ACID Braden

Guest quarters

Once again we returned to the date farm north of Riyadh. This time we went with our friends the Lefebvres; Paul Taralyn, Erik and Mathias. We stayed at the guest quarters (one of about three different guest quarters available) of the family patriarch. The quarters are located on a working date farm, so naturally we took a little walk around the place after arriving from Riyadh.

Leaning-Palm

That afternoon we were taken to the families new home sitting atop a dune and overlooking the valley. It is impossible to describe the tranquility, and surreality of sitting pool-side with a long green lawn stretching out in front of you while looking across a desert valley to the bluffs on the other side.
We went for a little walk through the dunes after having a wonderful lunch. The walk got as far as the first big dune, and then low and behold, what fun it is to throw ones self off the dune and tumble down the soft sand!

Falcon ready to go

At one point in the afternoon we also had the chance to go hunting with falcons. Yes, they keep several trained falcons for hunting. This is a traditional sport in the Middle East (and elsewhere) and was it ever interesting to watch. The first bird has been trained to follow the lead of a couple of dogs who flush the game, usually rabbits or pigeons, and then it dives down and attacks them.

In pursuit

Unfortunately (for us, not the rabbit) the dogs failed to spot the rabbit, but both birds (the second one hunts freely with out the aid of a dog) did get a couple of pigeons. It was really interesting to watch and all eight of us really enjoyed the experience. There was one pigeon that got away, the funny part was that he hung around the house for the next two days.

Tumble Time

The kids did this for about two hours until it was time to light the bonfire and relax with a little tea and watch the stars come out. It was so relaxing and a great time was had by all. From that point we went inside as it was getting a little cold, and had a fantastic dinner. Unfortunately we had forgotten to check all pockets, folds and crevices of clothing for sand. I regret to say I think we left a little bit of the desert in the house! Not to worry though, I think our hosts were used to the situation (they have five children and two grand children) and the cleaning staff was up to the task.

the old and the restored

The next morning we walked through the dates again, after having a three course breakfast. The hard part about that was that they chose to serve us outside….let me tell you, the mornings in the desert are cold! Anyway, after a great breakfast, a nice walk and then a little play we we escorted to the old part of town. The farm lies on the outskirts of a small town called Al Ghat. From what we can gather the original part of town - mud and straw houses - has been bought by the family we stayed with and they are restoring the buildings to be used as guest housing, perhaps a hotel, who knows.

interior

We toured the first of the restored buildings, the one in which our hosts mother was married in fact, and wow was it amazing. As some of you know I am a bit critical when it comes to restoration work, in other words I am not easily impressed. Well let me tell you, this was impressive! Even little things like matching the strike plate color, or painting the AC units so they don’t stand out were taken care of. One interesting thing was the room that used to be the date storage room still smells like dates, the walls have been repaired with new mud/straw plaster, painted, new furniture, etc. and it still smells like dates. The whole site of the old town was really interesting, and I for one would stay there in a heartbeat…well, perhaps once the rest of it is restored, as you can see, the neighboring houses have a ways to go.

at the library

After the old town we went to the town library which the Foundation the family runs had built. It has both a men’s side and women’s as well as a conference center. It is really an amazing facility for such a small town. On Paul’s good advice we took the opportunity to have a nice family photo taken in front of the building.

After the tour we returned to the family home for lunch and a couple of different activities. Charmagne, Taralyn and the kids went camel riding…a first for their family. In fact not only did they ride, but evidently Taralyn and Dante kissed the camels!  I am glad I was not there to see that one.

Check the backgroud

While all of that was going on Paul and I went gazelle hunting.  There is a large heard of wild gazelle (Reem in Arabic) on the property. Originally the families two teenage boys were going to take us but they were busy trying to extract a four wheeler from a sand dune so they gave Paul the Mauser rifle and off we went. I was only armed with a Canon camera and a large kitchen knife (in case we got lucky and had to butcher the gazelle). The upshot was that we had a really nice walk through the dunes, and in the process of trying to drive the Reem back towards Paul I had a wonderful shot of the heard running right in front of me.

