Relocation Tour 2013

On September 19, 21 & 22, we took a 3 day relocation tour offered to us by Sadara.  I think we picked the perfect weekend to take this tour because it was a 4 day Holiday weekend to celebrate Saudi National Day.  Our tour guide was Glen and the driver's name was Orly, both were from the Philippines.

The Itinerary for the 3 days was to tour 3 important cities to us because of where we live and Marty's work site.  These cities are Al Khobar, Dammam, & Jubail.  The tour was meant to show us important places that we would need to know which included grocery stores, malls, hospitals, schools, and other popular places for expatriates (ex-pats) to visit.  We had already gone to several grocery stores so we wanted to see other things that we could do with the girls.  The tour guides were very flexible and accommodating.  The girls were in school the first day so we asked to do shopping instead of the beach which was originally planned for day 1.

Day 1: Thursday, September 19, 2013,  Al Khobar Tour.
Marty and I had a great time shopping at this place called Desert Designs Heritage Museum.  It is a cultural store with arts from the desert promoting Saudi heritage and handicrafts from the past to the present culture.  Then we were brought to the Al Rashid Mall which I had not been to yet.  It had the most amazing Arab-Islamic architectural heritage.  We ate lunch at Fuddruckers and the hamburger was delicious!

Desert Designs Heritage Museum bathroom.  We weren't allowed to take pictures in the store.

                 

 Fuddruckers

     AlRashid Mall  

Arab-Islamic architectural heritage.

This mall is so huge that it has an amusement part inside. Children can play while parents shop. These pictures don't do it justice. It goes on, and on, and on...

Then we went to the School to pick up the girls.  The school is part of the tour but we didn't need to see it since we have already been there multiple times to get the girls registered.  They took us to SAAD Hospital because Hannah and Rachael had appointments to have a TB skin test checked.  The hospital was also on the list of places to see on our tour.  They drove through a McDonalds for the girls to get dinner and back to Las Dunas Compound.  Great First Day!

 

SAAD Hospital

Day 2: Saturday, September 21, 2013, Al Khobar and Dammam. 

We drove around King Fahd Causeway (Bahrain Bridge) which connects Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.  You need your Passport to go to Bahrain because it is a different country.

King Fahd Causeway (Bahrain Bridge)

Then we went to Half-Moon Beach.  The water is a light lime green color because of the amount of salt in the water.  

 

Because of the Saudi Holiday weekend there were activities set up on the beach.  Horse back riding, camel rides, games, little boats, and 4 wheeler rides.

   

 

Then we traveled a little further down half moon beach to where there were sand dunes.  Here we rented 4 wheelers and a dune buggy.

 

 

 

 

Camel bones

For lunch Glen and Orly took us to an authentic Arabian restaurant in Dammam.  It was called the Dammam Heritage Village.  It is a 5 story building that looked like a castle.  It was a restaurant, a museum and a store.  We let the tour guides order for us so that we could try delicious Saudi dishes.  We were brought to a door that was like going into someones house.  We took our shoes off outside the door.  We went into a room and sat on the floor to eat our lunch.  In the room there were 2 little windows that Rachael opened to look outside.  You could hear children playing.   We started the meal off with Arabic coffee called Al-Qahwa that was served with dates.  It was delicious!  We were then served 2 rice dishes, one was a rice and chicken dish and the other a rice with meat (lamb) dish. Rachael also ordered a fried shrimp meal.  Both of the girls ordered a special drink.  We thought that the food was very good.  The experience was wonderful.  At the end of our meal a stray cat ran in our room looking for a way out! It was very funny.

    

 

After we ate our tour guides wanted to bring us to a Dolphin show but it was closed so we decided that this would just give us something to do another day.

