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Susie's Big Adventure details
Listing ID: 905
Title: Susie's Big Adventure
Description: Documenting an American woman's move to her husband's native Saudi Arabia.
Category: Home & Garden : Relocating
Owner:
listed on: June 07, 2008 07:33:52 PM
Number Hits: 1 times
Recent Posts:
| Weekend Getaway on the Red Sea - Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:37:00 +0000 |
 Last month we took a lovely weekend getaway out of town for my birthday, for three days and two nights, in a beautiful resort on the Red Sea north of Jeddah in an area called Obhur. (Weekends here in Saudi Arabia fall on Thursday and Friday). Our villa had one king bedroom, two other bedrooms with two twin beds in each, and included three baths, a full kitchen, dining room and a living room, plus a large patio area. It was nicely appointed and quite comfortable for our party, which included our little family of three and my hubby's brother and his wife H and their pre-schooler son Moe.  The first evening, my sister-in-law H's family came for dinner. There were about 60 people who came altogether, no kidding! H has six siblings who came, plus all the spouses and children, plus their maids, plus a cousin also showed up with her family. Her family is a bit more progressive than some, so men and women were not segregated - YAY! The women mostly wore skirts or pant sets in bright colors like lime, fuschia, turquoise, or purple with coordinated head scarves. The dinner was catered and consisted of four huge platters of chicken, beef and lamb kebabs on a large bed of rice and pita. Yummy! Outside in the parking lot, a couple of men had set up a large barbeque on a eight foot long hand-turned rotisseries. On the lengthy rods hung two lambs and several chickens. The two men sat sweating in the sweltering night air, rotating the spits over the glowing coal for four hours. This feast was specially ordered by some guests at the resort for the evening.  Many of us went out for a stroll after the meal into the warm and humid evening air. The grounds of this place are beautiful, with bouganvillea of many colors, lit up palm trees, swimming pools including a separate and isolated pool for women only, an amusement area for kids, a sandy beach, outdoor cafes and gift shops, and a huge dock which housed dozens of incredible yachts.  One of H's brothers brought his decent sized touring boat and he offered to take us all for a midnight boat ride around the Obhur area. There were so many of us who wanted to go that he had to take two separate groups. The first group was pretty much all women and the second group consisted of the younger people. A few of the women in my group even removed their head scarves on the boat ride to enjoy the wind blowing through their hair! Everyone was smiling and laughing and really enjoying themselves.  Adam opted out of the boat ride in favor of playing pool with two other teenage boys in our group - at the clubhouse where women are not allowed. The clubhouse also offered ping pong, cards, pinball machines, and computer games.  The second day at the resort was relaxing and lazy. We walked around a bit but the heat was stifling, so mostly we just lounged around. While we were out on the dock, a large stingray swam right below where we were! Unfortunately I couldn't whip my camera out in time to snap a picture of it! But I got plenty of other photos of the beautiful lush grounds, the shimmering turquoise water, the abundant boats, and the playful jet skiers.  On the third day, more family came again for a luncheon of a fresh catch of fish. After lunch, most of the women and the children walked down to the sandy beach and the beckoning azure Red Sea. The kids relished swimming and building sand castles, while the women mostly sat in the shade on beach chairs, some of them occasionally venturing into the sea to wade up to their knees.  Signs were posted which forbade women from swimming in swimsuits.  Complying with this rule, I did see two women in the water - one was dressed in her black abaya and head scarf, and the other one wore a long sleeved, long legged loose spandex suit topped with a loose knee length top cover. Other women sat on the beach in their abayas, while men freely roamed the beach and ventured into the sea wearing only swim trunks.  By late afternoon it was time for us to head back to reality. |
| Update: Family in Crisis - Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:59:00 +0000 |
