huff, puff, HOOKA!

While the Sheraton resort has been a great place to have some drinks and great meals, it's becoming quite costly.  Basically Sean has spent more dinars (Algerian money) in the past month with me here than he did in his whole first year.  So we've now ventured a little farther to the Safir resort.


Cheaper drinks are always appreciated, but it's also great to have a change of scenary.  Safir is definitly less hoighty-toighty than the Sheraton and a much better place to people watch.  Men in suits get boring.  Guys in buttoned down, satin polka dot shirts are ready to party!


Even more fun to watch is the working girl/creepy old guy interactions.  With the majority of the Algerian population being strict muslum, I don't expect to see much sinning going on.  But in the places where sins happen, like bars where alcohol is served, the sins are on full blast.  So by working girl, I do mean prostitute.  There are prostitues around the Sheraton too, but with wealthier clients comes more attractive women.  Those who aren't of Sheraton quality try their luck at Safir.  I do have to be careful when I look around the room.  The men aren't aggressive in their search, but are always trying to catch eye contact.  And because I can't understand what they are saying, I have no way of knowing if 
                                                    someone is asking me for the time, or my hourly rate.


 
Along with the drinks and people watching laughs, I also tried something new- smokin' da hooka.  When in Rome, do as the Romans do.  When in Algeria, huff, puff, hooka!  The hooka wasn't what I expected- very suprisingly minty.

 

One area the Sheraton has nothing on Safir is the food.  The boureks au fromage are amazing (think mozzarella cheese stick in a spring roll shell).  Yum!  Sean was excited to see chicken wings on the menu, although they are much smaller and less saucy than those at home.

 

                 

 

I am also increasingly impressed with my ability to read the menus, and can almost pick out my meals without Sean's help.  But when it comes to ordering, I still have to point to what I want, as my first grade phonetic reading dominates my speech and the waiters can't understand what I'm saying.

 

Good times at Safir!

New Apartment!

I'm sooo excited to finally be settled in our new apartment!!  This is the third move in 2 months, and I don't think Sean or I could have lasted another day in the hotel.  Between the shower with no curtain that left a small pond on the bathroom floor, and the air conditioner that rained if left on too long... it's so nice to be able to walk around without the fear of busting our asses!  It's funny how many times we've been told this is a much nicer area when it's literally a block away.  And while our new place is smaller, it's much cozier than the last apartment and feels more like a home.  So here are some pics of where I will be living for the rest of this adventure!

 

 

Our living room with a comfy futon couch.  After living in a hotel with no couch, and having a hard as a rock couch in the old apartment, we are loving this! 

 

We have somewhat of a view from the living room balcony.  I love being able to watch interactions between people, especially from a place where I'm not noticed.  Our last apartment was across from a metal shop, where we would wake up each morning to the sound of machines cutting metal.  In this apartment, the semi-annoying sounds we hear are from the kiddy rides outside the Fuji Film store.  Their sounds are a combination of arcade games and Christmas carols.  But when no one speaks english and most are muslum, this feels like a joke only we get.

 

 

 Our cute little kitchen.  Since moving in, we've moved the fridge to fit a washing machine in, and had to move the little table out into the living room.  It's still big enough for us both to be in it at the same time, and doesn't have pieces of the ceiling falling off like the old apartment.

 

Our bedroom with very pink sheets with what feels like 0 thread count... luckily we have our own that will be on shortly.  And our sheets will make Sean feel that his room isn't so girlie.  Unlike in America, there isn't a box spring and matress on beds, just 1 kind of combo, making the bed pretty hard.  But that's supposed to be good for the back, right?

 

We do have a nice size balcony off the bedroom... unfortunately this is the view from there...   

