Quick Trip to Bahrain

Since Jess is so close to delivering, we knew we couldn't go too far from Riyadh for winter break. Our original travel plans were postponed until next winter break, but we figured we could handle a four hour drive to Bahrian, a small island country off the east coast of Saudi Arabia. The drive is easy, safe, and in no time we found ourselves on the Persian Gulf enjoying more freedoms than we have in Saudi. Bahrain, known as the "Las Vegas" for Saudi's,  is a more liberal Muslim country where alcohol, pork, and movie theatres are allowed. Jess also had the freedom to walk around without wearing the abaya. We stayed at a nice hotel attached to the largest mall in Bahrian. We chose this for comfort and convenience. We had quick access to the movie theatre, great restaurants, spa and shopping. We enjoyed four days of relaxation and are now home "nesting". We still have 9 days of break!

The Bridge to Bahrain...over 10 miles long

Enjoying drinks (alcohol free for Jess) by the pool

Merry Christmas!

Enjoyed a nearly empty theatre

Ready for "The Hobbit" in 3D

Baby's first movie (haha)

Tis the Season...

...to make...and enjoy Tiger Butter!  I was so excited to be able to find all the ingredients (a total of 3) for my favorite holiday treat. This weekend, a couple of the teachers hosted a cookie exchange, so I made a quick batch to share. Luckily there was extra!

Feels A Little Like Fall

...at least in the mornings and evenings! Now that we're almost in December, we're starting to get some rainy weather and the morning and evenings are a bit chilly. Chilly enough for me to wear long sleeves on our evening walks. I'm loving it!

Most of us think of Saudi Arabia as HOT...miserably hot, but that's not actually the case!  I won't argue, Saudi Arabia is HOT from May to September, but starting in October, the temps start to decrease and the weather becomes more manageable. Once we hit November, we noticed a huge difference in the weather. The daytime temps are comparable to Colorado's late spring/ early summer weather. I'm looking forward to the next couple months of PERFECT weather!

A Day in the Desert

A couple weeks ago, we headed an hour northeast to the red sand dunes. It was the perfect weather for being in the desert...glad we waited to do this until the cooler season. Unfortunately, I had to keep my abaya on due to some local camps nearby.  Saudi's living in Riyadh build permanent campsites near the dunes and use them as their weekend getaways. 

Stuck!
No, we didn't deflate our tires like we should have.
Lesson learned

Some generous men pulled off the highway to help us
out of the deep sand. I wonder how many times they
have to rescue expats. 

On to the other two cars...

After helping us out, they invited us to come back to their
 camp for lunch. We started following them, but since our tires
had been deflated quite a bit, we couldn't keep up on the
highway and lost them. Maybe next time!

Driving through the sand to the base of the dunes.

The boys racing to the top of the first dune

The long trek up the dunes

Almost there

Playing in the sand

The beautiful sand of the Arabian Desert

Random Riyadh

Waiting to get into our compound

Excited for the cooler weather...planting season is upon us!

One of our little friends

Found this while shopping today

Maybe I should get one...

Turkey Trip

We had such a wonderful time in Turkey! Our school has a fall break for Eid celebration, so we took advantage of the 10 days off from school and hit the road...literally. We flew into Istanbul, rented a car, and drove 1500 miles around Turkey. We started in Istanbul; visiting the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, walking along the Ottoman wall, and strolling the old avenues. 

Next, we drove southeast to Goreme to see the famous fairy chimneys of Capadoccia. Cappadocia is Turkey's only national park. The fairy chimneys are rock formations similar to the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon in Utah. They were inhabited by nomads and later would be used by Christians hiding from the Roman Empire. We enjoyed hiking around the park, relaxing on the hotel terrace while enjoying the view, and sleeping in a fairy chimney. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. 

Our next stop was Pamukkale; straight west. Pamukkale is a hidden gem and one that we feel fortunate to have made time for. Pamukkale means "cotton castle" in Turkish.  Pamukkale contains travertine terraces made from carbonate minerals left behind from water flow. At the top of the terraces, lies the ancient Greco- Roman and Byzantine city of Hierapolis. Turkey views their ruins much differently from the rest of the world; allowing visitors to walk, climb, and experience the ancient ruins up close and personal. Nothing is closed or roped off. We spent a couple hours just walking around; touching and exploring these historical masterpieces.  The only way down from Hierapolis is to walk down through the terraces which have ranging water temps from hot to ice cold. This was one of our favorite days.

