Technical Difficulties

I'm having computer issues and so my postings have been delayed. I will try to update soon. In the meantime, please refer to mrheiden.blogspot.com He is on the same trip and he is NOT having computer trouble. Hope all is well and that you are being good for Mrs. Heyn.

AVisit to the Desert

We were up and out by 8 am. This morning for a presentation about a project called the King Abdulaziz Center for Knowledge and Culture or “Ithra” for short. Ithra means the search for knowledge in Arabic. Basically it’s this massive project that Aramco (the oil company that brought us here) is undertaking to create a center that will bring together all types of people to interact with each other. Aramco wants to give back to the community and the country. It is still in the planning stages but they hope to have it completed by 2012.

Our next stop was Leadership Development Center and a College Preparatory School for girls. This is a program through Aramco in which girls who graduate from high school near the top of their class are then helped to prepare to go to college in the United States or Europe with Aramco paying the bill. In return they must commit to work for Aramco for several years. We were able to meet some of the students, observe classrooms, and then have lunch with some of the students.

This student agreed to show us what was inside her locker.

A girl named Noor sat at our table. She was hoping to attend college in Boston and was a computer science major. She was very concerned that women in Saudi Arabia get educational opportunities.
After lunch we headed to the desert, the northern part of the Empty Quarter. We were headed to a camel ranch—a real camel ranch, not a tourist stop. We had to get out of the tour bus and climb into the back of vehicles and bounce off road over the sand to get to the ranch. The rancher had collected his roaming camels from the desert early for us to see. Here they are in the pens.

He also milked the camels and offered us a taste of camel milk. Our guide had warned us NOT to drink the milk for fear of getting ill.

We spent the day walking on the dunes, watching camel caravans come home for the night across the desert, and just taking in the vastness of it all. After sunset the desert got very cold and we went inside the rancher’s tent. It was a huge tent with carpets on the floor and a fire in the fireplace. He served us cookies, dates, and Arabian coffee.

Next we headed to dinner at the Heritage Village Restaurant. This meal was served Bedouin style, in a tent and seated on the floor. The Bedouins are the nomadic people of the desert in Saudi Arabia. This meal was full of traditional foods and LOTS of it.

We ate lunch at the Carlton Al-Muaibed Hotel. It was a huge spread. This picture only shows about half of the food. Some of the foods are familiar and some I have not seen before. I try to taste a lot of the different foods, but there are too many to taste them all! Do you recognize anything?

After lunch we went back to the Aramco compound to visit a retired couple who are collectors of Saudi antiques and artifacts. Mrs. Al-Ashgar had set up a museum in her home and she and her husband gave us a private tour. She and her husband are pictured below.

Here her husband is showing us a very special piece of cloth that he had framed. It is from the Kaaba in Mecca. During the Hajj the Kaaba, an object sacred in the Muslim faith, is covered with black cloth with an embroidered golden border. To Muslims this is a very holy item.

I thought you'd like this Saudi Arabian dagger.

Here is our host and our guide, Ali (in white), serving us cardamon coffee, dates, and cookies.

Here I am in their beautiful home with my coffee. I could have used a few cups by this time as I was quite tired from all of the travelling.

After the tour we stopped at the Heritage Gallery and learned more about Saudi Aramco history and then went back to our rooms for a brief break before dinner.

Dinner on the Arabian Sea

It has become very clear that this trip allows us to not only expand our horizons, but our stomachs as well. The meals typically last for two hours and include several courses. On the way to the restaurant we stopped to exchange our dollars into Saudi Riyals at an exchange office. The office was closed for evening prayers and there was a crowd milling about the outside. Our guide got someone to let us in ahead of the crowd and we made our exchanges and were escorted to and from the bus by a guard. When the office did reopen the crowd pushed itself in through the doors. We then headed to the seafood restaurant located on the Arabian Sea (also known as the Persian Gulf to the Iranians).
At the restaurant we were treated like royalty. The table was about 30 feet long and had beautiful center pieces on it. We started with Saudi punch, this drink is mainly fruit juice and carbonated water since alcohol is not allowed in the country. We started with a pre-appetizer of the different items pictures below. These were split between two of us.

