SSS #8: A Taste of Home

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It was truly a welcome treat for us to have Tito Dimples (aka Rinel ) to \”sponsor\” us to a yummy international buffet at the Sheraton Dammam, where he is currently billeted.

For me, it was some sort of return to \”normalcy\” as I was very much reminded of the times we had gone out as a family in Manila to sample the buffet meals at Shangri-La Makati (thanks to Mommy Dollie and Dr Songco ) and nearby Bellevue Hotel in Alabang where good food, fun and family were a-plenty.

Though I still had to wear my \”costume\” (i.e., abayah) all throughout the meal, I relished the fact that, for once, we need not be segregated into a \”family section\”.  FYI, here in KSA, only men are allowed seating into the more general areas of all restaurants and food courts while men with women need to always go to the designated family section – an area which normally could not be viewed from the outside for the simple reason that culturally, women\’s faces should not be seen by non-family members when they eat .  Also, it was a welcome break from eating the ever-popular \”broasted chicken\”, Saudi-style fried chicken which is always served with humongous heaps of saffron rice (as in laborer servings!).

The food, though not gastronomically spectacular, was definitely respectable and at par with many fine restaurants back home.  Keith and I especially liked the Hammur (tilapia-like fish) with Lemon Butter Sauce and the warm custard-like dessert with almonds.  The selection of appetizers was also varied – from kilawin (believe it or not!) to hard boiled eggs topped with cream cheese and the usual deli meat platter.  Being a true-blue sweet tooth (my mom would be proud of me! ), I made sure that I got to sample their desserts and found the flan with pistachio topping very much to my liking.  Too bad, though, that I didn\’t have any more room to try their soup and salads (Rinel found the lentil soup very good). Well, there\’s always a next time…

The bonus of our food trip was that we met a new Filipino restaurant manager ( a 22-year veteran of hotel management having worked for various hotels in the Middle East and in Guam before his posting here in KSA) who was kind enough to tour us to the premises of the … hold your breath… Japanese restaurant (yipee yahoo!!!) which is slated to open at the Sheraton rooftop by next month.  Keith and I were thrilled by this as we noticed that there was hardly any Japanese resto here in KSA – the only one we know of, before this \”discovery\”, was the equally pricey one at the Oasis Compound (yup, the site of the infamous terrorist attack some years back ) which we have yet to frequent.  The restaurant interiors were very classy and gave a very good view of Dammam by night – definitely a good date place (Ge, Rinel promises he will take you there once you come over! ).  What\’s more, it is but a 5 minute drive from our house! 

When the meal was over, I couldn\’t help but mentally say grace – \”We give thee thanks, O Lord, for these your gifts… (they were yummy!)\” – for the opportunity to have not only a good meal, but moreso, a good meal with family who reminded me of the good things back home.

God is good!

SSS #7: Adrenaline Rush

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Yesterday morning, just as I was preparing to make French Toast (yup, this is the boys\’ current favorite ), I was jolted awake by the screams of Luigi coupled with the loud cries of Marga.  As Keith was away on a two-day business trip, this was definitely NOT the perfect time for things to go awry.  What the @#$! could have happened???

Apparently, our little one, Marga, decided to spice things up a bit that morning.  Sensing that I was in the kitchen and her designated \”guard\” Luigi was momentarily out for a much-needed bladder break, she then proceeded to do her \”double flip somersault ala-Lara Croft\” but didn\’t achieve the desired effect (Translation:  SHE FELL OFF THE BED!).  With my panic buttons blazing, I immediately rushed to the scene of the action stunt gone wrong and scooped her off the floor (about two feet away from our bed).  I then checked for bumps, bleeding, bruises or cuts – amazingly, there were none (thank God!) – and also if there was a clear liquid oozing out of her ears or nose (clear sign of head trauma per our resident pedia, Grammy Dollie) – still negative (the Lord\’s protection is definitely upon us!). 

