Umm Adam in Jeddah

You read that right! 10 years ago my family moved to Saudi Arabia. We lived in the Eastern Province for the first 7 years,then spent 3 years in Riyadh and now we have made our way closer to the Haramain. Masha’Allah! Not much to update you on, as the 3 years spent in Riyadh were pretty hectic. I went from a Stay At Home Mom to straight hustling! I worked, tutored and developed several entrepreneurial projects. All of that, along with raising my 4 wonderful children. My children were actually my inspiration behind my Head Lice Treatment and Removal Service (now in Jeddah!!!).

 

This summer the daughter of a friend of mine got married in Jeddah, so we did another Umm Adam Family Road Trip  (National Lampoon has nothing on us!), we also made our first umrah in 3 years. The thought of being closer to Makkah and able to make frequent umrah trips,plus finding out about a great Quran program and being around a great bunch of sisters is what put my plan in action.We returned home in the middle of July, I ran the idea of moving by my dear husband and he was supportive of it. By the end of August we moved to Jeddah walillahil hamd!

Right now I am still getting settled into Jeddah. I have my precious ones in great Islamic schools. Once I find a reliable driver, insha’Allah, then maybe I can update this old blog with more Umm Adam Family Adventures, insha’Allah!

Umm Adam’s Interview with Carol of the American Bedu Blog

Carol of  the American Bedu Blog,  interviewed me recently,to see what I’ve been up to two years after our last interview. My life has changed so much in the past two years. You can read the good and the bad of it in Umm Adam’s interview with the American Bedu.

Umm Adam’s Birth Story Featured in Saudi Birth Story.

Aisha AlHajjar ever so kindly had me relive the horror! She retold the tales my unnatural birthing experiences on her blog, Saudi Birth Story. Alhamdullilah, my repeat cesareans turned until repeated blessings with the birth of my FABULOUS FOUR. Masha’Allah Tabak’Allah! You can read all about it here.

Umm Adam the Lice Lady!

A few years about, I wrote a blog asking,  Do My Children Have Lice? .  That whole ordeal, the advice in the comments and the fact that the only help I had was my maid – inspried me to create Saudi Arabia’s Premier Head Lice Treatment and Removal Service – Cootie Catchers! Hey lice happens!

Umm Adam’s Back But Not Bitter!

Post mysteriously disappeared and I do not have the energy to rewrite it!

We Are As American…

…as apple pie bean pie!

I cook barbecue chicken, chili, mac and cheese. In Ramadan I never fail to have a big feast with turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, candy yams, and all the other traditional American holiday foods San the roasted ham. When I’m feeling ethnic I make tacos or order  pizza!

My daughters  ride horses and camels.

They are involved in many sports like swimming, Taekwondo, Karate, and gymnastics.

They are bilingual

They love adventure!

They go to the zoo

and museum

 They play Uno and Connect four.

They ride bikes and Green Machines.

They have sibling rivalry! It drives me nuts!

Most of all they have a GOOD FATHER who loves and looks after their well being.

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We are American expatriates residing in Saudi Arabia. Many people have raised families abroad. We do no smoke, drink, do drugs,or engage in criminal activity or immoral behavior. Our daughters are as dear to us as our sons. As Americans in Saudi we are not expected to conform to the cultural norms of this society. We are not Saudi, we are American.

We know the value of proper upbringing of children. Children, are a trust given to the parents. Parents are to be responsible for this trust on the Day of Judgement. Parents are essentially responsible for the moral, ethical and the basic and essential religious teachings of their children.

Islam sees that if  parents fulfill their duties towards all children in terms of providing them with necessary training, educational backing, moral, ethical and religious education, this will definitely lead to a more caring child, a better family atmosphere and better social environment and awareness. The father is the shepherd over his family, protecting them, providing for them, and striving to be their role model and guide in his capacity as head of the household. 

There is no need to be concerned about my husband raising any of his children. He cherishes them all and would be the last person to cause intentional harm to them.

Muslims please do not admonish me by telling me it’s haram to post images. I do not usually publicly post pictures of my family and I seek refuge in Allah with His total words from the every devil, vermin and from the evil eye.

Spring Break Saudi Style – Splash Water Park

There is more to life than being Bedo-Ghetto. We city slickers don’t do the desert too well, indeed we are use to being around water. I grew up on Chicago’s South Lake Shore Drive and spent my first 6 years in Saudi on the Eastern Province with the Arabian Gulf as my backyard. Funny thing is, I just like being around water but I don’t like to get wet or have sand on my feet!

