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Almost a Year

We are fast approaching our first anniversary of arriving in Saudi Arabia. Only 1 year ago we were busy packing up our house and arranging for storage, submitting our resignations and waiting for our visa’s to arrive. How quickly a year passes, and in some respects how slowly it seems to go when we think of our families at home and especially our new arrival this year, Hannah – she is growing so quickly.




I just had a 5 day weekend from work :) and how nice it was. The days were owed in lieu from back in April this year when I represented PMU at Seef Mall in Bahrain.

Jesse decided that seeing as I had this time off, that he would also take a day off, and we drove up to Riyadh where we did our patriotic duty and voted at the Aussie Embassy for the upcoming election. His passport was also due to expire so instead of sending it via DHL he could submit that at the same time for renewal and save the money – yeah rite – he had all the paperwork filled out, had his passport pics, the trouble was they were too small so no success with this task.

We took off from our compound on the Wednesday at 9am and arrived safely on the outskirts of Riyadh at about 12.30. It took a full tank of fuel to get there and as we went through the last checkpoint before Riyadh the fuel light was on and flashing – and petrol stations every 500 meters – all on the wrong side of the freeway! We reduced our speed back to use less petrol and safely made it to a petrol station a few kilometers further up the highway.If anyone is ever driving from Al Khobar to Riyadh and when they are about 1/2 way there and running low on fuel – then the last petrol stop is just after the red sand dunes, otherwise it becomes a bit worrying that it won’t be made to the next fuel stop – and it’s toooooooo hot to walk it!

All was going well and on time, as we expected and the car went like a dream. To save battery time on the GPS we didn’t turn it on until after we filled up with petrol. We punched in the Diplomatic Quarter for Riyadh where all the embassies are situated, and it promptly directed us to get off the freeway, do a u turn and go back the way we had come from.

As everyone knows, Jesse is not that good at directions, but even he thought this a bit “wrong” but we put our faith in the good old Garmin and went as directed. It directed us back about 7 km’s telling us to keep to the Dammam/Al Khobar road then once we had passed by virtually the last turn off it was showing as another 300 odd kilometers – back to where we had come from.Jesse very quickly pulled up on the side of the freeway, (sand spraying out from the tyres and back slewing almost sideways) – this was so we could drive through the sand back to the exit road if needed. We turned the GPS off, turned it back on and re-programmed it and as expected it was telling us to go back the way we came – we didn’t have to go through the sand as it was showing us an exit road close by and we came back into Riyadh by the old Dammam Highway.

This was a lot more picturesque than the regular route albeit a lot more bumpier road surface – think of roads in north Queensland back in the seventies. There were goat, sheep and camel markets quite a bit of the way in, complete with their hand built ply wood compounds (humpies)next to the animal pens.

We made it to the diplomatic quarter with no worries. We found an ATM no worries, as the embassy only accepts cash for passports – problem, it wouldn’t accept our Aussie card :( We then tried to find the embassy but that proved to be a bit more of a problem. The fire dept couldn’t tell us, various guards couldn’t tell us – a sweeper at a shopping centre told us it was at circle 8 so he knew a bit more than a lot more “official” type people.

We finally found our embassy and made it in to vote with 3 minutes to spare as the voting closed at 3pm…..lol and luckily found an ATM on the way that accepted our card – so voting done, now to find accommodation I have pics of this and I will post in the next few days of where we stayed and what we saw.

Going to Bahrain via King Fahd Causeway

We have been really enjoying our new car – and have made several trips now to Bahrain where it’s great to go to the cinema (they have hot caramel popcorn), get a great Chinese massage or just enjoy not being hunted out of the shops or sitting around waiting for them to open while prayer is on. You can even try clothes on before buying and are served by women assistants. Jesse especially likes the fact that there is a Nando’s over there but as he said in a previous blog it isn't as good as Chirnside Park.

