Maybe the key to understanding is assuming you don't.
I find myself, at the moment, more of a foreign girl at home than I’ve been in plenty of places where I couldn’t speak a word of the language. My country is baffling me. In the wake of yet more police shootings of black men, peaceful protests were being staged in Dallas--a city where reports … Continue reading The Places We Meet
A few months after I arrived in Saudi Arabia, I found myself at dinner with a group of teachers. You know, school teachers. Ladies that taught English at Saudi girls’ schools. Old maid school teachers. You got that picture squarely in mind? Good. Now flush it. Whatever scars you still carry from that time you … Continue reading A World of Stories
It’s Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., a holiday begun to commemorate those who died while serving in the armed forces. It now involves military tributes, graveside services...and barbecues. Summer has begun! Memorial Day weekend is when swimming pools open, summer programs begin, the school year ends, and the upper crust don their summer whites. On every Memorial … Continue reading A Little Help, Here, Please
Theory: A sense of humor is to every human quality as salt is to every food. It doesn't take much, but the lack of it will pretty much kill whatever you're serving. Love? Good, but when it's dead serious it'll suffocate a person. Dignity? Admirable, but without a sense of humor you're just stiff and … Continue reading Me, a Joke, and the Secret Police
As you may have noticed, summer is winding down. In Celsius, that's 44, 44, 44, 44, 45, 44.., and that little nip in the air means it's expat migration season. Time to pack the bags full of all the loot/necessities/contraband you've picked up in the home country, squeeze in a last dinner at your favorite … Continue reading There’s No Place Like Home
When I arrived in my new home in Riyadh, it looked like this: This is the sum total of what I brought with me to the party: Most of which was swallowed by the closets and a single kitchen drawer. So even after I moved in, it looked exactly the same. These are in-progress pictures … Continue reading The Necessity of Unnecessary Things
A woman I knew a few years ago returned from a year of living abroad. Awesome. Great experience. Good for you. But I'm not doing myself any favors if I paper over the fact that she had instantly become INSUFFERABLE. She could say nothing without prefacing it with "Well, in China..." Nothing, I promise. To … Continue reading Note to Self: Top Ten Repat Reminders
At face value, you have to wonder why Dorothy wanted to leave Oz. Kansas was gray and windy and ugly; Oz was technicolor and gorgeous and magical. To top it off, by the time she got to the capitol the witch was dead and she was being treated like royalty. Why on earth did she … Continue reading Leaving Oz
I've been away for the last couple of months, helping my daughter in the U.S. welcome a new baby.I know, right? Pretty cute. Or at least the adults all think so. But Weird Overseas Granny moved in two days after Weird Small Baby moved in, and two days after that, Big Brother did this with … Continue reading Letter from Inside Saudi Arabia: Why I Live Here
Margo Catts 