grooves

I recently went out into the desert with a group of ladies from work - we were saying goodbye to one of our coworkers who just ended her contract and moved to Spain/Lebanon. Best wishes to her as she begins a new adventure!

We rented a space and hired a company to provide food. It was hard to find, but once we got there the fun began. The space is a bit challenging to describe, so I've included my photos. If you google saudi tents or red arab couches you'll get a better idea. As for the food.... we had an entire lamb cooked over a fire for us. It came with mountains of delicious rice and some yummy sauces. We sat on the ground (with a table cloth and real plates and forks and knives) and just went for it. 14 ladies ate that whole lamb (and a couple rotisserie chickens).

Me and Caitlin getting cozy on the outdoor couch.

preparing for dinner... waiting for the lamb to take its place. notice the suitcase sized speaker blasting great tunes.

it has arrived!

we ate it to shreds.

We left our friend's place at 7, getting us there at 8 or 830. To return home our taxis picked half of us up at 12:30 and the other half of us up at 2:30am. Here on the arabian peninsula we get to be a bit nocturnal... not sure why. Maybe it's the heat? We spent our time there smoking shisha, dancing, chatting, eating, and having a great time.

I think it's interesting to note that when I was taking photos I was thinking "I want to put this on instagram" or "Oh! that was a good shot, I'll put it on my blog" but then I realized that I couldn't share many of my photos because they showed my muslim friends uncovered. I am not sharing this to whine, but to share that it was a time when I had to think about being a respectful visitor and friend. It happens even when you've been somewhere for more than a couple months. Because we were a group of women with no men around, we were all free to wear what we wanted, let our hair show, etc. If it had been a co-ed group, some of my friends would have preferred to cover in favor of modesty. So when sharing photos here I tried to only include shots that showed my friends who would be comfortable with me sharing photos of them uncovered.

While we were out in the desert, we listened to lots of music and I kept my phone handy to shazam tracks I didn't know. If you don't know, Shazam is an app that identifies music for you. I find it super handy because if I was in the states I could type some lyrics into google and figure it out, but when I'm listening to things in arabic, hindi, or korean I definitely wouldn't be able to type the lyrics into google. I decided to compile some of my best finds - some real bangers from places I've been, suggestions from international friends, and tracks I've danced to in far away place. So take a listen to my Spotify Playlist. I hope it'll grow over the years. I also hope it makes you dance (or at least tap your foot). Here's to adventures - whether they're shared meals, dances, or shifts in perspective.