I can not believe that we have been here for over a year now! It seems like yesterday that Harry walked into the office at our old house and jokingly asked if I wanted to move to Saudi Arabia. Had I not been working...at home...late into the evening, maybe I would have had a different answer haha! We thought long and hard and ultimately decided that this would be an opportunity that we couldn't pass up if given the chance. It has definitely been an experience! At times it has been extremely difficult, but I can honestly say that I've never regretted taking the leap. There have been days (okay, weeks) when I just wanted to go home, but that comes with the territory. This too shall pass, right?
The other day we had an experience at a restaurant where I thought to myself, I think we are officially settled in here. The night before Christmas Eve we went out to dinner with a few of Harry's coworkers. Someone made a reservation for us, but failed to mention that there would be women and children in the party. The restaurant had the table all prepared in the "Singles" area. Needless to say they were surprised when we all showed up! We had to wait while they set a table up for us upstairs in the "Family" section. None of us even flinched. No one was surprised. That's when you know you've gotten comfortable.
For me, one of the hardest parts about being here is just being physically so far away from home. Initially we planned that the kids and I would go for a home visit every few months. That quickly changed after we made the trip back and forth once. It is long, and tiring, and exhausting, and completely anxiety ridden for me. Of course I had looked at flights so I knew exactly how long it takes to get here, but you don't REALLY know until you do it. And do it with 2 kids and a ton of luggage. When it's all said and done it is 30+ hours of traveling. Being on this project wouldn't be near as difficult if it were easier/faster for us to get home. I get heart palpitations at the very thought of flying so traveling such a long way by air is absolutely nerve racking for me. I am not necessarily counting down the days until we leave for good, but I am absolutely looking forward to not having to make the long journey again!
I went back to read my blogs from when we first arrived and not much has changed. The things I like and dislike about being here are pretty much the same as they were a year ago. The driving is still insanity. Although I wouldn't necessarily want to drive here, one of the things I look forward to when we go back home is the freedom that driving gives you. Even though we have a car service that brings us wherever we need to go, there is something about getting behind the wheel and hitting the road. I can't tell you the number of times we have sat and waited on a driver that is late. It's really annoying. We were late to Connor's own birthday party last year! And more recently, late for a parent teacher conference. I totally lost it on the dispatcher that day. I may or may not have used a few choice words. Ooops! I think I have finally gotten used to paying attention to what color car picks me up. All of the cars are Ford Expeditions, but there are numerous different colors. I can't tell you how many times I've walked out of a store and thought...oh no, I don't know what color car brought me here!
Although we can usually manage around prayer times it is soooo nice when we leave this country and don't have to worry about it. You seriously have to plan your day around it if you go out for anything! In addition to that, most places in Jubail close down around 11:30 am and don't open back up until around 4:00 pm. That is extremely inconvenient when you have a good bit of shopping to do. You are basically forced to power shop so you can get it all done in the morning or go out in the evening and fight the crazy crowds of people. Sounds fun, right? Yeah, didn't think so. We usually just don't go out much. I make routine trips to the grocery store and we'll go out to eat and do a little necessary shopping a few times a month (at the most) but that's about it. It's just more trouble than it's worth. Plus, we've come to enjoy being at home in each other's company.
Lots of things just aren't available in this country. And if they are, we have to drive over an hour to get there. Because of this we have just learned to do without and I have to say, that's not always a bad thing!
Other than when it's really hot, I don't mind wearing my abaya! But let's face it...it's almost always hot here. Even in the winter it's hot because stores and restaurants seem to crank up the heat or something.
The language barrier is still extremely difficult sometimes. It is very frustrating, humbling, and intimidating when you don't speak/read/write their language. I cringe every time I hear someone or see someone post something about people living in America and not knowing how to speak English. I've come to realize how narrow minded and ridiculous that way of thinking is.
The scenery as you drive around is pretty depressive. There are a few square miles in the main shopping area that is very nice, but once you get outside of that it is pretty gross. Most people don't think twice about throwing stuff out of the window and dumping trash wherever. Banged up and broken down vehicles that were involved in an accident sit on the side of the road for I don't know how long. A few have been where they were left since we've been here. And I've never seen so many water tanks and satellite dishes on roofs as I have here. Seriously...the entire roof of a building will be filled with them. There's one particular area that I pass by and wish I had my camera so I could take a picture. I don't know if it's necessary or they are just too lazy to take them them down. I won't even start on our compound. Let's just say it isn't what we expected. It's not dirty or gross, but depressive none the less.
