Saying Goodbye

There are many ways to say goodbye.
Sainara, Au Revoir, Adios, Arrivederci but....
for some of Chris' co workers it's a Diet Coke and a little Shisha with a feather boa type Hookah.
(Shisha is the tobacco used in the Hookah water-pipe.)
Even though Chris doesn't smoke it was a thoughtful gesture.

Others say farewell with a 50 Mile social ride or an 80K hammer fest under 2 hours.

Some tear up, hug, or just say, "See ya later!" trying not to get
too emotional.

For me, saying goodbye has been bitter sweet. I will miss many aspects of the Expat Life: the travel, the 6 weeks of vacation, a nominal house payment and free utilities, saving money, having house help, a small close knit yet diverse community full of activities for the kids, everything on camp within walking distance, and dear friends such as these and many others not shown. It is very difficult for this kind of life to be replicated although I know small pockets exists all over the world.

I will not miss 36 hours of travel time home, sand storms, the 4 hour commute to church each week (other than the talking time with Chris), insanely crazy drivers, camel crossings, security checkpoints, imported American foods that just don't taste right like stale cereal and shredded cheese that arrives all melted and globby, the absolute inability of some nationalities to queue up properly, not driving, my Abaya in 100+ heat, and holes in the ground as public toilets.....just to name a few.

Saying goodbye to our houseboy Golum was also very difficult. Not only because he helped me immensely around the house but because he felt like family to us. We hope he felt compensated for a job well done. He will be returning to Bangladesh in September after working abroad for 10 years, 7 of which were here in Saudi. During his 3 month break he will marry and try and start a business so that after he fulfills his contract in Saudi he can be home with his wife and family. He was always kind and helpful and he adored the boys. They loved to go out and work in the yard with him causing him to get teased by the other workers for having little white boys as his helpers. We wish him the best and hope that he won't have to work abroad indefinitely to support his family.


This experience has enriched me in so many ways. My eyes have been opened by the things I've seen. I have served and been served. I have loved and been loved. I will cherish this time as it has helped me to stretch and grow and better understand the diversity of the world we live in. We do not regret our decision to move to Saudi. It's funny because when we decided to move there the common response from friends and colleges was, "What?! You're moving where?!" Now that we are leaving the common response from our expat friends was, "What?! You're leaving already?!"

Much thought and many prayers went into both the decision to come and to go and we feel that we are doing what is best for our family and Chris' career at this time and although the money was exceptional.....sometimes it's not about the money.

On that note we not only say goodbye to Udhailiayah but also to the Uda-Where Blog.
If you want to continue following the Jenkins Family Journeys you can find us at
www.thejenkinsjourneys.blogspot.com

The Road Less Traveled

Especially by ladies in spandex.

If felt quite liberating being out of camp in such a fashion considering where we are.

We went on one last Social Pace (meaning the guys didn't hammer it so the ladies could keep up) ride of the season. Everyone is packing up for the summer and some of us for good so we celebrated in Udhailiyah Cycling Club Style.

Our camp is surrounded by oil field roads. Some in excellent condition and others a bit pitted and ruddy and after 6 days of shamals the dunes have crept across parts of the road.

We rose before the sun and set out at 4:30AM. The wind was minimal, the dust low, and a commencing heat of 90 degrees for the 50 mile ride. Other than a camel crossing and a few photo stops we rode on an on passed nice garbage free dunes. There was the occasional dead goat dumping ground but thankfully the stinky microbe phase had passed.

By the end, even after drafting Chris most of the way home my legs were shot. I'm so glad the pack of wild puppies we passed decided not to charge because I'm not sure I could have out run them. Sad I know.

1600 calories later we ended with celebratory Krispy Kreme and some mango milk.

I was pretty much a waste of space the rest of the day but am so glad our hubbies took us out for one last ride.

Taking It To The Next Level

To take it to the next level you need:

To get up at 3:30AM before the real heat sets in.

You need to pack water....bottles and bottles of ice cold water.

You need to endure 120 degree heat over the pavement.

You need to keep the paceline.

You need to take the roads less traveled.

You need a lot of testosterone... natural not synthetic.

You need some of the smoothest legs in the Eastern Provence.

You need to know when to kick back in the shade.

You need to be just a wee bit INSANE!

You need to be on a first name bases of the proprietor of the local Bedouin-11.

You need a Sag Wag with a driver, A/C, and cooler of extra water.

You need 2 liters of fluid to replace the 13 lbs you left behind in the desert.

When you take it to the next level you start out a 105 mile ride as friends but you end as brothers.

Hello and Goodbye Shawarma Man

After 2.5 years I finally met the Shawarma Man all my DHA friends talk about, while out for one last night of shopping and eating in Khobar with the Reynolds and Dillies.

I'm sorry we met just as my Exit Visa is being processed for my departure. Shawarmas are the fast food of the Middle East. The ones I've eaten on camp have not been Blog worthy.

But this stacked chicken meat on a skewer grilled all day to perfection was DIFFERENT. Honestly this was not a place I would have stopped if my friends had not sworn they were some of the best in Khobar. Just looking at the place made me wonder how much time I would be spending in the bathroom the next day. They promised they've eaten here regularly without consequence so we went for it.

I love and will miss this Chicken Shawarma wrapped in flat bread with tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and garlic sauce (they also add soggy fries which I tossed) almost as much as Graham will miss his little buddy O* from nursery. For the last several months it has just been these two cutie pies.

The next afternoon we gathered with 60+ of our closest friends in Dhahran to eat Sourdough Waffles with oodles of toppings like homemade buttermilk and apple cinnamon syrups and say our goodbyes.

