A Day in the Desert

Last weekend a group of friends (plus our drivers) went out to the desert in search of these special crystals called desert roses.  Armed with shovels, buckets, water, cameras, and high hopes, we took our 4-wheel drive SUVs into the desert about an hour outside of Jubail. 

We found a place that looked good to us and started digging.  It wasn't long before we started uncovering these buried treasures!

How to find a desert rose:

Step One:  Dig.  There were plenty right on top, but some really great ones were 2-4 feet down.  Try not to crush them with the shovel!

Step Two:  Rinse.

Step Three:  Admire.

The before and after pictures are pretty incredible!

Before

After

 The fruit of our labor...

 

This one actually looks kinda like a rose!

Then of course we had to have a photo shoot!

Double double toil and trouble...

 

After a couple of hours of digging, we were starting to get tired and hungry, so we decided to pack it in and head back to town for lunch.  On the way back, we saw a group of camels on the side of the road and we jumped out for photos. 

This little cutie was the first one who decided he was going to check us out, too.  He wasn't a baby camel, but he was definitely smaller than the others.  A tweenage camel!

Well, hello there.

Heeeeeey

Photo Bomb!

Brian was the first one of the group brave enough to touch one.  They are furry!  Then we all wanted a turn to touch the camel.

Tweenage camel's friends decided they wanted us to pet them, too. 

Even our drivers were excited to hang out with the pack of camels.

The camel herder eventually came by, and looked up from his iPhone long enough to move the camels along (true story).  Cassie and I were sans abaya so we hurried back to the car. 

We capped off this incredible day by going to a pretty great Mexican restaurant! 

Update on Life!

The Christmas holidays in Virginia and Louisiana were quite fun, though exhausting and filling.  Food, food, everywhere!  Also alcohol!  Brian won the beer mile on NYE in 11:23.  I did a halfsie in about 45 minutes.  We were glad to get to see a bunch of people even though it was a really short trip.

Our one little ornament on our potted plant...Merry Christmas in KSA!

Life in Saudi has become very routine.  I go to work (sometimes), Brian goes to work (all the time), we try to keep our 900 sq ft in some semblance of order, and we have very few other responsibilities.  It’s really nice not to have to worry about yard work, house maintenance, paying a ton of bills, or which bar we’re going to go to this weekend.  Hah.  

In our free time, we’ve been able to start doing some serious cooking.  Last weekend, Brian made a beef pho from scratch.  It was delicious, and made our house smell like Vietnam (not in a bad way).  In a non-English speaking country, you might end up spending $20 on what you think is beef… but then it actually turns out to be goat.  Then you might need to moo at the next butcher to make sure you get what you’re trying to buy.  But whatever, who hasn’t mooed at their butcher lately?

I baked a king cake (actually 3) from scratch as well.  I had never used yeast before, and my poor little Wal-Mart brand mixer struggled with the dough, but they actually turned out really great.  I was even able to find colored sugar sprinkles to decorate with!  One was filled with cream cheese, one was cream cheese and raspberry, and one was cream cheese and chocolate halawa.  

I forgot to take pictures of the king cakes, but did get Brian's Arabic teacher taking his first ever bite of king cake!

I also finished some knitting that I started a (long) while ago, and learned how to crochet (thanks, YouTube).  Our new little niece has a cute little knit and crochet blanket.  I'm just glad her name was only 4 letters!  

The pink and the flowers are knit; the rest is crochet.

Anna with her blanket.  Now she'll never forget her name.

Baby Anna and Aunt Krunk

Some other random Saudi stuff:

I bought this jar of red pepper flakes the other day.  The holes are too small for the flakes. 

Red pepper flakes can't fit through those tiny holes!

Saudi Fail!

I bought these adorable salt and pepper shakers the other day!

 

I just love stuff with camels!

But the holes are so large, salt and pepper just pour out of them...

Maybe I should put red pepper flakes in here?

I got a new abaya!  I saw this purple and yellow bedazzled one and knew it was the one for me.  This will be the newest trend in game day fashion, I can feel it!

We went to a bunco party the other night.  This is what happens when there is no nightlife.  It was actually pretty fun.  In related news, I’m an old person.

This weekend we’re going out to the desert to dig for desert roses.  Pictures to come!