We just celebrated our second Christmas in KSA! Two Christmases in a strict Muslim country! Last year we didn't have a choice but to be here. Jameson didn't have a passport and all the necessary paperwork yet so we couldn't leave. This year was a little harder because we chose to stay. You really have to make the holidays special on your own because there is nothing outside of your own home that indicates it's Christmas time. And I mean NOTHING (unless you count a few new things available at the grocery store). We have already decided that if we are still on the project next year we are going home (or somewhere other than here at least)! Last year we borrowed a neighbor's tree to celebrate with. They left a few days before Christmas so we just carried it over to our place. This year I was able to make it to the craft store I know of that sells trees. It's a pretty hush, hush operation and it totally feels like you are making a drug deal or something. You go up to the third or forth floor of this store where their offices are. As soon as you walk out of the elevator the smell of cigarette smokes slaps you in the face! Then I had to knock on this door that said "Marketing" but looked to be a stock room. I told the guy that I wanted a tree and he brought me off to the side and showed me the different sizes. There are only three - small, smaller, and smallest. He took it out of the box to make sure all the pieces were there and then taped it back up. I took the box and started to walk off and he said that if I had more shopping to do he would need to send it downstairs for me to pick up when I was done. He may have just been being nice, but it seemed like he didn't want me walking around the store with it. It's not very big...I could have very easily put it in my buggy and finished shopping. The crazy thing is that they have ornaments on display for sale in the store all year long! So here is our $72, very short and very skinny Christmas tree!
Of course they sell rocking camels here! I really wanted to get Jameson one! I mean, a kid born in Saudi Arabia should have a rocking camel! Then the guy told me the price. Over $800! Ummm...no.
Sandstorms are a real thing! All of a sudden you look outside and everything is orange! You definitely stay inside when they hit.
I don't think I'll ever get used to looking out of my back door and seeing this!
I also haven't gotten used to the fact that just because we're white/westerner/American, people here automatically think that we are rich. For example, every time I go into this particular store, this guy shows me these exact same shawls. They are real pashmina and very expsensive. I'm talking like 7,000 and 9,000 SAR - that's over $1800 and $2300)! And this guy really thinks I'm going to buy one. He tells me about all the other Americans or Candians that bought a few and I'm like yeah right! He makes me take a picture of them to "show my husband."
Technically we were in Qatar when we saw these...close enough!
The bathrooms, oh the bathrooms! This is at the airport! I'll never forget the first time I saw one. We were at the mall and Connor had to go. I saw this, walked right back out, and told Harry that wasn't a bathroom. He laughed and said it was. Thankfully I've never actually had to use one. Notice the hose. That's why it's necessary to BYOTP (bring your own toilet paper).
You can image my surprise when I saw an evangelist and a "church channel" in a country where Islam is the only religion!
I was excited to see pumpkins when Halloween came around. I couldn't help but laugh as I walked away from the almost $50 price tag.
These things are a JOKE! I loathe them. I'm telling you, I really loathe them. Only two things are plugged in because you can't get anything into the other four! Why have six when only two are functional?!? And every single one we have is the same.
Multicultural Coca-Cola "light".
It's kind of strange how our social lives are very different here than they are back home. Circumstance forces you to adapt I suppose. I don't see it as being necessarily good or bad, it's just not the same. We both come from close families and have both had the same friends for most of our lives. We stay fairly busy when we are home. We do things with other people a lot. I guess I had this preconceived notion that I would come here and make a bunch of new friends and we would hang out and be BFF. Don't get me wrong, there are a few people who I have bonded with and am very close to and I know we will always stay in touch, but as a whole, it's just not what I expected. It's not as easy as I thought it would be to form real, long lasting relationships when you are thrown into such close quarters with people that are so different from you. They parent their children differently, have different interests and/or values, are off doing their own thing, are tied down with children, etc. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the people here being different from our friends and family back home...it just tends to make it harder to have a connection with them when you are used to being so close to the same people for your entire lives. And if I'm being completely honest...sometimes (most of the time) the drama is just too much for me. I don't know what it is...bored housewives, loneliness, or whatever...the caddy behavior and ridiculousness tends to be over the top at times. Bravo could have a hit reality show on their hands if the came here! Haha!
While trying to make new friends, I have also realized who my true friends are. Our "adventures" aren't well received by everyone. Thankfully this is not the norm. Most people are very supportive and interested in our life here, but there are a few who have thrown a little "hate" our way. It's all fine if we are having a rough time, but when we talk about the good parts of life here or our travels we become "money hungry" and "spoiled". I'm sorry, but the last time I checked we all do things for money. There were many reasons why we moved here, the top of that list was the paycheck. I won't apologize for that. We would not have packed our family up and moved to THIS country across the world if there wouldn't be quite a few digits behind that dollar sign. I don't think anyone would. We are extremely blessed to get the opportunity to travel the world as a family and I won't apologize for that either. I guess I can say that some of the negative feedback we've gotten from people is also something I wasn't expecting.
Being here is NOT easy. We came into this knowing that we would be sacrificing a lot...and we have, but it has been without regret. Life truly does go on without us back home and that's a hard pill to swallow. We have chosen to remain grounded in what we have gained and accomplished versus what we have missed out on. Instead of counting down the days until I am home for good, I choose to embrace the experience in the here and now, whether it be good or bad. It's hardly ever easy, but it's always been worth it!
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