Reem herd

Both Paul and I had a good laugh and a lot of fun trooping through the dunes. As a compensation the family sent us home with two frozen sides of meat from previous hunts. As soon as it thaws I am trying gazelle steak on the grill.

The day wound down with a lovely bonfire, story telling and dinner. During this last Isabel really took to our hostess. She, the hostess, is a new-ish grandmother of two small grandsons, and I think she really enjoyed the chance to have a snuggly Isabel hanging on her every word. We are really grateful that Isabel, who seems to need extra adults in her life, had this opportunity. In fact she now claims to have four grandmas; two in the US, one in Germany and now one here. On this warm and comfortable note we went back to our rooms for a good nights sleep. We awoke to another great breakfast (this time inside) and then headed back to Riyadh. We are so grateful for the wonderful people we stayed with, their kindness and hospitality, the great company of the Lefebvre family and the chance to get out of town. This little, action packed, trip was a great way to end our holiday break. So now it is back to the real world, work, students, school politics and all that jazz.

A day in the dunes

Well, we certainly had a most interesting Christmas this year.

The interesting bits began on Christmas Eve. We, the families that stayed here in Riyadh, had a little get together with a pot-luck and bonfire at one of the family’s villas. There were about ten kids running around, dads throwing a football and people enjoying some holiday cheer.  It was a really nice chance to celebrate the holiday together, when most of us are away from family.

Pinata buster

We even had, courtesy of Charmagne and some design help from Alex, a pinata full of candy and clementines! The evening was a lot of fun and a really nice way get into the holiday spirit.

As the kids had been sick for a week, we left the party a little early, came home, got into pj’s and began to unwind from the exciting day.  And as the story goes, “When what to our wondering ears should we hear, but the knocking of a gloved fist upon our door, so dear.  We flew to the portal and flung it wide, and to our great surprise, there stood St. Nick with holiday wishes to tide.

Santa

You should have seen Isabel’s eyes!  She backed up a few steps and did a bit of a “Am I dreaming?” check before she let it sink in.  They were both a bit cautious, but you can see from the picture that their hesitation did not last long. We had a great little visit and it was really wonderful of Santa to stop in for a visit on such a busy night.

After our visitor left we got the kids, and their huge smiles, off to bed, made all the necessary arrangements for a good Christmas morning and we too turned in for a little sleep.

Anticipation

The next morning we managed to get up before the kids and get the tree light on, but that was about it before they were there and ready to go. We had a lot of fun opening lots of gifts that made it from both families back home (Thank You!) as well as stockings and Santa’s gift. It was extra interesting when Isabel’s doll (which, by the way, she guessed what it was before opening it, based on the doll accessories that were in her stocking) seemed to be bleating, yes, bleating.

As Charmagne and I were looking at each other with a “what the heck?” look there was a knock at the door. Now who would knock on someone’s door, even in Riyadh, at 7:00am on Christmas morning? Answer: Paul, Armando and a goat. It seems that Armando (our facilities manager) was helping Paul (our friend) get some wood for his bonfire pit when they passed a goat souq. Paul had the idea that it would be funny to take a goat around to different houses Christmas morning and as Armando was going to buy one for the workers at school as a thank you for all their hard work…we ended up with a goat in our yard Christmas morning.  You might be wondering how someone could even bring a goat onto a compound, but let’s just say that as Paul drove the school’s van through our check-points and onto the compound, the guards said, “Ah, it is Christmas.”  Needless to say, it was a really unusual and fun way to start Christmas day.

Dante, Erik, Matthias, Isabel

That night Paul and the rest of the Lefebvre family came over for dinner and a little gift exchange. We were to have had dinner at their villa but as it was being painted that day…remember, Christmas is not a day off here…they catered dinner at our house.  We all got the kids costumes, which was a HUGE hit, and they spent about 2 hours running around in their costumes and we had a lot of fun sitting around a fire and listening to the kids play. It was a really nice way to wrap up the day. While we all missed our families back home, our families here helped make this a wonderful Christmas.

