Saturday (Saudi Monday 2/27/10)

My left eye is sore to the touch in the corner and is showing some red smears. Could be from the dust in the air. We are experiencing shamal winds and this is the worst I have seen it. I haven't been taking my walks because of it. Could be that I hit when I was sleeping.

I just finished an interesting book, "Fruitless Fall", by Rowan Jacobson. He chronicles the plight of the honey bee in what we are seeing as a collapse of the commercial apiary industry due to stress on the bees. He points out the importance of those bees for our agricultural abundance and what that collapse is meaning to current productivity and future productivity in agricultural productivity. I was aware that hives were hauled on trucks from here to Canada to pollinate clover fields and other crops, but Jacobson paints that picture as much more expansive that I ever thought. Already there are crops that are no longer available due to the lack of pollinators - in Japan the bees that pollinate pears is extinct and the only way to pollinate the pear trees is by human hands, so women and children climb the trees and go from flower to flower with swabs to pollinate the flowers. Vanilla is now only available now because of human pollination - that is why it is so expensive. He also explained the honey market and how the Chinese have flooded the market with watered down honey - watered down by corn syrup. See my post of several weeks ago where I found honey that was nothing but corn syrup. On top of that the Chinese honey has been heavily laced with pesticidal toxins ingested by the bees and secreted into the honey. Very interesting reading. I want to start a hive now :)

Thursday (Saudi Saturday 2/25/10)

On my morning walk today I spotted, what I think was, a Steppe Eagle in a tree by the spray fields. Magnificent bird. Also spotted three or four new birds for my checklist - two were warblers and the others were wheateaters. The spring migration is starting to move just a little. Over the next two months the migration of birds from Africa to Europe will filter through the Arabian Peninsula providing birders here in the Eastern Province with a kaleidoscope of feathered friends. With the coast just a few kilometers from here and the foliage covering the Aramco compound I am looking forward to seeing many more birds to add to my checklist.

The rest of the day was spent working on my credentials and scoping out the job market. Things don't look great, so I am thankful that I have this work here in Saudi Aramco.

Something that I was thrilled about today was to find out where there was a service in the camp. Remember, the Saudi week is different that much of the world, so Sunday is actually tomorrow (Friday). Wednesdays are Fridays, and a day of abstinence from meat during Lent. Here on the compound, Aramco hires religious counselors for the expats. These counselors are able to serve their congregations just like back home. It's quite a contrast to the world just outside the gate, where only Islam is allowed. It is very strictly observed - no religious objects or services are tolerated. This has been a very strange experience living in a monarchy that is based on Islam. The world back home is so different. To get a sense of it all, two of the consultants and my good friends, one a fishing buddy, are Muslim and are on their hajj to Mecca this weekend. As a Muslim you should make your hajj to Mecca once in your life. They will come back with their heads shaved and hopefully in a better spiritual shape. (I made my trip to Rome and the Vatican during the Jubilee - kind of a pilgrimage like the hajj).

Saudi Friday (Wednesday 2/26/10)

I am getting ready for my trip back home in a couple of weeks. Working on my assignments here, getting them ready for the graphic designer (looks like that will be Lisa) to work on while I am away. I am also trying to find small affordable gifts for the family back home. There is not many crafts and things that are manufactured here. There are some, but most things come from out of the country. There are the camel leather sandals, the analog to the wooden shoes from Holland, and a few other things, but not much. They will make nice silver and gold jewelry to your specs, but it can get expensive with the price of gold these days.

Last night was Tuesday night, time for the BBQ chicken at the Hobby Farm, but darn-it, I was too late again. As soon as I get off work I come back to the room and change clothes, check emails and head out. It's about a three mile walk, so it takes about an hour or less to get there about (6:15 PM) and the chicken is gone by then. I think what I am going to do next week is buy a chicken and bring it with me for the guy to cook for me. The group that I have been having this weekly dinner with hangs around there until they close the gate around 9:00 PM chatting and talking about whatever. The group is made up of a couple of Canadian couples, some folks from the States (Texas mostly). Well traveled and fun to talk with. Last night was particularly enjoyable. Wish Carolyn was here to partake.

#2 Saudi Wednesday

Here is another video.

Saudi wednesday (Monday 3-22-10)

One of the consultants (Jeff) managed to video some of the dune cruising. It will give you some idea of the rush.

Sunday (Saudi Tuesday 2/21/10)

I often talk of shwarma. So what is it? Well, it is Middle Eastern soft taco - sorta. Basically they take chicken breast (I think) and stick it somehow on a big vertical spit and cook it against a gas fire. When you want a shwarma, the cook slices thin pieces off into a tray below the spit. He then takes that and mixes it with some chopped tomatoes, pickles, and maybe some lettuce, puts into an opened pita bread, coats it with mayonnaise and wraps it with some wrapping paper. Now, you can add hot sauce to it if you want (I do) and peal back the paper as you eat down the thing. Here there are shwarma shops all over town, but our favorite one is the one on the corner near where the bus drops us off. Right around the corner is Latif Bakery where the best Zatar is found. Zatar is a small pizza-like dish that uses feta cheese and selected herbs and spices on top. So good! Mmmmm!

Back at the dining hall breakfast is great. I usually get a bowl of cereal, and a couple of eggs, and a croissant, but the waffles are great, too. The tray in the picture is a typical breakfast )Eggs over easy, hash brown patty, cereal, and tea or fresh squeezed OJ. All for just over $2.25! Try that back in Houston and you'll pay 3-4 times that.

SAudi Monday (Saturday 2/20/10)

More photos of the sand cruising adventure - getting ready - deflating tires before heading out onto the sand. Tess hooked us up with this caravan (she's the one with the olive green top), Jeff (in the red shirt) is one of the Beacon consultants, and me (still unaware of what is about to happen).