Everyone went back to school today after a two-week spring break. Most people went OOK (which is what we call, Out Of Kingdom), so a lot of people are jet lagged for school this week. We went back to our regular activities: Brooke's voice lesson, Brooke's confirmation class, AWANA (Reese has been going to this, but now Jordan and Brooke are going to help listen to kids recite their verses and help with the games), shawarmas at the pool on desert Friday, and then church and Friday school.
Here we are taking Shadow to the desert where he can run to his heart's content.
He loves rocks... and the bigger, the better! He's trying... trying to pick it up.
He's got it!
You can see a nearby neighborhood in the distance here.
Tuesday, Apr. 16
Bruce has been in Jubail again this week... this is his third week in a row... he's getting tired of it!
One exciting activity we added this week was swim lessons taught by Jordan! On Tuesday, I had my driver pick up Reese, Brooke, and me at our house, drive to the High School to pick up Jordan, and then drive us all to Cene's compound where she had a group of kids waiting to take swim lessons from Jordan. Cene's compound has three sections to it, each with their own pool, so Jordan went to the Village 1 pool to teach lessons from 3-5pm, and then she walked across a small street somewhat like an alley to the Village 2 pool, where we were waiting for her, to teach Cene's daughters. Then we ordered dinner by the pool and had our driver meet us at 6:30 to take us home. Such a deal... after Jordan pays for the driver, she goes home with $65... not bad.
Here she is teaching Cene's daughter, Gabriele.
Wednesday, Apr. 18 (desert Friday)
A bunch of kids in Cene's compound were still on spring break this week, so they got a bus and went to the Bahar Villas beach today. I let Reese and Brooke take the day off school and we joined everyone at the beach. Here we are with our driver leaving the house.
We drove about half an hour south (along the blue line.)
Here are some of the sights along the way.
This is another western compound in the distance... this is where my friend, Sharyn lives... she's the one who is in Australia right now.
We have arrived at the Bahar Villas. There was a giant gate that we have just passed through. You can see Cene' waiting under the tree to meet us.
Inside, is a snack bar and a lounging area... I think this might be some sort of a hotel as well.
When we first walked outside, all the kids were screaming and having a blast in the pools as they were filling them with water. There were four pools side by side and we were the only people here.
Here you can see all four pools.
After we passed the pools, we came to the private beach.
Brooke and Micaela are trying to make a raft.
The kids went out on the rocks and found scraps to help Brooke and Micaela.
Now they're turning it into a sailboat.
The boys caught a giant jelly fish... look at those proud faces!
Here Brooke is trying out their boat.
I asked my driver to come back and pick us up at 1:30, so he was there right on time.
We saw this on the way home.
There are always so many unfinished buildings... it seems like there was one in every picture I took on the way home!
I couldn't resist taking this picture of Arabic graffiti.
Now here's a decent street... on the left! But on the right side is just trash and rubble.
I'm told that this area gets very crowded with people walking along the gulf on weekend evenings.
If you look closely, you can see the loud speakers on top of the minaret.
We've asked my driver to stop in Khobar so Cene' can take us to this wonderful shop that serves delicious fruit. Last night he assured us that he knew where it was, but as we were driving there, we realized that he had no idea where we wanted to go, and finally, after he passed the area, Cene' had to tell him where to turn.
Here we are at Al Mango. The fruit cups here are heavenly! Cene bought one for our driver as he waited in the car for us.
Our driver took Cene' home and then took us home. Even though we had previously worked out the price, he added some charges here and there and I had to fire him. It turned out to be an expensive day at the beach! But I learned some good lessons.
Friday, Apr. 20
After Friday School (Sunday School) I went to the Used Book Sale on camp. People donate unwanted books that are sold for $1-3, and the money is given to a charity. I ended up finding several books used in the girls' curriculum and I bought about 15 books!
Then Brooke, Reese, and I rode with Stephen and Cene' to their compound to swim and eat lunch by the pool. Their compound's restaurant has a buffet on Fridays. Bruce decided to take a rest and stay home since he'd been traveling all week, and Jordan decided to stay home to study. Cene' and I played cards at the pool while the girls swam. It was a nice day and we had so much fun just relaxing.
Brooke wanted to go the middle school fellowship at 6pm, so at 3:00 I called a taxi. All three taxi companies that we use were busy and could not pick us up! It was a little disconcerting to realize that we could get stuck away from home that easily. I didn't realize that the weekend taxis were so busy and I would have to book one in advance next time. I hadn't done that because I didn't know how long it would take to eat lunch and swim, but now I know that I will have to guess! Fortunately, Stephen decided to drive us all back because his daughter wanted to attend the middle school fellowship also. It's only an hour long, so he wouldn't have time to go home and come back for her, hence their whole family came over to our house for a short visit while Brooke and Micaela went to the fellowship. We are so happy to have found such good friends here. Unfortunately, they will probably be leaving Saudi soon and moving back to Oklahoma. I guess we'll just have to enjoy each other until that happens.
Thanks for stopping by!
- Pattie -
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