I could have been anywhere

Attended a gathering at another compound last night. This particular compound is right next to ours and is called 'Arabian Homes'. I thought our compound was nice until I saw this one... wow.

When I got there and started strolling around, there were folks lounging around in the grass on their blankets, kids running, skating, and biking everywhere and in general, people having a great time. This could have been anywhere in the States, so it was rather surreal to think I was in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

There were a couple grills going where they were serving up American steaks, salad and rice. Needless to say, I had myself some American grilled steak!

My co-worker Steve and his band were the entertainment for the evening. He plays in the 'No Name Band' and they have done gigs in country for years. They are quite good, they have a good time playing and the crowd loved their tunes. They have quite a reach for a small band. Classic rock, to the Stones, to just about everything in between and to top that, they do three complete sets that with the two small breaks they take, lasts three hours! Now THAT is a working man's band to be sure.

 
Steve's wife, Rosita, has the energy of ten people. I don't think she left the dance floor the entire evening other than to run around and take pictures. As for me, I enjoyed strolling around the edge of the grounds, people watching, enjoying the tunes and the weather. Here is Rosita taking pictures of the event.

 I met people from France, England, Saudi and Nicaragua. Not bad for one evening. My unofficial 'host' for the evening was an architect from Nicaragua. I am so sorry I cannot remember his name (met way too many people) but here we are with his little girl in hand. It seems everyone is multi-lingual except me!

All in all, a great time. Pleasant. That word keeps coming up a lot to describe things here. Just pleasant.

Slowly learning the language...

As you may have noticed, I changed the blog title because I discovered that "bedouin" is the plural form of "bedou"... Hence, I am a Minnesota Bedou...  Singular. The language will likely be the most difficult thing to learn. Pronunciation is important and even the slightest incorrect inflection causes confusion. There are "glottal stops" and "back of the throat constrictions" all used at different times and in different ways, all with different meanings. That said, I am learning basic greetings and polite exchanges but am still a little shy about speaking the language. And while English is the official second language, I do not want to offend.

I attended a "New Orleans Theme Night" at the cafe on the compound this evening. All cajun food. Good stuff. Then I dropped by to listen to my coworker Steve rehearse with his band, "The No Name Band". Man, they are good and they can play pretty much every genre of music on the planet and play it well. I am looking forward to listening to them at their gig at the park tomorrow. Should be fun.

Working at getting out and meeting a few people, but I am just as happy, if not more so, just keeping to myself. I seem to be busy enough. I very much enjoy my long walks around the area and my running laps around the compound. Though we were told to be a bit more cautious about walking given what happened the other day (not here, but elsewhere) so my long walks will have to stop for a while.

Weather again was amazing. Still a little dusty out, but more clear today than yesterday. Driving is still crazy and it seems that every day either on the way to or from work, sometimes both, we avoid an accident only by luck or by chance. Still not looking forward to driving. I am thinking stinky taxis may be worth it. They are everywhere and if you walk even close to the street you have to constantly wave them off. I may get the nerve to take a taxi ride tomorrow. We shall see. And the adventure continues.

Establishing a rhythm...

Well, it has been over a week since I landed in country and I have been working at my actual job for almost a full week. I had a couple days of orientation last week. My adjustment to this new lifestyle seems to be somewhat slow and deliberate, and I am OK with that. i am really looking forward to seeing Leslie again and knowing my paperwork and hers are in process helps. We are hoping mid to late March, but we shall see.

And as far as work is concerned, well, work is work. Not much different from any job as far as the work itself is concerned, but the setting and all that sure is different! Let us just say that working here is truly an adventure and something that very few people are asked to do and I will definitely have some stories to tell.

Here is another photo of the street near the house. This compound is like an oasis. Very quiet, secure and just pleasant. That seems to be the word that comes to mind when I think of the compound. Pleasant.

I like to think I am beginning to establish a nice rhythm. For some odd reason I do not sleep as much as I did in Minnesota. If I get can 6 hours here, I am good to go. Not sure what the deal is with that. But if it works, hey, who am I to worry? I feel great. I run a couple miles almost every day and when I do not run, I take long walks in the area. I watch where and when I go places, remembering that do not do anything stupid motto. I am told it pays to keep a watchful eye on your surroundings. Truth is, Jeddah is really just a big city in an amazing location. Think of it as a small, international version of Phoenix with an ocean on the West side.

