Landing on Saudi Sand

We woke early Thursday morning and finished up the last minute packing. We had 5 HUGE overweight bags, 2 large boxes, a stroller, 2 large carry on’s and two blond children. We were to be quite the sight walking through customs later than afternoon. I made sure I had my abaya in my bag to don upon landing, switched all our dirhams to riyals and we were off.

The flight was short and uneventful. We landed in the rain. You can count on one hand how many times a year in rains in Riyadh. I took it as a good omen. We checked in with the Terry’s at our villa’s, relaxed for a short bit and then headed out to start our long list of to do’s. When packing and preparing for the move to Saudi we anticipated moving into a furnished home on a compound. So when the movers came, I opted to ship no furniture. As it turns out, we have ended up in a decent sized unfurnished villa off a compound…leaving us to furnish an entire house. This is no east feat in America. Doing it in every definition of the word, foreign, country, it becomes daunting. But it is what it is and that’s the situation we found ourselves in, so we hit the ground running. I feel like I haven’t stopped running since we arrived. Between IKEA runs, furniture store hopping, shuttling from a hotel to a villa to school, trying to get the kids acclimated, getting told by the Mutawa (i.e. the religious police) to ‘cover your head’, it has been non-stop.

We got Tessa into school on day two in Riyadh. I was told by her teachers in Dubai and the administrators on this end that the shorter the time between school switches, the better the transition would go. I was incredibly anxious about this transition based on her experience in Dubai. That first day was a doozy. It was a repeat of day one in Dubai all over again. Her being brave, fighting back tears and me trying to hold back the flood gates. I climbed back into Iqbal’s car and thought to myself. ‘Can’t. Can’t do it. I can not do that again. To her, and I can’t bear to watch it again.’ BUT, three, four days later and she was finding her groove. I am so encouraged, uplifted, grateful, relieved that this move for her has been a much better experience than the first go around. She seems to have found little friends, is upbeat at pick up, wants to tell me about her days and isn’t fighting it in the morning. The days are long for her, she goes 7:45-2:45, 5 days a week, she is tired at days end, but she is happy and I am happy. Bode rolls with the punches and is a good little sport while Iqbal carts Sophie and me all around Riyadh. We see Wade a lot more these days and we are all happy about that.

After two weeks in a hotel, we are on night 3 in our new home and it’s coming together. Things are slowing down and we’re getting settled in. Saudi is wild. She is going to present a lot of opportunity to exercise patience and to increase understanding. She is also going to provide in many ways (once we are settled) for life to slow down and simplify. There are going to be far more quiet (well, maybe not quiet) nights at home, together as a family. I will look forward to that time and I will do my darndest to find the humor in this crazy, adventurous life.