Blogs from Khobar, Saudi Arabia, Middle East

Never too late to post this 2016 Christmas gathering with colleagues though simple, we enjoyed celebrating it away from home. This is as usual for expats working in the foreign land and the challenge is that you are in a country that does not celebrate this kind of holiday season. Got teary eyed when this time of the year comes around while I'm here. How one will wish to be back home to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. Now this is the mouth-watering part of the celebration: We all agreed to meet on Friday-off on December 23rd at Hot Pot Restaurant in 4th St, Thuqbah, Al Khobar. This is a smokeless Grill and Shabu-Shabu Restaurant where you can cook-and-eat-all-you-can!! 'till your gut explodes (LOL-just joking) with variety of choices to cook-and-eat like shrimp, dumplings, marinated ... read more

In Octombrie 2011 am poposit pentru prima data in KSA. Încerc sa-mi amintesc emoțiile de atunci, si primele impresii. Multe s-au schimbat in doi ani, si cu siguranță am devenit mult mai toleranta si sper, mai înțeleapta. "Doamne da-mi puterea de a schimba ceea ce poate fi schimbat si de a accepta ceea ce nu poate fi schimbat" pare sa fie cel mai potrivit motto. De aproape doi ani așteptăm sa primim o iqama, un fel de permis de sedere in KSA. Viza pe care o avem ne permite sa stam aici 30 de zile, dupa care trebuie sa "Ieșim" din tara. La început puteam sa obtinem prelungirea vizei si in Riad, in fiecare luna, apoi lucrurile s-au schimbat, si a trebuit sa "Ieșim" odată la doua luni. La început de octombrie eram convinsă ca suntem ... read more

Today was an eventful day, but not everything comes out as planned… The day started with a $2.00 breakfast consisting of a Spanish omelet (no tomatoes), toast, and coffee. This is a weekend tradition with me, unless of course I have the famous Dining Hall waffles or perhaps the pancakes. Well, the coffee is a tradition. After breakfast, I caught the 9:00 am bus to Al-Khobar with “no photos please” Dave, Koen, and Andrej. We visited my favorite gift store to make some strategic purchases and tried to stay cool in the 116 degree heat. The staying cool part didn’t work out so well, especially in my long pants and long sleeve shirt (I can’t show any skin, you know). I took them to Latif, which loyal readers will remember as having the best Zatar (a ... read more

I have no idea whether this will work or not because I've never tried to upload a video before, so let's see what happens. This is a video of the jelly fish I saw in Khobar on April 23. Enjoy!... read more

Last Night in Khobar I wanted to visit with Manir one last time, and besides, I owed him dinner. We met in Khobar, but first I needed to do a bit of last minute shopping. It was hysterical because everyone recognized me! First I went to the pharmacy to buy some more of my mystery item (I’ll attach a photo) and the pharmacist remembered me from the other night. Then back to the store where I had purchased my coffee pots and the guy recognized me before I was even side. Apparently my good-neighbor discount was still intact and I got the quantity discounts based upon my previous purchases. He then showed me everything that was new in the shop since I had been there last (am I their only customer?). Manir needed to pick up ... read more