Here are a few more random Christmas photos: click to enlarge

(see below for the goat video)

Thanks go to Paul for making the video and uploading it to YouTube!

We are (finally) into our Christmas Break. It has been a long haul but the break finally rolled in. And we started it with both kids, beginning with Dante, getting sick. While Isabel never had a high fever she had the stuffy nose, cough and general aches and pains. Dante on the other hand gave us a bit of a scare. He hit close to 104F one night and was in the tub cooling off. Fortunately it came down fast and though he still has a cough four days later he is definitely on the mend.

As for Char and I we are trying to stay healthy and not get too exasperated dealing with two sick and uncomfortable…i.e. grumpy, kids. Right before break the kids had their winter concerts. Both did a great job and had a lot of fun. Needless to say we were very proud of them.

From Winter Concert

From Winter Concert

For more pictures click the links under the photos

For the next two weeks we have no real plans, we would like to head up to the date farm that we have visited in the past, but we’ll see. Other than that a few day trips, a visit to the souq for a little shopping, take some new teachers to the old town…but mostly we just want to relax.  We’ll be around if you wish to call, Skype or email.

We wish all of you the best this holiday and Happy New Year!

ACID

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity of taking eight students from ninth and tenth grade to Amman, Jordan. The trip was for the model united nations club. First off I have to say I had a great group of kids, from the management standpoint I could not have asked for a better group.

We arrived with little incident, which when leaving Saudi with a mixed gender group and not being the parent of any of them is an amazing feat in and of itself, and got to the hotel. The organizers had a very long, loud and pointless get together the first night. By way of pointless we supposedly tried to break the world record for most number of people patting their heads while rubbing their tummies…yeah. The next day we had to be up at 4:30am to get on a bus bound for Petra. If you are not familiar with petra this photo should help you identify it, if from nothing else than Indiana Jones:

The place was amazing. The buildings all carved out of rock, endless caverns and canyons snakng through the desert. As I understand it we actually saw very little of Petra. It is a vast complex and had we not had a guide that must have been paid by the numer of tourists he could get through in a day we might have seen a bit more. Reaqlly though, to do it justice you would ave to stay at the nice hotel at the entrance and spend a couple days exploring. Should you be planning a trip take the hotel, it is four hours one way by bus from Amman…needless to say when we got back, late, it was all we could do to get dinner and prepare for the opening ceremonies the next day.

The conference itself lasted three days. It was opened with a very interesting presentation by one of the Jordanian princes on the topic of land mines. This was not one of the conference topics, so I am not sure how it related other than the fact that his foundation helped fund the conference. As for the three days of conferencing, well it was interesting and a learning experience for all of us. I had never been to one of these before and took a lot of notes for when we have ours here in February. My strongest impressions were: Do it in two days, not three and keep the conference in English. The “local” delegates kept speaking in Arabic. Not only was this against policy but there were several schools (ours included) that did not have Arabic speakers and so were left out quite a bit.

Most of my students did not propose any resolutions or amendments, but did take semi-active roles behind the scenes. A couple though really got into it and were significant contributors. It was really neat to see them in action. Perhaps the best time of the whole trip for me was when, after the first conference day, we ordered room service and all worked together on proposals, terminology and procedure. It was really neat to see them working so closely and all getting something from the experience.

The last day I got to visit a former student who, owing to a terrible car accident last summer, is in hospital. At the time she was in Amman so her mom came to pick me up for a visit. She looked great and was excited about a move to a hospital in Germany where she hopes to get better care. Good Luck, Aya!

After a very long trip away from my family we all returned to the Magic Kingdom and I was able to reunite with my family. It was hard being gone that long and I hope that the next time it is a shorter trip.