From Pamukkale we drove west until we hit the Aegean Sea where we stayed in Seljuk near the famous ruins of Ephesus. Our friends, Dusty and Gordon suggested us buy a rug in Seljuk, so we spent some time walking around the carpet shops, learning the history of Turkish rugs and the meaning of the markings found on them,  and practicing rug making.  We had a tough task ahead of us; picking only ONE rug. 

After our time in Seljuk, we headed back north to Istanbul. This time, we stayed near the Grand Bazaar. We knew we couldn't leave Turkey without visiting the famous Grand Bazaar. Unlike the Grand Bazaar in Egypt, this was indoors.  The bazaar was huge and had such a variety of shops. We  aren't much for shopping, but we could have spent more time roaming around if we didn't have to catch a plane. 

We had a great trip and one that will never be forgotten, especially since it was the last one with just the two of us!  We know we'll be traveling internationally even with our little one in tow, but we are quite aware that traveling will be different!

Enjoy this video we made!

Traveling Through Turkey

Checking off the List

1st quarter complete...check

Starting our 10 day break...check

Bags packed...check

Ready to explore Turkey...check!

Random Riyadh

Jordan enjoying his new hobby; watering the lawn.

Setting up my personal bank account. Men and women cannot have
joint accounts. This is the ladies entrance where women are greeted with coffee, fresh dates,
and danishes before being helped by Saudi women who have ditched the abaya and
are very fashionable and stunning. It was a very interesting experience. Jordan claims
his banking experience wasn't quite as nice...I guess it pays off to be a women in Saudi at some point. LOL

Jordan's treasure that he found (Iraq's older form of money with Saddam
Hussein on the 25 "dollar" bill) in an antique souk (souk means market).

Stoked!

One of my favorite things about South Africa were these carbonated juice drinks called Appletizer and Grapetizer. They are super delicious and very thirst quinching. After our trip I looked everywhere for them. I even went so far as to see if I could order them online through Amazon. No such luck. =(  But...yesterday Jordan found them at the grocery store. We were walking down the aisle and I was a a few feet ahead of him, but when I turned around to see what he was up to,  he was holding up a bottle of this!

I was stoked! Who would have ever thought we'd find these in Saudi Arabia. The best part? They are about 50 cents. They also have a new flavor...Pomegranate. 

Now I'm well stocked with my favorite carbonated drink.
What a good weekend!

The Edge of the World

Last weekend we headed out into the desert with two other couples.  Driving in a convoy is preferred when heading out in the desert, especially since we almost got stuck countless times. We drove two hours northwest of the city to "The Edge of the World".  The drive consisted of  an hour on highway and an hour in the desert.  The desert drive consisted of dirt (hard packed sand) roads and dried river  beds which was either made of deep sand or deep rock gravel. The river bed is where things could get tricky. When driving in sand you can't go to slow, but you can't go too fast. Jordan was usually in the back of the convoy, so he had an even tougher job of trying to keep his speed up when cars in front would slow. There was one occasion that we slowed so much that we got stuck. Luckily, Jordan is a master driver and he was able to reverse enough that we could get the car slowly moving again. I of course put my body movement into and would like to say that I helped by rocking the car forward. =) 

After a 'stressful' (I was stressed, Jordan was thoroughly enjoying his 4wheeling experience) desert drive we arrived at our destination...The Edge of the World.  It is a massive escarpment with a thousand foot sheer drop. What makes the formation possible is a metamorphic layer of an old sea floor containing coral and shellfish fossils. It was an amazing sight with views that stretched tens of miles. 

Conferring directions before heading out into the vast desert

Here We go...

Camel sighting

Desert watermelons? Not sure, but
we cut one open and it smells like watermelon

The desert isn't just sand

Camel Crossing

Mama and her baby

We made it....The Edge of the World

The final stretch of road that we came in on

Fossils

Looking at fossils and coral

WOW...that's a long way down

Jordan at the Edge of the World...good thing he didn't fall off!

The Arabian Desert