11 November 2009 **Veterans Day**

Unfortunately, "Veterans Day" is not recognized here, but I do appreciate that there is a place in the world that the Veterans of the USA are recognized and appreciated. I am thankful for all the men and women that have served and fought for America. God Bless You!

We continue to unpack boxes and having spurts of entertainment provided by the locals. On the Compound there is a man in charge of maintenance, and I decided that I will refer to him as the "screwdriver man". LOL! When I call him to come to the Villa for various reasons, mostly because the Villa was not cleaned before we moved in and his maintenance crew (worker bees) need to clean it. Screwdriver man makes an initial visit to see what I want done. There was something on the entry floor and he whips out his little screw driver and scrapes on the stuff on the floor and decides whether his crew can clean it or not. Screwdriver man does this for everything, stuff on the dishwasher, baked on food in the oven, grease on the back splash, etc. Then, he makes an appointment for him to come back with his worker bees. I think that all of them are Philippians. They are all very nice and polite.

I braved the crazy drivers yesterday to go to the garden center, which is an outside place with a tarp for cover. This one guy was helping me pick our some hibiscus plants as tall as me, and all of a sudden he turned and walked away. The reason for this was because a male Arab appeared. It's always nice to understand where you are located on the Totem Pole! The poor little guy was doing the best that he could to please the Arab, and not lose me as a customer. He would go back and forth between the Arab and I. Finally I picked up two of the hibiscus plants and headed to the front of the shop, and he ran up to the front and said "oh Madam, sorry. Where is your car." We had a discussion before because I was concerned that all four of them would not fit. I went out and showed him the car and he said Madam, no problem. I will fit them. I picked up a tray of coleus and paid him. I had already got to haggle with him over the price of the hibiscus, which was fun. It was just like I was in Nigeria again. I asked the price and he said 50 Riyals. I said that was too much. He went and asked his boss for a better price. His boss stuck he head around the corner and said "Madam 40, last price."

Driving here provides constant entertainment. They will drive wherever they can put their vehicle. They not only cut you off, but they will honk their horn just because you are in front of them. I'm not sure where they are going in such a hurry. The 3 lane roundabouts are absolutely the worst. They ignore the lane dividers. From the inside lane of the the roundabouts they will exit, making a right turn right in front of you. Or the reverse they will be on the outside lane that is suppose to exit the roundabout, therefore instead of turning right they will just keep going in the roundabout and cutting right in front of you. You have to be an extremely defensive driver. The joys of learning to drive in a different country.

I think that God prepared me for this place many years ago, when we lived in Nigeria. It is kind of scary every time something happens and Nigeria automatically pops into my head. I just thank the Lord that He prepared me for this place because it is so much easier living here, and now I can understanding why it was in His plan so many years ago.

Today, was a very different excursion day. I went to a modern mall with 4 floors, which includes an ice skating rink. There is a Starbucks there, but it was the afternoon and I did not feel the need for a Starbucks. The grocery store is in this mall also. It's a Carrefour, which is a lot like a Super Wal-Mart. The Mall has just about anything you would need. I have not found the hardware store yet, but that will be another adventure.

If you would like to leave comments on this blog, you must sign in with a Google, or a Yahoo account. You can also click on "Followers" and every time I post something, you will get a notice that I have added something to this blog.

Have a Great Day!