Here are a few photos of various locations and sights…including what happens to a teacher who has been chaperoning a group of teenagers…

After living here for almost six years, I (Charmagne) had one of the most amazing cultural experiences to date.  A few weeks ago, I was invited to a Saudi wedding and while I don’t have any pictures to share with you, I will try as best as I can to paint a picture of the evening for you…

I was invited to the wedding by the mother of the bride.  For those of you who read our blogs/website on a regular basis, this invitation came from the same family that has invited us to their ranch on a number of occasions and whose members have truly been wonderful examples of Saudi hospitality and culture.

Now the wedding…

The wedding began at 10:00pm, but truth be told, I was so excited to be going, that between the adrenaline rush and the evening glasses of coffee, I was not at all tired.  And despite the offical 10:00pm arrival time, I was told to come sometime a little later, as the bride would not be entering the hall until midnight.  So, armed with that knowledge, I dressed for another party (celebrating Diwali) that was being held at the deputy ambassador from India’s house and attended this engagement first.  (When it rains, it pours!)  The Diwali party was a lot of fun, but alas, 10:00pm came and I, along with my friend Crystal, who’d be accompanying me to the wedding, changed party clothes and off we went.

We arrived at the reception hall at about 10:45pm, in our school van (about the size of a VW bus), right behind an expensive Mercedes and in front of an equally expensive Audi.  We knew that we were clearly in the right place.  We entered the reception hall (though palatial would really be the appropriate word to describe the size of the hall), checked our abayas and eventually found what we presumed was the reception.  No, we didn’t crash another party, but we weren’t in the “official” reception room; we were in what could only be deemed the world’s largest parlor.  There must have been at least 60 seating areas (all with three sofas and a coffee table, full of sweets) in this room.  So, we walked into the “parlor” through the main entrance and were greeted, thankfully, by the bride’s sister, who must have seen the confusion on our faces.  She kindly explained what we were to do and off we went to find the mother of the bride, Munera, who looked incredibly elegant in her rose colored gown.  Munera showed us to a seating area where we sat with other foreign women and were later joined by a parent from the school.  We sat in complete awe of the incredibly beautiful women around us in gowns - truly amazing gowns on some, incredibly unique gowns on others and some stunningly gaudy gowns on others.

Here we sat eating and drinking, served by women in an orchestrated dance, until a little past midnight.  We had coffee and sweets, tea and cakes, juice and savory items and finally water.  Once that sequence was finished, the servers started all over again.  Needless to say, we ate and drank a lot, while we chatted with the other women in our seating area, people watched and listened to a band play traditional music, while some women danced.  (The band was all female.  In fact, weddings are predominately gender segregated affairs - and apparently the women have a lot more fun at their weddings than the men at theirs!)

At a little past midnight, the lights dimmed and the door at one end of the “parlor” opened and in walked three adorable girls in beautiful Haute-couture dresses.  They walked the length of the room, down a sort of catwalk.  Along each side of the catwalk sat the matriarchs and what must have been the more important family members on couches, arranged in a sort of wavy-line.  At the end of one of these lines, closest to the end, sat one of the wives of the late king.  I never imagined being at a wedding with women of this social class.  Yea - not only were we among the elite, we were totally under dressed.  After the young girls made their entrance, the doors opened again and there stood the bride in a Haute-couture bridal gown, looking absolutely stunning and amazingly beautiful.  She too walked down the catwalk, which took about 15 minutes.  After her procession, she sat at the end of the catwalk on a set of sofas.  Women then got up and paid their respects.  The orchestrated serving mentioned earlier continued in full swing.

At about 1:30am, perhaps closer to 2:00am, the doors opened again and in walked the groom, his immediate family and the bride’s family.  The men walked swiftly towards the front while the women in the room nominally covered their heads and a few their faces.  The families spoke for a while up front among themselves, and later some of the people paid their respects.  After about 20 minutes the men left, taking leave from the matriarchs along the catwalk, leaving the groom up front.  He stayed for a while longer and then left with the bride down the catwalk.