Afterwards, still shaken from this incident, I called Mommy overseas to tell her what transpired and what I should look out for further.  She told me that it was important that Marga not throw up, show signs of weakness or lethargy, and that she shouldn\’t be sleeping more than usual.  I watched her like a hawk from that time on and am pleased to report that she has not shown any of these danger signs.  In fact, towards bedtime last night, she even was so active and was practicing her \”Tarzan-like\” yells and giggling all over (at this point, I am praising God to the highest heavens!!).  Just 48 more hours of the same activity and Marga should be in the clear – please continue praying for her…

I also texted all my closest relatives like crazy to ask for their prayers to ensure Marga\’s well-being.  It was also comforting that Rinel (Tito Dimples) was already here and was checking up on us from time to time and that Ton, Keith\’s office buddy, was on hand to offer his car in case we needed to go to the hospital.  In Keith\’s absence, I again felt God was in control and that He was being true to His promise that He will take care of us as we venture out into this foreign land.

Lessons learned:

1. Six month-old babies do the craziest stunts at the most unexpected times – DO NOT LEAVE THEM UNATTENDED.  If you must, there\’s always the trusty old playpen where they could flip-flop to their heart\’s delight without any danger  - so use it!
2. The Lord is in control and is true to His promises.  It sometimes takes adrenaline-charged  moments like this to be reminded of this truth. He uses people outside our own immediate family to further reinforce the fact that He is always watching out for us.

Case closed.

 

SSS #6: Kabayan

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Being in a place where a third of the population is composed of foreign workers, I was definitely prepared to bump into a Filipino in almost every place I go to here in KSA.  However, I was not prepared for the, shall we say, \”term of endearment\” that most Filipinos (us now included) use to refer to one another here – \”kabayan\”.

First time I heard the term was quite unnerving (as echoes of Noli de Castro\’s modulated voice came to mind … okay, okay, I admit, and also the typical Carlo J Caparas-ish OFW look – you know, long hair, mustache, acid-wash denim jacket and bullcap with matching hepatitic gold jewelry thrown in for good measure!) yet I now am pretty comfortable with the term and even hold a strange sentimentality to it, I suppose…

Why is this so?  What has kabayan meant to me so far?

It means the …

• Waiter in the Chinese restaurant who fondly held Marga\’s hand and who recounted to us teary-eyed how he had never yet seen his first child since he had to leave his pregnant wife behind to seek greener pastures and won\’t be back home until the next two years are up
• Friendly restaurant manager who gave us 10% off our total bill just because we were kabayans
• Thoughtful supermarket check-out guy who went out of his way to give me a seat when he saw how \”loaded\” I was (with baby and grocery bags in tow) while I waited for Keith to pick us up
• Generosity of a senior Aramco executive and his wife for sponsoring us every week to get into their compound so we could attend \”services\” and thus strengthen our spirits
• Friendship of a young couple who have opened their home to us several times so our family could unwind (swim, play table tennis and fuzball sans abayah) in a more relaxed environment and regain our sanity

These random acts of kindness are but a reflection of the goodness of the Filipino spirit and how, sadly, we seem to look out for one another more when we are overseas than when we are in our own country.  More importantly, being kabayan has prompted Keith and I to give back, in our own little way, to those who may also need our help in some way, whether here or back home.

After all, what goes around must come around, right? 

Till my next post, mabuhay mga kabayans! 

SSS #5: Bouncing Back

The past few days have been quite stressful for Keith and I since Marga was a bit under the weather due to a viral infection.  I just hate it when any of us gets sick, must be the worrywart (now, where could I have gotten this disposition?  I wonder!  Right, Mama?) and control freak in me…

What compounds the difficulty is that the only person we completely trust with our health care, Grammy Dollie, is a maddening 10-hour plane ride away! Thank God for the internet, though, that we are able to send near real-time observations and photos to Mommy to aid her in her diagnosis and prescriptions.

