Making History

You may be wondering, where did these Jedis in Jeddah go? We were posting so frequently, so why the silence now? Well, people, we are busy! We started our 3-day Women in Entrepreneurship Workshop yesterday and have been going nonstop, presenting for 3 hours of the day (with lots of prep time beforehand), and working on the feasibility study and marketing plan (our primary delivarables) the rest of our waking hours.

Yesterday, we made history. For the first time in Dar Al-Hekma history (and most likely the first time in Saudi Arabia), we had a male guest enter the school building during the day. Of course, all the rules were followed and every woman wore her abaya and hijab, but still, this was unprecedented because usually men would only enter the building from a side entrance. But, due to our presentation being in a room inaccessible by an alternate entrance, the male guests came through the front. The most exciting part was who this particular man was -- Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical, whom Dean Suhair had met the previous evening and invited for the special occasion.

While the first day of workshop didn't go off perfectly (what presentation does?), we heard that many of the women enjoyed it and most importantly, felt that our offerings were valuable. And, after today's Day 2 of the workshop, we feel another small boost in confidence. Our topic today, Marketing, certainly was appealing to the group, enciting lively discussion and a range of smiles throughout the crowd. Tomorrow, we'll be presenting Leadership and Project Management. Wish us luck!

Being really busy with work doesn't mean we don't have time to sit back and relax at least a little bit. Tonight, we returned to Teayana, which has been my favorite restaurant in Jeddah thus far (excluding the amazing private dinner at Naseef House).

"Bubble Milk Tea" with rose petals and a Lebanese manouche (breakfast pizza). Yum!