As you can tell from the blog and my Instagram feed, we're settling into life pretty well here. Riyadh is growing on me. Yes it has its’ quirks, but there are so many worse places in the world we could be! On the plus side, there are two, week-long holidays. Eid Al Fitr marking the end of Ramadan and Eid Al Adha commemorating the willingness of Abraham to follow God's command to sacrifice his son. Things get pretty quiet around here for both as locals and expats take advantage of the holiday break to travel.
Since we just arrived right before Eid al Fitr J got stuck with work duties and we weren’t able to get away. I was really excited for Eid al Adha because I would be off work and hopeful J would get some time as well. One of our friends, T, brought up taking a trip with the kids to Bahrain. (Have I mentioned he and his wife have almost 4 year old boy-girl twins? We’ve been having a lot of fun with them and all the kids!) We talked about Bahrain long before we arrived. As soon as our car was delivered I started bugging J, "When are we driving to Bahrain?!"
In my mind this would be similar to a Chicago-Ann Arbor road trip. Easy. The drive from Riyadh to Bahrain is about four-and-a-half hours, including the time to get through the five different customs checkpoints at the border. Not a bad drive at all to get to a much more liberal Muslim country. And gas barely costs anything in KSA so it’s really ideal to drive. We stayed at the Four Seasons, which is pretty much is its own island. We didn’t need to leave the resort for anything the 48 hours we were there. We swam, ate great food, had some cocktails, went to the spa, got to hang out with new friends and make some family memories. It was a perfect little getaway. I can't wait to go again.
I realize I’m now getting into a routine in Riyadh. Occurrences that once seemed foreign and strange are now starting to become commonplace. On the drive to Bahrain, while driving through what felt like an endless desert, it hit me all over again - "Holy crap, we live in Saudi Arabia! And we're driving to another country!" It's wild and special. These are things most people will never get to experience. The Gents' Midwest road trips seem a world away. Instead of pointing out cows, I’m pointing at camels. I hope they know how special and unique this life is. We’ll have to reinforce it so they don’t take it for granted.
Before arriving in Riyadh I'd never been to the Middle East. Most Americans haven't and have no desire to visit. I will admit KSA had me scared. If it wasn't for J visiting a couple times before, and assuring me we’d be safe, I never would have agreed to move. I can definitely understand how most people think it's scary and are constantly praying for our safety, but when I hear Americans and Europeans say they feel safer being here than other countries, that's really telling.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't continue to be vigilant. I'm just saying we should continue to make smart choices, not be afraid to live our lives and experience what this world has to offer. I do not want to live the next 21 months solely on the DQ. I certainly want to see as much of the region as possible while we're here, and have my Indiana Jones moment in Petra! Can't wait to share these adventures in the region with you all. More to come…