 

 

Before coming to Algeria, my parents and I redid our master bathroom to get rid of the blue toilet and tile.  It seems I can't escape it.  But at least there is a shower curtain!!!!  And this little oval mirror is the only mirror we have.  In America, I would probably look in my full length mirror more times than I should when getting ready (How do I look from the front?  How does my shirt look with my pants?  Does my butt look ok?  Should I wear the open toe shoes or the pumps with this outfit?)  In Algeria, I haven't really seen how I look from head to toe once.  It's probably made me less high maintainence, but wow I miss that mirror!  The lack of mirror results is me asking Sean for his outfit input more... and anyone that knows Sean knows that doesn't really help :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm still not used to the European/outside of America "water closet" idea.  A toilet in one room, and then leaving to go into another room to wash my hands??  Without a sink or a mirror in the water closet, I can't help but feel like I'm in time out.

 

 

 

So that's about it.  It's not much, but it's our space together.  After living the past year without Sean in a house with some rooms I only ever went in to clean, I kinda love this space that is no more than we need.  The last pic in this blog is us settled in... living what seems like the good life to us!

1. We have good internet, which we haven't really had since I got here.
2. We have more than 3 english speaking TV channels (the glare reflection on the door)
3. We have a washing machine (but no dryer, so our blue sheets are drying on the drying rack)
4. We have beer! (And to get it- since we don't have a car- we need to call someone, who calls someone, then delivers it to us in an un-marked box... imagine buying drugs in the US and that's what it feels like)
   

Life is Good!  :-)

 
 

 

goodbye 1st algerian apartment

Sean's year lease is up at our current apartment, and tomorrow we will be moving to a hotel until our next apartment is ready.  We don't get any say with this new apartment, so I am excited/nervous to see what it's like.  But before we leave, here are some pictures to show where I have spent most of my time over the past month.

Our living room, which also became our bedroom because it's the only room with AC.  Sean plays play station while I blog, while I read, while I give him dirty looks to turn it off.  :-)  But I can't blame him, sooo little on TV, and he's very good about asking if it's ok with me.

 

The other half of the living room.  Obviously it's supposed to be the dining area, but really acted more as a laptop/tech center for us.  To get internet access, you have to sit on this side of the room. 

Our overly red bathroom part 1, desperately in need of a shower curtain.  The toilet is in another overly red room nearby, complete with red toilet seat.

 

My room, used only for clothes, shoes, and drying laundry.

 

Sean's room, used for his clothes and bags of Algerian gear.  We stole his matress for the living room.

 

The 3rd bedroom, a.k.a. Sean's other room he moved his clothes to when his first room got too messy.

 

The super retro kitchen... so orange!

 

 

 

Our apartment was on the 3rd floor, so we had some stairs to hike.  Luckily there were these windows/holes in the walls to let in a breeze.  And I thought the view from these windows made for some cool artsy pics. 

 

Probably my favorite place to be in the apartment was out on the balcony.  See our Mediterrian view! (Hint: right in the middle of the picture, between the buildings, where it is a little darker blue)

 

One fun part about being on the 3rd floor was I could kinda spy on what's happening below me.

 

One down side of being up high-- the evil looking pigeons liked hanging out there too.  This one looked more like a vulture to me.  They would sit, sleep, and poop above doorways leading out to the balcony.  And often scared the crap out of me.

The street our apartment is on.  FOX movies was our movie store, where all movies are illegally burned, and unfortunately most are in french.

 

 In the year Sean has lived here, no progress has been made on this building....

yet we are woken up by the sounds of this garage/metal shop cutting metal shop every morning.

So that's it for pictures for now.  I know people want to see more photos of people in Algeria, but it's kinda hard to sneak taking pictures when everyone is looking at me all the time, and I don't want to offend anyone.  But I will keep trying.  I'm hoping our hotel/next apartment will have a better view for spying.  I also don't know what the internet situation will be at the hotel, so it may be 2 weeks or so until I get to another blog.  We will see... "In sha'Allah" (which you hear alllll the time here, and means "God Willing"). 

FINALLY! friendly faces and people to party with

I've now been living in Algeria a month.  Sean and I had an awesome night celebrating his birthday, and have been taking advantage of the Sheraton beach, pool, and gym. Our quality time has been amazing, and skype is working out well.  But I've definitly been missing human interactions. 

