Polyphasic sleeping is a sleeping schedule in which you sleep mostly or completely in naps.  It gives you extra waking hours to do whatever it is you need to do.  Two of the most popular forms of polyphasic sleep are the Uberman, or sleeping for 20 minutes every 4 hours, and the Everyman, taking a core of 3 or so hours and taking 3 20 minute naps in the day.
My twin Aya is doing Uberman and I do Everyman.  I have been on this schedule for 5 weeks and I have to tell you that I will never go back.  There is nothing more glorious than thinking about having to run errands straight after work without dread, since you can simply do anything else you want anytime.  My everyman schedule gives me 4 waking personal hours a day extra.  I broke it down in my last post about polyphase, but it comes out to almost double the free time that I used to have.
My current schedule has changed a bit from when I started, I sleep from 130-430.  I take 20 minute naps right after I wake up and wake Aya up (this starts the cycle over again and gives me an initial start), 440pm and 10pm.  In the past 3 days I have also added a 10 minute nap at work (you can pretend you are going to the bathroom, no one notices just 10 minutes) but I'm going to do 15 I think, between 12-1 sometime. 
I get up at 430, get ready for work, do whatever, take my 6 o clock, go to work, come home, take my 440, and then the night is free (and young, btw.)  I had a list of things to do, I ran out of paper to write it on.  I have been drawing, sewing, watching movies, knitting, writing, and more.  It is extremely liberating to have all this time.  I go on nightly walks and I have time to work out and I can do anything as late as I please.
I want to give you a breakdown of a few things that happen when you go polyphasic:
1. Your eyes go out of focus
This is probably worse for me, since I am blind in my left eye.  Where now I can see just like normal, it took me about 22 days to get that far.  Your eyes simply will not focus quickly enough, or when you are watching something they will defocus.  This happens mostly when you are tired, but the lack of focus is effective a whole gob of the time.  It has mostly gone away, but I am always thinking about how much I didn't like it.
2. Your skin is "pale white and ice cold, you don't sleep," etc.
Well not everyone is as pale as I am, but your body will get cold.  My internal temperature seems fine, as I don't sit there shivering under covers, but if you touch my cheeks you will find my skin cold to the touch.  I attribute this to blood and energy flow, but it's really rather interesting.  The lady who wrote the book about polyphasic sleeping (I do not recommend it, a lot of what she says is a load of shit and stuff) claims that her skin isn't colder and she's done it for a few years.  I don't know that I believe her.  While it may eventually go away, I am only on 5 weeks after all, I find it hard to believe.
3. Time
I've always had a theory that involves time travel as it is related to your dreams.  In this theory you can speed up time the way that you have a dream that seems like an hour but has only been 15 minutes.  It would probably be a purely cognitive thing, but it seems more and more plausible as now I sleep and dream often, more often than I did before when I would simply sleep, dream, wake.  I sleep dream wake 4 times a day now.  After about 2.5 weeks I started remembering my dreams immensely, I would wake myself up, panicking that my alarm had gone off and I'd missed it.  Nowadays I know that even though my dream seems 3 hours long, I am getting my 20 minutes.
4. Just woke up feeling
I never thought there would be a time in which 20 minutes of sleep would be as refreshing as 8 hours.  I guess I had no imagination.  I'm living it now, though, and I love it.  I've always been a person who felt great when they got up (except when I'm sleep deprived haha.)  I seem to be much happier, I will smile to myself all the time about what I'm thinking of.  Theoretically this could be that just-slept feeling manifesting itself, but I don't know.
5. Eye-lagginess
Eye lagginess isn't the same as focus problems.   Eye laggines is when you move your eyes (such as: glancing at your watch or looking at something that made a sound) and it takes for effing every to do so.  If  you want to change lanes on the road, don't drive.  By the time you look at the other lane it is too late for this lane, plus you have to get your eyes back, all in time for that gap.  Not cool, make someone else drive.
I'm sure there are more than just 5, but I better get on to it.  I logged from day 7-day 21 (at which I was basically acclimated)
6. Zoning out
This is the worst of all symptoms.  You literally snap back and realize you have been out for a small period of time (one second, a few milliseconds, etc) Don't drive and do this please, and be prepared.
Out of my first 7 days I remember a couple only.  Once you are adjusted, you don't get this unless you are late/skip a nap completely.  And it's not a bad price to pay as long as you aren't driving for skipping a nap if you have to.
An overview of the transition:
The first few days went without a hitch.  I wasn't falling asleep during my nap times but my body still had plenty of energy in her reservoir.  Of course by day 4, the not-falling-asleep during my naps caught up with me and I felt miserable.  I also got very sick from my period, as usual, but compounded with having to keep this schedule, I remember feeling pretty awful.  It got better for a time, whenever I didn't have my period induced headaches I didn't feel bad at all, just a bit drowsy.  At day 7 it started going down hill.
Aya and I both checked our logs, even though we were doing different schedules, days 7-9 were the worst for us, and Transformers Premiere set us back a few days.  Out of all this time, I have only slept more than I intended once, and that was when I decided to take a second nap, even though I had already taken one.  Aya woke me up after 20 mintues and we were laughing about it, I can't imagine what I was thinking.  People generally have a couple of days in which they oversleep to some extent.  It's not really bad as long as you don't try to make up for it, just continue with your schedule as if it never happened.  This rule is number one, and is most important when you didn't sleep.  You will be tempted to set your alarm forward if you didn't fall asleep, but the whole point is to deprave your body saying "you only have 20 minutes to fall asleep PERIOD, so make use of it."  If your body doesn't want to, trust me, it will change it's mind in a while.

