From Tennessee To Texas to Saudi Arabia

The wife and kids boarded the plane one week ago today. She had some awesome friends helping her out.

The process to get the family over was very smooth and has gone through without any issues. The Saudi Engineering Council membership makes things easy, and the MOI and MOFA processes being online made it painless. The yellow slip was issued within a few days from MOI (without a trip to Jeddah, which is mandatory if your profession is not on the approved list), and then approved by MOFA about 4 days later. This information was sent to the visa processor in Houston, along with the medical forms and immunization records. The wife and kids had their visas about a week after being approved by MOFA.

They had the same itinerary that I had, leaving Wednesday evening and arriving Friday morning. The long layover in the Istanbul airport was eased by showers, eats and all the entertainment the lounge has to offer.

I arrived at the airport at 5 a.m. on Friday in my little Hyundai. I had arranged for a coworker to bring his Suburban for baggage, and he arrived a little after me. I hung out and we talked about his upcoming trip to the beach later that day. I went in to wait outside of arrivals around 5:15. People started filtering through customs about 5:30. After waiting long enough to get worried, one of the customs officers came to the door to allow me back. And the angels sang. It was great to see everyone after the time apart, but we minimized PDA out of respect to the culture. There were 4 guys with loaded down carts bringing them from baggage claim (directly after immigration) and into customs. They unloaded each bag on the conveyor for the x-ray machine and then reloaded them once through. They wheeled the carts out and loaded 16 of the 19 bags into the back of the Suburban in the most expedient manner possible. The last three got thrown in the backseat and the family headed for the Hyundai.

The kids got a little sleep on Friday morning, then we decided to all go out to have dinner. I’ve received recommendations from everyone here, and they all seem to like a little something different. As a result, I’ve had every restaurant recommended. We picked Shaheen and headed off.

The restaurant was closed for prayer, and I got hit up by a man wanting to wash my car as soon as I parked. I needed it, and the smallest thing I had in my pocket was a 50 riyal note. Pretty steep for a car wash, but he happened to be in the right place at the right time.

The crowd grew as we waited outside the restaurant. There was a sign on one of the doors in Arabic. Had no idea what it meant. As the door opened, we started to funnel in with the crowd. I followed the crowd to the right and was immediately called out by the guy up front. “Family section there!” Shoulda made a left at Albuquerque.

The place was filling up and we were initially told they were full. After the hubbub settled down, there was a table for us, so we piled into a small, curtained-off area with a table for four. The waiter left to get another chair and returned with a menu. We ordered chicken sheekh kebabs, chicken boti, chicken handi, sweet and sour chicken, some noodles, and enough rice for the whole restaurant. Everyone gave everything a try and everyone found something they liked.

I came out to find I spent 50 riyal to have the dirt relocated from one spot to another on my car.

The focus the next few days was to get body clocks adjusted, making for some rough days. On Saturday, the parents traveled out to the mall and grocery store to get familiar with what was available. Everyone (except the working guy) made the trip out on the compound bus on Monday to do some shopping and visit the mall. The kids are pretty excited about the shops at the mall.

I have obtained a post office box here in Saudi. Even that process is online. I submitted the required information, was assigned a P.O. Box number, given a SADAD bill number, paid through the bank, and the box was confirmed. We’ll even be notified by text when mail arrives. Our new address:

P.O. Box 2081

Yanbu, 41951

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia