In the last post I reflected on some of the aspects of moving/living here that disappointed us, or where not what we expected. Let's move on to the positive then...The Weather
As I am typing this at 10:26am, it is 104 dusty degrees, expected to climb up to 115 by mid afternoon. So to say that the weather is something that we were pleasantly surprised must sound crazy. What we didn't expect, however, is how quickly we would adjust to the heat and most of the time not really notice how hot it is (until the air conditioner breaks). That being said, when I have to go downtown in my abaya (the black gown), I definitely notice the heat! To our amazement, the kids still play outside and ride their bikes - they just come in a lot for water and popsicles. The main reason why I am listing the weather on the positive side is not the heat tolerance issue, but the fact we had at least seven straight months of spring/fall type weather. It was wonderful to be able to have that much time to be able to do outside activities.
Education
We couldn't have been more pleased at the quality of the school here. We found the teachers and staff to be well qualified, experienced and happy to be teaching. The resources were fabulous, class sizes good, the library well stocked, the technology up date and in good supply - there really wasn't anything lacking. We reluctantly left a great public school in Michigan without knowing for certain how the schools here would compare. When you make a gutsy move, it's such a relief when the gamble pays off.
Family Time
One of the major reasons we moved over here was to be able to spend more time together as a family. In the states, Steve took a lot of business trips and worked long hours, including weekends - and when he was around, he had a lot of underlying stress. I was a bit skeptical about the Saudi Aramaco's promised 40 hour weeks and no working on the weekends. I am pleased to say that he always comes home for lunch (along with the kids), truly leaves work at 4pm every day, and has never worked a single weekend. In addition to being able to spend so much more time with us, he has a much better work/life balance.
Socializing
We knew there would be little to do socially outside of getting together with other families. What we didn't expect was how much we would enjoy it. There are no good restaurants around here, whether on camp or in Khobar - but we LOVE to eat, and eat well. What to do? We have the time and relaxed lifestyle to enjoy the cooking together, and sharing it with friends has been a delight. Do we miss other entertainment, such as going to the movies? Yep, but when we do, we head over the bridge to Bahrain and catch one there. And Bahrain does have good restaurants, where we don't dine alone - we usually meet friends.
Close Quarters
My biggest personal positive surprise is the way I feel about living on the compound. Before leaving the states last summer, I'm sure I expressed to many of you my reservations about living in a 10 square mile, fenced community. I feared that I would go stir crazy, feel confined and generally hate it. The reality is that it doesn't bother me, perhaps because I do go into Khobar with either Steve or my girlfriends a couple times a week for shopping. Or perhaps the 10 square miles feels larger than it sounds. I don't know - I just don't think about it really. And the fact is, nothing is more than a 10 minute drive from my house. I can walk to a yoga class and be there in 3 minutes. The pool/gym/restaurant area is a five minute walk and the school is about a 10 minute walk. And remember, of the 10.5 months out of the year we actually live here, it's not too hot to walk to these places. Steve's commute is 10 minutes, even less if he's not going during "rush hour." Thinking back on some of the other places we've lived, where for example it would take 30 minutes or longer to drive the kids one way to soccer practice a couple times a week, the 10 square miles is awesome. Think about how much time we have to do things we enjoy much more than driving.
In a nutshell, there were things that we were definitely disappointed to find here. But the things that really mattered to us, the reasons we came...the family time, the money, the schools, the travel...those things were as we had hoped. The rest we can work through together.
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