Blogs from Saudi Arabia, Middle East - page 13

at abu booby airport mooching their free internet! flight was good, all is well xxx... read more

One of the fun things about this work assignment is that I work with consultants from all over the world. This leads to a lot of cultural discussions. Apparently there is a tradition in Sweden of making something called (in English) Pancake Cake. Bjorn has given lessons to Pat and Wolf for making this dessert. What the Swedes call pancakes, Americans (and the French) would call crepes. They are very thin pancakes. So to make pancake cake, you make 10 large crepes (thin pancakes), spread jam on them and layer them with strawberries, blueberries, or whatever fruit you have on hand. Then you cover the whole thing with whipped cream and let it set up in the refrigerator. And voila; you have pancake cake. So if you ever wanted to know what psychologists do when they ... read more

Both of these photos were taken within the last 24 hours. One was taken in Minnesota and the other was taken on my way to work this morning in Saudi Arabia. Can you tell which photo goes to which place? OK, that might not have been the hardest quiz question. While it's been snowing and below freezing in Minnesota, it's been 100 degrees F. (38 C.) here in Dhahran. I think I left at the right time! This is looking like it's going to be quite a short trip. Since the plan is for me to leave a week from tomorrow, I will only have one weekend, which is this Thursday and Friday. A bunch of us are planning an excursion on Thursday with Hal, an Aramco person. Hal wants to take us to a camel ... read more

First few trips to see the campus.... read more

The air steward walked doen the Isle handing out Immigration cards, in large bold print beside a skull it reads "Death to Drug Traffickers". We stepped into the terminal building where hundreds of toweled pilgrims were waiting. They had arrived to visit the holy city of Mecca and perform Umrah. Air France looses my bag for two days..... great start ... read more