Now, one might presume that this was the end, but oh no, not even close.  On two movie theater size screens (everything up to this point had been shown on those two screens, as if you were at a concert.  And if you weren’t up front, it would have indeed been difficult to see), we saw pictures of them leaving and entering the banquet hall - indeed, it was going to be a long night.  In the banquet hall, which had heretofore been closed off from the palatial parlor, there were elaborately decorated tables, a cake with seven layers that rose taller than I am, beautiful flowers and a buffet that ran the course of the room.  We watched the bride and groom cut the cake and make a toast with date “wine.”  After this, we were invited in to dine, but only after incense was brought around to each person.  (We were meant to waft the smoke in our faces and freshen up.)

The food was amazing (everything from traditional Arab food to caviar and lobster tail) and the hall even more beautiful up close and personal.  Everyone ate, including the servers, the band, the nannies who had come to watch after the children, etc.  Even in the midst of their own celebration, we saw the perfect example of Saudi hospitality.  We ate until 3:30am when, out of exhaustion, we decided to go home.  The wedding, though, continued on throughout the morning and ended sometime around 8:00am.  (Apparently they usually end at about 5:00am!)

So, I can’t imagine that I left anything out.  It was a beautiful wedding and an experience that I never thought I would have and for which I am truly grateful!

Here is what living in the overseas ex-pat world is like. We could not go to eat at the compound restaurant because it was closed for a “special guest”. Then we remembered that Jimmy Carter’s, yes, that Jimmy Carter, son lives on the compound when he is in Saudi on business.

Sure enough last night and this morning there were Former President sightings galore. So tonight we went for a walk past his son’s villa to see if we could catch a glimpse of him; I also happened to be carrying a copy of his recent book, you know, just in case. Unfortunately as we came closer it was evident the President would not be outside as there were several armed Saudi soldiers, Police cars and a few Secret Service vehicles and agents about. I don’t know who he was having dinner with, but they must have been important.

While there was no autograph…perhaps the kids and I will go for a walk early as that is when the President seems to be out and about…and none of the history teachers have yet to spot him it is still pretty exciting.  I can’t imagine that happening in dreary old Loveland.

Photos first, then the story!  :)  Hover over a photo for the title, click for full size.

Shortly after arriving back in Saudi for another school year we had a break for the religious holiday of Eid. As we knew this was coming we decided last year to buy tickets to visit Oma Karin in Friedrichshafen, Germany. As most of you know she has been a part of our family sense before we were a family. She was a host mother to Charmagne while she was in Germany attending university. Anyway, whenever we can we try to sneak over for a visit. Our last one was two years ago so it was high time we made it over. We had another reason for visiting, Karin’s friend of many years, Walter - who the kids now call Opa - has terminal cancer. On our last visit he was healthy and very energetic, taking the kids for rides on his horses and visiting us at Karin’s house often. This visit was really nice because we could visit with him, but it is obvious that the ravages of the disease have been very hard on him. I think, hope, that our visit was good for him. The kids certainly enjoyed it and it was the only time we really saw him laugh and smile.

Besides visiting family and friends we were able to take a few dries around Southern Germany and into Austria as well. Our first trip was to a small town on an island called Lindau. We thought we had really scored with our visit as unbeknownst to us they were having a Toulouse La Trek show at the town museum. We were all ready to check it out when we realised it was Monday, the day most museums, including this one, are closed. Not to be, I suppose. It is a really nice little town with neat, clean streets that wind between old homes and shops. We had a lovely lunch on the lake and then a pretty drive home through the German countryside.

Our other trip was to a town in Austria called Bergenz. Its principal attraction is a cable car that goes to the top of a peak from which you can see Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Lichtenstein. Unfortunately that was the day that the fall winter caught up with us. By the time we got to the top you were lucky to see thiry feet. The clouds had never dissipated, as they had every other day, and so we spent a rather surreal day roaming through the clouds looking at the local petting zoo, bouncing on trampolines, eating lunch and playing at the playground that were all up at the top. It was a fun day, but it would have been nice to see a little of the view. Next time.

Our last, and most important event happened the day we left Friedrichshafen. Isabel had a birthday! She spent her sixth birthday saying good bye to Opa and Oma, riding a train to Frankfurt and spending the night in a hotel so that we could make our flight the next day. Not exactly your typical birthday.