Day 9 in detail:
This was the worst day for me.  I wasn't on the same schedule I am on now, I was sleeping only until 4 and had many hour in the morning before work to waste.  This isn't good.  I also didn't yet know the "NEVER SIT" rule which applies to your worst times of horrible sleepiness.  I woke up and felt fine for about 30 minutes, and then it started setting in (the tiredness.)  This was a trend that happened starting around day 5 or 6, so I wasn't too worried as I was used to it.  I'd get horribly sleepy for about an hour 20-30 minutes after waking.  On day 9, it was more than that.  After about 1-1.5 hours awake after my core, I experienced the most awful, yet intriguing thing I've ever seen: A microsleep.
Imagine you are cutting out the pattern to some slippers and then suddenly you black out and after one second you open your eyes and you are done cutting.  It is the weirdest thing I think I've ever seen, my brain literally shut down while my motors were still running.  I was very weirded out, it changes your perspective on what the human body is capable of.  It also supposedly is what narcolepsy is, in which case, I have such a great and deep sympathy for those with this condition it's not funny.  I kept myself going even after such a shocking thing by telling myself that even if I was doing it unconciously, at least I got the pattern cut out and I wouldn't have had time to before.  
But it was the breaking point and it didn't happen after that.  I still had severe eye-lag and focus problems for a few days but after that it started getting better and better (but when someone is adjusting, they may not feel it is "better" because just because you have less of it, eye-lag is extremely debilitating if you want to do anything, especially sitting, using your computer, reading, or something of the sort.)  Dozing kind of stinks but a brisk midnight walk will clear it up and take you until about bedtime.
Aya and I did midnight walks rather consistently for the past few weeks, though in the past two days we haven't really needed one (I will prob. take one tonight just for being outside, I love the outdoors so much!)  I think these really helped, our normal body would think we should be in bed when it's that dark and late, but we trained it to think we should be doing some physical excercize.  
I'm sure I will come up with lots of awesome stuff to remember to write about.  I just like being detailed but when I am I run off on tangents and never end up saying what I meant to. 
Overall impression:  It's a freakin' blast!

2.8 pounds of wrinkles, pudges, and pure and utter mischief.

Friday evening brought us to the mall, where we went to find a cute belt for Aya.  After a few stores and a good meal at Garcias, we were walking to another store when we saw a woman with an adorable puppy in her arms. 
"Oh lord what a cutie!" we exclaimed, petting the uncharacteristically social tiny chihuahua excitedly.
"Oh she's for sale," the lady replied.  Orly?  Probably like at least 700, the going rate for teacup chihuahuas here are around 1k.  
"How much?" we asked curiously. 
"Two hundred-fifty," she replied.
Oh
ok
lets do it!