Last week I was watching MTV Arabia (which is english-speaking about 70% of the time), and "Call Me Maybe" came on.  It made me think about how much I miss my phone ringing.  No chance of anyone calling me maybe.  And just when I was starting to feel pretty pathetic...

...American Embassy to the rescue!

About a week ago, Sean received an invitation to attend an OSAC meeting and dinner scheduled for this past Wednesday (OSAC= Overseas Security Advisory Council).  Initially I was not invited, but got lucky when some others cancelled and there would be empty seats at the table.  So I was thrilled just to have something to do and english-speakers to hang out with.  I had no idea what a VIP atmosphere I was going to be part of.  Oh how naive I am.

Upon arriving at the embassy, we were greeted by people in fancy suits, who introduced themselves as Peter, Nicole, and David... but were really the heads of OSAC and American defense.  And once the "FBI guy" arrived, we were ready to head to the villa where dinner would be held.  Once at the villa, we met our host for the night, Jim, a.k.a. the CEO of a major oil company.  He said he was acting as bartender for the night, filling our wine glasses whenever they were close to empty.  I constantly kept thinking, "How did my little 1st grade teacher self end up here??"  We sat down at a beautifully set table that I somehow ended up smack dab in the middle of.  I got a flashback of a first dinner at a boyfriend's house in high school, where I attempted to crack a crab claw and accidently flung part of it at my bf's older brother-- please don't let that happen!  But the great conversations, along with the endless glasses of wine, quickly put me at ease, and I ended up having an amazing time.  We had 4 delicious courses, and it was awesome being around other Americans who also didn't know exactly how to eat the whole fish with head on that we were served for course 3.  Luckily I was seated next to Nicole who knew what to do, then Sean copied me, the FBI guy copied him, and Nicole's method slowly made its way around the table.  It was so cool to see how this group of people, so much more educated and wordly and frankly more important than me, were just as thrown off with crazy Algeria as I was.  I felt like we bonded over the head-on fish.  At the end of the dinner, we were invited to attend the Marine Black and White Party going on the following night.

So Thursday night Sean and I got dressed and headed over to the Marine house, and it was just like an American party!  Most of the people we had met the previous night were there, along with many other VIPs, marines...and even scantily dressed girls (very un-Algerian).  I met even more super friendly, amazing people, and women/wives like me looking for friends to hang out with!  In many ways these people are very different from me, but in many ways so much the same.  One highlight for Sean: while many of the big wigs waited in line to talk to the Ambassador, the Ambassador pulled Sean aside to ask him for a basketball schedule.  We partied there until the party shut down, and apparently I need to get some business cards so I can participate in the exchange that happens at the end of a night.  We were offered a ride home, and when it came time to get out of the car, I couldn't get the door open.  I didn't think I drank that much.  Turns out it wasn't me... it was a bullet proof car with extremely heavy doors. 

So in a nutshell... things are looking up for me in Algeria!  I'm so excited to hang out with these people more.  Making new friends, but still sooooo missing the old :-)

life is like... an episode of "Mad Men"??

Although Ramadan is over, there is still not a whole lot to do in Algeria, especially without a car.  And with only a few english speaking channels on TV, we have been catching up on box sets.  One of these box sets is "Mad Men."  And while life in Algeria is definitly not exciting enough to make a TV show out of, I can't help but notice all the ways that life here does mirror this show. 

Everyone smokes all the time.
With it being illegal to smoke inside in Maryland, it is glaringly obvious how often people smoke in Algeria.  The other day we went to the Sheraton for a day at the beach/pool and to get some dinner.  Not only were cigarettes being smoked everywhere... one guy brought his hooka to the pool! 

Men hang out and drink all the time.
The difference here is that on the show the men are always drinking liquor.  In Algeria, men are always drinking coffee.  And the coffee here is so strong, it's basically coffee crack.  I will drink an XL Dunkin Donuts coffee at home, but a small cup here will sometimes give me the shakes.  But whatever is being drank, men still use it as a reason to hang out... "A drink with the boys." 