Next was an appetizer of pasta and oysters followed by soup and then the main course arrived. It was a platter of lobster, crab, oyster, fish, and other various sea creatures. Again the platter pictured was to be split between two of us.

Don’t forget dessert!

After dessert it was one of the other teacher's birthday and so they brought out an enormous cake! The food never stops coming!

After dinner-dessert-dessert we went upstairs for coffee on the patio overlooking the Arabian Sea. The women received their abayas. An abaya is a covering that women must wear over their clothing in Saudi Arabia when out in public. Also we received hijabs with which to cover our hair. A hijab is a scarf-like item. We have to wear them to the airport when we fly to Jeddah. I feel like a Harry Potter character in mine.

This is the restaurant rooftop area.

Our First Full Day

I was up bright and early after only a few hours sleep. I had a quick breakfast in the dining hall and was ready to go by 7:45 am. Our first stop was the Saudi Aramco Exhibit. This is a museum of the history and science behind Aramco's oil exploration and extraction. A man named Tariq was our tour guide. I learned all sorts of things about oil extraction. For example, the oil is not in big pools under the ground waiting to bubble up through a well. It is in the rocks and pressure is used to move it out of the rocks and up to the surface. A well pipe with a diameter of about 5 inches produces between 40,000-70,000 barrels of oil per DAY!

We also learned about Muslim accomplishments in the areas of mathematics, science, and medicine. It was an impressive exhibit.

Our next stop was at the Saudi Aramco corporate building called the Exploration and Petroleum Center (EXPEC). This was a state of the art facility in which geologists were at their desks behind three large computer screens directing the drilling of wells all over Saudi Arabia. Each geologist could direct 5 drilling sites at once. We watched as several were manuvering drills via their computers. The technology was incredible. It was also a secure area and so no cameras were allowed. Security is very tight here in other ways. When our bus leaves the Aramco compound an armed patrol car travels with us. I think this is a precaution that Aramco is taking to ensure our safety.

I'm in Saudi Arabia!

Somehow I lost Friday in my travels. Thursday afternoon we flew from Houston to Frankfurt, Germany. We then had to wait several hours for our flight from Frankfurt to Kuwait and then it was a brief flight from Kuwait to Saudi Arabia. Once in Saudi Arabia we had to pass through customs and immigration. It is at this point that your passport is examined very closely, you have to complete an entry card, and you are fingerprinted and photographed. The Saudi government is not messing around when it comes to illegal drugs. Look at the warning at the top of the entry card.

After 2 hours in the airport, we got on a bus to the Aramco compound in Dharhan, about 45 minutes away. My room is nice, especially after 20 hours of travel. It also has a feature that all hotels have in Saudi Arabia, that is an arrow that points to Mecca so that Muslims know which direction to face while performing their daily prayers. This one is on the ceiling of my room and I also found a prayer rug in the drawer. Food was also left for me in the refrigerator. The Saudis seem to be very thoughtful hosts. More adventures on Satuday after I get some sleep.

In Houston and It's Snowing

Today we visited the Armco Services Center. It is the North American base of operation for the Saudi Aramco Oil Company. It is from the United States that they recruit the best engineers, geologists, and other people to work for their company. We received an overview about the history of Aramco and where it is heading in the future from the personnel representative of the company, her name was Alma. We also received information about the history and culture of Saudi Arabia and an Arabic language lesson from an Egyptian woman named Jehane. Unfortunately the language lesson was difficult to follow and I am afraid that I did not learn much. Here are a few phrases:

Good morning: Sabah el khair
I do not speak Arabic: Ana la atakallum Al Arabiah
Please: Min Fadhlak
Thank You: Shukran

The weather today in Houston, Texas was cold. It is currently snowing! I feel like I’m still in Michigan.