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In November Ethan was selected to be one of the twenty-five athletes to represent Jeddah Prep & Grammar School (JPGS) at the British Schools of the Middle East (BSME) Under 11 (U11) Games. Team members were selected based on their athletic ability and their maturity to represent the school. The team would compete in multiple sports including, football (soccer), basketball, swimming, athletics (track & field), and netball (an international adaptation of basketball for girls only). With the limit of 25 team members, the versatility of playing multiple sports was important. This plays well to Ethan who has not yet met a sport he doesn’t like. He will admit that baseball is far better than cricket, but if the only way you can play with a bat and ball is to bowl for wickets, well you have to give it a go.
When the kids returned to school after Christmas vacation, Ethan began practicing for the games. It was great to see him dive in and work hard to improve his skills. He actively practiced with the football, basketball, and swimming team. We were amazed by the aggressive nature of his swim practice. During the course of his hour and a half practice he swam hundreds of meters of front crawl, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, and medley drills. For the first time, I think we saw Ethan actually get to a point of being slightly tired. He still has incredible stamina and appetite to compete.
Just as preparations were getting serious, the political turmoil in the Middle East began to boil. Did I mention JPGS was signed up to participate in the “small” schools BSME Games in the Cairo? After Ethan expressed his concern for his friend who recently moved to Cairo, he began to wonder what would be the fate of his competition. As the situation seemed to quickly resolve the initial phase of revolution, the school made the decision to remain enrolled in the games. Up to the very last minute, the games were going as planned and JPGS was planning to attend. Three weeks before the games, however, the organizers canceled them. This brought great disappointment to our family. Ethan was disappointed he would not be able to compete. I was disappointed I was going to miss the opportunity to go to Cairo and support him. Within less than a week we received word from the coach that a spot had opened up for the “big” school BSME games in Qatar. Again, excitement prevailed and a few questions were asked. What happened to allow us to get into these games? Is Qatar safe? Can we still arrange things to allow me to watch and support Ethan? It turned out a last minute spot was made available in these games because a Bahraini school pulled out due to the unrest in their island country. We are sorry for their misfortune but excited to have the opportunity to compete.
Melissa and I woke up early to get Ethan to the school by 6:00 a.m. so he could join his team and travel to the airport. Yet again, we had the unsettling experience of putting one of our children on a plane destined for a country neither of us had been to. Thankfully I would be joining him one day later. As it turned out Kennedy and Erin made the trip as well. 
Day one of the games was basketball and swimming. The coaches elected to have Ethan sit out the basketball game, as his stamina was needed in the swimming. The girls and I arrived just in time for start of the swim competition. Ethan worked hard and competed to the very end of each race. He swam in the freestyle, breaststroke, and all of the relays. Ethan was younger than most of the athletes by as much as two years. He did not let this intimidate him.
Friday (day 2) came and brought with it the contests of football and athletics. As Doha is a bit freer than Saudi Arabia, the girls and I were able to join the local Doha Ward for church. We felt like we were in Houston, Texas. Many of the members were Exxon Mobile employees or other oil and gas exploration employees working in Qatar. Kennedy quite enjoyed the opportunity to meet with a large group of youth. We arrived at the school after our team had been eliminated from the football competition. After the teams competed in netball and the football finals there was a bit of time before dinner started. It was very interesting to see how the group naturally filled the time. Someone started playing dance music, another boy grabbed the microphone, and an interschool dance contest broke out on the stage.
If you leave a bunch of nine to eleven year olds to it, you can bet life will never get boring. Erin enjoyed dancing along with her friend.
After a little dancing, Ethan had had enough and went with a few other boys to join in a pick-up game of football. During the game, Ethan met with the ground resulting in a fairly bloody elbow. They made a little bit of a big deal about this, but Ethan didn’t mind as it meant a trip to the ambulance. His lucky day!!
Saturday (day 3) morning brought the final event, athletics. Ethan was asked to anchor his team’s 4x60m relay. With excitement he watched as his teammates raced around the track with the baton. As the baton reached him, he grabbed it and ran for all he had. I was very happy to see Ethan race hard to the finish. He is very fun to watch compete. 
The only thing left was the awards gala and the flight home the next day. The athletes were instructed to take “smart” clothes for the gala. We did not know what “smart” clothes were. We asked one of the British teachers at the kids’ school what this term meant. He described it at “Sunday Best.” Ethan knew what that meant and gladly took his white shirt and tie. He looked sharp. Ethan and his teammates enjoyed a feast and a great awards gala.