The architecture is amazing. Definitely a Turkish influence, but Jeddah itself has amazing buildings and palaces where sheiks, sultans and princes reside. On that note, most of the country, muck like America, are just working stiffs like the rest of us. Believe nothing of what you see and read in the States of these people.

The door to a palace not far from the compound.

The area is riddled with strips of little shops bulging with the finest cheap products China has to offer. Seems the locals are on a never ending quest for mediocrity and once in a while, they actually make it. Looking forward to doing some shopping here one night this week.

My coworker Steve has made my transition here very smooth both at work and at the compound. He has been here since 06, but lived here before for about 10 years. He also lived in Morocco a couple years and speaks several Arabic dialects fluently. Not to mention he can read and write in Arabic. I would be lost without his help. He is gracious and patient both with me and others. Seems to be his nature and that works well here. Seems I still have lessons to learn... go figure.

He has invited me to join him Thursday, which is our weekend here, at a gig with him and his band. They are performing at another compound. Should be interesting.  They seem to play somewhere pretty much every weekend. Should be interesting.

More news later this week. I will try to blog once a week at least. Let us see how this new rhythm goes before I commit!

Couple quick snap shots

Here are a couple quick snap shots of the front of the house and the street at the compound. Sorry for the poor quality and composition...

From the front. Not the best shot, but it's nice.

One of many local kitties..

Looking West.

Looking East.

Front living room.

More of the front living room.

Kitchen.

More of the kitchen.

Dining room.

TV, back living room.

Master bedroom upstairs. (One of four bedrooms and two baths up there.)

As interesting as you can imagine...

Arrived Sunday afternoon on the 12th in country. Today, the 13th, more orientation, testing and meetings. All good people and good things so far. I have not yet been to where I will be working, but that will happen soon enough. The compound is nice, as are the house that I have been issued and the grounds. Paid a visit to a local hospital this morning for more tests so I can get my residency permit. For those who think we have "poor" health care in the States, they should be required to visit another country. The tests I had in the States were required to just get into the country... Security is very good here and there have never been any real issues at this compound, so that is good. Basically, if you use common sense, do not go where you should not be at a time you should not go, you will be fine. Thanks to my old friend Kevin Mallory for his advice administered from the plaque on his desk, "Don't Do Nothin' Stupid"... Words to live by here.

The house is quite large. Well over 2500 Sq. ft. would be my conservative guess. Very quiet area and the house amazingly quiet inside. Four beds, three baths, nice little covered area out back with a small, no maintenance patio and yard. The appliances appear to be all new. I have some decorating to do for sure. Looks rather stark at the moment. They are working on getting internet in the house. Waiting for some hardware to come in. I was told by the IT guy there are major upgrades planned for that and the TV. Good news.

Lots of kitties roaming around the compound to make friends with. The compound cats are popular and everyone has names. Slim, Miss Piggy, Slinky... all funny stuff. I plan on feeding and befriending a kitty or two. Don't tell my farm cat "Gabby"... though, I suspect she is being adequately spoiled by Patty and Josh.

Near the compound, there are numerous ethnic stores that seem to burst at the seems with just about everything you can think of. Turkish, Indian, Pakistani, you name it, it's here. There are numerous "regular" grocery stores, a couple of them within walking distance and they are not all that different than your typical HyVee. There is food everywhere n this city and pretty much everything you would want or need in the States is available here as well. Not to mention pretty much EVERY fast food chain on the planet. Boo.

Driving is truly the most insane thing I have ever seen anywhere in my life. EVER! Yesterday on the way back from the airport there were no fewer than FOUR wrong way drivers on an 8 lane, two way road. They would drive down the middle of the road in the wrong direction flashing their lights and waving their hands like that would help keep the swarm of honking, swearing oncoming traffic at bay.


I believe the only requirement for getting you license here is the ability to see over the steering wheel and use the car horn.
Lane markers are merely vague suggestions, speed limit signs are simply something to block the view of the wrong way drivers and every intersection, turnaround, and dreaded roundabout are merely variously sized groupings of honking, angry hulks of shiny steel trying to get from one side of the road to the other. If it were not so amazingly terrifying, it would be hilarious. I am in no hurry to drive, but I am told I will have to. It's not an option... I am also told that soon enough, I will eventually drive like a local... THAT should be fun!