A couple days before we left my next on line course started. Fortunately Karin has a computer so I was able to begin from there. Also fortunate was the fact that I checked our work email because that is how we found out that the school would be closed to students starting the coming Saturday (our work week is Saturday through Wednesday) for two weeks in the High and Middle schools and Elementary for three weeks. This was by royal order of the king in an effort to limit the spread of H1N1. Now, don’t think that there was an epidemic in Saudi, there was not one. However, with Ramadan ending and the Hajj season approaching evidently the king felt pressure to seem as if he were doing something. Teachers, however, were to come in as usual and conduct their classes online. Now, for me this has been a lot of fun; that is what I am getting a certificate in after all. Charmagne, too, took to the new method of teaching and I would like to think we both did a pretty good job adapting our classes.

As it stands now we are returning in two days to classes full of students, though Isabel and Dante will not be allowed to return for another week.  They have been keeping up with home schooling and we are not too concerned about the missed time for them other than the fact that their begining to miss the classroom environment and structure.

So, we’ll see how the students fared over their home-stay on-line virtual school. The feedback we have both been getting from students is that they seemed to have gotten the material, but really miss being at school with their friends; and even their teachers.

Gosh, where to start?  It was a long, and short summer. That may seem contradictory, but that is sure how it felt.

This posting will be about all the things we did while in Colorado, for more on other summer adventures (Mexico City and London) look for the other posts here on the main page.

We began the summer with the still-pleasant feeling of walking into our own home. We are still so happy with the place and our decision to buy a home. However, with that said, we had thought that after the initial start-up costs we had last year that would pretty much be it…ha!  Between replacing two windows, a car, a new windshield for the car two weeks later, tinting house windows to reduce heat gain, book shelves, guest beds and linens, and various other things…perhaps we’ll stay in Saudi a few more years just to be able to maintain our house! 

After we settled in, which means we went shopping for furniture and a car within the first three days, we unpacked, moved around 20 boxes of books out of the basement and put them out…and boy what a fantastic feeling to be able to see all our books! After we got everything squared away we had our annual visit with the Tippets Clan. And even though this year we met in CO, rather than at the cabin, we still had a great time. Our first question every summer is “When do we get to see the Tippets?” because we so look forward to the time we spend with them. After staying at our house they continued on to a family reunion in Western CO. After our visit with the Tippets, we were able to reconnect with a few friends who are always willing to make the drive up or down to our place.  We had a great time playing with Jack and Paul (and nice to see their parents too!) and catching up with Michael and Susan.  To keep the momentum going, and not let our summer become too long, Charmagne left for five days to go to New York for an IB certification conference. While she was there she was able to hook up with her friend Sam who lives in the Big Apple and has one of the coolest jobs ever: staff editor in the sports department at the NY Times. Charmagne actually loved NYC and was even able to do some sightseeing and take in a show.  Meanwhile Alex and the kids hung out at home and enjoyed our local playground and water play area.

The day Charmagne got back the entire Baier clan, minus brother Gil, also came for a ten day visit. The lack of a car big enough to hold eight people was a bit of a hindrance, but mom and dad Braden did lend us their car for a fantastic trip up into Rock Mountain National Park. After about five days brother Gil came in and we all went to the cabin where the boys (Gil, Gil and Alex) played at being men by cutting down seven (of the over 80) trees that had been killed by the pine beetle. Gil the Younger in particular seemed to really enjoy getting out and doing “real work”…now if we can just get those trees to fall in the direction we wish them to!  he, he.  We had a great time visiting with the family and the cousins loved being able to play together.  One of the highlights of their visit, though, was Jan and Gil sitting outside on our patio every evening watching the sun set, marveling at the lack of bugs, and keeping an eye on the neighborhood traffic.

After the Baier Clan departed we had a few days before flying off to Mexico City to visit our old neighborhood, friends and food!  For more on that please look for the post “Summer-Mexico”.