Later
"What kind of food does she eat?"  
"Oh all kinds of food, human food, all different kinds."
"No, I mean, what kind of kibble?"
"Oh I don't know."
"Do you own her parents?"
"Oh well her mother got out when we left the gate open and her father is not around anymore,"  (could be vice versa, at this point we were like WTF GET THIS DOG AWAY FROM THIS LADY!)  So, despite perhaps condoning slightly the breeding of this poor poor soul, we went to an ATM and purchased her, a decision we made based on the fact that THEY LEFT THE GODDAMN GATE OPEN WTF.  SHE EATS HUMAN FOOD AND WTF DUDE.  I would just be so guilty leaving her to those conditions.  
Thus the acquisition of the poor Lupita Jeniffer Rosa De La Riva Gonzalez Lopez Hu (a.k.a. Lupe)
Needless to say this joyous hilarious and adorable parcel made her way to our home, where she and PooPooButt hit it off, Jenny became used to her in a night, and we are still working on the cat.  When she came home she really didn't know what kibble was, or those dog food meats which we got her in case.  Now she does hahahaha!
She's great at getting into things, causing trouble, giving you guilt trips for putting her in the kennel for two hours while you are away so as to not let her get into those things I discussed earlier.  She is great at finding things you never knew were neaer your floor and chewing them and attempting to ingest them.  She's extremely good at finding ways to do things.  If she can't get onto the chair she will go around and find something to boost her up.  She is keenly intelligent.  She doesn't shake unless she's super super super overwhelmed, and it's not the usual neurotic chihuahua shake.  We are working on potty training.  She is good at telling me when she has to go pee, but when I stick her on the pad, she'll sometimes walk away before she goes.  She goes on the pad when it is too hot to go outside, even though she was an outdoor dog all her life before this.
One thing I do have to say though :  Thank god I'm polyphasic!  It makes a huge difference to have a puppy that YOU wear out instead of one that keeps you up at night.  The sleep is going well, though the night before last I woke up 20 minutes after I went to bed for my core from a weird ass dream, and it took a bit to recover from that.  My dreams are more lucid now, I woke myself up from the one I was referring to.  I used to lucid dream 100% of the time, but I couldn't tell you why, it was for a little over a year when I was 18-19.  I don't know when it stopped but I remember thinking it sucked.  We'll see where that goes.

I dont know if I mentioned either that I was accepted at Academy of Art University so I'm going to go there (online for now, half time)  OH GOD LUPE STOLE MY CHAPSTICK SHE IS TRYING TO CHEW IT UP 
YEAHH I am so excited about ACA it was my childhood dream to go there.  Now I have the time and stuff for it.

Shameless plug for my oekaki!!
         




What other people have said about "The Oekaki Spot" (Keighsie's Oekaki):



"Aya: hang on a sec

So the Pimsleur series were on sale for 6 dollars each basic course (10 lessons) so I bought Italian, French, German, Hindi (I have done up to lesson 3 or 4 on Hindi in the past but not past that.)

I am on lesson 22 (or I may be doing 23 tomorrow) of Mandarin.  After one full set (30 lessons) you are considered basic fluency.  It's awesome I know so much of what they are saying on dramas and in music now (well I don't know love song Mandarin yet but I'm working on it haha)

Pimsleur is the best method I've ever seen/heard/etc to learn spoken language.  I have always been understood by people when I've spoken Mandarin in the past, even though I didn't know it was romanized Pu tong hua (I thought it was Po tong hua) but apparently my pronunciation is right on because people always say "ni shuo de hen hao!"  (I think I romanized that right but, again, they don't teach you any written language.)

Pimsleur teaches you stuff, and then goes back and pulls it out of your short term memory.  Short term to long term memory retention is usually after about 2 minutes, and these are 30 minute lessons, so it pulls these things from your memory all lesson (brings up previous lessons too of course) and this way it never gets lost in your short term.  It's fabulous and I have only had to retake one Mandarin course (that is lesson 21) because they started giving me commands in Mandarin and I wanted to make sure I understood them.  They say if you know about 85% of the final conversation, you are ready for the next lesson, which I have found to be true.  I love this program and I would vouch for it for anyone at any time learning a spoken language.

Anyhow now yo capisco unpo l'italiano (I think I am romanizing that right.)  and my coworker speaks Italian so I can practice on her Hahahaha askin her if she speaks English Hahahha MuaHahaHhaHa.  Oh I love languages.