Men go out, women hold down the fort.
Walking through the neighborhood, you see many more men than women.  When you do see women, they aren't hanging around as the men are, they are shopping (more for food than clothes) or taking care of young ones.  Even with children, there are many more little boys playing outside than little girls.  Holding down the fort is also much more time consuming here than in America, as there are no dishwashers, no dryers, and not all families have washing machines.  I have already broken 2 bowls and a plate trying to do dishes by hand.

The cost of living is so low.
Recently Sean and I went to a local "grocery store."  I put grocery store in quotes because it can barely be called that with its limited selection.  CVS puts this place to shame.  But for about $13 we got milk, bread, fruit, juice, yogurt, a candy bar, paper towels, and chips.

Men get around.
On the show, the men always have a mistress on the side.  In Algeria, while men are faithful to their wives, it is also allowed for men to have multiple wives (although most men agree, "I can't handle more than one!")

There is a lack of air conditioning.
We recently watched the "Indian Summer" episode, where the characters think about getting air conditioning units.  We are lucky to have an air conditioning unit, but only in the main living room.  To be in any other room, you are sweating within 5 minutes.  Sean and I now refer to this room as the fort, as we have moved our mattress into it and spend 95% of our time at home there.


I have wondered what it would be like to live in 1950s/1960s America, and now I feel I've gotten a taste.  And while I acknowledge my relating life here to "Mad Men" probably means I've been watching a little too much of it on tv.... at least life isn't resembling "Dexter."

Trip to Marseille, France

As I have said many times, exploring this side of the world is a huge bonus of living in Algeria. When Sean and I got to the point where we couldn't take eating only at night during Ramadan any more, we were so fortunate to be able to jump on a plane to Marseille (south France). Honestly before we thought about where to go, I couldn't tell you exactly where Marseille is, but then again I didn't know where Algeria was initially either. Maybe I will finally be good with geography when I come back home.

 

Marseille is only an hour flight... and definitly beats anywhere you can fly to from Maryland in an hour. It was beautiful and so relaxing.   We did some sight-seeing, swam in the mediterranian, ate awesome food, and took a boat trip along the coast to a smaller island.  We were surprised how french-speaking people dominated the area, and communicating was tough.  In Rome and Curacao (the other 2 places Sean and I have gone outside of the US- and Algeria doesn't count because no one goes their to vacation), we could always find someone who spoke English, especially at tourist attractions.  We got used to information being delivered to us in multiple languages.  In Marseille, we really didn't have a clue what was going on a lot of the time.  Sean fortunately speaks some french, so he was less lost than me.  While the food was great, ordering was not easy.  I basically just looked for poisson (fish), fromage (cheese), and tomate.  But as many have pointed out to me, I am basically as picky an eater as a child, and even the poisson and fromage would come with fish eggs, veal, or something other meat I find gross.  In trying to ask a waiter what they had that didn't include red meat, he suggested lamb and steak.  But eventually I found the sea bass option, and it was well worth the initial menu frustration.

I think one of the somewhat pathetic highlights from the trip was how much I appreciated our hotel with hot showers with water pressure and the soft bed.  Back in Algeria, I couldn't even take a shower this morning because there was no water.  And Algeria seems to have a lumpy pillow/hard bed problem.  Marseille was the best sleep I've gotten since leaving America, and it was hard for Sean to get me out of the bed most mornings.

One thing I have to comment on is the "show" we saw out at the bar one night. We got there around 11, and were 2 of about 10 people there. We thought maybe it just wasn't the spot to be, but with Sean wearing shorts we couldn't get in to the other bar we wanted to go to. But before we knew it, the bar was packed. But what I need to comment on was the entertainment. Around 1am, a male and female got up on the bar and started dancing. They were clearly hired by the bar, and dressed like strippers (and I am still kicking myself for not taking a picture!) She had on a bikini top, and jeans that were cut up, pants length on one side and shorts length on the other side. He had on a black mesh tank top, cut up jeans, and clearly showing striped orange and black boy short underwear. In a word, it was "ew." I thought maybe it was a french thing, but no one seemed to really enjoy the show. The dancers looked like they were saying "aren't we hot? don't you want us?" Um... no thanks. I hope this is a european trend that never makes it to the states. 