With the games complete, it was time to fly back to Jeddah. Even with the best efforts, the girls and I were not able to get on the same flight as the team. We got tickets on a flight that arrived about 30 minutes before the team which allowed us time to go home, drop off our suitcases, and arrive at the school in time to greet the bus as the team returned.
The BSME Games in Qatar were great fun for all of us. It was an opportunity for Ethan to compete on a much bigger stage and he learned a lot. The girls and I enjoyed cheering him on and the opportunity to eat at an American style restaurant each morning for breakfast. Doha is a great city. It felt like a place where it would be enjoyable to live and work.
Our family had the great opportunity to visit with a special man this past weekend.
Due to the nature of his visit and the sensitivity of our location, I’ll restrict my remarks to generalizations. Many of you reading will know who he is and therefore, the wonderful opportunity it afforded our family.
Dano’s service here outside of work, allowed him the opportunity to pick him up from the airport and escort him around while he was here in Jeddah, as well as another friend who was visiting from Al Khobar. Dano and I and some other friends from within Saudi were able to meet with him on Friday morning. It was a beautiful and very memorable morning.
We then met with a larger group in a most intimate setting. Kennedy was thrilled that this visit fell on her Friday to play the piano. She practiced diligently and played superbly. We are very proud of her and I think she is pleased with her effort. (She wasn't in the above picture with the kids because she was playing postlude music.)
At one point he opened the room up for any questions. As you would not be surprised, one of the three questions came from Ethan. He very seriously asked, “What do you do when there are riots in the Middle East?” Again, I can’t give the details of his incredible response here, but concluded by saying, “Ethan, I’m leaving you in charge. You’ll be my agent here in the region. I’ll let Barak Obama know the region is in capable hands.” He reminded Ethan a couple more times throughout the day that he was in charge of keeping watch. Ethan, of course, took this to heart, got his e-mail address, and has committed to sending him updates.
Following the questions, he gave a wonderful talk. He had Dano and Emily come up and stand beside him and used Emily as an example in his talk. As he looked at our sweet girl, he stroked her little cheeks and said, “Now those are Holland cheeks!” We think we agree.
Following school on Wednesday, spring break begins and we will leave for Dubai where we will again participate in meetings with this wonderful man. What a privilege it has been to have him in our midst, to talk with him, listen to him, and have our children feel of his great love and testimony. These are moments we hope they will always remember.
(a post I wrote a few weeks ago but for some reason didn’t get published)I have to admit I love the moments when it seems something I am doing as a mother is sinking in and having a positive impact. One of those days happened recently when Abby opened up a book and began to “read” it. This is how the story went, “And it came to pass in the temple of our God I have a family here on earth.” It made those of us within earshot giggle and made my heart swell with happiness. Perhaps it bordered on pride because it was not long after that I was toppled from my little pedestal. Ethan and I were working on his scouts and completing the character connection for Respect. We were discussing why others might be disrespectful to things we value. When he didn’t quite understand, I tried to use the example of the value of hard work. Our conversation steered in the direction of how others scoff at our choice to not have a maid or nanny here where labor is so cheap. Ethan ingenuously replied, “Well yeah. We’ve got Kennedy!”{Splat!}
Ethan is always concerned about and aware of our political standing with other countries. One of his popular questions is, “Are we friends with ‘so-and-so’?” As we were visiting the Blue Mosque in Istanbul earlier this month, an older man came up and was being sweet to Abby. We said our introductory courtesies and then I asked him where he was from. He told us he and his family were visiting from Iraq. He was a cheery gentleman who told us goodbye and left with his family. I told Dano and then our kids that he was the first person I’ve ever met from Iraq. Ethan, of course, asked us if we are friends with Iraq. We told him we hope so. We told him we removed a terrible dictator from Iraq and that we hope the people were happy we helped. We saw him a little later taking photos outside the mosque. Upon making eye contact I approached him and shook his hand telling him he was the first person I’d ever met from Iraq. He asked where we were from. We told him America. I told him our son had just asked us if we were friends with Iraq and asked him what he would say. He looked at Ethan and responded, “Oh yes! We love America. America helped make us free! We are friends.” He very kindly shook Ethan’s hand and I was grateful for that moment and hope Ethan remembers it for years to come.
The recent struggles in our part of the world have drawn comments and frequent discussions in our family as well as messages from concerned friends. Thank you for your concern. We are watchful, careful, hopeful and prayerful. If you were a fly on the wall in our home, here is a sampling of what you may have heard over the past month regarding the strife in the Middle East:
“Is Lebanon our friend?”