Because our trip to Mexico was unintentionally lengthened we ended up with only a few days to clean, winterize and pack for our return to Riyadh (with a six day lay-over in London - see “Summer-London”). Like I said in the beginning it was a short and long summer.  We really felt like we did a horrible job getting in touch with family and friends in the CO area. We really intended to, honest! But time just flew by, schedules did not mesh and we were too busy jetting here and there. Our solemn vow for next summer is to stay put, keep visits on a manageable basis and see each and every one of the people we missed this last summer.  Hold us to it!  (Don’t forget Jen, that you promised to remind us of this!)  If you are among the large group of people we did miss, it was not intentional we assure you, please accept our apologies and we’ll look forward to seeing you in 2010.

For more photos from our summer adventures in Colorado please click here.

A long time ago we decided we would return to our beloved neighborhood of La Condesa in Mexico City. We so enjoyed our time there, as well as the rest of Mexico, that it seemed like a must-do. Then we read that for adopted children it is a good idea to take them back to the country of their birth at around the age of five so that they can see and experience their native culture through the ever-positive eyes of youth. So there you have it, we had to go back!  And back we went.

Along with Grandma and Grandpa Braden (thanks for going with us!) we got ourselves down to Mexico City via Mexicana Airlines…not to be flown again should there be a choice!  Not only did they switch the date of our return with out telling us (they moved it up a day) they had all of us, including the kids, scattered all over the plane in individual seats. Hmmm…three and five year old kids sitting alone?!?!  Eventually Char and Mom had to make two trips to two different offices in the city to get them to change the tickets to two days after our original return date, at no fee…good job ladies! In addition to our flight snafu, after we landed we waited in a very hot, low and dirty room for almost three hours to be processed through immigration…I guess it takes a long time when you have on

ly two workers for four airplanes worth of visitors…  Anyway, despite a rocky beginning we got a legit taxi and made our way to the Red Tree House, our home away from home.  And it truly was a home away from home.  We could give you a hundred examples of how well we were treated, the care they used to look after their guests and the kindness shown by all of the staff. It is, by far, the best place we have ever stayed in all the travels we have ever taken.  If you are ever going to Mexico City, we whole-heartedly recommend staying here.  Our first room (we had to change for the last couple days because of our extended stay) was in the Penthouse where we had a kitchenette and fridge. The room was accessed by a very tight series of steps, very tight indeed! All of the rooms were really nice, clean and very well decorated.  And despite having the kitchen we still ate breakfast downstairs because the ladies had a different traditional breakfast every day…and man do we miss good, home-cooked Mexican food, it was great!  The Red Tree House was, simply put, just a pleasurable place to stay.  We felt at home, like we were staying with friends.

After getting situated we did the following:

FRIDAY: we walked around the old neighborhood, saw our old parks and had lunch at El Pendulo - a great cafe and book store/hang out place.  It was so nice to see all the changes that have happened while we have been away. Streets seemed cleaner, some sidewalks fixed, a few more restaurants, but I think fewer clubs and a fantastic, new, very modern playground in Parque Espana next to our old apartment. It was really great to see our neighborhood transformed in such a positive way.

SATURDAY: We went down to Bizarre Sabado - an art and handi-craft market that we used to frequent. Though we did miss one of our artist friends, we found two others who were still there. One in particular, Enrique, spotted us coming even before we saw him and as soon as he saw us, he was up and running over to say hello. It was so nice to see him again and have a wonderful reunion with a truly nice person.  We had a nice lunch in the area and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