The thought of going over the Causeway sometimes puts me off, but it is well worth any wait once we get to Bahrain. I think the longest we had to wait, was coming back at 2am on a Thursday night. I was amazed how crowded it was and we didn’t get home until about 4.30 am. It was lucky that it was Thursday as it meant I had all Friday to recover. We have tried different times and thought we would watch the last 12am movie and that it should be a breeze getting across – big mistake.

We later found out that this is the time that all the clubs, restaurants, movies etc etc close and is one of the peak times to come back.

It is fascinating, amusing and scary, as you approach the first checkpoint on the way out of Saudi. There are hundreds of cars, most with drivers who have no obvious sense of fatality or injury to themselves or others, pushing and jostling to get into what should be the uniform lanes leading to a booth with a green light on. They will literally push right in on you, and it is either give way or be hit. The cars will be within 1cm of the car in front to avoid someone pushing in, and it is not unseen to see someone actually touching the car in front or rear ending them.

It is also fascinating that once you get past this first checkpoint, that the lanes are then strictly adhered to and there is no horn honking or pushing and everything becomes orderly – as the driving in Bahrain is. Pure pleasure being driven there. It is very scary being on the roads in Saudi even though there is virtually no road rage even though it could be totally understood if it happened.

Jesse bought himself a sat-nav and it has been invaluable in getting us around especially with Jesse’s directionally challenged sense of location – I am constantly amazed that he managed to get himself around the world successfully before these wonderful machines were invented, as he is totally hopeless at knowing where he is.

I must say though that the brand we bought (Garmin) is just slightly “off” quite a bit of the time and seems to loose itself or send us the wrong way then make us do a u turn and come back. Lucky I seem to have an inbuilt navigation system in my brain and we are usually able to successfully arrive where we planned. I much prefer the Navman we have in Melbourne.

We have been going to Seef Mall in Bahrain as I know what shops are where and it isn’t too big to get around, and we have discovered a great French patisserie restaurant located up one end. It is called PAUL and they specialize in bread and pastries but their actual food is great as well.

We swiped some of the napkins to bring home for my son in-law (his name is Paul). They also make an ok cappuccino, much better than the ones I have had in Saudi. Jesse took a pic on his phone of me standing next to the sign outside Paul, but for some reason it didn't want to dowload.

We will try the newer and bigger City Central Mall next time as everyone tells us this is the one to go to – this one even has a Freedom Furniture store as well as a 20 cinema complex and very importantly a Paul. Getting off the subject we also have Payless Shoes and a Howard’s Storage World in our local Mall of Dharan.

It is so good to have nice bread and coffee – I don’t like any of the cappuccino’s I have had in Saudi, including ones from Starbucks, Costa, Dr. Café, Seattle’s Best, Joffrey or any other café I have tried as most places make it with UHT or it is so weak it is like drinking warmed up milk as well as being so scalding hot it burns everything from gums to mouth, and takes too long to drink. 

There is one decent coffee place in our local Mall of Dharan in a really pretty French patisserie…… but I can’t wait to get back to Melbourne to have some really decent coffee…mmmm and some really nice bread………mmmmmmmmmmm.

We won’t be going across to Bahrain for a few weeks now because Jesse’s Aussie passport is about to expire and it has to be taken to the Aus. Embassy in Riyadh to get renewed. Usually you DHL it to them with the fee, but as we have to go to the embassy to vote for the upcoming election we decided to take a day off work and drive up to Riyadh and put the passport in as well as vote. 

So we will be voting well in advance of all you mob at home . I am also using this as an excuse to have 3 extra days off work as it is owed to me from when I represented PMU in Bahrain back in April….. so roll on next week.

I’m Back :P

Yes I know, it’s been a long time since I had the inclination or anything much to write about (well to be honest, I have had a lot to write about but too lazy). Jesse has made me feel ashamed with all his great posts and me here contributing nada, zilch, zero, nothing – so I thought I had better get my A into G and write something……

I have settled into my role in the registrar’s office and am starting to learn many things such as what pre-requisites really are and how, if a class is over-ridden what impact is has on the student’s future learning outcome, especially if their grade is suffering with their chosen subject.

