Condom Wine and Jordan Pics

I'm really starting to like Saudi (its nearly impossible to explain how such a weird place can be so awesome). I was so worried about my social life but I'd say it might even be better than it was last school year. It took me about a month and a half, but I feel like I've made the adjustment, which was harder than I had originally thought it would be. I think of myself as a flexible and adaptable person but I really had to change gears. For a while I was really pissed that it was so hard to keep in touch with people. Many of my coworkers said that my friends would forget about me but I totally didn't think it would happen. I figured they must have had shittier friends than me and with today's technology it would be easy to keep in touch. So I guess I was kinda pissed and hurt that some people wouldn't take 5 minutes to shoot me an email. I kept thinking 'I'm not dead, I just moved away! And if people can forget about me so quickly were they ever my friend?'. Some people have done a really good job, and for the others I know it's not personal but just, "out of sight, out of mind." I've heard its something everyone goes through out here.

It seems like I spend a lot of time talking about booze but you end up thinking about it in a dry country!! Today I learned the recipe for 'condom wine'. You mix the ingredients (yeast, water, sugar, grape fruit juice) up in a one of those huge water dispenser bottles then cover it up with a condom. Something in the yeast makes the condom fill with air and when it deflates (or is no longer erect) your home brew is done. I've got another friend that knows how to concoct just about any hard alcohol and we've been kicking around the idea of opening a bar on our compound. As if I haven't already proven what my thoughts are revolving around, I'll be heading to Oktoberfest in Bahrain tomorrow. Can you believe I got a huge discount on my hotel because my friend and I both are named Sarah?? ('such a good arabic name' the guy said) I wanted to tell them my mom named me Sarah because it means princess in HEBREW, but didn't want to lose my cheap rate!