I have already seen my share of exotic cars. Several high end Mercedes, FJ Land Cruisers (new models) are everywhere and Porches are as common as Chevys are in the states. There are several Euro car brands and the Hyuandai brand is as common as flies at a picnic. I have seen car models  from Spain, Romania and even Russia and last night at the local grocery store, there was a red Ferrari F340 parked next to our car when we came out. Yes, a Ferrari F340. Google it. It's no grocery getter, but there it was. Amazing.

Weather has been awesome. Lows in the 60s, highs in the 80s, sunny and beautiful, though I suspect my tune will change when it hits the 120s in July and August with %45 humidity. Can you say, "oven"?
That's what AC was made for.

More to come.

The time is now...

After a couple years of process, over a year of paperwork and forms, a resignation, a hiring, some training, some orientation, some waiting, and throw in a dose of patience, I am FINALLY prepped to leave for Saudi. I fly to New York tomorrow, then off to Saudi Saturday night.

I am genuinely excited about the prospects both personal and professional. I am blessed to have been selected and trained to do something that very few people are selected to do. I am amazed. My ever adventurous wife is genuinely excited about this too and that makes it all fun. What an amazing life partner I have...

It appears the internet phone idea is going to work. I took all the hardware to Boston with me, plugged it in and called the family like it was a Minnesota number. I do love technology.

If I have wireless on the plane, I will be making a post or two about the trip. If not, I will try to collect my thoughts and make my first post from Saudi as quick as I can.

Here we go...

Back on the road, ready for the big trip!!!

Left Minnesota for the last time for a while. It was very nice. Enjoyed the morning with Patty, Josh and Leslie. Once again, laughter was in abundance as it always seems to be with us. Had a good flight to the Cities and a noisy one from the Cities to Boston.

Hauling big bags around is a pain, but it's a self inflicted wound. Decided to bring my goalie bag (with stick bag) and my other bag is a monster. Glad I am not paying for all this. Thanks to Raytheon.

I have my Saudi orientation tomorrow. Looking forward to meeting the team. After lunch tomorrow I will have some down time before heading to New York Saturday afternoon and then on to Saudi Saturday evening.

The adventure truly has begun and in just a couple days I will be in Saudi Arabia. Two years in the making for this. I really do want to get over there and get started.

I may have one more post before I ship over, but after that, I will be in country. Excited. Anxious. You name it, I feel it.

Back for a bit...

Got home this past Sunday afternoon after a very early morning departure from Denver. I got home to an awesome dinner and then went to a Superbowl party with family and church friends. I almost made it to half time before I started to fade from a day of travel.

I will be heading out again Thursday for Boston. After a brief stay in Boston, I will be off to New York Saturday afternoon then to Saudi Saturday evening.

I already feel like a visitor in my own home and in this case, it is kind of nice. I feel like the kids have settled in and took over, which is a good thing. That is what I had really hoped for, that they would take ownership of the house and farm and make it their own. They have, and I am happy.

I am really looking forward to getting into the KSA, getting to work and doing some exploring. Much to do, much to learn and many things to explore.

Heading home tomorrow. Amazing week in Colorado.

Well, I have been in Colorado over a week and what an amazing week it was. Leslie spent the week here and even though I was in training during the day, we had a great time in the evenings. We had something going on nearly every evening. Big fun. We saw a lot of old friends and had a lot of laughs. Colorado is still an awesome place to visit. The weather did not allow us to see some of our friends at the end of the week, but that was the only "down" thing that happened.

Training went well and I feel I can do the job, though I have a lot to learn in a short amount of time. It was good to work with Steve.  I will be sharing an office with Steve over in Saudi. He is a very mellow and very talented tech writer with tons of experience with the company and in Saudi. He will be a valuable resource and I am very fortunate to be in this position.

Took Leslie to the airport bus stop this morning and watched her board. It has been snowing here since Thursday and they have had record snow. The bus was the best option to get to the airport this morning. Let someone else drive. Besides, it was a really nice bus.

It is still snowing ever so slightly this morning. Not sure about the totals, but as of last night, Louisville, Colorado, where my hotel is, had over 14 inches of snow fall since it started snowing Thursday and there was at least another 4 or 5 inches of powder this morning when I took Leslie to the bus stop.

So on my last full day in Colorado, I have a couple errands to run, but other than that, I am hoping to just relax. I fly out at 6 AM Sunday morning so that means up and at it around 3 AM... Sleep is highly over rated.