I recently did an audit on all the math courses offered and was totally awe-struck that the majority of women doing these classes had a mark of A or A+ right through all their courses. I had one young lady in recently to pick up her graduation certificate (one of our first graduates) and I had to print out her official transcript, and over the 4 years she studied, every class she took, which were many, were all A+. The audit I carried out was actually a great exercise for me as it really helped me to consolidate a lot of information I previously had to take in.

I learnt a few weeks after starting in this new position that for some reason when I was bringing up the software forms that we use called Banner, that more than 1/2 the information was missing from my screen. In many ways I was quite relieved that it was the computer and not me just being thick at having to seek information from my colleagues several times before I “got it”.

After much semi- aggressive campaigning and many phone discussions to the Banner Technician about what the actual problem was, it has been fixed and it is a delight to have all the information available to me. Well done to the PMU IT team is what I say (especially my husband – Director of IT)

At the moment, all talk at work is of Ramadan which is one month of fasting for all muslims. They are not allowed to eat or drink during daylight hours and will only eat well after the sun disappears. I have been told that the shops and restaurants will open from 10pm and will stay open for most of the night. So in effect life is lived backwards as far as body clock is concerned. We have different shorter class schedules as most of our students and staff are muslims, and we have to accomodate the change in their routine. At the end of this time is what they call the Eid which is in effect a nine day holiday to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

Brush with the blues…

My life is now almost complete. I have finally acquired a guitar and an amp and can now resume my musical indulgences after a 10 month break. But first some background.

One of my most enjoyable activities throughout the years has been my guitar playing. I started playing shortly after I arrived in Australia back in the 70’s. But even before that whilst I was living in Sarajevo I had always wanted one. I remember being bitterly disappointed at not getting one for my 13th birthday. The memory of that is really that strong.

I also recall shortly after arriving in Australia in the early 70’s and settling in that wonderful Melbourne “flatlands” suburb of St. Albans having gone for a very early morning walk down the Main Street. I walked past a General store with its front window completely smashed in. Lo and behold there was a guitar in the display. It was one of those Jazz flat-tops with a sunburnt finish. It looked so gorgeous. For a fleeting moment I just wanted to reach in, pick it up and walk away. There really was no one around so it would have been so easy. My underdeveloped, teenage sense of morality had a brief battle with my conscientiousness and of course the right thing was done. I stood there for what seemed like ages daydreaming of being a Guitar God, a famous RockStar. I ended up working in IT eventually.

But all was not lost. Within a week I had come back to the same shop with my Dad and we ended up buying my first ever guitar. It was an acoustic, 6 string made in China. It was actually really, really horrible. The action was about ¾ of an inch off the fretboard, impossible to tune, bent neck and seized machine heads. But it was mine and I loved it with a totally misguided devotion. That it would be little better than fire wood should have been obvious from the start. The store where we bought it also sold military surplus gear, camping equipment and commercial kitchens. I remember seeing the guitar right next to a 5 ring gas burner that was about a meter in diameter. It was one of those that can be used to boil a 1,000 litre vat. Something should have told me that their guitar supplies would not have been acquired by a master luthier.

So I played, every day, to the point where my fingers bled. But it was my best friend at the time and it had opened up the world for me.

I have gone through many guitars in my life since then. At one point I actually had 23 of them around the house. I am now down to 3. My pride and joy is my Fender Stratocaster Custom Shop which was bought for me by my Mum just before she passed away. I have always wanted a Strat but having a CS one is just so special. It is a superb instrument. A piece of art that you use to make some art.

When I left for Saudi I left that in Australia as I did not want any transport damage. But I was missing it so much. In Australia I had it with me at all times. Wherever I went it went with me and it would come out at a slightest provocation.

Finally deciding to take a plunge we went to the Old Khobar markets where I found what I needed. I ended up getting a BC Rich cheapo and a small Kustom DS35 amp. I am back in heaven working on my “Jeff Beck” type of playing. Just to be able to sit down and play along with Eva Cassidy or others is a huge enjoyment and really sorts out all the crap in the day. So it’s back to the blues and back to sanity.

