The first two full days in Riyadh

After landing at midnight and getting to our villa after 1am, we didn't end up getting to sleep until 3. We had to wake up for a 9am breakfast the next day, Wednesday. After roughly 5 hours of sleep, we woke up and headed to our first day at 'work'. The new staff members that are already here joined the leadership team right on our compound. Just down the street from our villa is the recreation center and another building with restaurants, the bowling alley, movie theater, grocery store and dry cleaners. We had a catered breakfast there and were able to talk with returning leadership members and ask questions and just get to know everyone a little better. We also stopped at Costa Coffee before we left the building. I love that this is on the compound!!! Next, we walked down to the compound security center and got a photo ID card to enter the compound. No one is allowed to come into the compound without the card or an invitation (given ahead of time) from a resident. After that we had a little tour of the compound. The whole thing is pretty big, so we only saw part of it. We passed the outdoor pool, saw other villas and then went into the rec center. We loved it! It has tennis, squash and basketball courts, an indoor pool, indoor soccer field, two indoor tracks and a full gym all for our use. There will also be Zumba and spinning classes offered.

In the afternoon we had a group trip in a bus to the closest big grocery store, Tamimi. The one on the compound was plenty big, but Tamimi had much more. For this little trip, I wore my abaya for the first time. We didn't have to cover our hair or face, but had to bring a scarf just in case they ask you to cover up. I also learned that you can wear sandals (I didn't think I could) and I could go in and walk around by myself. I just needed someone to drop me off. While there, Travis and I got lots of food and other items. I was very surprised at how westernized it all was. I was thinking it would be like Carrefour in China, but it was the total opposite. I felt like I was in America at a store! You can get just about everything here that you can at home. They had a great selection and everything was in English. It was wonderful!

My new look when headed out into town.

It was nice to see outside of the compound as we drove to the store. Our part of Riyadh is a newer development so there is not much near us. There is a lot of empty land and construction everywhere. The downside to this is all the dust. The upside is that everything is new near us. As we drove it was so nice to see Baskin Robins, DQ and Subway. I also learned that there is a restaurant that is just like Chipotle!!!! 

We headed home and unpacked the groceries. Travis then went to real work at the campus and I stayed home to begin the unpacking. When Travis got home, we finished unpacking 8 suitcases and 17 boxes! We got so much done in one day. This place is still a mess and I need to do some shopping to make it more like home, but it has come a long ways in a short time. We called it a night and went to bed so we could wake up early the next day.

Thursday-

We had breakfast and a meeting at 8am today. Then we went to the medical clinic to give our 'samples' and get our blood taken. This was a quick trip because it was prayer time and the employees needed to leave. It was much quicker than the China one we had to go to four years ago. The rest of the day was spent at school. The campus is coming along, but there is still a lot of work to be done. There are approximately 1, 258 workers on campus finishing it up. It was crazy and VERY dusty. My favorite part of the tour was the dining hall. We have a legit salad bar, an actual Subway restaurant and a wood oven for cooking pizza!!! Are you kidding me?!?! How awesome is that? In addition to the tour, I was able to get into my classroom, so that was great. 

Here is my walk to work. I am standing right in front of our villa. Way at the end of this road is our school. It is about a 5 minute walk for us. 

This evening we all went to the superintendent's home for dinner. He has a gorgeous villa and the food was catered. His backyard was covered in red carpet and we sat outside to eat. It was a great night! We were able to meet some returning teachers as well. The teachers are truly wonderful and very friendly. I am really looking forward to working with them.

So there you have it, another quick summary. If you want to keep reading our blog, please follow us. I will not be posting them all on facebook anymore. I might do a few of the more exciting ones, but otherwise it will just be here.

And now, it's the weekend for me!