“Will we still have our games in Cairo?” (referring to the British Schools of the Middle East Games)
“I guess we should plan on cancelling our trip to Lebanon.”
“Let’s look at participating in some sort of service project in Jordan.”
“I guess we should cancel our trip to Amman.”
“I hope our tickets were refundable.”“Is this going to happen in Saudi Arabia?”
“When is the King coming home?” (referring to Saudi’s King Abdullah who has been away for medical treatment)“What is making the people in Egypt angry?”“Are we friends with Egypt?”
“Why doesn’t he just leave?” (referring to Mubarak)
“It’s kind of sad for his family but happy for everybody else because he was a bad leader.”
“I hope they don’t cancel the games in Cairo.”
“I hope my friend Judy is okay.” (referring to a friend who moved from Jeddah back to Cairo last summer)
“Can we turn on the news and see what happened in Libya while we were sleeping?”
“Isn’t a martyr someone who dies for a good cause? How can Qaddafi think he’s a martyr?”
“I wish we could just send in our Air Force and Marines and troops and bomb the bad guys and help the protesters get their cities. Don’t we have the best military? We have to do something. At some point people need help.”
“We have to let them try to solve their own problems first.”
“Is our stake center going to be okay?” (referring to one of our church buildings in Bahrain)
“Oh my goodness! They’re showing dead people on our television!” (the Al Jazeera channel doesn’t filter much violence…that was me being appalled, by the way…the kids didn’t see that, thank goodness)“I had a bad day. They canceled the BSME games.”
I read an article recently and appreciated the statement, "People don't revolt because they are hungry. People revolt because they want their dignity, because they want to govern themselves. Money won't solve our issues. We need true political and social reform. We need freedom, justice and dignity."
This has been such a great opportunity to have several discussions with our children about the wonderful blessings we have as Americans to be free! Freedom is one of the most treasured gifts we have. How often we take it for granted. I was reminded of that when we moved here. I was reminded of that again when Tunisians began revolting. We thought about our friend from Tunisia with whom we walked around Petra last year.
Then uprisings began in Egypt. We thought of friends’ families. Dano called our Arabic coach whose wife and children are there; with whom I’d had a lengthy conversation last year about the oppressive government of Egypt. He told Dano his family was safe but was quite anxious that he could not be there for the revolt, to take part with his friends and family in making history. We watched for days with anticipation. We prayed for a safe and quick resolution. We reminded ourselves that our own freedom came with great cost and sacrifice but we, like Egypt, were willing to fight for it. Then on February 11 Egypt’s Berlin Wall fell…as we’ve heard it equated to. I think it will be one of those days where I’ll always remember where I was when we heard the news that it was finally over. Dano and I were walking the streets of Amsterdam looking for a place to eat. We went with our third choice and ended up in a small Italian restaurant. We were in the middle of our salads when a man hastily rode up on his bicycle (everyone rides bikes) and came in nearly running, trying not to shout, “He quit! He quit!” There was a small cheering commotion with hugging amongst the staff and mention made of breaking out the wine. When the owner came over we asked him if he was from Egypt. He replied that his mother was from Italy and his father was from Egypt. We congratulated him for their victory and talked with him a little more. All of our Egyptian friends have been very friendly people. I thought it was funny that during the weeks of rioting we felt close to it through friends and location. Then at the triumphant conclusion we were thousands of miles away and yet had found our way right back in the middle of its influence. Oddly, I felt it was a blessing. Here we are with our Egyptian-Italian friend.
I have to admit their success in Egypt unleashed a sense of elation. We are hoping they can identify their Thomas Jeffersons, Benjamin Franklins, and others to write a fair and equal constitution. We’re hoping their quest for freedom here on out is as unified as they were in their initial quest for freedom.
We have watched the domino effect play out in the region, again with a quiet sense of anticipation -the people of Yemen, Jordan, Bahrain, Libya, and Iran. I can’t help but feel excited for them, though sad for the turmoil and life loss they must endure. I can’t help but want them to have one of the things I value most – freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press, right to vote, right to assemble… all this written from a country where our e-mails, blogs, and phone conversations are monitored; where I am careful in what I write. But, we are grateful to not have censoring to the extent of China.
As far as it spreading here…we don’t know. Time will tell. The king is a good king who is trying hard to make the people happy. The call for change and freedom has rung, though, and is noticeably heard.
