First day of work!

Today, we finally met with our clients at Dar Al-Hekma College. They were very gracious hostesses and it was great to see the students as well. We also fully realized the extent of our workload, but are excited to be working on such an interesting and impactful project.

On the wardrobe side, Jessica is the only one of us who has mastered how to wear a hijab. Despite my own study on this subject via YouTube videos, mine keeps on slipping down and it's nearly impossible to keep my bangs tucked inside. Luckily, wearing hijab isn't that strictly enforced in liberal Jeddah for foreign women. In fact, we are not legally obligated to wear it -- only the abaya, but all four of us choose to wear it so we can better fit in. Inside Dar Al-Hekma, the fashion is to take off the hijab and wear your abaya open, with it flowing behind you as you walk around. All the students look very graceful in this style, but the four of us choose to take ours off as we are still pretty clumsy. In fact, we are convinced that the man who works in our hotel lobby suppresses a laugh every time he sees the four of us fumbling with our outfits as we prepare to exit the building.