Moving on is so bitter sweet. We love the friends we have made and the community we've lived in but we do feel it is a good time to move on. It isn't all that unlikely to cross paths with many of these people again as church and oil connections make this world seem so very small.

One person Ethan is sure to miss will be his special buddy Rusty M. They first bonded when Rusty would sub Ethan's class in Primary for his wife.

Ethan really loves Rusty and was showing him his homemade kites on Friday. Unbeknownst to Ethan Rusty just happens to be a kite enthusiast and went home to gather everything they needed to make REAL miniature kites.

They spent the entire afternoon teaching Ethan and perfecting the method. I am not sure who was more delighted with the out come.

I just want to make one more huge shout out to say THANK YOU to all those that have hosted and fed our family every Friday before our two hour journey home.

Chef Play & Soapy Soccer

Last week time got away from me and we arrived so late for story time we completely missed the story.

But we didn't miss the fun.

We got there just in time to decorate our own chef hats.

Then sit, dip, and lick away at some chocolaty goodness.

It was a delightful way to spend the morning.

They indulged so much they hardly touched their lunch. It wasn't a very impressive meal anyway. With Dad out of town I've cooked very little.

After we dropped Ethan off at school Graham and I went over to his buddy C's house to hold his brand new baby brother little C. This meant Graham missed his nap playing away while I got some newborn cuddle time. Chris asked if it made me baby hungry and while we would gladly welcome another baby in our home no I was not in any way distraught that we don't have a new addition on the way.

Once school let out we met up with many, many of our friends to pass the 115-120 degree heat, with me sitting in the shade, and the boys playing in the splash fountain and on some awesome new playgroup equipment.

Recreation also started setting up Soapy Soccer for the older kids in the afternoon adjacent to where we were. Zach liked it until he took a hard ball to the chest knocking the wind out of him. Ethan just likes to go in and get in the way. Really only half the kids are playing soccer and the other half are just playing around and literally bouncing off the air filled walls.

These afternoon outings are about all we can do to just pass the darn last 2.5 weeks in this horrible heat.

Designed To Take My Money

Do You Remember This?

I couldn't pass it up on my first visit to the Expat hot spot Desert Designs in Khobar. It's an eclectic store of original hand made items, often made from reclaimed wood, and antiques from the Middle East and Asia. You can even custom order some exquisite pieces as some of my friends have done.

We came into town to meet Chris after he spent the morning in Bahrain. I decided it would be a great night to wash the little boy stink off of me and go out with some adults. The Reynolds suggested we try a Saudi Style restaurant where you sit on cushions, share all the food, and where utensil use is optional. The food was not bad but the appetizers were plate lickin' good. I resisted the temptation to actually lick the plate in mixed company but we did get as much as we could scrape up with the flat bread.

With only 15 minutes until prayer time we finished up and then I casually asked if anyone would be interested in just looking around Desert Designs knowing full well my girl Tiffany would want to go and the hubbies would just have to endure.....at least mine would.

With prayer time upon us we had plenty of time to browse. See, if you are already in the store they won't kick you out; you are forced to just keep shopping while the lights are dim. If you don't make it in you are out of luck for the 20-30 minute duration. Well, the prayer time marketing scheme worked this time because I fell in love with this chair. It is hard to find a chair that fits my 5'1" frame and when I sat down I felt like Goldie Lock as it was Just Right.

I love the style the shape the design. And even though Chris was convinced we didn't have a place for it I manged to find it two different spots it can call home.

Of course just like anything new in the house the boys fight over who gets to sit in it for scripture time. We decided that Zach gets even days, Ethan gets odd, and Graham gets the weekend. So when does mom get to sit in it?

That remains to be seen.

Fitness Club On Fire

Our Fitness Club has been On Fire this year so we celebrated with an end of season BBQ.

First we feasted!
Sorry the picture is so small but I wanted to show you how we do it here. About 3 weeks before an event someone calls the Recreation Department asking for rugs, chairs, tables, sound system equipment, etc. Their crew sets it up, takes it all down when done, and will provide a team of helpers throughout the event if needed. We can even get a helium tank for balloons if we want at no cost to us.

After the feast but before a game of Ultimate Frisbee our President had a few words about outstanding successes of the season, rankings in our race series, and last but not least some awards for things like:
Mental Toughness
Most Attractive to the Wrong Crowd
Fastest Person Who Didn't Spend a Small Fortune
Rookie of the Year (Yours truly)
......just to name a few.

Those who wanted to give out their own recognition awards did so too, such as the following saying written on a pair of bike shorts:
Pain is the Weakness Coming Out of You.....

and a fur covered bike helmet.

Kara recounted a story about a friend who has worn her bike helmet backward not once but....

TWICE!
She gave all the blonds in our group a hand mirror so they can do a quick once over before the next ride.

These are all the Fit Mammas in our group.

The week before the event a short survey was sent out. Now keep in mind only a handful of people actually responded but the numbers are outstanding!
(UDH 2011 Team Jersey)

General Recognition: August 2010-May 2011

Who ran further than they ever had before?
4

Who ran a marathon?
3, with another 4 who ran a 1/2 marathon

Participated in their first bike race?
8

Participated in a bike race?
18

Rode further than they ever had before?
11

Who caught a ride from a Bedouin back to camp?
5

Completed a century (100 mi, 160K)?
4

Saw improvement in their times during the season?
all

Participated in their first triathlon?
9

Participated in a triathlon?
20

Total Swim Miles/KM 177 mi (285 km)
Total Cycle Miles/KM 22705 mi (36540 km)
Total Run Miles/KM 1700 mi (2736 km)


Lastly we did lose a member of our group but quite frankly we were all happy to say good bye;) to...
Drum Roll Please......

Total Weight Lost Since August 2010
228+ lbs