The First of Many Trips to Bahrain

Well I finally got my multi-entry visa for Saudi so I was finally able to make a trip to Bahrain.  I have just been anxious to go to Bahrain for many reasons.  First of all because I NEEDED to see Eclipse.  All my friends in the states seem to have already seen it more than once.  I was feeling left out.  Secondly, I wanted to go because it has a feeling of "home" since my parents lived there for so many years.  There are many places I have been and recognize.  Thirdly, we needed a chance to feel a little more "normal".   No abaya wearing for me!   

We started our day at 6:30 am.  Our friends Steve and Jackie came with us and we headed out of Saudi.  Over the years of my parents living here I always heard about the causeway between Saudi and Bahrain but had never personally experienced it.   It is kinda a strange experience.  You go through so many customs check points but all while in your car and technically in the middle of the gulf.  Our experience was pretty smooth and didn't take that long but I have heard of times where people have sat just at the customs area for 3 plus hours!!   They do have restrooms in the area and even a McDonald's and other fast food items.  


Our first stop in Bahrain was Ric's Kountry Kitchen.  It has great American style breakfast with PORK bacon.  The pork is basically why everyone wants to go to Ric's.  If you don't know, Saudi does not allow pork products into the country.  I had never realized how often I actually eat pork until now when I can't.  While we were waiting on our food at Ric's another CPChem employee and his family walked in so we joined our tables and had one big breakfast.  

Luckily for us this family and their driver were willing to take us to our next destination so we could pay for one less taxi.  After Ric's they dropped us off at the Bahrain City Center mall.  I LOVE this mall.  It is huge and has most stores we could possibly want or need.  However, the prices on clothing are little bit higher than in the states and even higher than in Saudi. 

As I said before, I was insisting on seeing Eclipse. Micah was not too thrilled on the idea of watching that movie so he talked Jackie into going with me instead.  Since I am a fan of the whole series I loved the movie.  I'm not so sure that Jackie loved it especially since she has not seen any of the other movies.  


Once the movie was over, Jackie and I jumped in a taxi and met the guys at Hardrock cafe.  This is one of the popular places for Americans (from Saudi) to go to get a beer or other types of drinks not allowed in Saudi.  We just hung out there for a short time and then headed to Senor Pacos.  First we had to catch a taxi and just our luck our taxi driver didn't know where Senor Pacos was located.  I was lucky enough to talk on the drivers cell phone to someone who was then able to get our driver to the right location.  

Every time I went to visit my parents in Bahrain we went to Senor Pacos.  It is by no means great Mexican food but it is still Mexican food and they have good Margaritas.  We were the ONLY people in the restaurant at this time of day.   I took a picture of the booth where I last ate here with my parents.  Admittedly, I experienced a few sad, sentimental times when I was wishing my parents still lived in Bahrain.  But then I drank a couple Margaritas, ate some nachos and was doing just fine ;)

After Senor Pacos it was time to head back home.  I wasn't too thrilled about putting my abaya back on. 

But once again I cheered back up quickly. 

It was a good, fast, short day but still a little relief from the same old Saudi life.  Hopefully we will make it back soon. 

I Saw the Sun.....sorta

Today was a "cool" day in the Magic Kingdom....it was only 107 degrees.  Haha.  But amazingly enough it did feel cooler.  This may have been because of the amount of sand in the air.  Around here, our clear days are based on sand not clouds.  Just to give you an idea, here is a picture of the sun....sorta. This was taken around 5:00pm. Crazy huh?!

I noticed today that Gizmo was starting to get Apartment fever(or maybe just I was).  Since he arrived he has not been outside without being on a leash.  Although he does enjoy his walks I felt like he needed some exploring time so we headed for the beach. I brought his portable water bowl and some water for both of us.  Once we got set up on the beach I took him off his leash and let him explore.  He had a great time running up and down the beach and trying to chase the birds.  

While he was running around I was laying on my float in the shallow part of the water relaxing.  Gizmo normally hates water but for some reason, heat maybe, he walked right in. In the water he ran around, laid down, swam, and took a couple drinks.  It was so strange to watch him almost enjoy the water. 

Micah met us at the beach when he got home from work and we had some family play time. 

On some other random notes, we went out to dinner the other night for a friend of ours birthday.  There is a restaurant in Jubail called "Steakhouse" and we got our own private room.  We made sure that the waiters knew that it was Matt's birthday so just like they would in the states, they brought him a dessert and sang happy birthday.  It was the GREATEST happy birthday song I have ever heard.  I wish I had recorded it.  The only words they knew were "happy birthday to you" so they repeated it over and over sorta in tune with the actual song.  Plus hearing their accents sing was great.  Here is Matt Ford blowing out his birthday candle. 

