American Traditions

Well I guess I'm about as american as you can get even though I have been muslim for 25 yrs. There are still some things that make us stand out above the women of another middle east country. Independance would probably be one of my biggest. My husband was in a horrible car accident about 14 yrs ago and at the time I had two small children and one on the way. We went from over 5,000 a month salaries to less than 800 a month and we had just bought our house not too many months back. Well I have many talents and once my husband was able to fend for himself I went back to work. Here is no different. Hubby is not around and I need to be able to be a bit more american on my money! So, I asked around for some work. Teaching here offers the highest salary so I am looking into that as a first option. Transportation is another issue. I'm not quite yet ready to venture out in a car by myself but each time I do go out I watch for familar landmarks. That is about the only way I know to get around. Within walking distance is more stores than I would need in a general week back home so everything is close. I found a store for electronics as well. Wowwww a TV or air conditioner is very appealing. But my eyes are on the bug zapper and stoves first. I do my laundry in the bath tub as it was so hard to take wet laundry upstairs. They only had two lines downstairs and the air is better upstairs so I strung two lines on my balcony. Most of the women hardly leave the house so that is something once I get settled in I would not mind hardly but for now I need to rely on myself for getting things. At home I do pretty much everything. Take the kids to school or activities, shopping for everything and even gas for my car. So I know I need to settle down a bit but I know that I also need to be aware of where I am at in the city. With problems in Isreal and Palestine, you need to know where you are! I did find out the family apparently has a shelter. It is covered but I guess being so close to the ocean front it is good knowing they have one. The homes here are so different. Each one with its own unique flair. I will try to take some pictures this week of some of the ones close by. Well I need to go as but one other tidbit. I made corn on the cob american style last night. The corn here is roasted on the stove till slightly burnt and my kids were wanting boiled corn so we got some last night. I guess like us some foods just aren't the same. My sister in law does not like butter so she would not even try one plain. Oh it was good even if it was still not quite done. But most of the family gave it a try. Haha.