Sunday was my two week anniversary polyphasically(sp?) sleeping (It is 15 days now)
I can proudly say I have fully adjusted,  I get tired only around my nap time, I haven't had eye-lag in two full days (though just wait it's probably gonna come back tomorrow and I'm gonna take away everything I said) I am awake in the mornings, and overall great!
I am so happy!  I made a linen top, the mockup regency bodice, painted, drew, watched movies, knit lots, read read read, read some more, cut out patterns, browsed the web, played the sims 3, played rock band 2, hiking, tons of hiking, lots of browsing, bookstore trips, mall trips, walking trips, and just a whole crapload of other stuff.

Some pics from the weekend (I was making a big post with all the pics but too lazy.  Got distracted by a movie :P)











 There are so many more but I will spare you for now.  I might make a post later though.
Fact is, Arizona is the most diverse, beautiful place in the world.  We have everything you could want within 5 hours.  This particular place, Tonto Natural Bridge State Park is only 2 hours from my home in the desert.  2 hours on the most beautiful road ever, too btw.

To do list!

Oh shoot I forgot to call Crystal!  I will call right after work!

Finish my linen top
Make my room slippers for my house
Cut out mock up of my Regency dress
Karaoke tonight or Rock Band 2?  This is a hard decision, Karaoke I get to hang out with my friend and get out of the house, but Rock Band 2 is much funner and I can karaoke on there and I dont have to leave the house so I can wear pajamas.  Hahahaha.
Read one more chapter of the book I'm reading

That's just for tonight...
BTW I got a 94% two different times on two different songs on medium settings so I am rockin!!!!  My next step:  HARD :P

If there is one person or more on your friends list who makes your world a better place just because they exist and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.

I love you my LJ friends!!!<3<3<3

Which reminds me I need to change my icon!

Today is my ninth day of poly-phasic sleeping.  I have to say, I have energy ALL day and ALL night, except of course right when I wake up from my core nap, at which point I think I experience microsleeps while I walk around and do things.  It's like this FATIGUE and LETHARGY and it kinda sucks!
But the fact is, I cut out some slippers, and then I realized I had cut out the slippers.  As in, I didn't consciously do it because I was so tired, but at least I did it. 
So that is the part I'm still working on.
Otherwise:
I feel great!!!!
I have this AWESOME mood which may or may not have to do with the sleeping but has been more consistent since then.  This could be because I get all the time to sew and paint that I want, as opposed to before when I would get to a certain point and just be upset that I hadn't done anything productive in so long.  It also could be because I believe that I feel less pain, as in I accidentally poked myself with pins while sewing, as usual, and it wasn't as acute a pain, it just felt like something happened and then felt like something changed, then a dull pain sensation, and that was it!  
Around 3 I get tired for my 440 nap since I take from 4 am all the way to the 440 pm awake.  I could try napping in between, I'm thinking about it.  The lethargy in the morning puts into perspective how mild this feeling of tiredness is around 3, like someones telling me to go to sleep as opposed to my body sleeping even while I try not to let it.
So I am sure one of these days it will go BAM and I will be adjusted, but til then an hour of tiredness in which I can work for all that productivity is so worth it :P  I will of course try and figure out a way to thwart my morning fatigue but I would stick with it anyways, honestly.

We shall see!!!  Also I made this cute linen top I just gotta put the waistband on it and tack down the bias straps and then I shall be finished!  Took me longer to decide how long I wanted the straps than anything else.  It's still a bit low but I think it will be great!!

Well I am "polyphasic"  I take a 3 hour sleep at 1am-4 am  At 4 pm and 9 pm I take about 20-30 minute naps (if I don't fall asleep, 30 :P)  This is about 4 hours total, which is 4 less than I used to have.  The naps, however, don't even feel like sleeping, as far as only taking 20-30 minutes out of my day, so essentially I sleep 3 hours a night (and take a few naps!)
So far it's really awesome.  Last night we watched two movies, went to the bookstore til it closed, grocery shopped, walked around Desert Ridge, I cleaned off my sewing hutch (now just to clean the floor hahaha!)  I worked out, I enjoyed the gorgeous Arizona-night weather and I read, all after 9 pm.
So far, I get really tired at 2 pm, which is one of the times that your body temperature drops (2am, 2pm, I've read.)  but other than that I am fine (except of course I get tired for bedtime around 1230 just like I used to at 730 although maybe a bit more intense of a tiredness.)  I am hoping it will get less of a tiredness at 2 after a few days.
So much time to do everything it is really nice.  Wish me luck, Aya is on day 6 and she is doing only 20-30 minutes every 4 hours.  My naps are on two of her nap schedules and I sleep at one of her nap times, but she gets up the rest of my sleep time and sleeps once more before work.  She's doing incredibly well as well. 