I’m sure most type As like me find illness (whether my own or one of my family) upsetting since it brings to the fore the fact that we are not totally in control – that no matter how hard we wish away that darn fever or that irritating infection, sheer will power just won’t cut it.  It also makes me realize (yup!  things going well most of the time have a way of making me forget!) that there is definitely something, or more appropriately, Someone, out there who ultimately calls the shots – Him who is greater than all of us.  And in a weird way, although I am reminded that I am not fully responsible for taking away that @#$!? ailment, I am comforted by the thought that He is in control and that He will always do right by me .

What’s more is that trying times like these allow us to rely on people outside our own immediate circle and later appreciate how all this falls right into place with His grand plan – to see Him working through other people as well. 

I am pleased to say that Marga is now fever-free and is back to her usual adorable self .  As the old cliche goes, thank you for all your prayers and support!

So what did this whole hoolabaloo teach me?  To put is succinctly, in the words of the good book, “Trust  in the Lord with all your heart, in your own intelligence rely not; In all your ways be mindful of him, and He will make straight your paths.”

I pray that the Lord gives us all the grace to remember this as we bounce back from life’s roadblocks.

 

SSS #4: A Simple Life

Forget Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie as I am not doing a review of their show with this blog.  Rather, this is an apt description of our current lifestyle here in KSA (gotcha!). 

Living in a country other than your own is a mixed bag.  I have however learned that KSA life, the quite restrictive environment notwithstanding, is not at all that bad.  For one, it has given us the opportunity to enjoy life’s simple pleasures that we would otherwise not have re-discovered had we stayed in good ol’ R of the P.  Enjoy reading!

• Going on a picnic!  Whaddya know?  I never thought I’d ever do this again as the last and only one I had was at the Tagaytay Picnic Grove when I was 15!  Did this recently with some friends in the Dammam corniche (that’s what they call the shoreline here since Dammam is a city stretching out to the Arabian Gulf) and definitely had so much fun – munching on the yummy food (chicken-potato salad, pasta, fried chicken and meat loaf) and watching some fireworks while the kids played football/dodgeball in the background is something straight out of a scene from a GP family movie if you ask me but it was lovely  !  Hope to do this again soon.
• Strolling by the corniche. Now that the temperature is getting cooler (a mild 24 and going down compared to the intense 40s when we first arrived), Keith and I hope to do this more often as it also makes for good exercise coupled with interesting conversation.  This also seems to be some sort of a national past time here since we also saw a lot of families doing this.  In fact, some of them were even biking, jogging and fishing!  The kids had a blast the first time we did this as they even saw a man catching a live fish in action!  Fishing, though, is another story, since it would take tons of patience to enjoy it (they say it sometimes takes as long as 4 hours before your first bite!) – I guess Tito Doe is a very patient man!  Right, Carrie?
• Relaxing by the beach. Before echoes of Mel Tiangco in “Magpakailanman” (known of course to our kapuso friends out there) come to mind, perish the thought!  This is an entirely (well, not exactly, to be honest) different ball game (defensive ba?).  Since the nearest beach is only an hour’s drive away, it’s very easy for us to pack our bags, snacks and tent (don’t want to get too much sun!) and just go!  Doing this near sundown is also a bonus as you get to see the postcard perfect sunset on the horizon (sigh!).

Hope what I just described gave you a good idea of what keeps us occupied here.  A 4×4 trek to the sand dunes and maybe a short camel ride are next on our list, hopefully…    Will keep you posted.

Till my next blog. Ciao!

 

SSS #3: Nappy Rash Nightmare

Pardon me if I switch to mommy mode now but I just need a quick holler to all moms out there who may have had the same sorry experience Keith and I just had early this morning and to hopefully help see us through.

Marga, our adorable 5 month old, who usually just wakes up to feed and then promptly goes back to sleep ”no problemo”, suddenly woke up very restless and wailing at 3 am this morning.  What to do?  What to do?  