One of the best highlights was the new friends we made, Kelly and Ritchie.  We met on our boat trip, and were immediately drawn together as the only people on the boat speaking english!  You gotta love the common bond.  After the boat ride, we had drinks and laughs (Ritchie loving my freak out when a big cockroach crawled on to my foot).  We are so thankful to have met these Aussies, and hope we can meet up with them somewhere else in the world.

I wonder where in the world we will go next!

Bunching

In America, it seems there are lines for everywhere for everything. In Algeria, you will never see a line. Not because there are less people waiting for things, but because Algerians don't wait in lines... they "bunch."

I can't take credit for the incredibly accurate term-- the credit belongs to my hubby, who is much more clever with words than I am.

I saw the clearest example of bunching at the airport. While lines suck, sometimes they are needed, like when trying to go through security. While Sean and I attempted to wait in line, Algerians gathered around us, trying to get as close to the front as possible. (And it's not like we can say anything to them- they wouldn't understand what we were saying anyway). And again when it was time to board the plane, all the Algerians tried to get as close to the check in counter as fast as possible. I understand wanting to get to the front in many cases, but to board a plane?? The first person on the plane really just sits in their cramped seat the longest. And clearly personal space is not a concern, because bunching involves no personal space for anyone. As someone who feels personal space is important, I see myself getting no where fast. Bunching gives a new meaning to someone "breathing down the back of your neck." I will gladly move to the back of the bunch if it means I won't feel some strangers gross hot breath.

As a 1st grade teacher, one of the things you teach first in the beginning of the year is "single file, second tile." Not only is walking and staying in a line important, it even matters where the line is located in the hallway. Since no one forms any sort of line here, I can't imagine what chaos may be going on in primary classrooms in Algeria. Bunching in the hallway? (ok that's basically dismissal at BES) Bunching in the lunch line? Bunching coming in the classroom door? I can just imagine the arguments and pushing that would occur. While I sometimes feel like a stickler constantly harping on students to stay in line, seeing the other way things could be makes me think of lining up in a whole new way.

The next time I'm in America, and waiting in one of the many sucky lines, I will be thankful for my personal bubble, and remember it could be worse.

foosball: the late night sport

It's still Ramadan, and one thing I have really enjoyed is the intense foosball games that go down outside our apartment at night.  Starting around 8pm, 2 foosball tables appear and the games begin. 

The table on the right is for the younger kids, the table on the left is for teenagers.  I love how everyone standing around the tables is completely still and silent until the ball drops, then goes crazy.  And I love how this happens over and over, and over, and over.  The games will last until about 1am each night with players coming and going, but games never stopping.  The competitive yelling echos through the streets (and our apartment), and Sean said he's seen fights break out over the outcomes of the game.

As the owner of a foosball table myself (although it sits in my garage and I haven't played since senior year of college), watching brings back some good memories.  The last time I remember playing was against Sean's friend Brian Brown, who thought he was good until he played me.  After our first game, "Rematch!"  After the second, "One more!"  It's hard to stop playing without a victory.  I am sure Brown would be trying to jump in on a game if he were here.  I would also like to jump in on a game... but no girls allowed  :-(  I am definitly looking forward to the day the locals get used to seeing me, and I no longer feel like the circus freak.  But whether I'm allowed to play or not, I still feel like I get to participate in the foosball fun.

We're here!

Sean and I finally arrived in Algeria yesterday after a very long day of travel.  While we spent a total of 24 hours in airports and on airplanes, we can't complain too much- we also made $1200 in the process by voluteering to extend our layover and take a later flight.  Since a round trip from the US to Algeria costs about that, we definitly are thankful.

Upon arriving at Sean's (and now my) apartment in Algiers, we were un-welcomed by the mess his old roommate/colleague left.  His contract did not get resigned, and clearly he's unhappy about it.  So he decided to handle it like a grown man and trash the apartment before leaving.  Fortunately we were able to get a cleaning lady to come this morning (who I must add is the hardest working, fast cleaning lady I've ever seen... and only cost $13).