view more at TheSims3.com

view more at TheSims3.com

Also reminding myself to make one of these:

I'm selling a lot of my lolita stuff (the stuff I don't wear) so if there's anything you've seen that you want lemme know.  I am not selling my meta bouquet op in antique white (but I'm selling the old blue longsleeve one I've never really actually worn except to try on) nor the princess drop jsk.  All is in almost new condition except where otherwise stated.  Things I've got prices negotiable and include shipping to us:

Meta Marine JSK fully shirred 125 but no socks (you wouldn't want them anyway XP)


Meta bleu bouquet long sleeve op - 140


Bodyline sweet JSK/OP - 40



BTSSB Mint Gingham check OP - 160
BTSSB Pink shirred cutsew - 35


Black Bodyline skirt - 40


Adorable Angelic Pretty OP (please note I replaced two buttons that do not match and it came to me in used condition - around the collar mostly.  It is very light though but if you are interested and want pics I will gladly take some) - 60



BTSSB Chiffon Ribbon Ribbon OP - I sold Aya's for 250 so I'd like that.  Flexible payment plans available!



Meta Telephone skirt - 75
This is in new condition but not almost brand new condition as it has been loved, but not mistreated.


Red Meta bolero - 36


It's not this pink :P

Blue Chocochip cookie blouse - 35

I'm sure theres ones I am forgetting I will get when I get home.

There were a lot of things to think about at that time, so I wasn't paying attention.  I was thinking about Captain Whitman.  Was he dead?  Was he alive?  Which was worse?  On that note, did any of our party survive and had they taken the woman's life as well?  How long would it take until they found me and Jennifer?  I didn't want to wait that long, but where the hell was I supposed to go?  Was there an embassy near us?  I had no map on me.  If I talked to the police I'd be gambling on whether they were corrupt or not.  If I talked to the street people they might give me up to save their own asses.  I reminded myself to say prayers for the Captain and try my best to look under control for Jennifer, who was standing, wide eyed with terror, tears streaming down her face, looking at me with some kind of longing in her eyes.  Looking at me to lead her to safety.

I noticed too late the four men that surrounded us.  I noticed too late their weapons, looking to me unlike our handguns but about the same size.  I noticed too late their polite smirks.  I noticed too late that we were screwed, unable to move in any direction.  Jennifer broke down, I think this was the straw that broke the camel's back for her.  I reflexively went to help her up and was immediately greeted by the four men sticking their weapons in my sides.  I continued anyways, I would not let her go on alone.  Once I had my arm around her and my other one in the air in surrender, they backed up a little bit.

They made it clear their intention was to lead us somewhere.  The odd part, though, was that I had no idea what on earth they were saying.  I got along in the shop just fine, but these people were speaking some odd dialect or accent that I couldn't understand, save a few words here and there.  I assumed, since I had learned Eyptian Arabic, that perhaps it was the Eastern or Syrian dialect.  ((I know this makes no sense but I can't find a relative map of Arabian dialects that aren't too detailed.  Eastern covers a bunch of Arabic but Egyptian is the most commonly understood as all the good TV shows are supposedly in Egyptian...))  It was weird not to know what they were saying.  I picked out little words like "American" or "Ameriki" which is also the same even in Hindi, but generally couldn't tell what they were going on about.  Eventually they led us with thier guns and not their mouths.  Jennifer clung to me, she was leaning on me, her body spent from her tears that were finally ending.  I tried to look as menacing as I could but I was very young, white, and female, and I was wearing men's clothes that were admittedly just on the big side on me.  I just hoped that Jennifer would take me seriously.  

As we walked, we passed a place from which I could see the desert.  The awe that overcame me when I saw it was enough to clear everything from my mind for a moment.  The situation we were in, the injury or death of my colleagues, the responsibility I for some reason felt to Jennifer, all this was gone for a split second when I saw the sand, stretching beyond the horizon, through the empty lot between two buildings.  It wasn't a thing like my desert at home.  But Jennifer didn't seem to look up at all.  I hoped she was alright.  I would get a chance to check out the desert later, I was certain.  They led us to an alley on the side of one of the buildings that neighbored the empty lot.  As we arrived, they backed us against one wall, and I could see 3 more figures approaching.