Day 3: Sunday, September 22, 2013 Jubail Tour. 
The Eastern province on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia.  Jubail is the largest industrial city in the Middle East.  It holds the middle east's largest and world's 4 th. largest Petrochemical company.  We went to see Al Jude II Compound where we would have been living if we were living in Jubail.  Then we drove through old Jubail or downtown Jubail.  Next we  passed by Al Nakheel Beach.  The water is beautiful and we did see families on the beach and the ladies were in Abayas.  Then we went to Fanateer Mall and had lunch.  After 4 p.m. at this mall only families are allowed to shop not singles.  After lunch we drove by Jubail's industrial zone that has 19 main factories.   Of course we passed by Sadara!  It was good to see where Marty goes to work.  It is huge!  Miles and Miles,  just for the area that Marty works in.  Marty also got to go to Al Farouq compound to visit with his friend, Bruce, for a while. We were not allowed in because it's a compound for men only.  Then the tour guides took us to a stable where Rachael and Hannah got a chance to see many horses and they got to ride a horse.  Then as we were traveling back home we saw a large herd of camels in the distance and the driver decided to find a road that would get us closer to them.  He did find a road and the camels began to walk toward us.  It was amazing as the entire herd of camels began to surround us and our vehicle.  The driver, Hannah, Rachael and Marty all were able to pet the camels and take pictures.

   

  

We found out that our tour guide is a Christian! He said he prayed that there would be fun things for the girls to do.  He also said that Friday is his only day off and that he goes to church on Fridays.  I think our tour guides had a good time too.  I would recommend this tour and these tour guides to everyone.  We had a blast!

School in Saudi Arabia 2013

Getting the girls registered for School in Saudi Arabia was like applying for college.  There was a large registration packet for us to fill out for each of them.  They both had to take an assessment test and both had interviews.  We arrived in Saudi Arabia only 5 days before school started, so for 4 days we were at the school everyday.  The security at the school is a little intimidating with lots of military personnel. Every time we went to the school that week we noticed more armed 50 caliber machine guns and military personnel with fully automatic rifles. Our last count was 8 but I'm sure we did not see them all. They are in vehicles, in bunkers, and camouflaged. Rachael took her assessment test and interview Saturday, the day before school started.  We didn't know if she was accepted until Saturday night but was told that some things needed to get approved by the government so she didn't go to school on the first day.    

Sunday, Sept. 1, 2013, was Hannah's first day of School.

Dhahran High School (DHS)

Monday, Sept. 2, 2013, was Rachael's first day of school.

Dhahran Elementary Middle School (DEMS)

 Checking out the toilet. lol!

Marty calls it their "Rock Star School Bus"

We now realize the Security at their school is also because the School shares the 1st. Security check point with the American Consulate. There is a second vehicle check point and a "walk-in gate" where everyone must show an ID and visitors have their bags x-rayed and walk through a metal detector.  We were also told that the loss of the students ID represents a breach of security and should report it to the main office immediately.  For security reasons, we are also not allowed to take pictures of the school grounds.  New to us; in the student handbook there is a marriage policy, a pregnancy policy and non-discrimination policy.  Rachael and Hannah will have a few virtual school days, which means that they will stay at home and do schoolwork on the computer.  November 5th. and 6th. are virtual school days.

The school campus is huge, almost like a small college.  The Campus has Elementary, Middle, High School, A British School which also consists of an Elementary, Middle, & High School, and The ISG, (International Schools Group) District Office. It is equipped with two soccer fields, Softball or Cricket field, four gyms, Auditorium, Library or Learning center, Cafeteria,  Coffee shop, school store, three sand play areas, Pre School, Nursery for children of school staff, Nurse office and many other offices. We heard that there was also a Rock Climbing wall, I know Rachael will find it.

The School week is Sunday through Thursday.  The Schools mascot is a Scorpion.  The Schools are accredited schools offering an American curriculum to culturally diverse students.  The school offers classes and extra curricular activities like in the States.  But they also offer things that the girls would not have had the opportunity to do back home. For Clubs they offer; Cheerleading, Chess Club, Student Council, Choir, Jazz Band, Tutoring Club, Wrestling, Drama Club, Habitat for Humanity, Model United Nations, Prom, Running Club, Debate Club, The Stinger (a student run newspaper), National Honor Society, Ultimate Disc Club (frisbee).  For Athletics they offer; Table Tennis, Volleyball, Soccer, Cross-Country, Cricket, Basketball, Badminton, and Softball.  Then they offer something called WOW Week (with out walls).  It is service trips to other countries.  They have the opportunity to go to Austria for a Ski Trip, Bali Green Camp, Cambodia, Malaysia, Oman, Spain, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.  They believe that these trips are priceless learning experiences for children in the areas of serving, culture, and skills. WOW week gives the students a time to truly experience international education outside of DHS walls.  These trips are scheduled in February.  

