Honestly, I am busier here than I ever was in the US. There are three main women's groups here that meet on a monthly basis for a "Coffee Morning." The women get together, bring savories and sweets and chit chat, catch up and then have a presentation, do a craft or learn a new skill. So three weeks out of the month, once a week is a women's gathering. They are a lot fun and a great way to meet people. The three groups are the Cove and Arabian homes, which are the two compounds in Yanbu, and the WACC, which is in Camp 4 where I live. I was lucky enough to slip in as treasurer for the WACC so it's given me something to add to my schedule and really helped me meet other women here when I arrived.
In addition, different women have groups that showcase their talents. One friend offers crocheting classes, along with sewing and quilting lessons. The WACC offers language classes in Arabic and French weekly. And one lady offers cooking classes to anyone who wants to learn (and with the limited selections in the grocery store, many of us are happy to learn some new dishes).
Let me just say that we eat much healthier here than ever. There are few restaurants in town and so we cook almost every day. Also, Chuck comes home for lunch, so rather than eating out for lunch we actually have a home cooked meal all 3 meals a day. Also, there are no pesticides or preservatives used on the produce, so fresh means fresh (right down to the poop on the eggs and the worms that you sometimes find in your lettuce). With that, however, comes a trip to the grocery store about every 2-3 days as the produce does not last long here. You make a menu, buy just what you need and then head out to stock up. Honestly, it makes for a good outing too as Abby and I can be in the house for a couple days at a time - so it's nice to get out and shop as a family.
The stores do carry some frozen meats and vegetables, but no TV dinners, no Marie Colanders’ and certainly no hamburger helper (hamburger is something to be treasured here as well, along with any good cuts of beef). The meat is mainly fish and chicken, and any expat will tell you, you can easily become vegetarian here. Also, they do not uses all the hormones in their meat, so the chicken is roughly the size of a Cornish hen, and the beef has little to no fat on it. We've actually added oil to the ground beef to get it to grill and fry!
So what do I spend my days doing? On top of taking care of Abby and cleaning, I've taken up the hobby of cooking and learning as many new dishes as I can. I've learned that I love Turkish coffee and I'm getting pretty good at making it, Lebanese food is delicious and their spices are out of this world. I've also relied heavily on my mother's 1967 Betty Crocker Cookbook, as almost all the recipes are from scratch, and I'm able to cook more traditional American dishes, just without all the preservatives and salt. I have successfully learned to make cottage cheese from scratch (not available here otherwise), a variety of rice dishes (one from Ethiopia that Abby absolutely loves), lentils, cabbage and potatoes from Ethiopia as well, many vegetarian Indian dishes with curry and my favorite to date, Sushi!
The women gather two to three at a time, combine it with a play date for the kiddies and we teach each other to cook. On our recent trip to the states, I managed to bring back some good ol' southern cooking supplies including corn meal, hush puppy mix and Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ that I plan to introduce the women to within the coming month.
If you haven't guessed already, it is very hard to lose weight here, as the women are always gathering and sharing recipes. I've included some of the pictures from our cooking lessons, and even Abby gets in on the fun, making pizza from pita bread. I'm learning so much about other cultures that I'm able to share with Abby, not just customs but cuisine as well!