I wondered if these were the same people who had been fighting our group.  I had glanced three of them, barely, when we made our hurried escape, but it was too short of a time for me to recall any features of the three.  These men who had us now had different guns than the men who were shooting into the street.  The three that approached seemed to be unarmed, though, and it was possible that they were the men from the shootout and had left their weapons behind, or were perhaps hiding them in the folds of their massive robes.  They were all very jovial and smiling at one another.  Their happiness was almost contagious, they seemed so utterly friendly for having just led us here with guns, like friends reunited after a long separation.  I didn't really know how to react until they started sizing us up. 

I put on my most defiant glare, I tried to look like a very rebellious person who would be a hassle to have around.  I could not see Jennifer's expression as they gestured toward her.  They made a motion for her to take off her headscarf that was covering her mouth, mine had flown back by this time.  Jennifer dropped her scarf gingerly, exposing her lips and she pulled the fabric back from her head that was covering her hair.  I followed suit. 

They studied us for a moment, conversing amongst themselves in their foreign, familiar tongue.  Jennifer grabbed my hand, her grip was firm but weak, I could tell she was frightened.  I gave her a reassuring squeeze, I knew we would be just fine.  We would stick together and escape and come out the other end better for it.  It would certainly give her a lot to write about!  

One of the men came toward me and looked at me in the eye, asking his fellow capturer something I couldn't understand.  The other man replied and they both burst out laughing.  I believe this was what saved my life in the long run.  They thought I was a boy because the man who had taken us joked that I was.  My skin and face were unfamiliar, my hair was cut in a 20's bob which I had recently done after having long curly hair for years.  It would be easy to think in our foreign country my appearance would be acceptable for a male.  They sincerely thought that I was a boy, albeit too young to be taken seriously, perhaps young enough to be desireable in ways I didn't want to think about. 

I really can't just go to the next part I wouldn't be motivated to write it.  Also I must put a disclaimer that this is a heroic fantasy epic and not a true story so if I portray any people in an offensive manner I apologize deeply. 


I can't even tell you how excited I was when our plane landed in Ar Riyad where we were going to be stationed.  Me and the girl I met on the plane, Jennifer (an aspiring journalist) had been talking about our excitement for the last two hours.  She was from Nothern California, the cold, wet land I once lived in for a year.  She was so excited to be a translator (and no doubt, to write about translating) and then go on to do independent reporting.  I was just excited to see someone my age - the other people who had come on our flight were male, mostly of Middle Eastern descent, and very unconversational.  There was one other female but she was older and slept most of the way.  As it was, Jenny and I were young and eager and couldn't get an ounce of sleep due to our anticipation.  We could not wait for the plane to land.

When we stepped off the plane and went into the city.  It was amazing.  The air was dry and crisp, warm.  The buildings tended to go from dilapidated to brand new as neighbors.  The city was expansive, it bustled, and it was probably the most exotic thing I'd ever seen.  People moved about in robes, tunics.  The juxtaposition of the old and the new buildings was something you don't see in relatively young Scottsdale.  There was a dirt on the street that puffed into the air as people went by.  The smell in the air wasn't pleasant, but I could just get a metallic whiff of the sand that lay on the outskirts of Ar Riyad.  The sand dunes.  The desert.  I couldn't wait to see it.

We had about an hour after we got off the plane until we were going to have the military escort us to the base that would be our home, so Jenny and I decided to get some clothes.  We were wearing scarves, something I do a lot being from the desert, as a shawl over your head and shoulders is much more effective than a hat, but we definitely did not blend in with the women of this area.  I had heard that if we were in the bigger cities like Dubai or Qatar we possibly could wear normal western clothes with a head scarf, but this was not Dubai and the only woman I saw on the street (let alone the ones at home!) were wearing the all black outfits that are typical of Arabia.

There were many shops lining the streets.  Me and Jenny teamed up so we'd have backup if the moral police came to take us away.  The first clothing shop we saw, we went to.  We'd at least get the main clothes there.  The shop owner was very friendly.  I was expecting a lot of discrimination, but if this was any taste of Arabia, I'd be set.  I picked out a few sets, glad that they were together on the hanger, as I'd have no clue what to buy separately.  I'd done lots of research about Arabia and their customs, but most of it went in one ear and out the other.

