Kenya Safari

I love to travel, but I've spent so much of the past 3 months in a suitcase, it is great to be home and settle for a while. Okay, so just give me a few days and I'll be ready to go again.  Actually, I think of all the women who ask, "How can you live in Saudi Arabia with all the restrictions on women?" It is a culture and worldview very different from ours and there are many things I do not understand, just as I imagine there are things that they do not understand about us -- there have been books written and still....  However, for every restriction, I can list one or more personal benefits.  A big one for me is the ability to travel in and experience far more parts of the world than we would otherwise have an opportunity to see, and at a much more reasonable cost than if we were in the US.  For example, in just under a year, we have visited 9 different countries: USA, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, St Lucia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Italy and now Kenya.  We are from the US and we now live in Saudi, but of the remaining 7 countries, only one of them had I (but not Roberto) been to before.

We just returned from our most recent trip to Kenya where we had an amazing time on a Safari. While exploring the land, there were so many different things on my mind to write about and now I am blank so I'll just post a few pictures.

I have a better idea! Click on Selection of Kenya Safari Photos to easily see a nice selection of our photos. Wish we had a SLR camera, but between our little digital camera and my cell phone we took lots of great pictures.

The following is a pretty good list, though not all inclusive, of what we saw from our jeep as pointed out to us by our guide:

Spring Hare, Dik-dik, Lion, Mongoose, Warthog, Jackal, Hyena, Vervet Monkey, Baboon, Cape Buffalo, Flamingo, Pelican, Various Antelope, Topi, Wildebeest, Eland, Giraffe, Zebra, Bushbuck, Grants Gazelle, Thompson Gazelle, Impala, Elephant, Black Rhinoceros, White Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Crocodile, Hartebeest, Waterbuck, African Fish Eagle, Yellow Bill Stork, White Stork, White-necked a/k/a Wooly-necked Stork, Lilac-breasted Roller, Heron, Duck, Swan, Ostrich, Steppe Eagle, Kingfisher and more I couldn't get down or understand the name.

The animals were amazing and beautiful, but the landscape itself was also spectacular and the views breath taking.  We were continuously surprised at how quickly it changed as we drove even short distances.  Desert bush and thorns, to green bushes and trees, to open grass lands, to marsh and back again.  Enjoy our Selection of Kenya Safari Photos.

New Company Car

Hey everyone!  It's been a while since I posted so there is a lot to catch up on.  For now, Roberto received a promotion and with it came a brand new company car and his own personal driver.  Check it out!

Getting in and out is a little rough, but other than that...

Where's Home?

"Home is where your heart is."  "Home is where you hang your hat."  I remember my Aunt Betty Jo saying, "A house with love has rubber walls.  There is always room for one more and the noise is absorbed."  There are hundreds probably thousands of quotes about home.  Some say you can never go back.  Others say you will always gravitate back. 

At our front door.

During our recent visit to the US I over heard Roberto say, "This doesn't feel like home anymore.  Our home is in Saudi."  It took me by surprise at first since it is his 1st time to live outside of the US and it's only been 6 months, but then I can also relate.  I've traveled to many countries, lived in 3 outside of the US, my friends are scattered, and each time I return it feels less natural to be there.  It's just not the same. There are always some things that have changed since I was last there and I've changed as I experience new and different places, people, and cultures.

So where's home?  Roberto loves his work and the people he works with.  We've made lots of friends and are enjoying life here.  However, no matter how long we stay, we will never be Saudi.  I loved my work and friends in Afghanistan, but I was never going to be Afghan.  So where's home?

I think this one is most true for me:

“For the two of us, home isn't a place. It is a person. And we are finally home.”

~ Stephanie Perkins

Below are few more quotes as people have tried to answer that question along with more photos of our Villa in Saudi.  Add a comment and let us hear your favorite quote about home.  

The street we live on inside our compound.

 "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."

~ Roberto Frost

“Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place?”

~ Stephanie Perkins

Our Villa from the street.

“Home is the nicest word there is.”

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

“Home is people. Not a place. If you go back there after the people are gone, then all you can see is what is not there any more.”

~ Robin Hobb

Our back patio.

“Well, sometimes home is a person.”

~ Beth Revis

“It’s funny. When you leave your home and wander really far, you always think, ‘I want to go home.’ But then you come home, and of course it’s not the same. You can’t live with it, you can’t live away from it. And it seems like from then on there’s always this yearning for some place that doesn’t exist. I felt that. Still do. I’m never completely at home anywhere.”

~ Danzy Senna

Congratulations Jessica!!!

We are very proud to share that yesterday Jessica Graduated from Bel-rea Veterinary Technician College.  She has always had a passion for animals so we are excited for her future in a career path she loves.

Roberto, a Mexico

Roberto is frequently mistaken for an Arab and men will start talking to him in Arabic before they realize he isn’t.  The other day he was waiting for the elevator and an older Arab gentleman started talking to him.  When he realized Roberto isn’t Arab, he asked, “Where are you from.”  Playing around, Roberto answered, “I’m from Mexico.”  The Gentleman got very excited and said in his broken English, “Mexico! You from Mexico! You the 1^st Mexico, I meet.”

Fishy Cat

Our compound is overrun with wild cats.  They are everywhere.  Many of the residence leave food out for them so they are not lacking.  A couple of them often sleep in the shade of our back porch.  They are not only on our compound, but all over the city.  About a 30 minute drive from us is a private beach for our compound residence only.  It is the only beach where were can wear western swimsuits, but it has a very nice private cove and includes a club house with an indoor pool and restaurant as well.  We spent an afternoon there a few weeks back and, like everywhere, there were a lot of cats.  This particular cat I chased down to get a photo:

He apparently ordered the catch of the day.

Before it got hot and a little windy, but we had a great day.

 

Where’s the Wedding?

In a land with no addresses it can be difficult to find a place.  There are street names, but no #’s.  Recently, Roberto and I were invited to a tradition Saudi wedding by a co-worker and his fiance.  We were honored to be included and to have the opportunity to see a little more of the culture.  We received the traditional invitation along with a separate information and instruction sheet in English.  The invitation said that the men would be welcome from 8:00 – 10:00 pm during which time they would enjoy a nice dinner. Afterward, they could leave or stay and visit with the groom for a while.  The women meet from 11:00 pm - 1:00 am.  During that time, the women would enjoy dinner.  Like many things here, Saudi wedding celebrations are segregated.

The men dress business casual, but the women dress up in formal gowns with as much bling on them as you can imagine and no concern for modesty since there will be no men.  Around midnight, the women cover up with their abayas (the black robe) and veils and the groom joins them for a short time.  When he leaves, they uncover and depending on the family, the dancing begins.  I was looking forward to seeing it and to meet many women.

Roberto left our home at 7:30 pm with a couple of other men from the office and planned to return to pick me up at 10:00 pm to take me for the ladies event.  He was business casual and I was all dressed up ready for a gala ball.  Around 10:00 pm Roberto called to tell me that they had been driving around for the 2 hours and never found the wedding hall.  What a bummer!!!  They had GPS coordinates that lead them nowhere.  They called for directions and even stopped to ask, but never found the location.

So sad!  All dressed up and nowhere to go.  Roberto was a sweet heart and took me out to dinner at the nice upscale restaurant at the hotel on our compound.  It was a good choice under the circumstances since there I wouldn’t have to cover up with the abaya.