Random Information About Saudi Arabia: Part One

I have decided to post some random information about Saudi Arabia in an attempt to leave you a little more informed as to what life next year will be like for us. Without further ado, here we go.

1.) Women cannot drive.

-that means that I will be chaufeuring Elisha and baby Reginald* around wherever they need to go. yay.

*subject to change

2.) Yes. We will buy a vehicle.

-our compound is about 15-20 minutes away from the walled school. There is a bus shuttle to and from work, but that is quite inconvenient. We will most likely get a vehicle that has 4 wheel drive, since desert excursions with groups of friends with 4X4’s is a fun time.

3.) Gas costs 17 cents a litre.

4.) We will live in a 1km squared compound.

-compounds are a collection of townhomes that each circle a swimming pool. There are some western style conveniences such as a gym, fitness facility, small store and restaurant. Inside the compound we can dress how we want. Saudi’s are not allowed to live in these compounds. People compare living here to living in a small town, where most people know each other.

5.) Dress Code

-westerners have to dress conservatively. According to our school staff handbook, western women do not have to wear abayas (think black floor length covering). Women can get away with long skirts, or pants, loose fitting clothing that is concealing. I’ll have to wear slacks and shirts not open below the collar bone. I guess lycra shorts while cycling might be a bit of an issue….

6.) Pork is illegal

-no breakfast bacon for me.

7.) Alcohol is forbidden.

-apparently de-alcoholized beer is available, much to the delight of the foreign workers from Germany… But our friend here told us that many westerners brew their own beer and wine, although they risk a run in with the law. I think I’ll pass.

8.) Personal Space

-Arabs will generally be about a foot away during conversation, rather than the normal western standard of arms length.

9.) Our school is about 300 students large, from K-12. Student nationalities are mostly Indian, Pakistani, American and British.

10.) Saudi Arabia is extremely hot. Our friend compared it to opening the door from the airport in August and stepping into a blast furnace. Obviously, every place is air conditioned and people move from one AC building to another. I imagine it’s a bit like -40C in Winnipeg – the same principles apply, and I guess it’s equally sucky.

To Be Continued…

Baby Duester 3-D Video

Dear Friends,

Elisha has just passed 6 months and things are starting to feel pretty real! The other day I felt the baby give a really solid kick. I’d felt him move before this, but it had been nothing close to what I felt this time. I have to say it was kind of freaky! And cool, of course. Elisha is still doing well. If you want more details, you’ll have to ask her. Anyway, she went to the doctor last week and had another ultrasound, and this time they took a still shot from 3 different angles and then compiled the images into a 3 dimensional image that looks pretty realistic. Rather than have me describe it, why not click on the video below and see for yourself.

Student Journal Laugh

Sometimes I come across something that a student does, or says that makes me laugh. Today a student wrote a response in his journal to the prompt, “my worst fear is…” Here are some excerpts that  provide just a little glimpse through the window into the mind of a gr. 7 boy. (I tried not to edit it too much)

“My worst fear is sitting next to a girl. I will be afraid that she might start talking about weird stuff like shopping and other girlish stuff. I am also afraid that she might think I like them while I don’t, and spread rumours. And it also is not easy to find any girl that you can put your truth in. Maybe my friends will laugh and start dancing around like a monkey saying I like the people. I also think if you sit next a girl when you’re young you have spoilt your relationship with boys and computers and video games. I think when you’re mature you don’t have any worries about that…”

Well, there you have it. If you’re mature, no worries about spoiling your relationship with video games.

Heading to the Desert

Some of you may know that the contract we signed last year was a 1 year contract and that this past Fall Elisha and I were once again faced with a decision. We could sign on again at TCIS and stay here in Korea for another year in a place that we are comfortable and in a workplace that is familiar to us. And the final option was to consider moving on and trying to secure another international teaching job. Last year we thought we were ready to move on from TCIS and decided to attend a job fair in Iowa, at great cost and stress to us. That excercise was a lesson in humility and showed us that despite what we thought we were ready for, God had different plans for us. So, having been burned once by going to a job fair and returning empty handed, Elisha and I decided that this time around we would forego the job fair route. We both felt that this time we would simply pray that if God wanted us to stay at TCIS, we were content in that, and if He decided it was time for us to move on, He would have to open the door for us. Well, as it turns out, we were sitting around one evening when the phone rang and the person on the other end of the line was the superintendent of a district of schools who we had interviewed with before at both the Iowa and Kingston job fairs. We were shocked out of our regular, nightly routine by her call and her subsequent job offer. Now, we had been in email contact with her, but the call did come out of the blue. Needless to say, we had a lot to think about in the 6 days we had to make our decision. In the end, we decided to accept the positions and as a result, we will be living in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia next year.

Believe me, the decision to venture off to Saudi Arabia was not an easy one. Let’s face it, Saudi Arabia is not the easiest place for Westerners. However, there were a few things that made it easier for us to come to a decision. First off, I happened to make friends with a guy in my class this summer who had actually worked at that exact school, and his advice was extremely valuable. He and his wife worked there for 3 years and he said that it would be a place he would return to once he had children, because it is a good place to raise a family. (probably not what you’d expect to hear, eh?) Part of the reason that it is a good place for raising a family is that the school has an onsite nursery, which is good for us, and the compound that we will be living in is a sheltered, small community that makes a nice place to have a family. House help and spacious, supplied housing is also a big perk.

