Clarification on pics I posted

I apologize for not explaining on the pictures....I did the blog first and then posted the pics as an afterthought. The restaurants have curtains so the Muslim women can eat in private - they close the curtain and can uncover their face to eat.  Noone is allowed to see their face AND they cannot eat in front of men other than their husband (and I've heard...sometimes not even in the front of the husband).

Our compound has a maze of entrances - all with guards and machine gun shacks to deter any problems.  They check under every car (with a mirror) for bombs.  They normally do not do a thorough check on Westerners, but Scott has said when he first got here if he was in a taxi with a Saudi that they checked them thoroughly.

This is a very conservative area - 99% of women are fully covered and 80% of men wear the white dresses, called, thobes and head coverings called gurtas.  It was strange at first, but now it's just like going to Wal-Mart....you eventually don't notice all the weirdness around you :)  The boys don't stare as much now at the "ninja" women...Jonathan has a hard time finding me though if I am not facing him...he accidentally grabbed onto another women in the grocery store!  I have recently found out that women are only allowed to wear black in public. I'm thinking about adapting this part of their culture!  Could you imagine only having to "do your eyes" to go anywhere??!!  I would be ready in 1minute!

By the way...in case anyone is still worried for our safety...I have met some of the US military guys in our compound and so I questioned them... of course... :)  It was funny because the first few times they were at the pool I didn't notice them until like 10minutes after being there....they were always under the water and very quiet and sneaky (i realize now).  These guys were doing swimming drills - using a brick to hold themselves under water, swimming silently, sneaking around, so when they came up...I said "why do you need swimming drills if you are Airforce?"  I thought all we had here was Airforce and so they laughed and said they were Coast Guard!  We have about 8 guys from all branches in our compound (all represented except the Marines) - they are here training the Saudi's. So stop worrying!

We are hoping to have our Visas for reentry next week so we can go to Bahrain (neighboring country) - it is supposed to have pretty beaches - I'll have more pics.  Going to try and do the blog every 2-3 weeks so I have lots of stories to tell!

Feel free to send a private email or message if you have any questions...we did this blog FOR YOU because we want everyone to have fun and learn with us!

Pics from the first 2 weeks

Looking out from our back window...

The compound housing (see the sun?)  Samuel is so confused as to why it looks like a moon... :)

Route to the park

See how dirty?  This is in a gas station parking lot...I have to be careful where I point the camera...pics are not allowed

The little black shack has a machine gun and soldier inside at all times - at every entrance into compounds

Reception desk at clinic..we had to get a physical for visa

Family seating section at Burger King

 Decorations on wall at Applebees

Family seating section at Applebees

Samuel's Tea Party time

Family seating at Applebees

Adjusting

Hi, all!  (This post is drafted by Julie) Well we have survived 2 weeks (it feels more like 4 months).  We feel so out of touch with everyone and that has been the hardest thing to figure out.  So...I'm hoping this blog will help us keep in touch a little. We still want phone calls and skype-ing to get our personal interaction, but realize, because of the time difference and everyone's busy lives...it won't happen as often as we would like.

The boys have finally adjusted to the time change - they are sleeping past sunrise until almost 7!  They are the cutest kids in the compound and probably even the entire Kingdom! :)  They have not adjusted to the taste of all of the food yet, but are slowly accepting things - there is a ban on US meat right now because of the "mad cow" problems last year.  The first week all they ate was cereal and fruit snacks. The real fruit is not the best quality (turns brown as soon as you slice it), but we eat it anyways.  They haven't had mac n chz in 2weeks ....they are holding out for Kraft or Velveeta - I've been told the stores occasionally get those brands...you just have to watch the shelves weekly and so I will so they don't starve!  :)

Compound life is great!  We go swimming, play in the gym and go to the park every day.  We had a play date with 2 little Texas girls yesterday....Samuel played "tea party" like his daddy :).  The boys love all the workers and neighbors- they say hi to them EVERY (seriously) time they see them.  We don't need a Texas flag in our yard to show our roots....the boys' hospitality is a definite give away.  We live on the entrance road (where everyone has to drive to get in the compound) and have a really big speed bump in front of our house so everyone has to come to almost a complete stop to drive through and so EVERYONE has met our kids...thankfully they haven't started their naked days yet. :)  I have made a lot of friends already - everyone is very friendly and full of advice!  It's interesting to hear about everyone's "home" - so far I have a friend from Austria (60something), 2 friends (30something) from Houston and Lubbock, 1 from Vegas (30something), 1 from Australia (60something), 1 from Phillipines (40something)...I will become very educated in world geography by then end of our 2yrs...I'm excited about that because I'm definitely lacking in that area!  Funny story....had a couple come to my garage sale (in Midland)...they were from a house one block away and started talking about our move and they said their neighbors were also moving to Saudi and the also worked with Baker Hughes....I asked Scott to see if he could find out about them...he was like "ug babe...they could end up anywhere and chances are not with us".....well guess what...they are moving into our compound :)  They lived one block away from us in Midland and will now live in our compound.  The husband is here but the wife and kids haven't moved here yet...they are waiting for the 90 degree weather to return :)  

And for a country that has no dirt....it is very dirty. You can't tell if building are "under construction" or just abandoned.  The streets and beaches are dirty - littered with trash everywhere.  Most places stink and the bathrooms (ALL) are disgusting - even in the malls..they are beautiful, palace like malls with stores like Coach, Versace or Michael Kors and then you go to into a bathroom that resembles a bathroom at the Stripes Truck Stop in Hobbs, NM!  It is awful so we try to always "go" before we leave home.

The shopping is great - better malls than I have EVER been to! Thank goodness I am NOT a fan of shopping...or we would come home BROKE!  :)  I have been to a couple of garage sales inside the compound to help with furnishing the house and toy room!  My mother would be so proud that I found a garage sale my first day in Saudi!  :) We just found out that our moving company misplaced 56 boxes that didn't make it on our sea shipment...so that's most of our stuff...we didn't have much since we stored it all in San Antonio!  So...now it looks like it could be an added month or two on the second shipment - so could be near October before we are "settled" with all of our belongings... AGGGHHHH???  Scott is telling them off via email to force them to allow a large "air" shipment so we get it quicker.

Sorry for rambling!  Funny thing....I didn't know if I would be able to "fill up" a blog with words...guess I can type as much as I talk! :)  If you haven't done this already...please add Riyadh, KSA to the world clock on your phones so you will know what time it is here.  We are up and going by 730a - and usually in bed by 9p - so text using BBM (blackberry messenger app) or call our house phone 940.488.1083

Our skype id is julie.vannoy75 and our BBM ids are svannoy313 and juliekvannoy-87116 - the app is free and you can text for free using it....

We love you guys and hope you all know that just because we don't get to see or talk to you often doesn't mean we don't think about you everyday!  We miss you!