The compound is coming to life again as a new season of Real Housewives of Saudi Arabia begins. Everyone has made their way back to our beloved compound as summer has ended (notwithstanding the 110 degree weather that's still present) and schools have opened. But of course, as Schlumberger life dictates, many families have been transferred out of Saudi, and replaced with new families. One of these families are my next door neighbor and best friend here, May and her husband Walid. I've always known that they were due for a transfer soon, but like all transfer notices, it came unexpectedly quick. It was heartbreaking to see their house all packed up and empty, and saying goodbye didn't seem real. We've only known them for a year, but Walid was really close with Al since they worked in the same group, and May and I formed a great friendship and the four of us had a blast together. They got transferred to Calgary in Canada (anyone else get cold at just the mention of that city??) and I'm still in denial that they're not right next door to me.
Another one of Al's friends thats about to get married is now holding May and Walid's house hostage so he and his wife can live next door to us. He's worried about how his wife will adjust to life here so he wanted to make sure she was next door to me so I could help her. So I get to take a young newbie under my wing :)
A few of my other friends have also gotten transferred to Paris and Qatar, and I miss them too. But as old friends have left, new ones have come in. Thanks to my Mexican friend Esmeralda, I've been hanging out with some of the Latino ladies here (secretly wishing I was Latino) so that's been great! One of the new Latino women had a bunch of us over at her house for breakfast yesterday, so we could get to meet some new people. I met women from all over...the US, Australia, Saudi, Colombia, Venezuela...I didn't realize that there were so many new families here so that was exciting. Everyone was super nice, so I'm looking forward to fun times with new friends here now, even though I miss my old ones.
A non-Schlumberger family that has moved to Khobar are a couple that were Al's friends back in college. His friend just got a new job here and moved his wife and 2 kids here a few weeks ago. I've gotten to hang out with his wife Yara a few times and she's great...so its nice to have some new non-Schlumberger friends as well :)
Some events on the SSA agenda this year include a couple of coffee mornings and a Bollywood-themed ladies night, so I'm currently in the market for a Sari...haha. I hope Al will be in town then so I can actually go (still think its too early to leave Omar with a babysitter).
So this is shaping up to be a pretty interesting season of RHSA (even though this blog post about it is rather boring)...stay tuned!
Another one of Al's friends thats about to get married is now holding May and Walid's house hostage so he and his wife can live next door to us. He's worried about how his wife will adjust to life here so he wanted to make sure she was next door to me so I could help her. So I get to take a young newbie under my wing :)
A few of my other friends have also gotten transferred to Paris and Qatar, and I miss them too. But as old friends have left, new ones have come in. Thanks to my Mexican friend Esmeralda, I've been hanging out with some of the Latino ladies here (secretly wishing I was Latino) so that's been great! One of the new Latino women had a bunch of us over at her house for breakfast yesterday, so we could get to meet some new people. I met women from all over...the US, Australia, Saudi, Colombia, Venezuela...I didn't realize that there were so many new families here so that was exciting. Everyone was super nice, so I'm looking forward to fun times with new friends here now, even though I miss my old ones.
A non-Schlumberger family that has moved to Khobar are a couple that were Al's friends back in college. His friend just got a new job here and moved his wife and 2 kids here a few weeks ago. I've gotten to hang out with his wife Yara a few times and she's great...so its nice to have some new non-Schlumberger friends as well :)
Some events on the SSA agenda this year include a couple of coffee mornings and a Bollywood-themed ladies night, so I'm currently in the market for a Sari...haha. I hope Al will be in town then so I can actually go (still think its too early to leave Omar with a babysitter).
So this is shaping up to be a pretty interesting season of RHSA (even though this blog post about it is rather boring)...stay tuned!
