Hitting the park

Saskia has grown a foot since we landed and is into everything. She likes vanilla ice cream more than chocolate and prefers wearing her right shoe on her left foot and the right on the left. She is cute 100 percent of the time no matter what she is doing. When she isn't busy putting her shoes on the wrong feet she does find a table to run into with her head and stairs to fall down. We are on our toes with this one.

Going out with the girls to explore the neighborhood is the absolute best. There are so many different places to choose from that are just a few minutes away. Since we live on the fringes of camp with the desert to our backs there aren't a lot of cars and makes our little street one of the safest around.

Getting out and down the street to the closest swing makes for a fast way to kill an hour before dinner. Anika and Heather take the lead. Raja Lane is our little hook of a street off the main avenue.

Desert Trivia: Riyal Lane is our "big" main street off of the main artery running through camp called Rolling Hills Road. Not that all this means anything to you all so far away but you might recognize names as we continue to blog. The camp is really small and there aren't that many roads to get to know. Heather knew them before we got here.


Here is Heather and Anika 2 minutes later crossing Riyal over to the local tire swing. Note the shade. Nice and cool there: only double digit degrees hot. Sweet! We barely break a sweat.


Anika gets to try out all the swings first in case they break. That said, Saskia is getting more tired of this trend and braver with every walk. Anika is such a great big sister. Showing Saskia the ropes on everything. Sometimes we have to remind her that she isn't the mommy but for the most part she is so sweet and a perfect blend of patience and endurance dealing with little sisters tantrums and mommy and daddy's over protectiveness with everything. We will let Hong Kong rules go completely one day. Give it time, Anika. Your parents are trying.

All right, Saskia. You can go next.

Getting out

Mornings are gorgeous here. We've arrived in Kingdom at the hottest part of the year. That means it's usually 80 before breakfast. The sky is big, though. And blue. The sun is typically white. Not yellow like I remember other places being. The palm trees are all shipped in from somewhere tropical.

Our compound has more than a few mosques. Each mosque-- like every church in the states-- has it's unique character and special blend of people and spices to set it apart from every other mosque. This one is surrounded by a park and near where we swim with the girls at the community pool.

Sand takes it's toll over time. Vehicles around the compound have to endure a lot of heat sitting in hot parking lots and out on the street in front of the house. Each house comes with one garage. Since we will eventually be a two car family (I work and Heather is staying at home with the girls) we will always have at least one car outside. Actually we are talking about converting our garage into another room in our house. Conversions of houses are quite common and the company accomodates most requests that are within reason. For now we park our Ford Expedition outside because the rack on top doesn't fit in our garage. This picture here is NOT our car but what it might look like if we took it out in the desert for a little 4WD action.

Khobar is the closest non-Aramco Saudi city to Dhahran. It's where IKEA is. It has a lot of the markets and malls we have seen on most of our travels around the world. There is a row of car dealerships, an Applebees, a Chilis, a Safeway grocery store and about a dozen different Krispy Cremes. Yes, Starbucks is here. And look, everyone! There are more then one set of arches in town. I guess we can stay for at least a while.

Traffic in Khobar is generally okay. It can be congested depending on the time of day. Generally, the drivers in Saudi have taught themselves to drive. Signs and speed limits are meaningless. I guess the thought is that when you leave home you go with God. And when you get home you pray, thankful to have made another trip to the big city and back again in one piece. One day, I will have a license and then I will drive there. For now, we get rides from friends and family that have their official stamps that let them get around.

Note the stickers on the windsheild. There are so many doo-hickeys to stick on your car to make it official. There is one for insurance, one for the auto club you are a part of, one for security check points, one for registration, one for being allowed to have stickers on your car, etc...if you don't have the right sticker you will get stopped.

Around the neighborhood

Aramco is the oil company we work for in Saudi. Dhahran is the town where we live. It is a small town by state standards but the largest of Aramco's "camps." There are 11,000 people here all living in houses provided by the company for very low rent and no overhead. So beside an awesome paycheck, the incentives to come to Saudi are fantastic.

