Okay, on this trip that everyone warned me to be careful about, I never felt my life was in danger by terrorism. The only time I felt in danger was on the roads in Saudi Arabia. These people cannot drive! They are complete maniacs and they create their own lanes by driving on the shoulders. Most of the people we met were very nice and very welcoming. We spent an evening at Peter's friend Aziz's house. He and his wife are both from Saudi Arabia. They are what you would call modern muslims. His wife (he only has one wife) is a doctor and they have four kids. They love to travel the world and entertain in their beautiful Morrocan inspired home. It was by the neatest house I have ever been in! It has brick domed ceilings in all of the bedrooms, beautiful lamps and carpets everywhere. They were very welcoming and friendly people.
During our stay in Saudi we visited houses Peter used to live, in his old schools. It was a trip down memory lane for him. We also got to fly on one of the company planes out to Shaybah to the worlds tallest sand dunes. It was so incredible and the kids had fun running up and down the dunes. They also got to go in the cockpit during the flight and talk to the Captain who was an American.
The company, Aramco really did spoil us while we there. We were showered with gifts, dinners, luncheons and activities that were sponsered and paid for by the company.
When we did go out to go shopping out of the camp, the women had to wear abayas, which were like black flowing robes. My had some weird snaps so it was never on me the right way, I struggled with it each time I wore it. I was happy to hand back my loaner abaya at the end of the trip. Any time we were in the camps, the women could drive and wear what they want. They try to make it as much like the United States as possible in camp. Even the electrical outlets were the same.
I could really see why Peter loved living there - especially since his backyard was the ocean! I have to admit I was a little sad to leave. The people that live there in the company camps (the Americans) have such a great bond with each other and it has such a community feel. People seemed happy to live there, maybe because they all had houseboys coming over to cook and clean everyday! :)That would certainly perk me up a bit!
It does make you appreciate the freedoms we have here in the United States. Especially for women.
We did have an incident leaving Saudi Arabia for Egypt where they were not accept our ticketless travel confirmation. They demanded a paper ticket although they could see our reservation in their computer system! We had to buy four tickets to get on the plane. Peter is now dealing with Orbitz trying to get them to refund our additional tickets.
Flying on the plane with a bunch of Saudi men was quite interesting. I could imagine the whole time what my parents would be thinking... The funniest thing was, as soon as the plane touched the runway while landing in Egypt, all of a sudden everyones seatbelts came flying off. I am talking the instant the wheels hit the runway. People started standing up to get their luggage from the overhead bins as the plane is still racing down the runway. It was almost comical and I wish I had my camcorder on. Something about the situation told me I better brace myself for when the doors opened. Sure enough, there was a stampede for the door. I have never seen anything like it in my life and I have been on a lot of flights!!!
Oops, I accidently put a picture in sideways, you may have to turn your head until I can figure out how to fix it!
Okay, more on Egypt later.
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