Jennifer and I went back to our post when we finished, where Captain Whitman and the others waited.  We had good timing, about 5 minutes longer to wait for the military escort to arrive.  As we waited Jenny and I killed time showing eachother our new duds.  Hers were... well... black.  An abaya - a big rectangle type thing with holes for your head and hands - A niqab to veil her face, an underscarf, and whatever that head thing is I didn't know the name of.  They looked a far cry from my picks.  I had three sets with an awesome mandarin collared floor length tunic (I wasn't sure what the name of it was) a good looking caftan for over it, and a triangular head scarf.  Which Jenny told me was for men.

I was a bit shocked, but I shrugged anyways, I like mens clothes.  Not much I could have done about it at the time, as the military escort was visible on the morning horizon.  Jennifer probably rolled her eyes, but at least she would blend in with her black on black on black.  Only one of my outfits was black.  I probably should have done some more research. 


When I heard the first gunshot ring out, or I should say series of gunshots as the men concealing themselves behind the building were using automatic weapons, I jumped.  It startled me.  Ar Riyad was bustling, but there were no big mechanical noises, we heard the military coming before we saw them.  There weren't many cars, no big productin plants.  So it startled me when that sharp noise blasted through the air.  My heart must have been set racing by it, I could feel it trying to make me panic.  My immediate reaction was to grab Jennifer's hand, though, and to look for Captain Whitman.  He was there, gesturing the 7 of us to hide in an alley, trying not to make an obvious move.

The gunmen or gunman was quite a few blocks ahead of us, between us an our escort, and I didn't think they had sighted us yet.  We moved staggeredly into the alleyway.  Jennifer had a death grip on my hand, I could hear her sharp and startled breathing as I led her with the others.  When I stopped in the alleyway I faced her.  Her face, once hardened while we talked of what-might-happen, was wide with fear.  I could practically see her thinking about her family, thinking about what they would say if she was killed on her first day in Arabia.  Thinking of never saying goodbye.  I tried to keep my face as calm as possible, belying my pounding heart and the wrenching twist in my gut.  I didn't want her panicking any further.

Captain Whitman gestured us to hold up against the wall and I began whispering fiercely to Jennifer.  One of our advisors in America had told us that we would be wise to use British accents when we spoke English in Arabia, just to avoid unnecessary racism if that was the case.  Surely, someone could dislike all white people, but hopefully it would take the edge off.  So as I spoke to her I thanked goodness we weren't in an English speaking country, because I was sure my British accent sucked.

"Put on your clothes!" I urged her.  She nodded, I could see the tears brimming in her eyes as she dropped her bag of cloth to the ground.  I immediately grabbed some of the items before she did, helping her shrug into her abaya and put on her veil.  When all was said and done, if she pulled the top of whatever wrapped her head far enough forward, you couldn't tell that she was white, and you couldn't tell that she had clothes underneath.  I smiled at her and patted her arm reassuringly as we heard more bullets fired.  I didn't pay any attention to the others, I was in my own world, with a mission to get these clothes on.

I tossed my own outfit on as quickly as possible and used my head kercheif to wrap around my nose.  I pulled it as far forward as possible, but I knew by Jenny's eyes that I wasn't a very convincing Arab male.  I am short, I am also as pale as the moon, and it didn't surprise me that Jennifer all but laughed at my pathetic excuse for a disguise.  I probably should have gotten the women's clothing.  Now I had time to look back at Captain Whitman, who gave us a nod, affirming our choice of action.  I grabbed Jenny's hand and moved past our group, deeper into the alley, as Captain Whitman went forward to see what was going on.  The others in our group were all still, their eyes still wide with fear, a few had put scarves on, but most of them, including the woman, had been dressed in the first place. 

Captain Whitman was the odd one out now.  He was trying to see around the corner without placing himself in the firing zone.  As I watched him the noises of the skirmish became more apparent.  The yelling, the gunfire.  I tried not to let it show on my face, but my stomach churned when I heard a scream.  Captain Whitman stuck out like a sore thumb among us.  While I'm sure anyone who wasn't blind would know I was a white female, if my back was turned I might be a boy or short man.  The Captain was in his military uniform, clearly and blatantly telling the world he was American and it was his duty to fire back if it was necessary to keep the peace. 