Thinking she was hungry (as was usually the case), I drowsily resumed “cow duty”  (breastfeeding, to the uninitiated) but was surprisingly rejected several times (ooh, that hurt!).  After which, my dear husband, already half-awake from the ruckus, came to the rescue by trying his hand at shushing the baby by carrying her – still no go!  Marga was then passed back to me and I again tried to comfort her and find out what was wrong (panic time na!) but still to no avail.  Keith then had the brilliant idea to check on her nappy (now, why didn’t I think of that! Thank God for smart half-awake husbands!) and lo and behold, she did number two! (do I hear a collective “Eeew!” from our non-parents out there? Sorry but I really have to vent!).  Apparently, though,  it wasn’t #2 that was the root of our darling daughter’s dilemma, but the nasty nappy rash that seemed to have worsened overnight and was causing her so much discomfort!

So, with cobwebs still in our heads, we searched our Baby 101 archives (as it’s been 6 years since the last bun popped) and proceeded to clean her up with warm water (baby wipes won’t do for this case as we were afraid it might make things worse), dry her delicate tushie thoroughly and then decided to let her sleep “au naturel” (i.e., al fresco) through the night – with me watching her like a hawk in case she did an “encore” of her earlier performance (doing a “standing ovation” to repeat the whole routine was the furthest from my sleep-deprived brain at this point!).  Too bad that we still didn’t have Desitin (nappy rash cream) as it would’ve presumably made our lives easier…

As of now, Marga is, well, thankfully sleeping like a baby…  I’m sure though that this is temporary as the rash is still there and I have yet to get hold of the nappy cream (my trusty husband will be able to give it to me by lunch time yet).  Till then, wish me luck and pray that this nightmare would soon be over!

 

SSS #2: Taylor Hicks Moment

Two days ago, Keith and I went to Luigi and Rafa’s school to claim their first quarter report cards.� Without further ado (drum roll please), I am delighted to share (allow me some bragging rights here) that both boys are straight A students (surprisingly with the same 96.33 average!) with a few 100% marks thrown in (Luigi for Science and Rafa for Math and Social Studies).� What’s more is that their teachers only had good words for them (i.e., “Gabriel (that’s what they call Luigi) is such an excellent student!” and “Rafael started out shy but is now doing very well.”) and were all praises for their good behavior.� What surprised us, however, was that both boys’ lowest marks turned out to be their Global Language subject, Filipino (Oh no! Our boys are turning out more “amboy-ic” than we thought!).� Dahil dito, nais ko tuloy pag-ibayuhin ang pagsasanay sa kanila sa aming tahanan sa paggamit ng ating inang wika.� Subalit, ayon sa aking kabiyak, maaring masyadong marahas ang pamamaraang ito at baka lalong hindi matuto ang mga bata.

Anyway, we were comforted when their teachers reassured us that this was usually the case for all foreign students away from their own countries.� I am confident that the boys will survive in Filipino somehow…

What pleased us even more is that their getting good grades is a reflection of how well both boys seem to have adjusted to our move here in KSA.� Truly an answered prayer.

I guess nothing is more heartwarming for a parent than to see your children growing up not only intellectually sound but moreso happy, healthy, with positive character and good behavior.� I pray that what Luigi and Rafa started in terms of academic performance and� behavior will also be true for our little girl, Marga, when she comes of age.

So, if and when Luigi, Rafa or Marga asks me (in decidedly American Idol-ish Taylor Hicks fashion – less the raining confetti and adoring fans), “Do I make you proud?”.

The obvious answer, without batting an eyelash – “Most definitely .”

SSS #1: My Hero

After nearly a year’s hiatus from blogging, I am back!� Pardon the catchy title… by the way, sexpat here means “Spouse of an Expat” (geez, what were you thinking???) … but the jologs in me was hoping that some famous movie producer would chance upon this site and derive some inspiration from it for his next blockbuster flick.� After “Milan” and “Dubai”, how does “Dammam” sound? In fact, even my dear husband has already graciously consented for Aga Muhlach to play him, if ever…� As for me, Charlene Gonzalez wouldn’t be too bad… �Hehehe!�� Ouch!� I just heard myself crash back to earth – major reality check!�

Anyway, so many changes have happened in our lives since my last entry, the most significant of which, I guess, is our family’s relocation to Saudi Arabia (which I will refer to as KSA in all my later blogs) in mid-August this year after Keith accepted an expatriate posting as Credit Exec for the National Commercial Bank (NCB), KSA’s largest local bank. �Hopefully, this exercise will help in more vividly documenting our experiences here so that you guys may have a glimpse of how we live, not to mention also giving me an opportunity to share with you the thoughts and feelings of a certified “domestic diva” – me!� So sit back, chillax (as my fave sister Rina would say) and happy reading!� Be forewarned, though, that these entries are essentially bursts of self-expression and thus, as most supplements advertise, have no approved therapeutic claims .

