We aren't in Kansas anymore...

Well, we are going on Day 5 or 6 of being in Saudi....I can't really remember the day we came over....it seems like a lot longer than it is.  It's the same in Bahrain though...it feels like we have been there 7 years and not 7 months.

Things are good here in Saudi.  It is really pretty and I really like the compound.  If you don't leave the compound you might really think that you were somewhere in the Caribbean.  Our villa is right on the beach and we are right next to the recreation center.  The rec center has a two lane bowling alley, a jacuzzi, sauna, workout room, restaurant, beauty salon, library, etc.  It is very nice.  The other CPChem wives are what make the compound livable.  They are so kind and welcoming.  They really are like their own family here...that is one of the things we miss about not living on a compound in Bahrain. 



The front of our villa




The Rec Center




View from our back patio..the beach




view from back yard




The back of our villa

 We got to go to bible study in another villa yesterday.  There were quite a few couples there and the lesson was very interesting and thought provoking.  After the study we all ate and had fellowship...it was soooo needed!  It was nice to have something like that.  Shannon Richter cooked the meat and it was fabulous!  The meat was excellent as was the conversation.  Again, that is something we don't get a lot of in Bahrain...the small home group family fellowship....I do get to fellowship with other awesome women on Sundays in Bahrain when we do our Beth Moore bible study.  I miss them....

Yesterday after "church" we got a driver to take us to Khobar/Dahran to go to the mall and LuLu.  The mall was massive but poorly designed...it goes in a straight line instead of a circle that loops back around....very strange.  It is very tricky to get all your shopping done in between prayer time...the stores close during prayer times.  Yesterday the call to prayer in the afternoon/evening was at 5:50p and 7:20p...the trick is to be in a coffee shop or restaurant when it sounds so that you can still eat and drink and relax while you wait...we are not that experienced yet.  It is a little inconvenient, but not fatal.  The biggest inconvenience that I think it causes is with the poor driver.  Because we weren't experts at planning around the prayer times we were a little late getting out.  Then we raced over to LuLu to try and find a mattress pad for poor John...he cannot even bend over and put on his shoes as the bed here in the villa is horrible.  Of course we got stuck in traffic on our way there.  There were young men riding on the roofs of their cars wearing Saudi flags, little kids hanging out the windows, honking, cars stopped and celebrating in the streets, etc.  We had no idea what was going on...I am starting to think it is us...we bring demonstrations and celebrations wherever we go!  The driver didn't know what was up either.  Turns out the king decided to give the people a gazillion more dollars and raises and declared a holiday today.  I guess that is what they were celebrating!  I would be dancing in the streets too if I got another raise...that's two in a month that the king has given the people.  He is trying to prevent the kind of situation here in Saudi like we are having in Bahrain.  Anyways, LuLu was a nightmare!  There were TONS of people everywhere.  We went in and basically came right out!

The company held a meeting yesterday afternoon to give the Bahrain families and update on the situation and our possible return to Bahrain.  Basically we still don't know when we will get to go home.  The company obviously wants it to be safe to live there before they let us go home.  The girls school is supposed to start virtual schooling this Sunday with the plan that the school will re-open on Sunday, March 27th.  Pray that this is the case.  My girls and I really miss Bahrain.  We like it here, but it is like living in a hotel as none of our things are here besides the clothing we brought.  We left all of our belongings and our friends behind.  Please pray that the civil unrest dies down so that all parties can sit down at the "bargaining table" and begin to dialogue...because no matter how much the government suppresses and oppresses the opposition there is still going to be that undercurrent of resentment and divide.  The issues must still be dealt with and reforms must still be made.  Pray that God's plan (and He DOES have a plan) is carried out and those Christians that are still in country or will be soon would be used for God's glory.

This morning I ran out to town...just here in Jubail...with a driver to try and find John a mattress pad and some other things he had on the list for me to get....It was a mad dash to finish before the 11:50a prayer.  The poor driver had to deal with my scatterbrain!  He was a really nice guy from Sri Lanka...he has been in Saudi for 3 years.  He took me to Saco (kind of a hardware store), to the bookstore (to get a new iPhone USB cord because I left the 50 we already have in Bahrain), and to the grocery store.  While leaving the grocery store I was talking to John on the phone and when he found out how much the mattress pad cost he made me take it back...so the poor driver had to take me BACK to the hardware store...UFF!  It only took about an hour and a half, but it felt like a crazy mad dash!

I'm off to watch a movie and eat pizza with some of the wives....now this is the life.....:)