From Tennessee To Texas to Saudi Arabia

Thanksgiving in Yanbu. It started out with a completely foreign feel. The kids, Greene and I would typically have the entire week off, so working and going to school up to and on Thanksgiving made it feel like any other week.

I had ordered our new car on Monday of that week, and was told it would be delivered Thursday, Inshallah. I fully anticipated waiting into the next week, but I got the call on Thursday at 6 that it was ready. Good Inshallah. We were dropping off Macy at the school for a movie night, so we went to pick the new car up while she was there.

We arrived and signed the final paperwork. We were told it would be 10 minutes, Inshallah. Bad Inshallah. We waited for a few minutes, then started looking around at the 5 cars they had in the showroom. There are no car lots here in Yanbu, just showrooms. Jeddah has more vehicles, but we were content with looking at the showroom Fortuner and ordering with our desired trim level.

After a few minutes, our sales guy came out and pantomimed something. I had no idea what he was trying to ask. He took us back into another area and turned the lights on to reveal a pool table. It was almost prayer time, so the lights had to be turned out in the main showroom. We were left to shoot some pool while most everyone else went to pray. Check out that hot chick.

Macy’s school hosted a volleyball tournament on Thursday and Friday. We spent the morning watching some great volleyball. The girls made it to the championship game, but lost to a good Riyadh team. There was a birthday party to attend that afternoon, and then a basketball game that evening. Some Filipinos have arranged a tournament to benefit a village back home, so the compound residents formed a team to play.

Saturday brought our chance to sit down for our Thanksgiving dinner. The local market had a few 8 pound turkeys. We had our normal, except for the dressing. This was a little difficult, since Memaw and Papaw’s recipe was a favorite around the holidays (and many days after). Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix is hard to come by over here. We’ll be better prepared next Thanksgiving. It was still a great holiday meal. Mamaw’s Friendship Tea had a Levantine flair.

We’ve had 3 good rains since I’ve been here. They haven’t been heavy enough to cause major flooding issues. It doesn’t take much. The drainage systems are usually less than adequate, and the problems are compounded when the sand drifts and blocks the drains. I’ve been told that 20 years ago, Yanbu saw much more rain, so it’s not uncommon for this area. As later pictures will show, the rain will cause some areas to come to life.

Our first adventure out was with Dani, Melissa and their two boys. We both wanted to try out the new rides in the foothills of Mt. Radwa. We packed some food and water and drove north of Yanbu. It took us about 40 minutes on hardtop, then we made for the sand. There were many families out parked in various spots. One popular activity was sliding down the sand. There were many fires going. We stopped at a few spots and explored. It was by far the most fun we’ve all had since we got here. There are many other places to explore, and we look forward to this being a regular getaway. Hopefully we’ll build up enough confidence to camp out in one of these spots soon. We were astounded by the varied landscapes and the beautiful views from the top of the peaks.