So, each day we watch the news. Each day we hope dictators and oppressive leaders are removed and freedom attained. Each day we make sure we are aware of any action in our area. And each day we pray for peace and thank our Heavenly Father for the many freedoms we enjoy and for those who serve to protect those freedoms.
The normal annual rainfall for Jeddah is 54 mm (2.1 inches). On January 26th, however, Jeddah received 114 mm (nearly 4.5 inches) over a four-hour period. This was in addition to the 45 mm we had received ten days earlier. (We even had a full-blown thunderstorm with booming thunder and blazing lightening that sent two kids scrambling into bed with us.) It began raining on Monday evening. Tuesday it rained a little more, so much, in fact, that the school sent out a message saying if you hadn’t sent your kids to school to go ahead and keep them home. Unfortunately for our kids we didn’t get this until they were already at school. Tuesday afternoon brought a lot of rain. It poured and poured, not unlike downpours we would experience in Ohio.
Dano was missing all of this as he was having meetings in Bahrain. Wednesday morning after a rainy night and collaborating with Dano, we decided to keep the kids home from school. It was only an hour after school started that we received the school's message that all children were being sent home due to the rain. I told the kids they’d had snow days in Ohio, but now they’d be able to say they had a rain day. Here are just a couple of pictures we took from a drive. I'm not sure what they were trying to accomplish by scooping water out with a loader. Dano asked if this wasn't like trying to drain a lake with a spoon?
This is the top of a semi truck. It's hard to image just a couple of days prior to this picture the water was above the underpass.
One of the faults of Jeddah is their drainage systems…they don’t exist. This was one of the problems with the flooding in 2009. We found out Friday evening that the Ministry of Education had canceled school for Saturday. The kids were thrilled to have another day off. By noon on Saturday we learned the Ministry had extended the decree for one-week closure. We also learned about small demonstrations happening in Jeddah. Dano was preparing for a trip to Turkey for meetings. With the kids being out of school for the week, people staging small protests, Cairo being in an uprising on the other side of the sea and Dano leaving us for the week, we decided it might be a good time to distance ourselves from Jeddah for a few days. By midnight Saturday we were headed to the airport to leave for Istanbul. We were very happy to have a bulk head seat with bassinet accommodations for Emily. She slept soundly for a good portion of the trip.
We stayed on the European side of Istanbul this time. This was the view of the Bosphorous as we walked each day to and from our little hotel.
I was so happy we had a day to take Dano around. Of all the times he has been to Istanbul, he’s never been to see some of the great sites. The kids and I were happy to serve as tour guides as the sites were somewhat fresh in our minds. We took him to the Blue Mosque and to the Hagia Sophia.
I think the inside of the Blue Mosque is breathtakingly beautiful. It's hard to comprehend all the hours of work it took to complete such a masterpiece of art that simply cannot be captured on camera.
This time I took the kids around Istanbul by myself. As Dano’s meetings began the next day and we had more sites to see, we grabbed a taxi from our hotel and headed out to visit the Basilica Cistern, an underground water reservoir built in the 6th century. We thought it would be fun to have our pictures taken. (Dano and I had ours taken when I took him back to the Cistern.)
It’s amazing to think about how much water this cistern held. It is braced by 336 marble columns neatly arranged in rows. There are also two Medusa heads in the cistern. No one knows for sure why they’re there or where they came from. Some speculation says they were put there to release any evil spirits from the cistern. 
The next day we took a cab to the beautiful Dolmabahce Palace. 
It was built along the European Bosphorus shore during the 19th century and took thirteen years to complete. (Can you tell we were a little chilly that day?)
It remains well-guarded. However, this one was purely for photos. You can't see the large dagger he is holding behind his back. Impressive.
It remains one of the most exquisite palaces in the world.
It is so large it requires a guided tour. Unfortunately they do not allow any photography inside the palace. From the 285 rooms to the 68 bathrooms to the crystal staircase to the 4.5 tonne crystal chandelier, with all the other crystal and gold everywhere it truly is an exquisite palace outfitted for royalty. It is said that 40 tonnes of silver and 14 tonnes of gold were used for the decoration of the palace. The rulers of the Ottoman Empire lived there (intermittently) instead of the Topkapi Palace (which we visited and wrote about in September last year) until the last Ottoman Sultan. Then the first leader of modern-day Turkey, Mustafa Ataturk, resided there until his death on November 10, 1938. All clocks were stopped at 9:05 a.m., the time of his death. I think all of the children thoroughly enjoyed the palace and were each able to share several things they liked about it with Dano (since he didn’t get to see this with us).