I was at the end of the alley, Jennifer directly ahead of me, and I kept glancing back to make sure no one saw us.  Captain Whitman finally went down our line, I assume to tell them what he had seen. He spoke with the man closest to him, and that's when he fell.

I didn't see what happened, I saw Captain Whitman fall, I saw the others begin move away, and then fall - one by one.  Jennifer tried tugging forward, to go help the Captain, but I grabbed her wrist.  I imagine my grip on her wrist must have been painful, but the others were already on the ground, the woman was against the wall, I didn't think that whatever got the others had gotten her.  I saw the three gunmen only as I practically ripped Jenny's arm off taking her around the side of the building.  I said a silent prayer to thank the lord that I had moved us back there, further from the street area.  I wanted to throw up, I wanted to run, I wanted to go sit in a corner and wait until all the noise and the yelling and the screaming went away, but I couldn't.  I had to keep going, with Jennifer, so she could write about it and return home to her family.

I led us back to another side building.  If I hadn't been in this situation, I wouldn't have ever risked going back there.  It was one of those areas everyone tells you to watch out for.  Ramshackled, but still clearly in business.  There was, however, only one man in the area.  I took us to the street side of the building and I let go of Jenny.  I leaned against the wall, trying to act casual, whispering to her to face me so her back was turned to the street.  I couldn't think of any way out of this, but at least being in the street we didn't look like we were hiding.  I couldn't go back and check if any of the escort had survived, it would be suicide.  So for now I would have to cling to a desperate hope that no one thought we were out of the ordinary.  And I would have to repress the intense feeling of fear and nausea that threatened to overwhelm me.

I can't remember when I came up with the genius idea to listen to Pimsleur's Language Learning Cd's in the time every morning during which I was the only soul in the office.  I suppose it must have come after watching Meteor Garden (the Taiwanese drama) - again.  I started with Mandarin, so it only seems logical, and listening to the CDs was an educational use of my time in the office between getting there and answering the phones.  I am an early bird by nature and this always left me with nothing to do for short periods of time.

Don't ask me why I picked Arabic.  There are a hundred languages on my list of ones I want to learn, I could have chosen any of them.  I had already learned intermediate Japanese, basic Mandarin, Hindi, Gaelic, Russian, etc.  Arabic just seemed like fun - plus all those job listings on craigslist to work for the government as a translator sounded fabulous.  Imagine going to a foreign country for a year to translate, making a bankload, and coming back.  It would be awesome.  But I would come back to Scottsdale - I always did.

I grew up here, in North Scottsdale, back when it was a desert.  There were no freeways, our major road was a dirt road with a stop sign and a 25 mile an hour speed limit.  For fun we used to have cookouts, campfires, and build forts.  We hiked mountains, collected quartz and other gems, and watched for deer, which are now all but extinct from around here.  In my time I have seen the city built from afar, I have seen it spread into my world and can now walk to the closest grocery store. 

Despite all this change, all this not being what it used to be, I have an instilled pride in this land.  I remember when our favorite stories were about coyotes and bobcats, whom we saw frequently and shared our backyards with.  I still cannot forget what it once was, and during the summer when the desert sun beats down and the hot breeze touches my face I remember that this was once beautiful and untouched, I cannot help but recall those days with a sense of joy.

Still, it took me a while to finish all the Arabic sessions.  I think the 15 hours of the first part is supposed to be done in somewhere around 30 days, but here and there I'd get interrupted or someone would come in early.  The second part was a bit easier, since I had managed to plan my days around it and was so motivated by having learned that much Arabic already.  It's pretty a fast way to learn a language either way.  I still stand by Pimsleur being one of my favorite methods of learning.

There was nothing left to do, when I finished the last lesson, but to apply my knowledge.  Honestly, though, I only knew a few people that spoke Arabic in Scottsdale.  Logically, I would have to find somewhere else to utilize my newfound skills of language.  Somewhere like craigslist.org.  That's where I found the job that would take me across the earth, and into the True Desert.

I am on a music kick
namely:
Hans Zimmer
Steve Jablonsky
etc
Right now listening to "The Dark Knight Suite No. 2" which 
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