Its bananas here!

Bismillah,
So after 2 failed attempts to find vanilla extract and vanilla wafers for my banana pudding I start to loose hope. My husband insist that we have one more store to go to that may have it called Mandarin. As we walk through the aisles I start to get more and more excited because I start to recognize several items on the shelf. We'll the good news is I found the Vanilla extract, the bad new is that there were no vanilla wafers in sight. So the next best thing is graham crackers, which apparently they don't seem to eat that here either. So I decide to get all the cookies that resemble vanilla wafers and start putting them in my basket. I left the store with some kind of biscuit cookie, and some shortbread cookies as well. I start making it the next day and man was I in for a treat. The stove my husband purchased is not what were use to in the states. Well to make a long story short, I keep burning everything. I just can't seem to get the right temperature for anything (and yes I can cook, lolol). So after about and hour and a half of standing over the stove, I'm finally satisfied with the consistency and start to assemble the dessert. Well my husbands gonna kill me for this LOLOL but after all that guess what I forgot to put in the mix,....The vanilla extract LOLOLOL ! But its ok, Inshallah next time I'll use it:)
Well I packed some in my husbands lunch and when I spoke to him today he said it was good, Alhumdulillah it didn't come out a complete disaster. I guess this is the saudi version on banana pudding cause its surely not the same as my grandmothers recipe.
My husband and I are really trying to get some what of a routine going on. Despite not having a car we agreed with one another that we were going to go to the prophets (saw) masjid every night for Isha. I guess in some respects living here is like living in New york, your never far from a cab. But here its a little less formal to say the least LOL. EVERYONE is a cab driver LOL. All my husband and I have to do is walk to the main road which leads us in the direction we need to go. The most we've had to stand there was probably 2 minutes. We don't have to hail a person down, they just honk and if we put our hand up they will pull over to where we are and ask were we are headed. After that we just have to say Haram (holy site, where the Masjid is located), and the the bargaining begins. I personal don't have it in me to bargain like that, but here its something I know I'll have to learn. In America what we just did would be called hitch-hiking LOL but here it's so common for the average person to see that your walking and offer you a lift. The first time I was a bit nervous, but now I realize its apart Saudi culture. For the most part my husband and I can take about a five minute drive to the masjid (10 minutes in traffic) and on average pay only about a 1.25. Crazy huh! you can't get that in New York LOL. So we figure why rent a car for hundreds of dollars when we can just get a ride by a random stranger for less then half the price. Inshallah my car in the states will sell, and we can buy something decent here. I look forward to traveling to Mecca for ummrah once everything settles here. Inshallah in the next 2 weeks I'll make my first trip to the blessed city of Mecca:)
Ohh yea I almost forgot to tell you that I finally met someone who spoke English. She was a revert to Islam and originally from India. My husband and I were sitting outside of the masjid waiting for the Athan (call to prayer to go off), when these 2 little girls walked in front of us. Anyone who knows me knows that I loveeeeeeeeeee children so of course I said hello and put my hand out (not knowing if she spoke English), to greet her. She surprisingly came right up to me and shook my hand without hesitation. Then I think she saw that my husband was chewing gum and asked for some in Urdu, LOLOL she was soo cute Mashallah! Once we got the ok from the parents I gave her and her little sister a piece of candy. She said thank you and started walking away with her mom and dad. It just so happened that when I started walking inside the masjid I ran into the mother of those children. I greeted her and then soon realized that she spoke English. Excitedly I introduced myself and then she asked if I wanted to go inside and sit with her, I grateful accepted. It was so refreshing to hold a mini conversation in English prior to making salah (prayer). Unfortunately it was so packed that we couldn't get a seat right next to one another; and when I was done praying I turned around to speak to her once more and she was gone:( Although I'll probably never see her again, I was thrilled that I met her!