Day two

Oh, the woes of travelling to a new country. Either it is the jet lag, the lack of sleep before the move from nerves, the lack of sleep now, or the new environment, but I now of the flu, or what feels like a nasty case of it. Yuck-o. But, I did unpack my bags today, feels much better, did the laundry and organized things a little. Our shipment should come in few days and I want to be prepared so we can actually move in. Anyone who knows me knows that I never really moved into my last place because I knew I was moving out in 6 months, and that just made things unbearable and disorganized. But, that is neither here nor there.

Today I ventured outside the compound, yes, I know some might be upset, but I went out on my own. Dressed in my black abaya. I walked down the street, not even half a mile, to the mini-mall that has some shops, a book store and a grocery store. I can see it from our balcony, but I made sure to write every street name and landmark on the way there just to make sure I knew how to get back. I can't drive here so I took off on foot. Sure cuts down on the amount of groceries I buy! I mainly needed cold medicine and orange juice. It was a very safe, uneventful trip. The grocery store was much more enjoyable because it was empty, shopping in the daytime is the way to go. When the shipment comes I am going to use my work rolling briefcase to carry groceries!

One funny thing, I was walking on the sidewalk and on several occasions men honked at me. At first I thought it was a taxi cab, then I realized, no, not a taxi, just some pakistani or indian honking at the westerner with "blond" hair.

Tonight Adam still had the rental car so we went into Jubail and got my Abaya fitted and picked up two head scarfs. I will feel more comfortable having a scarf. I won't cover my face, but when I am walking outside I would rather cover my hair so I don't call attention to myself.

I was hoping to see some women on the compound but didn't see any. I only saw the men that work on the compound. It seems like a ghost town. I didn't go over to the rec center or the gym, I will go there tomorrow, maybe I will find some sign of life.

Gunda