Mom and Chelsey's Visit to Saudi 2015

I'm so proud of my Mom for being brave enough to take the long journey to come visit us in Saudi Arabia for one month. She did great! 30 hours of traveling, four airports, three planes, two states and two countries. That's after the Christmas holiday, a wedding and being very sick.

 New Orleans to Chicago

1st stop, Chicago airport

 Mom started a snowball fight in Chicago!

 Chicago to Doha

Doha to Saudi Arabia

We had about 2 weeks of sightseeing and shopping before Chelsey came to join the party in Saudi.  Mom couldn't wait to go play in the Persian Gulf. 

 We also had a Birthday Party for Rachael while Mama was here.

 Mama Al bought Rachael a cake from Baskin Robbins.

Mom got to meet my sweet neighbor, Mrs. Terry.  She is the most talented craft person I know. She was kind enough to take the time to teach us how to do Zentangle.  I thought it would be a new type of art that my Mom would enjoy doing once she went back home.

These are examples of Zentangle Art





I think this was one Mom created.

 Chelsey arrived!

After Chelsey arrived we began to tour Saudi Arabia a little bit more.

On Jan. 28th, we headed to the Corniche (beach front) in Khobar which is about 1/2 mile from our compound to play in the Persian Gulf. Mom couldn't wait to touch the water.

 So cool that these birds put on a show for us.

Jan. 29th., We went to Jubail for a day. First we went to see the Sadara Plant where Marty works and the reason we are in Saudi in the first place. On our way to the plant we saw some camels. We got off the road and out of the car and were able to get pretty close. Then there was a camel parade that was really fun. Some Saudi men were riding in a truck on a road with their camels walking along side of them. They were playing Arabian music loud in their truck with the windows down and it made a really cool video. Then we went to visit a few friends in Al Jude Compound to show Mom and Chelsey where we would have lived if we were in Jubail. Then we went to the Corniche in Jubail and played in the Persian Gulf again. We ate lunch and headed back to Las Dunas Compound in Khobar.

This was the Camel Parade!

Jubail Corniche….look at the family picnicking on the 

beach behind me. It was a very cold and windy day. 

 Can't believe Mom & Chelsey went that far because the water was COLD!

Look at those work hours, lol

They got to experience a little of the crazy driving,
 on the shoulder and a kid standing up hanging out of the roof top.

Jan. 30th., we went to Half Moon Beach to ride camels, four wheelers and to an outdoor market.

It was so funny when Marty got on the camel it grunted, ugh, lol

I felt so bad for Mom because the guy had the camel running, 

I was worried that it was going to hurt her neck.

 Mom is yelling Yeh, Hah! 

of course Rachael had to ride horses!

 

                                           

We tried some local food, shopped, drank Arabic coffee, Hibiscus tea, and bought Rachael a kite at the open market on the beach.

Jan. 31st., Rachael Couldn't wait for Chelsey to go ride horses with her at Al Gosaibi Stables. 

Feb. 1st., we played a little tennis on the compound.
 Even Hannah joined in.

Feb. 2, We ate lunch at a local restaurant called, "Fushi". We snuck in right after prayer time started. The waiter was nice enough to let us in.

 ordering from an iPad.

 Enjoying Sushi!

Feb. 3, Al Rashid Mall and Chinese food!

Feb. 4, we spent this day in Bahrain, a small country off the east coast of Saudi Arabia.  We ate breakfast at Ric's Kountry Kitchen, we took a tour of the Grand Mosque, went shopping in the Souk to buy a Turkish lamp for mom, we visited a fort, a pottery place and ate dinner at Hard Rock Cafe'.

We had to go to Ric's to eat an american breakfast with pork bacon!

Then we went to visit the Gand mosque with a belly full of bacon, lol.

You need to take your shoes off
 before entering the Mosque. 

This was our tour guide for the mosque.

Women visiting the most were required to wear an abaya and have their heads covered.

 Open courtyard

They laid out the red carpet for us! lol

Learning a little bit about the muslim religion, prayer and more.

This is the upstairs where the women and children are allowed. 

Only men gather in the main area downstairs.

Mom's Turkish Lamp from the Souq

     


A'Ali Pottery in Bahrain

 This is how they deliver food in Bahrain even fast food places deliver.

Hard Rock Cafe' Bahrain!

Feb. 6, we went digging for desert roses in the Arabian desert.

Camel prints in the sand! On the way back to our compound we stopped to visit a camel farm.

You know what day it is????

For Chelsey and Mom's last night in Saudi, Marty invited a few of his Arabic co-workers over for a Louisiana dinner, (boiled shrimp) and to meet Mom and Chelsey.  We also invited our friends, Rodney and Jill to enjoy the company. Marty's friends all brought gifts for Mom and Chelsey. Then the first thing they asked was if there was a mosque on the compound so they could go to prayer. We all enjoyed the visit. Rachael decided to make fried Oreo's for dessert and the guy's enjoyed them so much. that they wanted Rachael to show them how she made them. It was a really cool experience to meet them and ask them questions about their country and culture. I think that they enjoyed it as much as we did.  Marty said that out of all the things that we did while Chelsey and Mom were here, this was the highlight for him.

We were so happy that Mom and Chelsey had the opportunity to visit us in Saudi Arabia because this is not a country that you can visit if you don't work here or know someone here. So this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for them and we hope that they enjoyed their time here. We also hope that this gave them a better understanding and appreciation for this country and the Saudi people.