A Very Saudi Evening

On Dec 1, 2011, Dan and I were invited to his boss's house for a visit. We attended with our friends Chad and Susanne and their two children. While this invitation sounds innocent and commonplace enough, I assure you, it was quite a cultural experience!

California: A Wedding and Some Wine

This whirlwind of a trip began with our arrival at LAX in September 2011. Los Angeles was not at all what we expected, but I think part of that was probably because we headed south and didn’t get into the actually "Hollywood" area of town.

Italia - Cure for the Saudi Blues

Italy. The land that stole my heart in 10 short days. My August 2011 trip with bestie Amanda and her mom Cindy is something we will never forget. I feel so blessed that we we're able to take this trip together - not something kids like us are usually capable of doing at this time in our lives.

Al-Hofuf: the Largest Saudi Oasis

The dunes off the highway

This spring, the great people at ISG Jubail organized a day trip down to Al-Hofuf, the largest oasis in Saudi Arabia, and it's only about 3 hours away! We got up at 4 AM to make it to Hofuf for the camel market early in the morning. The drive to Al-Hofuf was very interesting. The landscape of our area of Saudi is relatively flat with shrubbery and gravel. As we drove further into the desert toward Al-Hofuf, the classic sand dunes slowly appeared, along with herds of grazing camels on the sides of the highway - just like cows in the states! The different colors of camels were amazing - they ranged from white (rare and expensive) to the golden brown we generally know, to dark ebony.  

Dog Daze of Summer - Saudi Style

There is no mistaking that we are spending the summer in Saudi Arabia. The heat, the sand, the HUMIDITY. You didn’t know that Saudi was humid? Were you expecting a “dry heat”? Me too! Nope – not here. On the bad days you walk outside and you can forget your sunglasses – they are instantly a wall of fog. That condensation also forms all over your body – so you are instantly dewy from your fingertips and toes to your scalp. On the good days, you just feel the 110+ heat and sigh out of relief that the humidity is down. Of course, the wind on either day feels like it’s blowing across a bonfire before hitting you. What a different feeling when you think 100-107 degrees F is cool! Now, I know that the weather part is hard to understand for a lot of our friends and family back home. Just remember – even though it feels this way, I have to wear a neck-to-toe black abaya over my clothes when I leave the compound. Suffice it to say, we just don’t go out much during the day right now!

Diving the Maldives – The Highlights

On the beach in the Maldives

Our recent SCUBA liveaboard trip to the Maldives with our friends Stephanie and Micah was certainly the best diving we’ve enjoyed yet! We booked on the Ocean Dancer Maldives for a week of tough, but very rewarding dives. I’ll follow up this post with one just about Ocean Dancer (it was incredible!) but this post is just going to focus on the diving.

Equations and Rulers and Students, Oh My!

At the beginning of January 2011, I began substitute teaching. Not any old kind of substituting – I became the long-term sub for a teacher (and friend) who just had her first baby boy (check out their blog when you can – McGuires of Arabia).

Once Upon A Time, in the Magic Kingdom…

…Lived a semi-newlywed couple trying to figure out married life in the most conservative part of THE Muslim Middle East country. Intrigued? Good, there’s more.