Foreign hospital. It's right up there with "foreign prison" on the list of places Americans don't want to find themselves. Despite the way colossal screw-ups and failures happen as much in our own medical system as others, we continue to believe that when trouble hits abroad, you don't want to be treated by anybody else. … Continue reading In Good Hands
Category: Expat adjustments
The Rule of Three: What We Do All Day
A friend asked me this week what I do all day. Surely, she said, you can't go out shopping or travel ALL the time, so...what gives? I, the expat wife barred from having a day job, came here carrying lots of ideas of things to do to fill the time. Subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon … Continue reading The Rule of Three: What We Do All Day
We’re Not in Kansas Anymore
Saudi Arabia is a country full of expatriates. I come from the United States, a country full of immigrants. How great is that? I should feel right at home. But there's a big difference between an immigrant and an expatriate. In Saudi Arabia, there is no path to citizenship for foreigners. The only way to … Continue reading We’re Not in Kansas Anymore
A Very Metric Christmas
I've already decided what I want for Christmas next year. I realize MY wish comes at the expense of everybody else, but isn't that the way Christmas works? Dear Santa, please exert yourself and all your elves, and expend significant resources so I can have what I want? So I'm going for it: I want … Continue reading A Very Metric Christmas
Christmas Crafting, Saudi Style
I'm very excited about Tuesday. Do you see it? There's a HUGE turndown. Partly cloudy (or "mostly sunny"--not sure of the difference) and right around 70 for THREE DAYS. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, eh? Having none of the seasonal markers has made it a challenge to feel the Christmas mood. And … Continue reading Christmas Crafting, Saudi Style
Getting to the Bottom of Things
I'm exploring a theory--plumbing the depths, in fact--but I'm keeping my hopes for that Nobel Prize in economics in check. Pinched back, you might say. Here's the poop: I believe I've found a way to divide the world into first world, developing/emerging world, and third world that is completely void of controversy. What relief! A … Continue reading Getting to the Bottom of Things
A Journey about/along/amid Immigration
You remember prepositions, right? Those location and direction words you are supposed to, at all costs, never let dangle? (e.g., "Yes, Mother, that is the mad ballah whose crib I was at" would be more correctly expressed as "Yes, Mother, that is the mad ballah at whose crib I was.") In school I had to … Continue reading A Journey about/along/amid Immigration
Lost in the Lingua Franca
I'm not sure what to do. I'm having a little trouble with household chores as well. Getting a mite cryptic with the pictures, don't you think? I'm trying to figure out what's going on during the glasses-with-the-nose-piece and the flower cycles. (The tornado is a spin, obviously.) And on some settings, the washer stops, half-filled, … Continue reading Lost in the Lingua Franca
Rookie Mistake, Part II: Getting It Right
Read any guidebook, magazine article, or travel post and you'll get the same tips about Paris: Don't go in August unless you want to wander an empty city. Greet shopkeepers when you enter their places of business. Keep your voice down. Dress well. In Madrid, don't go looking for dinner before 9:00. In London, don't … Continue reading Rookie Mistake, Part II: Getting It Right
Rookie Mistake
You know the one about the frog in a pot? How if you put a frog in cold water, then turn up the heat, the frog won't jump out before it's too late? Yeah, that one. Turns out it's true. Diagram explanation: Hyper-Panda (the pot): Panda is a retail chain around the Kingdom with various … Continue reading Rookie Mistake
Margo Catts 