Reunited and it Feels so Good!

At last Gizmo has made it to Saudi Arabia!  He had a pretty crazy journey to get here and I'm sure he didn't appreciate the ride but we are so happy to have him here.  It was definitely a process getting him here with us.  As you may or may not know, Saudi's do not like dogs and they don't make it easy to get one into the country. Let me start from the beginning. 

At first, I thought I could do all this for Gizmo on my own.  Then I started researching and realized, NO WAY!  There are so many forms and time restraints AND some have to be done in Arabic.  So I began searching for a "pet moving" company.  I talked to many different companies and started getting an idea of price (whoa!) and what each company would do for us.  I finally settled on "Animal Land Pet movers".  Let me just say, it was not cheap but now looking back it was totally worth it.  

The first steps were getting Gizmo's shot records the way that Saudi's would want them.  He HAD to have a rabies shot less than one year from entering Saudi and more than 30 days before.  Then we had to get his air safe carrier and start getting him used to it.  Once this part was done there was nothing else we could do until 30 days before departure.  

After all the waiting, it turned out that Gizmo didn't get to leave Houston as soon as we wanted him to.  The pet movers were having a hard time getting an airline to agree to take Gizmo because of the temperatures in Houston and in Saudi.  We finally got one to take him.  Gizmo flew on Lufthansa airlines. But by this time Micah and I had already left for Saudi so I left my wonderful Mom with lots of things to do.  Luckily I have a great Mom and she took care of everything.  

First Mom had to get Gizmo to a USDA certified vet to sign off that Gizmo was safe and healthy.  The funny part is that the vet also had to sign a form saying that Gizmo was being brought to Saudi for "guard dog" purposes.  Doesn't little Gizzie look like a "guard dog"?!  

Not only do all of these forms have to be filled out and signed but Gizmo also had to arrive in Saudi within 10 days of the signature! Stressful! After trying to find a vet that had everything we needed it dawned on me.....I have an Aunt that is a vet!  And it just so happened that my parents were going to be in Oklahoma during the time frame needed for Gizmo to see the vet. Thanks to my wonderful Aunt Sandra for taking care of his papers.  After they were all signed Mom had to overnight them to the Oklahoma Department of Ag.  They had to sign them and overnight them to Washington D.C. to the U.S. department of Ag.  Then they were overnighted back to Houston.  CRAZY!  And I thought I could do this on my own ;)

After some set-backs and stressful days on me, my mom, Micah, Gizmo, and the pet movers, Gizmo finally left the ground headed for Saudi.  48 hours later he was safe and sound in our arms!

He passed out on the car ride home.

Giz was so excited to see his new apartment and we are so excited to have him in it.  It finally feels like home again!

Gizmo's travel accommodations. 

Thanks so much to Micah for paying for our pet movers, Mom for taking care of the final stressful parts, Aunt Sandra for signing the papers, the pet movers for getting everything done and getting him here safely, Riyadh vet for getting him through customs with no problems, and Gizmo for surviving the trip!

Cooking

By no means do I consider myself a cook.   I have a very few, pretty good meals in my knowledge base which worked just fine living in Houston with no children and lots of restaurant options.  I could slowly cycle through my meals while throwing in some fast food and going out to eat.  But now going out takes a little more effort with having to call a driver and work around prayer times.  It is also more difficult because our choices are a little more....interesting.  Therefore I feel like I am going to have to be more creative with my cooking choices.  We will see how that goes. Also a little more interesting is my selection at the grocery store.  I will admit that I have found most everything I would need in the stores here.  A major difference is my choice in beef.  There is no USDA certified beef.  So far we have only had Brazilian beef which isn't too bad and I have also heard New Zealand beef is good.  I even find many American brands but you tend to pay way extra for them.  Here are some of the beloved American brands I have found.  

Most of these taste almost the exact same as the would in the states.  Some American brands I have found do not quite taste right but its still ok.  One thing I have not found, or at least not often, are good tortilla chips.  Last night we had some of the other guys over for dinner, Brooks and Matt.  They arrived the night before and their families won't be here until early August.  I decided to have beef tacos and some classic rotel and velveeta cheese mix but then we needed chips.  So now for the adventure of learning to make my own chips.  I got the idea from Jackie so I can't claim it as my own.  

- I started with this packet of frozen corn tortillas

- Next I cut the tortillas into chip size pieces and heated up a skillet of oil. 

