Hi Friends and Family
It's April now and time for the weather to start to turn back to high heat in the Middle East. The past couple of days have been in the high 80's and lots of sun. As it turns out, one of the departments I work with at Saudi Aramco has their picnic this past weekend (remember weekends here are on Thursday and Friday). So we drove down the coast about 10 miles to the Saudi Aramco Beach for a picnic.
We were able to hold the picnic at the sailing beach, which seems to have the least number of visitors. Just to let you know, there is also a beach / dock for motor boats and then a separate 'family' beach. A family beach means just that, it is only for Aramco families to come and enjoy the surf and sun.
The sailing beach is used only by Saudi Aramco employees who have a small one or two person sailboat (sunfish or laser) and all boats are stored and maintained at the beach. The photo below shows the sailboats that were out that day. The dolphin you see in the near ground is actually a shower that you can use to wash the sand off.
Soccer is the primary sport of choice for most of the Middle East, and Saudi is no exception. Children of all ages engage in the game at any chance they can get. The photo below has several of my colleagues enjoying a game on the beach. It was all for fun, until they decided that a championship game would be held between the VP's team and the Finance team. You would think those Finance guys would have learned who should have won that game by now!
Picnic had all kinds of kids games and tents to eat and smoke / drink coffee. Just to give you an idea I took a photo of the smaller tent. Note that there are carpets on the ground to allow folks to rest and feel at home!
Interestingly, one of the entertainment items was a falcon trainer. This Saudi apparently trains dozens of these types of falcons at a time. They fly across the Arabian Sea from Iran, Pakistan, even Russia as part of their annual migration process. Apparently they can fetch several hundred thousand dollars for a well trained bird.
Last, but not least, I mentioned that I traveled home to Houston for spring break with Lauren and Jane. One of the keys to the trip was to visit NYC. Lauren has been accepted into the Joffrey dance school. The three of us visited the school to decide that yes, she will go there next year for her Junior and probably Senior years. Lauren will receive a vocational degree in dance and complete here high school requirements in an on-line program. Naturally, like any good woman, she did some shopping in NYC...
Hope that you are enjoying the blog! Take care and hope to see everyone soon.
It's April now and time for the weather to start to turn back to high heat in the Middle East. The past couple of days have been in the high 80's and lots of sun. As it turns out, one of the departments I work with at Saudi Aramco has their picnic this past weekend (remember weekends here are on Thursday and Friday). So we drove down the coast about 10 miles to the Saudi Aramco Beach for a picnic.
We were able to hold the picnic at the sailing beach, which seems to have the least number of visitors. Just to let you know, there is also a beach / dock for motor boats and then a separate 'family' beach. A family beach means just that, it is only for Aramco families to come and enjoy the surf and sun.
The sailing beach is used only by Saudi Aramco employees who have a small one or two person sailboat (sunfish or laser) and all boats are stored and maintained at the beach. The photo below shows the sailboats that were out that day. The dolphin you see in the near ground is actually a shower that you can use to wash the sand off.
Soccer is the primary sport of choice for most of the Middle East, and Saudi is no exception. Children of all ages engage in the game at any chance they can get. The photo below has several of my colleagues enjoying a game on the beach. It was all for fun, until they decided that a championship game would be held between the VP's team and the Finance team. You would think those Finance guys would have learned who should have won that game by now!
Picnic had all kinds of kids games and tents to eat and smoke / drink coffee. Just to give you an idea I took a photo of the smaller tent. Note that there are carpets on the ground to allow folks to rest and feel at home!
Interestingly, one of the entertainment items was a falcon trainer. This Saudi apparently trains dozens of these types of falcons at a time. They fly across the Arabian Sea from Iran, Pakistan, even Russia as part of their annual migration process. Apparently they can fetch several hundred thousand dollars for a well trained bird.
Hope that you are enjoying the blog! Take care and hope to see everyone soon.
Looks like a beautiful day to be at the beach!
ReplyDeleteLooks like the picnic was a lot of fun. I hope the summer doesn't get too hot for you.
ReplyDeleteDan G.