Asalaam alaikum! (I have no idea if I spelled that correctly but it means "peace be unto you"- it's a common phrase used to greet/welcome people. I need Arabic lessons...)
Today marks 1 whole week in Saudi. The kids have been troopers and we're mostly over the jet lag now. I know many are curious about our new surroundings...this post is for you! First of all, you're wanting to know if it's really that hot...um, yes. Yes, it is. And I hear towards the end of summer the humidity starts to roll in. Considering that I'm already melting over here, I can't wait!
How about some photos?
This is after 2 of 3 flights. We're in Frankfurt relaxing and having nibbles in the lounge. I even got to sneak in a quick shower before changing into more modest attire in preparation for landing in Saudi (women aren't required to wear an abaya at the Dammam airport but must be conservatively dressed in at least a 3/4 sleeve-length shirt and pants/skirt that covers the ankles).
No one slept much on the 1st 2 flights...so most of us conked out for the 3rd flight...Mei included.
I will plan to take more photos of our "new home" eventually- but this is a photo of our temporary furniture in our family room...seafoam curtains and all. I can't wait for our sea shipment to arrive so I can say goodbye to the 1970's.
Typical Saudi landscape. Yep, it really does look like a barren desert over here. However, Aramco has done a really nice job in landscaping the camp (they call the compound a "camp" here)- so there's lots of grass, palm trees, and plants. It really does look like an older, SoCal neighborhood. I'm trying to suss out how much picture taking I can really do here though. For security reasons, we are generally not allowed to take photos...especially in public places or areas that can be identifiers to pinpoint an exact location. I forgot about this and took a video of Mei jumping off the dive board at the pool the other day. I was immediately reminded by the staff that no photos/videos are allowed. Whilst seeming restrictive, it's for our safety. So for now, just trust me when I say it's a lot more green on camp!
Kaiya wearing an abaya for the first time. It actually needs to be a bit longer, but we are borrowing these until we can go to the souks to buy one (a souk is a market/bazaar). And yes, just a few minutes outside of camp is an IKEA!
This photo was taken from the car as Brian was driving around outside of camp to show us the area. The Persian Gulf is actually very pretty. I hope someday soon to go visit the other nearby Aramco camp that's right on the beach. You'd also think that with the heat, we'd see a lot of people swimming...but there wasn't a single person out. Maybe b/c of the Ramadan/Eid holiday? Maybe this particular place isn't good for swimming???
Mei turned 4. She really wanted a horse cake (specifically, she wanted a cake with a horse jumping over water)- but I am cake challenged. I said she could pick the color for frosting. She picked purple and orange...which I did...which made her happy. I love that 4 yr olds can still be quite easy going. Actually, who am I kidding?! Normally, she's quite the sassy 4 yr old. I just got lucky- cake is cake after all. She stayed happy b/c she knew she would get to eat cake regardless of what the cake looked like!
The first few mornings we were waking up at 4 am. The sun rises really early here too which doesn't help. It's been tough adjusting to the time difference (we are 9 hrs ahead of MST). I love watching my babies sleep. I guess I'm kind of creepy that way. (Take note- this is the 2nd pic I'm posting of Mei sleeping...)
Most families go on repat (home leave) during the summer months to see family and escape the heat. So my kids were asked by a couple of families to pet sit. They are caring for a cat and 2 dogs. My kids love it. They are so convinced that they are ready for a dog. Meh. I am not an animal lover. They're in heaven though (I'm in hell...actually with the extreme heat maybe we're all in hell?! Lol...) Pet sitting is good compromise, for now.
Oh, I just have so many other thoughts to share...but it's almost midnight and I really should get to bed. We've done so much moving in the last year and I know this move will stretch me a lot more than the other moves so I'm trying to look for all of the positives. So here's my list so far:
1) Baskin Robbins- there's one on camp...and it's cheaper than San Diego prices. I hear there's Coldstone at a mall nearby- we'll be seeking that out pretty soon I'm sure.
2) I have a garbage disposal! We didn't have one in Perth. (I know my American expat friends down under are jealous!)
3) The neighborhood pools here are chilled. So even though it's averaging over 110 F as the high it still feels so refreshing to get into the water.
4) Brian commutes 10 minutes to work- quite a change from the 90 min commute he had in Houston!
5) Brian is home by 4:30ish from work. Say what?! Being married to a lawyer, that's never happened before. Today he told me he's really busy and probably wouldn't get home until 5:00. I think I can handle these late nights.
6) Expat travel- if you want to see the world, live overseas. I'm currently planning a trip to Greece in Sept- I forgot how much fun it is to plan a family vacation to a new destination.
7) Gold kiwi- my kids loved eating gold kiwi in Australia...I hadn't seen any since returning stateside. So we're excited to have gold kiwi again!
No comments:
Post a Comment