Another thing that made our decision a little easier is that eased my mind about living in Saudi was the fact that we have a family here at TCIS that worked in Jeddah before coming to Korea. Knowing that this Christian family was able to live and enjoy their stay in Saudi helped me in realizing that Christians can survive living there without being thrown into jail. The mother of that family has since told me I might be surprised by how many Christians there actually are there! I’m assuming that Elisha and I will be part of a small house church on our compound. It will have to be a house church because there are NO non-muslim places of worship in the whole country because Saudi Arabia is the defender of Islam’s holiest sites – Mecca and Medina. House churches have to operate quietly as well, from what I know. This will be a real challenge for us, and I hope and pray that God would take care of our Spiritual needs next year and that this time in the desert won’t result in a withered faith, but, that quite the opposite would be true, and that our faith will be strengthened. I can’t help but think that we have just spent 3 years living in a “faith greenhouse” here at TCIS, and that maybe it’s time to experience what happens to faith when it’s not getting all the great things that surround us here. Perhaps we will be forced to rely even more on God’s Spirit for our nourishment…

Here is a quick look at Saudi Arabia.

As you can see from the map, Yanbu al Bahr is right on the Red Sea, about 2/3 of the way up the coast. Part of the reason we are excited about our new move is that Saudi Arabia is located in a very different, very interesting area of the world. The Red Sea apparently has some of the best Scuba/Snorkelling in the world, and our compound has a private beach on it, so that’s nice. One of the other nice things is that we will be a 4 hour drive from Jordan, which has some very neat tourist sites. Egypt is also in the neighbourhood, but I can’t imagine what there could possibly be to see in that country…

I feel like I’ve written a lot, and that you may have questions, the first of which I’m sure is “ARE YOU CRAZY??” No, I don’t think I’m any more insane than the people next to me…but, then again, the people I live around are inhabit a country whose neighbour is a nuclear weapon empowered idiot…

However, please keep in mind that most of what you and most other Canadians know about countries on the other side of the world is what you’ve seen through the lense of the CBC, CNN, or worse yet, FOX NEWS. Keep in mind that news agencies show the news that is most sensational and most likely to instill fear and a feeling of insecurity in people. A typical person’s perspective of a foreign country is often skewed and unbalanced. Some of you may be wondering if we feel it’s safe to live in Saudi Arabia. I think that is a valid question based on what you know about Saudi from the news, but the news only tells such a tiny slice of what life is really like in a country. Unfortunately, there is danger in every person’s life, and the yearly death toll on Canadian highways is proof that no one is completely sheltered from it.

Anyway, we’d love to hear from you. Of course, you could email us, or click on the comment option on this blog and whatever you write gets sent to our email address.

I hope to post some facts about Saudi on this blog in the coming days.

Cheerio!

Chris

Vacation Update

Hello Friends,

Well, it’s all over but the crying. Our Christmas vacation is over and I have to say it went quite well. It was a safe holiday and neither of us got sick, Hallelujah, prayer works!

We spent 2 weeks in Thailand and Cambodia. In Thailand we spent most of our time at the beaches surrounding Krabi. (you should be able to see it on the map in the South Western portion of Thailand, near Phuket.) And in Cambodia, we basically just flew in to Siem Reap in order to view Angkor Wat(this is located at the northern end of the lake you see nearer the Thai border) . 

Click anywhere on this line to see a slideshow of our photos from OFOTO that includes captions explaining each photo.

Happy New Year from Thailand.

Hi Friends and Family,

 We’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year and God’s richest blessings in this coming year!

We got to enjoy New Year’s 13 hours before Winnipeg did.  Yup, Elisha and I partied hard and made it all the way to 12:15am before going to bed…party animals, that’s what we are.  We ate at the special dinner they held at our resort, and then while a pretty lame program was going on we went to our room and watched “Ted Burgundy – Anchorman” with Will Farrell.  It’s pretty funny. 

 Anyway, here’s an quick update on how things are going.  We’ve had the chance to take boat tours, visit beautiful beaches, and yesterday we did some snorkelling.  This was definitely the best snorkelling I’ve ever done.  The amount of fish are amazing, and I actually got to see a shark that was just about 2 feet long!  In order to allay people’s fears of sharks, our guide told us they were “vegetarian” sharks!  Impossible of course, but it got the message accross.  Nevertheless, I didn’t go too close because I could see this shark had a kind of a 5 inch beak with teeth, hmmm, not too interested in getting personal with it.  Elisha and snorkelling don’t mix too well.  She stepped on a sea urchin.  The urchins in that area have 8-10 inch spikes that are needle thin.  They look very cool, from afar.  Actually they look like some sort of creation off of Star Wars, with flourescent “eyes” in the center.  Anyway, she was in some pain!  Our guide came to the rescue and had a ready treatment, as this is not an uncommon injury with tourists.  The treatment?  ummmm….   the wounds had to be disinfected….with urine.  yeah, I had to go to the back of the boat and pee into a bottle!!  Crazy, eh?  But, it’s amazing how much it helped.  The pain went away after about 10 minutes, and today she can walk on that foot. 

Here’s a picture of the type of sea urchin she stepped on.  OUCH!

 Well, today we are not doing anything nearly as adventureous.  We are taking Thai cooking classes!  Yeah, the payoff is we get to eat what we make…well, at least for Elisha that might be a payoff, my cooking skills are far from “polished”.  

Cheers, and maybe in the future we’ll get some pics up.