On the other hand it has made me realize how much I miss being around my kids and their music as well as my blues buddies Andrew and Freddy. Roll on January. (Our annual leave back to Oz)

Searching for chickens with a GPS....

One big advantage of living in Eastern Province and in Al Khobar especially is the proximity to Bahrain. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are separated by 25 Km of sea. The two are now linked by one of the longest bridges in the world - The King Fahd Causeway. It was opened in 1986 and now handles around 20 million passengers per year.

We have now been to Bahrain a few times using this route. But as we are finding out it can mean long delays at the border post. We have done the crossing in as little as just over an hour and as long as 3 hours.

The very first time we crossed they knew that the car was leaving Saudi for the first time (rego picked up on the camera) so the paperwork took a bit longer. There are altogether 6 stops to be made whilst crossing.

1. Tollway on the Saudi side in Al Khobar (SR 20 fee)
2. Car clearance station
3. Saudi border control
4. Bahraini Border entry
5. Bahraini customs
6. Bahraini car insurance check. Here you pay SR 20 for 3 day insurance to drive in Bahrain.

Same applies when leaving Bahrain apart from the insurance.

It’s worth recalling our first time across. We were off with for our first meal and a movie. The meal had to be Nando’s. Since there is none of either in Al Khobar it was fitting that these two destinations would be the first.

To help us get around I bought a GPS, a Garmin 1350. It cost us SR 1,050 without the packaging. In a box it is SR 1,450. Not sure how this sans-ambalage thing works but it is a significant saving so who's to argue.

The GPS had 2 Nando’s locations in Bahrain. We knew that had to be wrong as the one in Seef mall did not exist. So we picked the other one and the GPS do its thing. As we arrived to the designated street It confidently announced that “the destination is on your right”. One small problem. There was no Nando’s at the announced destination. Such is the faith in technology however, that we refused to accept the evidence of our own eyes, that in fact there was no Nando’s to be seen. So we drove around the block a few times just to make sure. Same result. Mafi Nando’s.

Finally I asked a nearby shopkeeper if he knew anything about this missing Peri-Peri establishment. Of course he knew. It had not been there for years. It had moved to another district. So much for your maps Mr. Garmin.

So we headed off and soon afterwards found it. The sheer relief of having Nando’s back in our life was overwhelming. A fine quarter-chicken with extra hot peri-peri was enjoyed. But I must say that no one yet has managed to equal Karto’s Nando at Chirnside Park. That man knows how to prepare chicken.

After that it was off to a movie. We saw Shrek Forever in 3D at the Seef Mall cinemas. Best donkey role by far. The whole Shrek series is just so entertaining.

At any rate that was our first solo journey across the Causeway.

As far as the GPS goes the Garmin is very good but it just lacks a bit of finishing. It will get you very close to where you want to be, but then just gets a tad confused in the last bit. Nonetheless it is a life saving device. It is still surreal to follow the turns in completely unknown territory and arrive where you need to be. A vital and necessary investment for any newcomer here.

Evening crossing of the King Fahd Causeway

Poorly sorted rocks....

If one tries hard enough around here there are many interesting things that can be found to do and enjoy. Shortly after arriving we were put in touch with a society here in Dhahran with a very interesting mission. The name of is Dhahran Geoscience Society or DGS for short.

It started out years ago as an ARAMCO (World’s biggest oil company) club for the geologists. At first its membership was exclusive to that set of people who get very excited just by looking at rocks. But as time went by they opened the membership to anyone who was interested in their work.

It is heavily sponsored by ARAMCO as they also realized that there was a good deal to be had here in terms of PR and letting the world know how they go about the business of exploration.

The Society meets once a month for a presentation/dinner usually at a very prestigious hotel such as La Meridien or Carlton hotels. The format consists of a presentation which lasts for about 40 minutes followed by a sumptuous dinner at a cost of 25 Riyals per head. (AUD 7.65). Now that is the value that simply cannot be beaten. The dinners are full on buffet affairs including the traditional kepsa if that is what you are after. The photo below will show you just how classy the whole affair is.

