Sugar.

Saturday afternoon I mixed up a big jug of Tang for our fourth grade boys that take over the living room most days of the week. I also had a double batch of peanut butter cookies for them to try. Nice, right? Beside the fact that one requested I make sandwiches for them (not pb&j, but tuna or chicken would be fine) they all noted that I did not add any additional sugar to the Tang. I made strong Tang, so thick it looked like neon orange milk. I remember how I liked my powdered drinks in fourth grade, and I tried to make these boys realize how hip I am to the nine year old taste bud.  However, they were disappointed that there was not a sweet sludge of extra sugar granules at the end of each glass. I guess I just don't understand Arab taste, and I am not blind to health.

Tang made in Bahrain

In a discussion with Nora's Pediatrician about breastfeeding he advised that, "You should take your supplements, because they will not make you fat." and "To boost your milk supply you need to drink a lot of liquids, like juice. But do not add any sugar to your orange juice." At the time I tried to tell myself that people do not add sugar to orange juice, he must have meant that I look for juices with no sugar added, and not to drink Tang.  Later that week when I was visiting downstairs, the woman was getting fed up with me because I would not take any sugar in my tea. "You need sugar to make your milk, you need extra, extra sugar!" she said as she added spoon after spoon into my drink. I didn't say much, smiled and drank my Ceylon and mint syrup.

I observed more, and began to think that maybe these people would add sugar to their orange juice. Michael has come home telling me horrific stories of men adding 13 sugar cubes to small cups of tea. When he confronted the Phys. Ed. teacher at his school about his sugar use, he said, "Who tells you sugar is bad?! It can not make you fat! Who tells you this?"

I finally saw it the other night. We were taken out for dinner by a family who's boy Mike had taught. The mother sat across from me. She was a short, round woman with a bright face and a gaudy taste in jewelry. She ordered no food, but she did request a single glass of orange juice and a glass of ice. I watched all night as she opened sugar packets and dumped five or six over the ice. Then she would pour about an inch of juice over it, stir it with the end of her knife, and sip it like a cocktail. Repeat. The juice lasted the whole meal this way, and probably had twenty five to thirty sugar packets mixed in. At the end of the evening we ordered coffee. She ordered cappuccinos for me and herself, and mentioned to the waiter, "Extra sweet for the ladies, please!" Thank god it came unsweetened with an extra row of sugar packets on the side. I stopped watching her sugar, I didn't want to understand how much "extra sweet" was to her.

As for the boys, I refuse to add extra sugar to the Tang. It is the first ingredient, and I already added extra mix to the water. Also, I think it will be apples and bananas for snack the rest of the week. I can't wait to see what the reaction is when I start throwing veggies in there for them. "Teacher, what is this?"

Fulla loses her religion.

So, I am not going to lie. We did part of Christmas a little early. In the car on the way home from Toys R Us, early. Mariam has been talking a lot about dolls lately, so I thought I would gift her one that was a little more grown up than the babies she already has. I have been curious about these "Fulla" dolls since I got here. It is basically a Muslim Barbie, complete with headscarf and abaya.

We were at the store and Fulla was a little cheeper than Barbie and had dark hair, two things that really appeal, not to mention how novel the idea was to me. I picked out a basic model from the "Fruity Abaya" line. Lemon-Mint Fulla came all wrapped up in her black outdoor clothes. On the back of the box you could see the outfit she had on underneath, double the wardrobe!

I took the box out in the car to look at it on the way home. Of corse Mariam saw it right away from her newly forward facing car seat, "DOLL! DOLL! DOLL!" I tried to put Lemon-Mint back in the bag and tears and shouting erupted. We had a slow and stressful drive (as always here) ahead of us, so I gave in and took Fulla out of the box. I probably wanted to see her more than Mare did anyway. I handed the doll to Mariam I could hear velcro being ripped and then a frustrated, "OUT"! Lemon-Mint was given back to the front seat to have her Abaya removed. It came off relatively easy, but her headscarf seemed to be securely attached. On the back of the box Fulla had flowing hair and no scarf on with her casual shirt and stretch pants. I thought the headscarf would have an easy off, but like lots of kids toys, the box was a little deceptive. I made some joke to Michael about Fulla having to be inside with the door shut before the headscarf could come off, also he probably shouldn't see her sans abaya since she isn't related to him.

We got home and I did a full inspection of Lemon-Mint with Mariam watching intently over my shoulder. We took off all her clothes. Fulla has incredibly skinny arms and much smaller boobs than Barbie does. She also has built in underwear that goes down to her knees and a square neck undershirt that most women in America would wear as just a shirt. Her fashionable little headscarf was not coming off. I told Michael to get me the scissors. I could see it was attached by little black plastic loops implanted into her head. It was hard to tell if it was supposed to stay that way or if it was like the other 1,000 pieces of plastic and wire bands that I had to take off to get Fulla out of the box. I decided along with Mariam, "OFF". Oops, I totally killed Lemon-Mint's modesty, and she was a Christmas gift, what am I doing to this young skinny Muslim doll! It was not meant to come off. Her hair was just sort of long black and hacked, not at all like the styled photo, I guess you have to do that yourself.

Mariam loves it by the way, she has taken off the clothes about 90 times already.

I did some more finding out Fulla. I checked out her website to find gems like this:

Under the "Learning" link there is a section titled "Dressing Modest". There you can find recipes for a fairer face and one to take care of your rough and ugly feet, articles about what fabric patterns to choose to flatter your figure, what your wardrobe style says about your personality type and one called "Food Makes You Prettier, But?" It is like an issue of Cosmo aimed at six year olds, nothing about dressing modestly.

My favorite is the "Inspiring Words" section. It just says, "Better be a cub in the family of lions than be a king of the Ostriches." Really? Fulla is hating on Ostriches now?

I am sure there are stranger things written in the "Whispers" section. Thats where they give some girl advice. I am really too tired to read all that right now though, and kinda weirded out.

Merry early Christmas.