 Several months ago, I wrote about the family that I tutor. The mother of the family had left the home - she and her husband were apparently having some marital problems. The five daughters were obviously upset as their world was turned upside down and the tasks of running the household and managing the family's needs fell on the shoulders of the second oldest daughter M (the oldest daughter is deaf). When summer came, I temporarily suspended my duties of tutoring while I traveled to the states. It had been four long months since I had seen them. Schools here in Saudi Arabia had an unusually long summer break due to Ramadan. Arrangements were made between my husband and the family's father for me to resume my tutoring duties shortly after school started back up after Ramadan was over. I had worried about the girls and their parents all summer and wondered if the couple had been able to resolve their problems, if the mother had returned to the home. When I arrived at the house, the four oldesr girls ran to me, showering me with hugs and kisses and smiles. The youngest, Little J, who is four years old, was shy at first, but within ten minutes she was sitting on my lap kissing me.  When the excitement settled down and after I heard their stories about what they had been doing for the last four months, M and I moved into the study. The first question out of my mouth was, "Is your mother back?" "Yes!" M replied. "Things are good now, much better!" I didn't get to see the mother for a few days - she takes classes several times a week - and she too seemed very happy to see me and seemed happy in general.I don't know what the problems were that the couple was having, but whatever they were, hopefully the worst is behind them and the family will now be happy and thrive in today's complicated world. I am thrilled that this family in crisis is now a family recovered. |
| The City of Art - Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:45:00 +0000 |
 One of the reasons that I was excited at the prospect of moving to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in the first place was because it is a city filled with art, mostly in the form of sculptures, everywhere.  A number of the sculptures are made of recycled aircraft, boats, and machinery. Many invite interaction with humans, others are stunning to behold, and some are just plain wierd. Reknowned artists from all over the world have contributed works to Jeddah's amazing display of art - like Miro, Moore, Lafuente, Cesar, Hollman, and Vasarely, as well as many talented Saudi artists. During the second half of the 20th Century, Jeddah's growth exploded in an unprecedented spectacular fashion. Transformed from a totally walled-in seaport with its gates closed and boarded up every evening to keep its citizens safe, Jeddah's population burst from a paltry 25,000 to present day estimates of about 4 million residents. The oil boom brought Jeddah's walls crashing down and frenzied development ensued. In fifty years, Jeddah grew in both population and in land area more than 100 times. Turning Jeddah into the world's largest open air free art museum was the vision of architect Mohamed Said Farsi. In 1972, Farsi was named its Mayor, which allowed him to develop the city's ambitious master plan while preserving its history and heritage, with art and culture playing a major role in the beautification of Jeddah. Mayor Farsi and his team tackled the project in an unconventional manner, forgoing the usual public art forums of museums and galleries and instead opting to take art out into the streets and merging it into the daily lives and business of all its residents. Setting up the permanent placement for many of the larger sculptures turned many projects into engineering feats, with some taking as many as seven or more years from start to finish. Some of the works of art were created in other countries, shipped to Jeddah, and due to the sheer size, weight, and bulk of some of the pieces, took several days of logistical juggling just to get the components from the port to their designated sites. Another remarkable and noteworthy tidbit of information is the fact that the initial $150 million (US) spent on the art and landscaping was paid for by corporations and private donors, not out of the city's or the kingdom's budget, thanks to Farsi's impressive fundraising skills. I also thought it was interesting when I learned that the heart-themed sculptures around the city were in fact a result of Farsi's own open heart surgery, due in part to his grueling work schedule as Jeddah's Mayor. As we have driven around the city, I have tried to take photos of as many of these sculptures as I can. It's not easy when one is whizzing by in a car, with other vehicles and signs in the way. Many of the sculptures are in the center of busy intersections. Many more decorate the Corniche, the boardwalk which stretches for miles along the Red Sea. There have been a few occasions when my hubby has taken me out to specifically photograph more of the sculptures of Jeddah. To date, I have photographed over one hundred fifty of them ... I still have a ways to go.To see more of my photos of the city's famous open air art museum, visit my photo gallery of Jeddah's Sculptures. |