But of course to get to eat you must sit through some wonderfully themed presentations bearing titles such as “Heterogeneity in glaciogenic reservoirs: examples from the Ordovician and Permo-Carboniferous of Saudi Arabia” addressing “Heterogeneities in glaciogenic reservoirs abound, and give rise to a complex reservoir architecture which derives from a disparate depositional facies mosaic that may be significantly further complicated (within synglacial deposits) by the effects of glacial tectonics, as well as numerous extremely irregular bounding surfaces related to multiple phases of glacial advance and retreat”. Got that?. Good. This was the first time ever that I had heard about “poorly sorted rocks”. Rocks!!! Poorly sorted?? I never suspected that there could be any other kind.

Another riveting topic was “Robust Workflows for Seismic Reservoir Characterization” where we learnt about “workflows to make predictions about lithology and fluid from seismic amplitudes where their current form is based around a few fairly simply steps: two-term AVO coordinate rotations, spectral shaping derived from a power-law Earth spectrum model, and map-based detuning and calibration”

Mind you they also do other far more accessible presentations on science and business so it all evens out. However you do learn a lot from them all. For example I had never realized that this entire Arabian peninsula was under kilometer thick glaciers and that the North pole was actually in this region at one stage. So there.

The other significant part of the societies activities is the field trips. They organize thes few times a year and take the members to some very interesting places. The two done this year were to an actual oil drilling station in the desert somewhere. You get flown by ARAMCO’s private airline (B737’s) and spend a day as a guest with everything laid on in 5 star comfort. The other one was a 2 day trip to the Red Sea to do some diving and look at some underwater geology. These are all for free for the members.

The membership costs SR 75 per year and that money goes towards your dinners. It is simply amazing value.

I guess if you are to spend some time in this part of the world than it is a very worthwhile way of learning about what makes it such a unique location and is an eye opener in terms of just what is required for oil exploration. You cannot fail to be awed by the human ingenuity and the state of knowledge and understanding of our world.

If anyone locally is interested in joining drop me an email and I will put you in touch with DGS. It is one of the most interesting things that you can do around here.

And btw they have a door prize of SR 200 at every meeting and I have won it twice already. How good is that.


Their website is http://dgsonline.org/index.php

DGS dinner typical entree

World view of Interesting World....

When we started this blog it was simply for the purposes of keeping our family and friends up to date as to what we were up to in Saudi Arabia. We figured that it would be lot easier to simply make a post and let everyone read it, rather than having to email everyone individually.

It was also to be some kind of record for us of all the things that happened whilst we were here. Too often lots of marvellous things are forgotten in these kinds of situations.

We did not expect nor realise that it would be read by anyone else. However it obviously is. We have been contacted by number of people who are thinking of taking jobs here in the Kingdom especially at PMU. It turns that this blog is interesting and useful to a wider audience than just the family.

So to all you readers out there whoever you may be, welcome to our blog and thank you for taking the time to share our experiences with us. We will endeavour to keep the blog as informative as we can. Saudi Arabia is a place full of quaint oddities and surprises. Often you will see something, smile and think “Only in Saudi…”

There is a great little blog gadget called the ClustrMaps. Clicking on it shows where our visitors have come from. Here is what it looks like:

The visitors have come from the following countries:

Saudi Arabia (SA) 396
Australia (AU) 163
United States (US) 69
United Kingdom (GB) 39
Canada (CA) 18
Italy (IT) 11
India (IN) 11
United Arab Emirates (AE) 9
Bahrain (BH) 6
Pakistan (PK) 5
Venezuela (VE) 4
Korea, Republic of (KR) 4
Jordan (JO) 4
Kuwait (KW) 4
Germany (DE) 4
Malaysia (MY) 3
Philippines (PH) 3
Russian Federation (RU) 3
Europe (EU) 3
South Africa (ZA) 3
Qatar (QA) 3
Singapore (SG) 3
Moldova, Republic of (MD) 2
Indonesia (ID) 2
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (LY) 2
Egypt (EG) 2
Sri Lanka (LK) 2
Ireland (IE) 2
Switzerland (CH) 1
France (FR) 1
Austria (AT) 1
Belgium (BE) 1
Iran, Islamic Republic of (IR) 1
Oman (OM) 1
Thailand (TH) 1
Nigeria (NG) 1
New Zealand (NZ) 1
Morocco (MA) 1
Turkey (TR) 1
Spain (ES) 1
Lebanon (LB) 1
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BA) 1

So if anyone is interested in anything about Saudi please drop us a line and we will endevour to gladly answer your queries.

