Yesterday
afternoon we took family pictures (a momentous event for us) and then drove to
the Corniche, the city’s main beach. Jeddawis love spending evenings at the
Corniche, and we appeared to be the only Westerners there; I was glad I had
covered my hair. And that I had secured my scarf with a pin to keep it secure in the coastal wind!
Tess,
however, was no fan of my conservative wear. She hardly recognized me. In fact,
she wanted nothing to do with me. Whenever I held her, she cried until she was
returned to Joey’s arms. Apparently, voice, hands, and smile do not a mother
make. It’s all about the hair for this baby.
Halen
was also thrown off by my black garb and had trouble distinguishing me from the
other black-robed women ambling along the sidewalks with their families. He
grabbed one woman around the waist, thinking it was me, and was roughly pulled
away by a none-too-happy husband. It was his first real-life lesson in Muslim
manners with married women.