Hannah is on the Volleyball team.

Rachael has a great art class and music class.  Rachael will have the opportunity to join a string Orchestra.  She can choose from violin, viola, cello, and bass.  The class is in an orchestral setting using the Suzuki method.

Rachael told me that the teachers make school fun by the way they teach.  They use more hands on activities and give the kids more breaks.  Rachael believes that she has 5 school breaks each day. The bus gets to school early so she has time to play with her friends before and after school.  They do get a 15 minute break in the morning, a lunch break and a 15 minute break in the afternoon.

Hannah and Rachael are both taking Arabic classes and they both really like learning to speak the Arabic language.  They have been trying to use it when we go out.  Some examples:  Thank you (shuck-ran laka), Welcome (ah-lan wa sah-lan!) Yes (na-'am), no (la), My name is (is-mii...)

Hannah really likes to write in Arabic and she uses apps on her iPod to translate English into Arabic. The Saudi guy's that Marty works with are also trying to teach him Arabic. He said that when he eats breakfast and drinks tea and coffee with them, they teach him how to say things like salt, sugar, coffee, tea, cup and things like that.

Hannah's Arabic writing

It was weird to hear our girls come home from school saying that they did not have school on Sunday because the King declared it part of the National Holiday.  The Saudi National Holiday was Monday, Sept. 23rd, but because Sunday was a school day, the King declared it to be part of this years holiday.  It gave everyone a 4 day weekend.  This holiday is like our 4th of July, Independence Day holiday back home.

The Flag of Saudi Arabia, the sword means power.

Rachael and Hannah are holding the flag backwards, but what is interesting is that a real Saudi flag is manufactured to ensure the words read correctly, from right to left, from either side and the sword points to the left on both sides, in the direction of the script. The inscription is the Islamic creed, or Shahada.  The Shahada or Islamic declaration of faith.  The Islamic declaration of faith is "There is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.  The green of the flag represents Islam and the sword stands for the House of Saud, the founding dynasty of the country, or the military strength and power of Saudi Arabia.  Just a quick history lesson! 

Hannah and Rachael have adjusted very well and they both really like going to school here.  They said that the kids are very friendly and that the behavior is much better than back home in our schools. The kids don't talk when the teacher is talking and say please and thank you. They have friends from all over the world.  Friends from; Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Pakistan, Lebanon, Palestine, Turkey, Egypt, Holland, The Netherlands, Germany, Argentina, Spain, Cuba, Brazil, India, South Africa, South Korea, China, Canada, U.S. and the list goes on!

Noor was born in Houston, Texas and
 moved to Saudi when she was four

 Ignacio if from Brazil

Emma is from England 

Yasmina is from Egypt

Yuntong (Lucy) is from China

Rachael's class mates:  Omar -Saudi Arabia,   Leena -Saudi Arabia,  Almaha -Saudi Arabia,  Suhayl -Bahrain,   Ayda (DiDi) -Palestine,  Mary -Washington, USA,  Yuntong (Lucy) -China, Yasmina -Egypt,  Imaan -Pakistan,  Juyong -Korea,   Seok -Korea,  Rafic -Lebanon,   Norman -India,  Maryam -Pakistan,  Emma -England & USA,  Saood -Pakistan,  Ivan -Calaforina,USA,  and Selmin - Turkey.  Rachael's teacher is Mrs. Beth Martin.  Mrs. Martin didn't start teaching Rachael's class until the first week of October because she was waiting on her Visa.  We understand because we know how that process is!

So this is the scoop on Hannah and Rachael's start of their school year in the ISG School in Saudi Arabia.