- Once the oil was heated, I threw in a few pieces and watched them fry

- It was a learning process. Some burnt, some weren't cooked enough, others were just right

I guess they were all pretty good since every single one that I cooked were gone by the end of dinner!

First week survival

Once again I feel like there is so much to tell about but I'm not sure how to get it all in....


We have now been in the Magic Kingdom for 1 week.  I was having a hard time with jet lag and kept waking up every night around 3:00am and having a very hard time going back to sleep.  Well I finally kicked the jet lag 2 nights ago.  I have finally had 2 nights in a row where I was still asleep when Micah's alarm went off!  I'm so excited about that because I'm finally feeling "normal".  


As I said, we have been here for 1 week and I have already been to Khobar/Dhahran 3 times!  So for anyone that was worried that I would miss shopping have no fear and for those who are worried about my shopping....well you should probably be afraid ;)   One thing that I have noticed is that I really want more Abayas. This has shocked me a little bit but I find myself drawn to them.  I guess I figure if I have to wear them any time I go out I may as well have cute ones.  

This is a picture of me in IKEA!

It is an interesting experience being the EXTREME minority where you live but other than some staring and a couple young guys taking pictures of us with their cell phones, I haven't had any problems.  I hope it continues that way but I'm sure at some point I will have some interesting stories.  

On our drive to and from Khobar I took some "scenic" pictures out of the window. You will notice that some areas are straight sand/desert while other areas have more trees.  The city where we live actually has a lot more trees than I expected it to.  I even took a picture of 2 of the ladies I went shopping with, Jackie and Nikki.  

There have been a couple parties since we have been here.  The first one was at Lonna & Bill's villa for a 4th of July party.   It was nice to get together with people and pretend we were in the U.S. for a short time.  We had everything a 4th of July party needs except for fireworks.  We even had hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner.   All of the food was excellent and it was nice to get to meet new people.  We also had a dinner in the compounds future restaurant hosted by the company (I think).  The food was excellent and once again it was great to spend time with more people on the compound. Of course I keep meeting men who refer to me as "Mike Gilbert's daughter" and women who tell me how much I look like my mom.  But I consider it all a compliment and it gives me more connections to people which I enjoy. 

July is actually a very slow time on the compound with so many people gone for summer vacation and there are many new families coming in August so I know things will pick up even more.  I've heard of book clubs, sewing groups, walking groups, shopping outings, and more.  I have feeling boredom will not be a problem.  

Arabia

Micah and I have only been in Saudi Arabia for a few days but I already feel like there is so much to tell.  I guess the easiest way is to start at the beginning.

We had a very easy trip over.  Let me just tell you that flying business class is nothing like flying coach and even flying business class on Qatar airways is better than business class on KLM.  Once we made it inside the airport in Houston we were able to go sit in the lounge.  The Qatar lounge in Houston is only ok but it is still way better than sitting in the main area.  When we boarded the flight attendant immediately brought me champagne!  Our seats laid all the way down allowing for some great sleep during the 15 hour flight. Take a look at our spacious seating area on the plane:

After the 15 hour flight we landed in Doha, Qatar and in Qatar we were able to go to the first class lounge.  It was definitely first class.  I could have stayed there longer but we only had a short layover for our 1 hour flight to Saudi. The most frustrating part of our trip was the immigration line. I have heard many horror stories and compared to those  our experience wasn't too bad.  Our guy working our line looked really mad or upset, it was hard to tell which and he was very slow. He said maybe 2 words to us the whole time he was "checking" us in.  I had to do fingerprints and take a picture and then we were through.  We made it to our apartment at about 11:00pm Saudi time.  

Our first day in Saudi Micah had us scheduled to go to Khobar.  Khobar is a city about an hour to an hour and a half from Jubail where we live.  Khobar has bigger malls and better shopping.  We went to a store called "Desert Designs" where I found many things I could buy.  Then we just wandered around the mall taking in the sights and stores.  I did see a huge sign saying "COMING SOON: EXPRESS"!  I'm so excited to have an Express store in Saudi even if it is 3x more expensive.  There was also a GAP, Banana Republic, and New York and Company, plus some European stores that looked fun.  We ate at Chilis for lunch and then went to the Tamimis which is one of their big grocery stores.  

One thing you have to worry about here is prayer time.  Everything you do (off the compound) has to be scheduled around prayer times....and they pray 5 times a day!  So I'm starting to learn that you either get up and leave early morning to get stuff done before lunchish pray time or you wait until after.  Some stores and restaurants will let you continue to shop or eat but they won't check you out during that time.  

