Saudiversary

Brian has been in Saudi Arabia for ONE YEAR!  In honor of his Saudiversary, he wanted to write a blog post about his experiences.  ENJOY!



I figured we could fill everyone in on what Kristina and I do most of the time. We try not to complain (although complaining seems to be a favorite pastime here), but Kristina’s blog posts only show the great parts about living in Saudi Arabia, or how much fun she has when she leaves, so I wanted to provide some information about what our lives are like when we are in Kingdom.

We moved to Saudi Arabia for my job. I worked in a specialty plastics manufacturing facility in Plaquemine, Louisiana for Dow, and a nearly identical facility is being built in the middle of the desert outside of Jubail, also known as the Jubail Industrial City. There are plenty of folks from Louisiana over here to help, and we expect that it will be a 2.5 to 3 year commitment. The project and the new company are known as Sadara, which is Arabic for “the leader.” It is the largest chemical plant ever built in one phase, with a price tag of $20 billion.

We live in the region called the Eastern Province...

Picture of the Sadara site from Google Images (because I don't want to lose my job)

 
Living in Saudi Arabia is mostly relaxing, but challenging at times. My job is great. I will get to see things that I would never see elsewhere. The construction site currently has 55,000 construction workers. It is a massive undertaking and it is fun to be a part of it. 

Here are the challenging parts:

Women do not have equal rights in Saudi Arabia. Many men will not talk to Kristina and will only interact with her through me. She has to cover in up public, lest her bare arms give someone impure thoughts, and we cannot not eat at restaurants together if they do not have adequate facilities for the separation of families and single men. Sometimes Kristina will stand outside the restaurant and I will go in and gesture to see if she is welcome. Sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes the old men just wag their fingers to indicate that she is not, and we end up eating take out at home.

Kristina is not happy about putting on her abaya in the heat

But sometimes she doesn't mind wearing the abaya because she can go to the grocery store in pajamas

There is not much to do. There are no options for movie theaters, concerts, bars, tailgates, or sporting events, although there is camel racing somewhere in the area. We watch a lot of Netflix and play board games with the neighbors. We still have fun, but sometimes you would really like to walk across the street for a margarita.

We miss you, Superior!!!!!

I spend some time working outside. Including the summer. It is oppressive. I had to stop wearing a leather belt because it would still be wet the next morning.

I am sweaty.

Being away from friends and family can be challenging. We understand that our decision to move to the other side of the world means less time with parents, grandparents and extended family members. We really appreciate the cards, letters, emails and text messages and promise to make up for lost time when we make it back to America.

Here are the good parts:

The food is delicious. Kristina and I found the Indian food in Saudi to be just as good as India. The Pakistanis also excel at grilled meats and naan bread cooked in a tandoori oven. They are also SUPER excited to see us roll up. A popular fast food option here is bukhari, which is long grain rice (a half gallon or so) with your choice of grilled meats or rotisserie chicken, served with a red sauce that is similar to pico de gallo, yogurt (which is the local equivalent to sour cream) and some onions and peppers.  Someone should bring this to America so I can get my fix when I return to the states. I am slowly eating my way through the neighborhood and hope to find even more great food.

Delicious $0.25 naan bread comes out of this hole

Bukhari comes with a convenient plastic tablecloth which makes cleaning up after dinner a breeze

On a related note, Kristina has been cooking a lot more, which is superb. I did not know she was capable of such masterpieces when I married her and I am glad to be her sous chef.

I enjoy when Kristina presents the meals to me like on Top Chef.  This was a roasted red pepper ragu over a bed of butternut squash noodles with a side of baby asparagus. 

 We meet people from all over. There are people from 11 countries working in my trailer at work and we all eat lunch together. One night when I was waiting in line to naan bread, I met folks from Pakistan, Afghanistan and South Sudan and we had a very nice conversation. I had never met folks from any of these countries. I also amuse the locals with my attempts to speak Arabic. I can now use bad words in three languages and am working on a fourth.  Some of the best parts of my day are eating in the cafeteria with folks from Saudi Arabia or any of the other countries represented in our group.

The travel opportunities are top notch. Dow realizes that living in Saudi Arabia is challenging and people need a break. We got a budget to provide for a trip home and several relaxation trips, which we have put to good use. My vacation is going to be more restricted as our plant gets ready to start up, but I knew that coming into this project.  

Mala the Tiger in India

 

I don’t have to cut the grass or fix anything. It is awesome. If something is broken, our top notch maintenance department takes care of it while I head to the pool.

A busted pipe in our bathroom led to this...

Kristina and I get to spend more time together. I lived in Houston for 9 months before I moved to Saudi Arabia while Kristina was still teaching in Baton Rouge, so we saw each other on the weekends. I then spent 4 months in Saudi Arabia before she showed up, so hanging out every night is a pretty sweet deal.

We like to stare lovingly at each other.

Overall Saudi Arabia has been a great experience and I am excited to see what the future holds for us.