Las Dunas

We have pretty much settled into our temporary compound.  It is in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia which is about an hour an a half away from where our permanent housing is.  This compound is temporary for a lot of the people here.  Most of us will move to the Al Jude II compound in Jubail whenever construction is finished there.  Harry works in Jubail so a big Mercedes charter bus brings him and the other guys back and forth to work every day.  They spend 3 hours on the road so we are all very anxious to move!  Several families moved in there over the last few weeks, but major electrical issues were found so they all had to move out.  We were told it could be months before they let anyone back in....so who knows how long we'll be at Las Dunas!  We know that we will be here at least until Jameson is born anyway.  The hospital where I will deliver is just about 10 minutes away from the compound.  We were hoping to move pretty soon after he is born, but it may be longer.  Oh well.  That's pretty much how things go here in Saudi - you hurry up and wait for everything! 

Welcome to Las Dunas Garden Village!

Here are the two gates that we go through to get in and out.  Obviously the one on the left is closed and the one on the right is open.  Someone had just driven through before I took the picture.  The little pinkish looking building in the middle is where the guards are. 

   
Speed limit sign on the compound.

This is the clubhouse.  It's where all the amenities are.  Connor loves to go here to race us up the wheelchair ramp.  He says I'll meet y'all at the top and then runs up the ramp while we walk up the stairs!  It takes us literally about a minute to walk here from our villa so that is really nice!

This is our little grocery store.  It's not much, but they stock a lot of necessities.  It's nice to have when we need something last minute! 

Here is the restaurant.  The food is decent so we usually eat here when we don't feel like cooking.  A guy named Sonny works here every day!  He sees us often enough to know that Connor wants a spoon if he orders lasagna lol.  They will also deliver to your villa if you call the order in so that's really convenient.  We've done that once or twice.   

Next up is the pool area. This is the kiddie pool.  Connor is tall enough to reach the bottom so he loves it! 

Back inside the clubhouse...upstairs, first we have a hair salon.  Mr. Leto is the resident hair stylist.  He has cut Harry's hair a few times and Connor recently got his hair cut too.  He is from the Philippines and has been living and working here for over 20 years!

Conference Room/Library

Next is the gym which houses a few other amenities as well.  I spend a lot of time in here....yeah right!  Today was the first time I've stepped foot in the place and it was only to take these pics!  I WILL be in here after I evict this baby though!

Here is the squash court.  When it is too hot to play outside, Harry takes Connor in here to play soccer. 

Sauna

Steam Room

Hot Tub

Back outside is the tennis court.

This building is the Eastern Cement Company.  It's the landmark that we use when we are out of the compound to let us know we are almost home!

These are some of the cars that bring us wherever we need to go.  They are all Ford Expeditions, just different colors.

And finally, home sweet home!  Villa F7!

Beautiful curtains, right!  Hehe :)

I lasted a whole two days before I broke down and bought a new sofa and recliner.  I can't even describe how uncomfortable the ones that were in here are!  Everything else came furnished with the villa. 

Our shipment came in yesterday so Connor was excited to have all his toys from home.  We set up a play area under the stairs.  He calls it his and Jameson's clubhouse!

Downstairs half bath.  Notice the sprayer.  You will see them (instead of toilet paper) in every bathroom in Saudi.  We actually have a bidet in the two bathrooms upstairs.  Out of curiosity one day we asked Connor what happens when he goes #2 at school.  He told us that his teacher sprays his butt!  So he knows how to use it, but as for me and my house...we will use toilet paper haha!

Here are my abayas that I keep hanging by the door.  Of course one is purple and gold and the other is black and gold!

This is a little sitting room upstairs that we never use.  To the right is the master bedroom and bathroom and to the left is two other bedrooms and another bathroom.  Not really anything special to see.

Upstairs balcony.

This is our backyard.  The walking track, playground, and basketball goals are right back here.  It's nice to be able to let Connor run out the back door without any worries.

Our back patio.

Well that's the end of the tour.  Overall we are really comfortable here.  The décor is most definitely not my taste, but we have made it our home...for now!