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The water park has women only days and also has private bungalows with swimming pools.

Spring Break Saudi Style – Deserted In The Desert

Of course I have video footage, but YouTube, removed their bulk uploader and the normal one doesn’t do diddly squat. So pictures will have to suffice.

I did not travel, but I hosted a family from Hail, KSA for a few days.

My family was invited to the desert by one of our dear adoptive Saudi families, from the Eastern Province. They were visiting Riyadh and we haven’t seen them since we left the EP, so we spent the day in the desert with them and later had a late dinner (in the summer, on weekends, and vacations dinner is not served until at least 10pm) at a relative’s house in a nearby village. I really do miss hanging out with my Simple Saudi friends. Since moving to Riyadh, I’ve only met the Elite. Well, I have two average Saudi families that I am friends with, but they still are on the fancy side. The ones in the EP keep it real….you can kick your shoes off with them and eat on the floor. Really, in Riyadh the people I know don’t take their shoes off and they eat at long dinner tables that seat at least 14 people…lol!

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You see the pic with our old Suburban? Well the not so funny story, is that as soon as we FINALLY made it to the end of the road that led us to the section of the desert where the family farm is, my dh was instructed to abandon me and the girls in the middle of nowhere  (with no bathroom!) with some Bedouin women who were picnicking on the other side of their more modern ‘gymps’ (That’s how they actually pronounce GMC). He and Adam then left in a pickup truck to go drink camel’s milk at the farm. He called later to tell me to send the girls down to the farm and that’s where I took the rest of the pictures and some great video.

The last pic is the meal we had. This was the most fun part of the night (plus since we were at a house we could use a BATHROOM). There were so many people there. The host is the village realtor and he lives in this big huge villa with plenty of land and a tent in the yard.  They also have a separate house just for their humongous kitchen, which I thought was great considering I’ve had two kitchen fires.

Anyway, the family hasn’t seen me for a while and they were saying that it looked like I lost weight. One of the fluffier local women perked up at the mention of weight lost and wanted to know how she could lose weight. They started teasing her saying that she was a candy addict and spent 25 riyals on chocolate bars a day! That’s about 10 candy bars! She doesn’t exercise but she dances. She got up and tried to pull me to the floor to dance. I kid you not the old granny with the oxygen tank started chanting a Bedouin song..the women started hair dancing and granny got up and got jiggy with it. She pulled the oxygen tubes out of her nose and threw her cane in the air like she didn’t care!

That was a night to remember!

I’m Glad My Mom Sold Out When She Did

Wow! Today’s Chicago Suntimes ran an article specfically about the Condo I grew up in. We lived in Unit 11D.

Here’s a clip:

Condo owners sinking in South Shore

Upkeep demands turning vintage property to money pit

Comments

April 11, 2010

BY MARY MITCHELL Sun-Times Columnist

With a panoramic view of the Jackson Park golf course and Lake Michigan, the Shoreline Condominium at 2231 E. 67th was once a swanky address that only the elite could afford.

Barbara Proctor, founder of the nation’s second-largest advertising agency, once owned the penthouse.

» Click to enlarge image

Mary Mitchell

So did two judges, and a pioneering South Side businessman.

But a place that was once a status symbol for well-to-do African-Americans is a nightmare for some of the people who are living there today.

Some residents are up in arms about hefty assessments caused by mandates, such as the City of Chicago’s facade ordinance.

Read the rest here

That article just brought back painful memories. We were always hit with assessments, special assessments, and then some! Let’s not talk about the property taxes. I hated watching my mother struggle to survive. She finally sold that Condo a few years ago.

It Wasn’t Me!!!!!

A sister contacted me and asked if she could talk to me via google talk. I downloaded it and she called me but in the chat box it had chats from me that I did not send. Shortly after, a man came on and told me that he that he knew my husband and for me not to contact him again under any circumstances…he ended the chat with ‘astaufirallah’. When I looked at the chat box it showed that I had been FLIRTING with him!!!! It had me saying that I was a 23 year old female from India and asking him…asl?

If you get anything out of the ordinary from me…and if you do not know me but some how communicated with me at least once on gmail (cuz they save your contacts) and suddenly you start getting chats and emails from me…it wasn’t me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I uninstalled googletalk!!!!!!!!!!!