Thank you all....

A public apology...

In one of the earlier posts (Single man’s life) I described an outing with my friend Mohammed where we went to a restaurant to buy some food for the evening. I said that perhaps he was not the best person to have around when trying to exercise dietary moderation as he himself weighs 145 kg.

Two days later I had a very hurt and indignant Mohammed on the phone saying how could I accuse him of being 145 KG when he was actually only 138 KG.

Obviously my thoughtless shots at cheap entertainment at the expense of my friend have backfired badly.

So I hereby publicly apologise for getting it so terribly wrong. Mohammed has kindly agreed to have his picture published on this blog that will refute once and all that nasty aspersion  that he weighs 145 KG. It is obvious from his facial expression how deep is the hurt and mental anguish that my thoughtless utterances have made.

Sorry Mo, We’ll go out for a big meal to set things right. :)

 

Vanishing acts....

Last Saturday we took the JEEP down to the local dealer to finalise the registration and transfer of ownership. Here in Saudi as I mentioned before the car has to be impounded by a car dealer whilst the transfer is being affected. This is for the purpose of ensuring that there are no outstanding fines, dues or criminal activities associated with the car. If there are the police simply confiscate it. Makes sense actually.

Got a call on Monday to say its all fine, come and pick it up. Finaly after all this time, all those hurdles overcome and it is ours. It was a sweet moment.

So we immediately went for a drive to Al Khobar old town to kind of celebrate. I also had another joyous reason to go. My weight loss has been going really well. I am now down to 90 Kg from my initial 106.3, all in about 3 months. I had to buy new jeans waist size 34. My old ones are all size 38 and have become rather baggy.

However being blessed with rather a simian anatomy of sub-standard length legs I always have to shorten any pants that I get. The old town is full of tailor shops some no bigger than a small wardrobe. Literally nestled into wall cavities and nooks and crannies. Its just another one of these charming facets and joys of exploring the old areas.

They are what we call here same-same tailors. Anotherwords you take any garment to them, pick your material and they will replicate it exactly. It's a wonderful service if you have a favourite piece of clothing that you want re-born or updated.

I parked the car on the corner in exactly the same manner that all other cars were parked. There is absolutely no signage anywhere indicating where to or not to park or how long to stay etc. So never gave it another thought.

We wnt into a tiny tailor shop where they said they will shorten the jeans in 1 hour for the price 15 Riyals (AUD 5). I remember having the same done in the shopping centre tailors in Melbourne for $ 35. We have it so good here.

Then we went walkabout for about an hour to pick up some jewellery (Jill's name spelt out in Arabic done in gold). We came back to the spot where we parked and all of a sudden had that sinking feeling... My God, where is the car. Is it stolen? You keep looking at the spot where you know you left it and now there is some other car there. Amasing what thoughts go through your head. You think: "I'm on a wrong street, this can't be the spot, I'll just look on the next corner and it will be there." All disbelief and denial. Asked the tailor if he knew what happened. He just pointed us to this tow truck that was actually removing cars from the street. Went over, asked the driver and he just said "Parking bad go there" pointing to a Car Park about 50 meters down the road. Sure enough it was impounded.

It cost us SR 180 ($60) to "liberate" it. Again I remember in Melbourne paying $300 to get the car when it was removed from Bourke St. It was such a relief to get it back.

The attendant in the booth just smiled at us and said "My dear, you can park here for 1 Riyal per hour". So now we know. When we go down-town just park in these spaces for 30 cents an hour. Not a bad deal. Guarantees no more magic. No more vanishing acts...