Saudi Arabian Open House

We went to a Saudi Arabia Open House with little expectations going into it and it turned out to be AMAZING! It lasted for a few hours because they had a keynote speaker, translator, promotional video of the country, traditional clothing fashion show of the different regions, typical music and dance concert, and a mock wedding.

That alone was pretty cool, but then we followed the "wedding party procession" into another huge room that looked like the ballroom from Sound of Music where they had displays/Saudi treats/booths/henna tattoos, etc.

THEN, it ended with a huge, catered banquet in the ballroom (shown in the pictures of Adam and I before the hall was decorated) from the best middle eastern food in Pittsburgh. It was so good and so cool! There were hundreds of Saudi people there...and then Adam and I. We totally stuck out.

Radical Days

Pittsburgh does this thing called "Radical Days" for a month or two at the beginning of fall. Because there are so many sights and museums and musical functions and sport stadiums to see, a lot of the places will do a free day. So on the day they choose anyone is allowed to come for free. Of course we love Radical Days since we are on a small budget! Here are some pictures of the places we went.

The Soldiers and Sailors Museum which shows every war the United States has been involved in. We didn't get pictures of the individual exhibits but here is the outside building and Adam pondering.



The National Aviary Museum was surprisingly cool and had everything from bald eagles to "extinct" birds to hummingbirds. So here is us by the flamingos and Adam posing by a bird called "Dhyal" and pronounced the same as "Dyal" which we loved. Oh and the penguin picture is for Mom!





This is a walk along the North Shore next to the Three Rivers Memorial. We thought it was beautiful and showed a great view of down town Pitt and the Allegheny River on a typical day.





Andy Warhol Museum. We loved this. Fam, you know Andy Warhol's art/movies don't you? He is famous for his pop art and campbell's soup art. I really respect him as an artist. Of course we couldn't take pictures in the museum but we just HAD to sneak as much footage of this room as possible when no one else was in the room. This exhibit is called "Silver Clouds" and was our FAVORITE and really magical to be in. These movies don't quite capture how cool it was.
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Festivals Galore

One of our favorite things to do in Pittsburgh is go to cultural events. This city is a melting pot and has so many opportunities to learn about different cultures and nations from around the world. Here are some random pictures we took one Saturday when we went to 4 different religious and food festivals for the Greeks, the Lebanese, the Japanese, and we couldn't find the Persian Festival in the park but we thought it sounded cool.

Our New Home

Okay, here are some basic pics of our apartment and Frick Park. I think one of the VERY best things about our place is the park right behind our house. It is Pitt's largest park that winds up and down huge hills, around streams, behind neighborhoods, around an antique cemetery, over bridges, and a mini soccer field. It has a million little and large running paths, including a 9 mile run. Probably my favorite part of the day is my morning jog through this heavily wooded forest. Love it!







Here are some quick snap shots of the apartment when we were almost done setting it up. I just quickly snapped them on my iphone and didn't look at them till I uploaded them on my computer. So, just to let you know it is a 1br on the 3rd floor of a victorian home which gives us nice high vaulted ceilings. Also, I am obviously not a professional photographer and these pics actually make it look a lot smaller than it really is (except the bathroom. that is tiny).

The Kitchen




Bedroom and Bathroom





cute Adam working on his homework in our front room.