Today, Saturday July 3, was Micah's first day to go to work and leave me at home alone.  Luckily my parents were really great to the BEST driver here, Alex.  He is actually assigned to the President of S-Chem but since he liked my parents so much he told me to call him so I did.  Mom and Dad had left us a TON of stuff at the old compound in Saudi so Alex drove me and another lady, Lonna, over to the compound to sort through the stuff.  He loaded up 6-7 boxes plus other odds and ends into the car and then unloaded them for us at my apartment.  Then he was gracious enough to take Lonna and I to Applebee's and to the grocery store in Jubail called Panda.  So far my grocery shopping experiences have been pretty good.  I feel like I can find almost anything I would want.  Our grocery store on the compound is actually very well stocked as well.

Some interesting things I have noticed: Restaurants and even some stores have a "family only" entrance and a "singles" entrance. The mall food court had family seating and single seating. Most of the stores have beer, but if you look closely at the can you will see the big NA= non alcoholic.  Our table at Applebee's had a large wooden partition we could use if we didn't want people to see our faces while eating.  I was not able to get a sim card for my phone without my husbands permission. They truly do drive like maniacs. It is hot.  Jet lag is terrible. Our compound is beautiful and the facilities are wonderful. 

I have  feeling once I get over jet lag, and Gizmo gets here,  it will be a very easy transition for me.

*Saudi's don't like you to take pictures so I had to take these very carefully. 

notice the wooden partition on wheels by the booth

It's even budwieser!

The Goodbye Tour

After spending 39 days in Saudi Arabia all alone, Micah returned for the official "Goodbye Tour".  This tour started in the great city of Wagoner, Oklahoma.  

Gizmo and I drove to Wagoner from Houston and met his parents at their house.  Then all 4 of us picked Micah up from the Tulsa airport.  We were all so excited to see Micah including his Gizmo.  We only had a couple days in Wagoner so we had to cram in all the fun we could.  On day 1 we went to the Illinois river and did some canoeing with Micah's parents.  We had a great time swimming, floating, and soaking up the sunshine.

On Day 2, Andy and Jackie came to Wagoner to visit along with their beautiful little girl Kate and Gizmo's cousin Max.  During the morning the boys went to play golf while the girls relaxed.  And in the evening we did some jet skiing, eating, and family time.  Kate is such a fun kid to be around.  She was sick during our visit but she was still as happy as can be. She even decided to do some of Gizmo's tricks. 

And as it seems to go when you have kids around, I have no pictures of the adults during this time unless they are with Kate :(  I promise we were all there. 

Our Second stop on tour was Clear Lake.  We have been so blessed during our 3 years of living in Clear Lake.  Our friends are incredible and I know they will be lifelong friends even if from a distance.  Two of our close friends had babies in May only a few days apart.  This trip was Micah's first chance to meet the babies.  Our first night we went to our traditional Pappasito's dinner with Brad and Meredith. Before we left for dinner we met at their house so that Micah could meet Charlotte. She is so beautiful and so is her Mom. 

On our second day in Clear Lake we were able to go to our church for that last time in a long time.  This was a little more difficult for me than I expected.  Our church has been such a blessing to us over the past few years and it is the reason we have such great friends.  It is also hard to grasp that we will no longer be able to "legally" have church.  Thanks so much to everyone at Clear Creek Community Church! After church we were also able to do our traditional after church lunch with our friends the Perry's and the Carpenters.  

Also on Sunday we were able to attend our friends going away party.  As some of you may or may not know, our best friends Brooks and Lindsey Perry are also moving to Saudi Arabia with us!  Even thought this was their going away party a few of our mutual friends were there as well.  This party also was our time to say goodbye for the last time.  Sadly I don't have many pictures from the party.

At the party we were also able to spend more time with the other new baby, Addison Carpenter.  She is also a beautiful baby and she did so great at the party. 

Thanks to Lindsey for throwing a great party!

Our final destination was Humble, Texas at my parents house.  During this stop, Micah and my dad played golf, we swam and played with our niece Bailey.  We went to see Toy Story 3 and even ate at Pappasito's one last time.  And once again I have very few pictures of the adults and a million of Bailey and Gizmo. 

We spent most of our last day in Houston packing and getting everything ready.  It was a very stressful day for me since I was getting calls from our Realtor about selling our house and trying to make sure the loose ends with Gizmo were all tied up.  In the end, my mom made me a wonderful going away dinner of brisket and my favorite potatoes and we had some time to sit and talk.  

It was very hard to say goodbye to all of our friends and family but we are both looking forward to this new adventure and are ready to get it started.  We love you guys!