A new bike

Tonight I went to Toys R Us and bought a Chinese made mountain bike to get around the compound for $100. Needed something to get around here a lttle faster than walking speed. Granted, it's not the real thing like the one I have back home, but it is a bike and will allow me some good exercise as well. I lloked for a while for a used bike on the Aramco classified, but they were rusty and beat to hell and were not much cheaper. I figure that I can sell it when I leave here.

We have 3-day weekend coming up in mid-April. Some of the gang here are going to Beirut, Lebanon, someone was talking about Petra in Jordan, another is talking about Doha, Qatar, and then there is Dubai and Abu Daubi. And then I could just hang around here and work on some paintings and take my bike on the bus to Ras Tanura to one of the days.

Well, the weekend is here and I've a full weekend ahead: The AL Hasa Trip on Thursday and a birding trip to Bahrain on Friday. I'll try to post each night and report. Easter is this weekend here, but I can't figure out where the masses are. I might just stay on Western calendar and go to mass on Sunday. It's hard to figure it all out: today is Wednesday (I think that might make it Good Friday here, but I went to the building where I normally go to mass and it was locked. Now that I have a bike I can pedal over to the far side of the compound to the mass over there if I can find out the time. Supposedly there is a daily mass at that facility and I will go there on Sunday. It's so confusing!

Back in the KSA!

Well, I am back here in Steineke hall, two doors down from my old room. My allergies have been flaring for the past few days: just as I was leaving Houston the Live Oaks were in bloom and then when I got here to the Kingdom the remnants of a severe dust storm was lingering around.

It is good to see all of the team here, minus a couple of the consultants who did not return from their visits. My projects are getting into high gear now, so I'll be busy for a while. The weather is nice - no high heat yet. My weekend schedule coming up (Easter weekend) is full of excursions into neighboring areas: Al Hasa on Thursday (a country market and camel mart), and Bahrain on Friday (Easter Sunday) for a birding group with the Arabian Natural History Association. I am going to Easter Vigil Mass tomorrow evening. Saw my first European Bee-eaters this evening right here at Steineke! A small flock was in migration and were stopping for the night in a banyon tree down the street.

Had a wonderful time on my visit home. First thing was to buy a new computer for CZ (MacBook) and new one for me (HP Pavilion dv6).Now we can even video Skype. Then we headed for Austin for Logan's 2nd B-day (St. Patty's day). From there to Kerrvile to visit the Hickey's for a couple of nights. Back in Houston for the rest of the visit. Lots of handyman tasks to complete, but hardly made a dent. Lost all of our beautiful tropical plants in this winter's freezes - so sad to see dead plants around town. For those of you that I was unable to see - I am sorry, but I was soooo busy. I really wanted to visit each of you, so I am sad about that. Please continue to read my blog and I will try to mention you in my musings. Thank all of you that have helped Carolyn during those first few weeks - you were a God send. Please continue to watch for her and help her with the chickens.

I'll post my report on the weekend's trips next week. In the meantime, all of you have a happy and blessed Easter.

Cheers

One more day!

I am having a very difficult time focusing on my work with just a few hours left in this work week and my first stay here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I've plenty to do before I leave this evening, so I do need to focus and stay on track, but I do want to post a short note. I've everythign pack but a few last minute items that will be packed right before I catch the cab to the airport. Since today is the end of the work week and somehow considered like Saturday back home there is an opportunity for me to attend a service this afternoon before I catch my cab. That would count for my Sunday service back home, and since I know I will be pressed for time back there it make sense to go today. It is confusing (like Easter Sunday will be on a Friday here and Good Friday is on Wednesday!) It does take you a while to adjust your clock to a different time zone and a different calendar.

The day is beautiful out there - as always - but the temperature is slowly rising each day. It will be in the upper 80's today. The morning was nice and cool in the 60's. (That's Farenhight). I am told that things are warming up back in Texas, as well. I will be flying all day tomorrow (about 16 hours) and hope to be able to catch some sleep on the flight over the Atlantic (I can't sleep on planes very well, even in Business or First Class). Therefore, I will be exhausted when I get in and will need to get to bed early, so that I can hit it hard the next two weeks. I start off Friday with a bang: VA hospital for fasting blood work, the computer stores to buy two new computers to replace our old and poorly functioning computers, hook everything up and test it out, exchange the new battery in the Honda Accord,go over the punch lists that Carolyn and I have put together to plan on our attack to complete as much as possible in the short time that I am home, take stock on the landscape damage from this past harsh winter (a lot of our tropicals are dead meat I expect). For those of you in Houston, Austin and Beaumont I do hope to be able to visit with you, if only for a few moments. I ahve missed all of you. I will be back here ready to start another three month stint during the beginning of the hot season. Hopefully the fishing will pick up with the big mackeral moving in. We plan to charter a boat out to the reefs for some grouper.

I have lots to share with you,
Cheers,
Richard

Friday (Saudi Sunday) 3/2/10

I was sure up for a camp out in the desert after a ride out to some wadis (dry creek beds) about 2 hours NW of Aramco to see some Spring flowers. It's an annual trek, but as we got closer to our first stop (some ruins) it was decided to cancel the camp out due to the heavy dust storm that only became worse as the day wore on. When we left the Aramco compound at about 7:45 AM the weather was beautiful. We were really looking to a great night on the desert with stars galore.

We were able to get access to a couple of archaeological sites from around the Second Century. There were loads of pottery shards scattered all over the place. In fact, one of the sites was a pottery manufacturing and kiln area, so there were layers of shards in the cut faces in the dig. And buried along with the shards were bones from goats, camels, and other domesticated animals. Very fascinating. The Saudis had exposed the sites and then covered them up, partly to preserve the sites from looters, but also, because there is no tourist industry to attract people to sites like this. What a shame. The little settlement where the sites were located was a very poor community. Dusty, a small store, a car repair shop, and a few other businesses. Several years ago they found a beautiful gold burial mask on a woman from the period in the area next to the kiln excavation. It is now on display at the national museum.

From those sites we took a short trip out into the desert to find a special tree/bush that is important to Islam. You see old Muslim men with a small stick in the mouth. Apparently, it is used as a tooth and gum brush by the Bedouin. It is actually the root, so we had to expose several roots for sample. I managed to cut a small piece to try it and saved another pencil sized piece to share with Omer and Anas. Saw an old man selling the sticks on the sidewalk in Kobar this evening. It is not indigenous to this part of the Arabian Peninsula, but there is a small group of the trees near where we were, so we just had to find the grove in the middle of a dust storm. Thanks for GPS readings.

Tuesday 3/1/10

Happy March to everyone! One consultant, Richard McE, is leaving for home in the US today. He's my neighbor in the office.

For many Aramcons and consultants here, golf is a prime down time activity. The 18 hole golf course is well kept with nice fairways and greens (see the photos), but when I was here before in the early '90's it was much different. In those days the fairways were a fine gravel and the greens were astro turf. The sand traps were natural sand (in fact the rough was really rough). You would carry around a 2 ft square pad of astro turf to put you ball on when you were approaching the green back on the fairway. You can still see the old fairways on the out skirts of the new fairways.