Move to and Life in Saudi Arabia
Spending the day at the Duck Pond park studying Arabic. I completed one week of the Conversational Arabic class I enrolled in. My teacher Manar Matawea is very demanding and she makes you work during class. She teaches at the Middle School during the day. She allows cell phones in the class room, but I found out if you are looking at your phone during class she tends to call on you to answer questions. Thanks Charlotte for calling me during class.
Two of the new hire female engineers put together a list for me of the best Trendy restaurants and coffee shops to try out. I wanted local places to eat. I asked them for their recommendations because they are young and hip. I can tell they are hip because they don’t cover their faces and even show the front of their hair. Both graduated from Universities in the USA (Missouri and Oklahoma). Generally when I ask for recommendations for places to eat, the number one response is Cheesecake Factory. Cheesecake Factory recently opened here and is super popular.
I have been to 3 of the restaurants so far. The Shawarma restaurant had the best shawarma I have ever had. The second place served Broasted Chicken. Broasted chicken is the Saudi version of fried chicken. The Broasted chicken was served with garlic sauce. It was also super good and I will be back. Third place I ordered date tres leches.
Tonight I am going out to dinner with a bunch of newbies who really wanted to go to Cheesecake Factory. One guy asked me if Cheesecake Factory has anything else to eat besides cheesecake?
I’m completely mobile. I have a drivers license. I have a car. I have my Visa that allows me to visit all the GCC countries. (Gulf Cooperation Council). Basically all the countries that border Saudi Arabia. I spent the day today driving around the area. I found the dunes. A popular off roading area. I have been waiting to post a picture of my Jeep until I could find the proper setting.
My next stop was the Saudi Aramco private beach area.
Now off to dinner at a restaurant from my list of Local restaurants compiled by the Saudi new hires.
The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture also known as Ithra was built by Saudi Aramco in 2017. It is the museum center for art, science and cultural. No money was spared on this building. It reminded me of the Guggenheim in New York City. It was free to enter and located right next to the office complex.
There is of course an Energy Museum that begins with a display on renewable energy, but main focus was oil. Those are the 4 grades of Arabian crude oil.
The natural science section was good as well.
I have been struggling to learn and remember the names of all the new people I meet especially at work. My group includes Maher, Jasem, Osama, Ahmed and Maged. Maged’s last name is Dossary. There are two other people in the office with the same first and last name. The expats in my building are Gary, Jeff, Ezra, Chin, Hatan and Harish. If you have to make a guess at a name, go with Mohammed or Abdullah. Good chance you’ll be correct.
Street names are also hard to remember. I found this gem on my walk today. It is the corner of Hofuf and Hofuf.
Another funny name for those in Texas who are familiar with the store Sun and Ski Sports. Here it is called Sun and Sand Sports.
A group of coworkers were talking in Arabic and I heard the name Zinadene Zidane mentioned. (Zidane is a famous World Cup soccer player and coach of Real Madrid) I looked up and they said do you know Zizou. I had never heard Zizou. They explained that is Zidane’s nickname. Nicknames are common in Arabic. Conversion proceeded to giving me a nickname. First choice is to base nick name after your kids. If no kids, then name is based on your father. I told them Larry, but there is no Larry equivalent in Arabic. I mentioned Lawrence which was recognized. After a little translation my nickname is Abo Lorance.
New coworker arrived from London this week. He was very concerned about being able to watch English Premier League Futbol matches. The whole lunch discussion was around apps to be able to watch every game. Apparently some of the Premier League games start at 3:00pm my time so it is common to leave work early to catch the games.
This is the funniest sign I have seen. How can you not hire “The magic fingers touch” company to do your decorating.
Burger restaurant selling fuel for the human engine.
Win 200 bars of gold from a jewelry store.
Getting Dessert and Desert correct matters here.
The weather here has been compared to San Diego. It is sunny and clear skies. High in the 70s with lows in the 60s at night. Low humidity. Weather is like this from November to March. I get daily reminders from coworkers who have been here a while to prepare yourself for the other 7 months of the year. I collected some of the more memorable quotes:
The Oven turns on from April to Halloween
It is so hot it sucks the life out of you.
In the Summer it is a very bad situation.
It feels like sticking your head in the dishwasher after the heat cycle.
Your wife will want to go home for the whole month of August.
Humid and 120 degrees is coming. Everything here is covered for protection from the heat. Playgrounds are covered. Most parking spots are covered. Walkways from parking lots and in between buildings are covered. I have been warned about getting burned if you leave a car parked in the sun and don’t let it sufficiently cool before getting inside.
Hot Summers is another reason malls are so popular. It is too hot to go outside so malls are the place to go. The malls here all have grocery stores and large indoor entertainment areas. I have been to 4 different malls so far.
Oil was first discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1938 by the Standard Oil Company of California. Dammam Well #7 was the first well to produce commercial quantities of oil. This well was later renamed Prosperity Well and a memorial was set up on the original site. This well produced oil until 1982. I visited the well since it is on the Saudi Aramco Office complex. The Saudi Aramco headquarters was built up around the original oil discovery.
The memorial was rather unimpressive for how important it was for Saudi Arabia.
10 exploratory oil wells were originally drilled in the country. Saudi Arabia is a fairly large country. It is 3 times larger than Texas, but only has slightly more population than Texas.
Experienced my second sandstorm today. First Sandstorm was in 2012 by Darude. The sky looks like overcast Ohio weather, but that is sand being blown around. I was on a tour and guide said to pull out your scarf or handkerchief to cover your mouth. Need to add dust mask to my travel gear.
Matthew of Arabia