The (Accursed) Abaya

Big news!  I finally bought my own abaya.  Not that the delay was for the lack of trying.  I had been borrowing one, and every time we went into Khobar I would look for my own, so that I could return the borrowed one.  Well, we looked and looked, and we found lots of really expensive ones - like $400 or $500  - which was no good, since I want the cheapest thing I can get away with.  I don't really care what it looks like, as long as I'm not paying through the nose for it.  The other day, we finally went to a store that started with a Z (I have no idea how to pronounce or even spell it) and they had abayas for sale pretty cheap.  The one I got was only 95 riyals, which is about $25.  In fact, it was the cheapest one in the store.  It has some purple embroidery and fake bling on the sleeves, and the sleeves are so wide and open it's like something from an early-medieval princess dress (but this thing makes me feel very different than a princess!), but I don't really care.  It's huge - a big black bag that I can go out in.  I think it fits me pretty well now, but when Baby Girl is born, I may have to move the snaps to make it tighter around.  Here are the pictures:

E on camp.  Normal clothes!  YAY!  (BTW, I got this odd haircut right before we left where one side is longer than the other.  It looked great for the first month, but now it's just weird and I think it looks terrible!  I tried to cut the long side shorter tonight...more pics of that to come.)  (Also, remember I am 8 months pregnant in this picture!  Baby update and side pictures also to come.)

E off camp.  This is what I look like to go to the grocery store.  Well, I do put shoes on, too.

In case we run into a matawa (religious policeman) (yes, they have an entirely different police force that goes around enforcing the religious rules!), I carry this head scarf with me.  It was knitted by a dear friend's grandmother for me.  It's very beautiful!  I am really glad to have it. 

This is what all the other women in the grocery store look like.  (How do they see???) ("Sorry, honey, I accidentally got canned tomatoes instead of black beans, BECAUSE I COULDN'T SEE!") (Also, I've thought of this:  if you are a toddler and you get separated from your mom in the mall, GOOD LUCK finding her again!!  All the women look exactly the same!  What a horrifying experience that must be.  And if you are old enough to talk to a security guard:  "My mom is the one in all black."  Not helpful.)