Sing-alongs, Jelly Fish, and Khobar

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I'm willing to bet that I'm the only person who has a blog title like that!

Last night we went to the a place here at Aramco that has amateur singers. It was like being in a small bar in Bemidji, Minnesota but without the cigarette smoke and without the drinks. Pretty cheesy stuff. But one song they sang was called "You're an Aramcon" sung to the tune of Secret Agent Man. Pretty funny.

Today was a day off since it’s our weekend. In fact, we have three days off because Saturday is an Aramco holiday. So it was time to head to Al-Khobar. For those of you who read my blog in February, you know this is one of my favorite places.

I went to breakfast after sleeping fashionably late (7 am) and saw Bob, the American I met who making his first trip to Aramco, so I asked if he wanted to see Khobar along with Werner (from Brussels) , Eric (from Geneva), and me and he said yes.

I took them back to my favorite store and the owner came from across the street to greet me (he runs two shops). He gave me a warm welcome and told the other guy that all of us got a "special discount" and that he would take care of us. He really did slash prices. That’s a good thing because the total was 300 Riyals and I had a total of 280 Riyals in my pocket (about $80). He took the 280 Riyals and I told him that I owed him 20 Riyals.

We also walked down to the Gulf and saw lots of jelly fish in the water. One was really close to shore and I’ve posted a photo. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a jelly fish before. It’s always something new.

Today was really hot. It was over 100 degrees today and should be hot all week long. AND it's humid. I can't imagine what it's like in August. I don't want to stick around and find out either.

This afternoon I went to the Heritage House which is a museum about Aramco and its history. I’ve included a few photos from there too. There have been thousands of people, many Americans, who have lived 30 or 40 years here and raised families here. I had a long conversation with the woman at the Heritage House who is from Texas and raised three sons here. To them it's home along with the US. It's a very interesting perspective.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Ras Tunura. Marianne, I'll get some sand this time!

This entry has lots of photos, so be sure to click "Next" to see the next page of photos!

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Comments

[Ellen]

Food
Ted: I am missing all those food details. Dish them up!

[Abby]

Jelly Fish
You seem to be getting kind of close to that Jelly Fish for the picture, make sure you proceed with caution cause you know what you have to do if you get stung by one right? Ew..

[eve]

Your Mission...Should You Choose to Accept It
OK, that jellyfish is so cool--kind of looks like one of those badminton thingies (can't remember what they're called)! Which makes me think--your mission this trip needs to be to find some other unidentifiable mystery object for us all to guess on again! Well, we here in Mpls were almost as hot as Saudi Arabia today, believe it or not. It's 85 and humid here right now at 5:30PM in April! Insane. Not ready for this.

[Jessica]

Pictures that you are actually in! How exciting!

[tiner]

"Ted and His New Friend"
That picture of you and the jelly fish . . . you look like you are either ready to jump or use the rocks as an outhouse . . . Funny picture! Looks like you are having a good time!

[TedTravel]

Hot in Minneapolis
eve -- never compete with Saudi Arabia for heat. It was 102 degrees here today! I like your mystery item idea. I'll have to come up with another sewak-like item. BTW, the do believe the term is "shuttlecock" for the badmiton thingie.

[Amanda]

Mc D's
I used to live in Riyadh, I was feeling a bit nostalgic and looking for a cheese bread recipe and stumbled upon your blog. I've been to that mc d's! It's a wonderful country with their two story fast food restaurants.