So what's it like so far?  I've been sleeping a lot, recovering from the trip and adjusting to the time difference.  I've never thought of myself as high maintainance, but that's all I've seen myself as since arriving here.  It really makes you appreciate what we have in America.  Like water.  Water here is not only not for drinking, but also not always hot and not always available.  And here I thought water fell under the "need" category.  Apparently here you don't shower when you're getting ready to go out, you shower when you can.  I felt so dirty from the flight and sweaty from the heat, so I had to shower today with no hot water.  So there I am, holding my head upside down, trying to wash my hair without the water really touching anything but my hair, then attempting to shave, which is counterproductive with all the goosebumps on my legs.  (I can't help but notice how the covered women I see in the street don't ever have to worry about greasy hair or hairy legs... coincidence??)

The other crazy part of life right now is that it's Ramadan.  In Algeria, Ramadan is taken very seriously.  No one eats or drinks during the day, and very few work.  Finding food for us to eat during the day hasn't been easy.  We can go to the Sheraton resort, but that's resort pricing ($50 for my ceasar salad and Sean's cheeseburger).  The other option is to sleep most of the day, and eat at night, which is what the locals seem to do.  Apparently they can eat when the sun goes down.  It makes me more curious about what working muslums in America do during Ramadan.

While there are quite a few things that make life a challenge, everything feels like an adventure, and for that reason it's fun.  And spending this time with my hubby after not being able to for so long, is just awesome.  :-)

Prelude

After some encouragement to start a blog about my adventures over the next year, here is my attempt.  Tomorrow I move to Africa-- Algeria specifically.  Up until a year ago when Sean moved there, I couldn't locate it on a map.  And now it will be my home for the next year.  REALLY???

There aren't quite words to express what I'm feeling.  It's been sinking in for a couple months, but how does something like moving to Algeria really sink in completely?  How do I prepare to live in a place where there aren't grocery stores, traffic lights, credit cards.... oh, and women are mostly dressed covered head to toe and very few people who speak english?  CULTURE SHOCK to say the least.  But when given the chance, I had to think about the person I wanted to be.  I've been the person that works too hard, takes cares of the house and bills, and gets stuck in a routine.  Why not also be the person who isn't afraid to drop everything for a new experience, learns a new language (or in this case maybe two- French and Arabic), and explores an unknown world with my husband? 

I've always believed everything happens for a reason, but  to be honest, it was always kind of a justification for things.  I do shit wrong, I grow.  Bad shit happens, it makes me who I am today.  Blah blah blah.  But after the past year (spending my first year of marriage away from my husband while he's in Algeria and I'm in the US), I see everything happens for a reason.  It has sucked being away from Sean.  And  I went into this year thinking "the reason" was to help Sean's coaching career.  But there was also a reason for me.  As much as I hate to admit it, girls, me included, are bad with being too close to their relationships--- in otherwords, "I've available when he isn't."  Well, for a year he wasn't available, and out of that year came an amazing support system of people.  Of course my family, who was amazing as always.  But also amazing girl friends.  Due to my past (which "has made me grow as a person"), it's hard for me to open up to girls.  When best friends turn, it makes it hard to want to find another.  Sean being gone has forced me to open up, and I'm so thankful for what it's led to.  I definitly have a new found faith in the female race :-)


Moving away is a double edge sword.  I'm lucky for all the people I've gotten to spend time with over the last 3 weeks, but with each interaction, a looming good bye comes.  Of course, "it's not good bye, it's see you later."  People only say this when someone is going to be gone for a while, so is it really better than just good bye?  I don't care- I still feel better saying it.  I love the lunches, crab feast, and bridesmaids movie/chipotle gatherings!


So now that I've said my "see you later"s to my amazing people in America, I begin my next life adventure in Algeria.  I have no idea what awaits, and while the control freak in me is causing jitters, I am excited to take the plunge. 

Everything happens for a reason!