The first day in Riyadh

This adventure really began WAY back in November 2013. It seems like ages ago now. Brian Matthews, superintendent of American International School-Riyadh talked to Travis at the Bangkok leadership job fair. He wanted to talk to Travis, but Travis wasn't sure that I would even consider moving to the Middle East. When I first met Brian I told him to save his breath. I would never even consider moving there. A few hours later, my mind had changed. Not completely, but I was intrigued and wanted to know more. The rest is history. We were offered jobs, we took them with excitement and told our families and friends. Most of you thought (still think) we were crazy. So, this blog is to help you see we are not crazy. In fact, we are VERY smart. :) I will do my best to continue with updates often, but you know how life gets in the way of planned things.

So, here is how it all continues...

We finally left Detroit on Monday August 11. Our visas took longer than everyone thought, so our original flight was cancelled and moved. I was pretty excited about only having an 8ish hour flight, a break and then a 5ish hour flight. Compared to being stuck on a jet for 12-14 hours flying to Shanghai, it sounded like a breeze. I was wrong. It was a rough one for me. We got on the plane on time, early actually. The plane began to taxi and then it continued to taxi. It seemed like we were on there forever. Then finally the pilot got on the PA and told us to prepare for take off. I was relieved at this point. It had been pouring and storming and I thought for sure we would be delayed. So here we were ready to go. The plane picked up speed and then stopped abruptly. Here is when I begin to have a panic attack. Those of you that know me or have flown with me, know that I am not a huge fan of planes. I have gotten much, much better due to the fact that I have been on about 678 flights in the last 4 years, but I still panic during take offs sometimes. So, when this happened, I had a heart attack. I grabbed Travis and told him I was scared and prepared myself for death. Now, this lasted approximately 30 seconds. The pilot came back on the PA and told us he had to abort take off because of the weather. This made me feel MUCH better. I was convinced the left falange was missing and we were having technical problems. We ended up leaving about an hour late. The flight was pretty uneventful, but I was not happy with the movie selection and I could not sleep. I managed to watch "The Other Woman" and then right before we landed I fell asleep for a bit.

We landed in Frankfurt, Germany with a 9 hour layover. Lucky for us, we know someone in Frankfurt. That is one of the luxuries of living abroad. You end up knowing people all over. Lidel picked us up and took us to a really cute town just outside of the city. We had a great day and she was an amazing hostess!

 The view from our cable car ride.

 The narrow street with cute restaurants, beer gardens and shops.

After lunch, getting ready to head back to the airport.

The next leg of our trip was straight to Riyadh. This flight was also delayed on the runway. We sat out there for almost an hour again. We were so tired by this point, that we both fell asleep sitting straight up. This flight was quick. We landed at midnight and were absolutely exhausted, even after sleeping on the plane a bit. When we first landed my initial thought was, "holy crap, what did we do. I can't believe we live in Saudi." This was very similar to my thoughts when we first got to China. It didn't last long though. We got off the plane and started to talking to our friend Carolyn. She and her family were also in Shanghai and we met them last year. We walked towards customs and we immediately greeted by Brian and our principal Jenny. I can't even explain how that made us feel. It was so comforting to see people we knew and that live there already. The rest of the new teachers (that made it with a Visa) and the two of us chit chatted and went through customs quickly. The Saudi workers were so friendly and made us feel so welcome. I honestly wanted to cry, it was so unexpected and wonderful. Brian had workers come to help us with our 8 bags, so we did nothing. They got our bags and we began to leave baggage claim. 

The next part I knew about, but forgot. We came out and a bunch of admin and teachers were outside yelling and cheering and taking pictures and were so excited to meet us and help us. I had tears in my eyes (and I do again right now thinking about it). We couldn't have asked for anything better. But, it does get better. They loaded all of our luggage into another van and we journeyed to our compound. It was dark, so we couldn't see much. They dropped each of us off at our villas and took us in and made sure everything was ok. It was more than ok, our kitchen was stocked with plates, utensils, food, drinks, pots, pans, coffee, a coffee maker, a toaster...I could go on and on. Cleaning supplies were bought for us, laundry detergent, an iron and an ironing board. Upstairs the bed was made with nice sheets and clean towels were ready for us as well as soap. Our luggage was dropped off and added to our 17 boxes already delivered. We had working phones and wifi already hooked up as well. We got what we needed for the next day, showered and went to bed feeling REALLY good!

A few pics of the wonderful things they did for us and some things I am really excited to have here in our home!

 This was a welcome gift from our buddies. We had a couple that we talked to through email, several times before we came here. They left us this little gift and they live next to us.

 I have a real oven to bake delicious food! And the lots of burners!

 A dishwasher!!!! Yay!

 Our bed all made up for us.

 A giant soaking tub and a rainshower head! 

 This is our car. :)

This is our home!

I was going to write more, but I am exhausted. I will tell you about the next day tomorrow. It was a good one! More pictures to come as we unpack the last of our things and get more settled in.

Christy

PS- I am too tired to reread this. If it doesn't make sense, I apologize. ;)