelyn got baptized on Friday! I am so proud of her- she was a little nervous since it was in a deep swimming pool and no family or familiar friends were there. But she did great! And most of our branch was there to support us. They are so nice! It makes me feel old to have a girl that big. I made an "8" cake for her- but failed to take pictures in all the commotion. She is having a sleepover spa party this weekend with three friends from school. Should be fun!

The Iman Swooned

This is one of my more successful attempts at Middle Eastern cuisine- a dish of eggplants, onions and tomatoes called The Iman Swooned.

2 medium eggplants
1 tsp salt
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 c fresh dill, chopped
1/4 c fresh basil, chopped
1/2 c olive oil
1/4 c water
1 TB sugar
1 lemon, cut into wedges

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Wash each eggplant, cut off the tops and slice lengthwise. Arrange in 9 x 13 pan, flesh up.
2) In a large bowl, combine salt with onion, tomatoes, garlic, parsley, dill and basil, Stir in 2 TB of oil. Spoon mixture over eggplant halves, getting as much on top as possible.
3) Combine remaining olive oil with water and sugar in the smae bowl. Pour over the eggplant halves.
4) Bake for 1 1/2 hours, pressing tomato mixture into eggplant flesh once or twice. Eggplant is ready when it is very soft. Pour oil from the bottome of the pan over the eggplants. Serve with lemon slices.

When I make this- Roger eats one, I eat one fresh and then the other two leftover. I can't get Evelyn to try it- Edward takes tastes. I love it- a good vegetarian option.

more on the store

Edward sings "Lulu's, Lulu's" the name of the grocery store we end up at two to three times a week. I thought I would share more about shopping here.
Most of the stores have a parkingup- garage under them- on the ground level- so your car isn't so hot when you come out. Almost all the grocery stores are in a mall complex- most are more strip malls, but others have a GAP and Gymboree, etc. next to the grocery store.
The Lulus complex we go to has an Italian place, dry cleaning, bank branch, Western Union, cupcake stand, carpet dealers, aquarium store, perfume store, Burger King, herbal store, pharmacy, accessory store, a few more restaurants, etc.- most on the ground floor. You have to take this escalator to the grocery store- but the escalator is flat- no stairs- so you can push a grocery cart on it. They all have magnetic wheels which lock it into place on the escalators so they don't go careening down.
Also, none of the carts drive straight- everyone has perfected this diagonal leaning method of steering their carts. You also have to put 100 fils, like a quarter, into the cart to unlock it from the other carts to be able to use it. You get your fils back when you take your cart back and insert a key from the cart above into the slot on your cart- popping out your coin. The keys aren't long enough to reach the slots on its own cart- just connect to other carts- if that makes sense. I've had a few not so fun store trips where I didn't have a 100 fil coin on me!
Here the first floor is the ground floor and second floor is the first floor. So the groceries are up on the first floor and the clothing, sporting goods, school supplies and housewares are on the second floor. If you need milk and pencils, you go to the second floor, get the pencils, pay for them, then check your bag at the security desk / bag check on the first floor, get your milk, then go claim your pencils.
It is pretty much the same as a regular grocery, but there is a large bulk foods section manned by helpful staff. The deli is a lot larger. There is the hot prepared food counter- like chicken, etc., the meat and cheese counter, the pickles and other cold prepared foods counter, the bakery deli section- with individual pot pies, pasteries etc., and the Indian food deli counter. In the produce section, you pick out your produce then take it to a counter to be weighed and priced. You must do this- if you take unweighed and unpriced produce to the checkout they freak out because they don't know the prices and don't have scales. Other than the huge rice aisle, shelf stable milk aisle, and a few unfamiliar things- it is pretty normalish.
Question though, in the ground meat section, you can buy buffalo from India. I'm assuming this is water buffalo. It is cheaper than beef and looks really similar- should I give it a go? (I don't know why but this seems less gross than camel meat to me!)

cracking up in the toy aisle

Evelyn wanted this "HuLaHoop" but I thought it was of questionable quality- "once own, nothing can instead" is lost in translation...

Hannah Montana wanted me to buy this Medical and Series toy- New and Interesting of Medical Toys! But I passed.

Promotions are my new coupons!

Promotions are my new coupons! I got these free mugs buying milk, the 9 x 13 pan from buying a two pack of canola oil, two butter knifes with a double pack of butter, the Spiderman pencil set with some chocolate milk boxes and the beach ball with a pack of Capri Suns. Promotions are usually double packs at a discount, buy two get one free, bonus item with purchase- and I love them!
In Bahrain you never know exactly what will be in the store- if the shipments haven't come in for a while, it can be hard to find stuff like cupcake liners, brownie mix, canned pumpkin. If you see it and like it- grab it and a few more! Like chocolate chips for $1 BD on promotion at Lulus- I bought six but am going back for more. Also- sometimes they'll get a shipment of western products that they are trying to blow out. The other day I found double packs of Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries and Peaches for less then the cost of one box of other cereal. Treat cereal for us!
Groceries are a lot more expensive here so I've learned to stop doing the conversion to American dollars in my head and just get what we need. I am still frugal but we need to eat more than just rice! We have an egg dish once a week, a roasted chicken once a week and spaghetti or other pasta once a week- on rotation because we like them and they are cheap eats. I am trying to learn to cook some local cuisine- with varied success.
I make chicken shawarma the other day. And it was good- but it was expensive and time consuming to make. After we found out that you can get a shawarma at this local place for about 75 cents. So I'm not going to make those anymore! Funny- the same with the chickens- the rotisserie chicken- premade and stuffed with rice- is the same price as a raw whole chicken. So I might not be firing up my oven any more on chicken night!

Two-ish

Edward has been two-ish since we've gotten here. He has cut holes in two of his shirts with Evelyn's school scissors and throws his toys in the garbage (didn't catch his new Lightning McQueen in time- RIP). He pitches fits in the store if he can't hold a treat and won't stay in the cart, he thinks he needs to be carried or walking around grabbing stuff of the shelves. Two days ago he gave Evelyn a bloody nose and a bloody lip by meanly head-butting her unprovoked. He hits and pushes and grabs at us. Last night he was in and out of our bed ten times even with two bottles, his puppy pillow pet and some Tylenol. (Just another bad night in a series of bad nights!)He doesn't want to eat anything- since I don't have Goldfish and fruit snacks here- he just wants to drink bottles and throw food on the floor. Unless its candy. He no longer goes to nursery without us.

After a hour of trying unsuccessfully to put him down for a nap, I carried him downstairs while he was forcing his grubby hand in my mouth. Sure enough, the Alpha-Bits he had dumped on the floor that morning with the juice box of OJ sprinkled on top for good measure were still there. I set him down and he started banging the laptop trying to get it to play the Wiggles. Looking at our full sink and filthy floors, for the briefest of seconds my sleep-deprived brain was thinking maybe I should have tried to get a para-pro job at the school and hired a nanny / maid.

He came up and said "Mama! Kiss!" and gave me a kiss. Then he said "Prayers?" then folded his arms "Mumble, mumble, Jesus, Men!"

So glad to be home with him!