Please indulge me when I dedicate my first entry to someone I hold nearest and dearest, my hubby, Keith.

After almost nine years of marital bliss (of course with the unavoidable spats along the way – nothing major thus far) and three beautiful children in between, I honestly believe that each day that passes is God’s way of telling me that I made the right choice 16 years ago (has it been that long?) to commit myself exclusively and share my life with this dear person I now call my husband.

Why do I consider Keith my hero?� Well, aside from the deliciously hunky body that would put Brandon Routh (did I get the spelling right?), the new Superman, to shame (okay, sue me if I seem a little too biased here) , Keith has shown time and again what it is to be the gallant and generous man that I continue to fall in love with. So, why do I love my hero?� Let me count (some of) the ways:

1. Dedicated Father:� Keith has always been super hands-on in caring for all of our children.� In fact, I have said time and again that all he needs is a pair of mammary glands and he could very well replace me as mother! Here in KSA, this has come to play more evidently as he picks up the boys to and from school and has actively helped me in caring for Marga (including many sleepless nights bottle feeding and changing nappies). He ensures that he spends quality time with the boys, whether it be playing board games (thanks to Tita Ivy for Lord of the Rings!), going to the different arcades and amusement centers around the kingdom or even traveling to Bahrain once in a while to watch movies (since movies are banned in KSA).� Honey, what will I do without you???
2. Loving and Supportive Husband: What else could I ask for knowing that I have someone who loves and understands me (or tries very hard to…) even when I sometimes have difficulty understanding myself.� Being the woman that I am, my hormones sometimes wreak havoc on my system, thus the occasional bit**ing, weepiness and bouts of depression, especially now that we essentially have to rely on pretty much our own devices here in KSA.� Keith has made every effort to make this lifestyle transition as seamless as possible by making lunch time calls to check on how I am (i.e., if Marga has been particularly “biba”, offering to buy lunch for us instead of letting me cook) or buying exercise DVDs for me (they say exercise releases hormones that fight depression – honestly, though, I have yet to follow through with my appointments with Jillian (Michaels, of� “The Biggest Loser” fame) and Billy (Blanks, the TaeBo guru)) – I will get there, promise!!!� �What’s tops on my list for this item is how Keith has been really helping me with the house chores – if he had not taken responsibility for ironing the clothes, doing the nighttime dishes duty and cleaning the two bathrooms, my goose would be cooked by now!� Thanks so much, hon!
3. Generous Chap: Don’t get me wrong here, I do not mean generous in a material sense only, but moreso Keith’s generosity with his resources (i.e., time, talent) in general.� I am sure most of you can attest how Keith has made himself available to lend a listening ear or a shoulder to lean on when times get rough.�
4. Happy Fellow: I always tell Keith that I could not imagine myself being married to a straight-faced, stern guy who takes life too seriously.� Keith’s uncanny wit and sense of humor have definitely tided us over during otherwise difficult moments and situations.� I sincerely pray that this happy spirit will rub off on all our children too!� Keith, kudos to you for “fulfilling your mission” (as you always say) – you not only make me smile, you make me happy!� I can say that I have become a better person because of you.

There are more qualities to Keith that would illustrate why he has become “my hero” but I would not want to, shall I say, bore you with too much details.� After all, they say that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, suffice it to say that the more you get to know Keith, more facets of his personality will shine through that will definitely lead you to no other conclusion on how (pardon the cliché) a gem of an individual he truly is.� I love you, hon!� ��������