We successfully purchased jetons (tokens) for the train and got us on the correct train headed back across Istanbul toward our hotel. We managed to stop at a McDonald’s for a treat of a lunch where we had a miserable bathroom incident involving a woman yelling at Kennedy in Turkish and banging on the door because Abby had locked herself in a stall (the only available stall), needed help and there was no toilet paper. I, on the other hand, was dealing with a terrible diaper disaster. Is there a subset of Murphy’s laws that says diaper blowouts will only happen when and where it is the very least convenient? My moment of accomplishment had quickly been squelched and now I just wanted to leave with whatever shred of dignity I had left. I calmed Kennedy down (who also couldn’t wait to vacate Mickey D’s), dealt with a sobbing three-year-old who was thirsty but didn’t want to drink her water because she had put a French fry in it, quickly redressed Emily, tossed her absolutely disgusting diaper in the trash, whispered a sincere apology to whomever had to empty that trash, and rushed out to catch the train back toward our hotel.
We were able to take Dano to visit the Grand Bazaar, a famous maze of souqs in Istanbul.
At one of the souqs we found a great chess set for Ethan from a very nice man named Mustafa.
As we continued strolling through the paths of the Bazaar we were stopped by an Australian man and his daughter who talked to us for a few minutes before asking us if we were Mormons. It turns out they were as well. Mormons are everywhere!
It was fun to chat with them for a few minutes and then finish our Grand Bazaar experience.
Luckily for us, with Dano’s meetings come his friends. We were so fortunate to be able to see Mr. Griffin (not for long enough...even Erin thought so!)
and to get to spend an evening with Mr. Fischer. In Abby’s opinion, he could come back every week (although she’s sorry for pinching his cheeks).
We ate at a great restaurant with a “back door” exit which took us down through the ruins of one of the ancient castles of Istanbul.
We have decided that we really like Istanbul and all the history that comes along with it. It’s just amazing to walk through the streets and think we are walking where people have been walking for thousands of years and trying to imagine what life was like. I have also decided I am becoming more confident at navigating these great cities with children. Thank goodness I speak the universal language of English…thank goodness English is the universal language.
Day one of the games was basketball and swimming. The coaches elected to have Ethan sit out the basketball game, as his stamina was needed in the swimming. The girls and I arrived just in time for start of the swim competition. Ethan worked hard and competed to the very end of each race. He swam in the freestyle, breaststroke, and all of the relays. Ethan was younger than most of the athletes by as much as two years. He did not let this intimidate him. 
Friday (day 2) came and brought with it the contests of football and athletics. As Doha is a bit freer than Saudi Arabia, the girls and I were able to join the local Doha Ward for church. We felt like we were in Houston, Texas. Many of the members were Exxon Mobile employees or other oil and gas exploration employees working in Qatar. Kennedy quite enjoyed the opportunity to meet with a large group of youth. We arrived at the school after our team had been eliminated from the football competition. After the teams competed in netball and the football finals there was a bit of time before dinner started. It was very interesting to see how the group naturally filled the time. Someone started playing dance music, another boy grabbed the microphone, and an interschool dance contest broke out on the stage.
If you leave a bunch of nine to eleven year olds to it, you can bet life will never get boring. Erin enjoyed dancing along with her friend. 
After a little dancing, Ethan had had enough and went with a few other boys to join in a pick-up game of football. During the game, Ethan met with the ground resulting in a fairly bloody elbow. They made a little bit of a big deal about this, but Ethan didn’t mind as it meant a trip to the ambulance. His lucky day!! 
Saturday (day 3) morning brought the final event, athletics. Ethan was asked to anchor his team’s 4x60m relay. With excitement he watched as his teammates raced around the track with the baton. As the baton reached him, he grabbed it and ran for all he had. I was very happy to see Ethan race hard to the finish. He is very fun to watch compete. 
The only thing left was the awards gala and the flight home the next day. The athletes were instructed to take “smart” clothes for the gala. We did not know what “smart” clothes were. We asked one of the British teachers at the kids’ school what this term meant. He described it at “Sunday Best.” Ethan knew what that meant and gladly took his white shirt and tie. He looked sharp. Ethan and his teammates enjoyed a feast and a great awards gala.
With the games complete, it was time to fly back to Jeddah. Even with the best efforts, the girls and I were not able to get on the same flight as the team. We got tickets on a flight that arrived about 30 minutes before the team which allowed us time to go home, drop off our suitcases, and arrive at the school in time to greet the bus as the team returned. 