The people are nice, my job is great. Heather is getting more time with the girls and for herself which is wonderful. The girls have plenty to do between pre school and daycare. The pool and the park give us enough to do throughout the day to keep from getting bored. Taking evening walks are pretty great as a family I must say.

There is the heat and the dirt but is it hard to complain since we did decide to move into a desert on the equator of the planet. What do you expect, right?

Well. When I drive around I'm struck by how big this "camp" really is and that the town we live in is completely run and maintained by one company. I'm a teacher working in a community of engineers, doctors, drillers, geologists, accountants and all the myriad laymen that keep the oil flowing. Literally everyone on the compound is employed by Aramco or is a dependant or partner with someone who is working for the company.

Everywhere you look is a reminder of the desert you live in and the opulence an oil company revenue stream can provide.

Example: There is dirt and sand over here. Ah, we are in a desert.


And here is green grass and trees this way. Wha...? Desert, where? Remember it's 130 degrees outside.


And here is a golf course. With grass. Outside. In hot heat. Lava hot.

And here is some park equipment you can't go on until dark. Remember the sun? That keeps the fun play stuff nice and toasty until about 6:30. Then we can enjoy it for an hour before bedtime.

Bottom line: this town is pretty amazing for what it provides. The amenities and expense that goes into making this place feel like home is pretty incredible. And the 25 cent cokes and 35 cent gasoline are pretty sweet, too.

Moving into our house

We arrived in Kingdom circa August 6 bleary eyed but amped to start our new life in a new house with a new job in a new country. (We actually arrived at night and did not have a maintenance vehicle in our driveway but you get the picture.)


The house that Aramco provided us with came with basics. Every room had the bare bones for furniture. Our master bedroom has a bathroom and a couple closets. The sheets in this picture are from Aramco and smell like cigarettes. Our new covers from Khobar (the nearest Kingdom city to Dhahran) are on the floor there.


The walls were white and nothing except electric and water were hooked up. Washer, dryer, dishwasher, fridge and stove are all provided.

It would be more than a month before we got down thinking about internet, painting anything or hanging pictures. How 'bout that chandeleer in our dining room, eh? Swank.

That guy down there playing with Heather and the girls in the living room is not me. Hint: notice the golf tan (he is NOT wearing socks). Furniture is all courtesy of the company.

And now the desert

So we couldn't pass up the move to the middle east. We always talked about getting out to Saudi Arabia but we never thought it would happen so quickly. Now we are here and it's starting to settle enough that the future can come a bit more into focus as we move into serious settling down mode.

Hong Kong was a great step for us: a splash into the international teaching scene. Great friends and fantastic experiences with so many friends and family that came to visit, we'll always consider Hong Kong our overseas version of New York. We miss the night life and Lilian, our live in nanny.

So much has happened over the last year to make this move to the desert possible. Mark and Gerd Inger (Heather's folks), Ron and Carol (Erik's folks), numerous friends and colleagues from ICS and back in the states have all contributed in so many ways. Whether it was with finances, advice or recommendations we have been reminded once again through the whole process of the last year how lucky we are to be surrounded by kind, loving and talented people. We are blessed by you all and are filled with gratitude everyday we get up to go to work here in Saudi for the chance we have to live a life overseas and watch our girls grow up where Heather did.

Details, pictures and video are coming! Check back often for all the good stuff. Don't forget to drop a comment. We promise to reply to every one!

Mt. Baker Body Painting

Jenny was along for our time in Mt. Baker. She's a very close friend, an amazing blogger and has just started a career in photography. She had this idea to get all the kids doing cute things together and photographing them as they did it. Finger painting is fun. And then we turn it into something else entirely and the experience becomes quite remarkable. Jenny is definitely onto something.

Mt. Baker walking with the girls

I can't get enough of these vids walking with the girls up in the mountains. They probably aren't that entertaining so these are for me. Real memories are gritty and unedited. There is whining and tears. And there is happy conversation and learning about stuff for both little people and big people.