SUNDAY: Sara’s house: Sara was our part time maid in Mexico when we lived there. She would come on Sundays and was with us the whole three years we worked in Mexico. We had lost touch with her over time, but thanks to a letter from Mom managed to get back in touch.  She came to visit us on Friday and invited us to a breakfast on Sunday. We did not know what to expect, but got way more than we could have ever imagined. Her son came and picked us up in the morning and drove us to their home. They are in the two year process of remodeling and expanding their home which stands wedged between two other homes in a long row of brick and morter houses. Though the inside was being redone, they had one of the “homiest” homes we have ever been in. You could feel the love of their home the minute you walked in the door.  The kids and grandkids had prepared a collection of signs welcoming us to their home and thanking us for visiting them! It should have been the other way around, no doubt.  Sara prepared many dishes, fruit (of which Dante ate two plates) and refreshments. Isabel was immediately whisked off to play with the three granddaughters and a grandson, and despite a language barrier they got along famously. Other than coming in to grab a bite to eat, she was off playing with the kids, as one of the family, the entire morning.  Dante, on the other hand, spent much more time at the breakfast table, than his sister, and after countless pieces of toast, he was finally satiated.  At the end of the visit they presented each of us with a gift to remember them by; as if we could ever forget such a wonderful visit.  It would be hard to overstate how touched and thankful we felt. This was the highlight of the trip for all of us and we are so grateful to have had this opportunity.

MONDAY: As most museums and tourist sights are closed on Mondays we decided to go to the Venice of Mexico City, Xochimilco.  This is a series of canals that go around the old growing beds originally built by the Texcoco people and expanded by the Aztecs.  Now it is mostly homes and nurseries and a lot of garish boats that take the tourists around through the canals. We had a lot of fun, and Grandma paid for a floating mariachi band to serenade Isabel with a song. Aside from that we bought roasted corn, drinks and touristy trinkets from other floating vendors. Though the trip was a bit drawn out (our guide seemed new and not sure how far to go for two hours of boating) we had a nice time in a traditional Mexican day vacation spot.

TUESDAY: We hopped aboard the TouriBus. This is a double decker bus that takes you around the city. You are free to get on or off at any of the stops. We had a nice drive and got off at the anthropology museum. In all of his previous visits, grandpa had missed the room with the Olmec heads as it was always under construction.  Thankfully, after five years, the room was open and we had a nice visit. One of the highlights was the pond with turtles and fish.  Isabel was also fascinated with the more modern displays showing Mexican culture and heritage. Needless to say this made us very proud. We also watched some dancers who recreate an Aztec ritual whereby five guys climb a tall pole and while one makes the pole rotate four others tie themselves to ropes and use the outward rotational momentum to slowly lower themselves to the ground.  It is an interesting ritual (I don’t remember the original purpose) and I am quite glad it is not me doing it!

WEDNESDAY: Our last full day in town. We spent this day going down to see the one thing Isabel was really keen on seeing, Frida Kahlo’s House in Coyoacan. The Blue house, made famous by Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera, was a great stop and though a bit over the head of a five year old, Isabel was still able to identify many of the things she has learned about Frida from her books…in fact she made me take her through the house twice! After visiting the house we went down to the center of Coyoacan and walked around and had lunch. Isabel and Char had to return early so Dante, Grandma, Grandpa and I went on a hunt for an elusive store that supposedly had traditional Mexican clothing for the kids…no luck, but I must say I was very proud of Dante who did not complain once on what turned into a very long walk over some very uneven ground. When we got back Char and Grandma went down to a different market area and were able to find some clothing and gifts. I am really glad she did so as it will be nice to have traditional clothes for the kids when the school celebrates International Day.

That was our trip to Mexico. It was a whirlwind of activity, sights, friends and food. It was truely a great trip and we are so glad we did.  Hopefully Isabel will have as fond a memory of the trip, and her herritage, as we do.

If you would like to see all of our photos from the trip please click here.

Our last adventure of the summer was a six day layover in London. There were two real goals behind this stop. One was to see London, neither Char or I had ever been there and as we were passing through it seemed like a good idea to extend the lay-over. The second reason was we figured a few days of touristing would help all of us overcome jet lag a little better than just trying to muscle through it here in Riyadh.  As things worked out we split the cost of a flat with friends of ours here at school; Paul, Taralyn, Eirk (6) and Matthias (4) Lefebvre. Almost every day we would take in a sight in the morning, ride the tube back to the flat mid afternoon (at which time the kids would nap) and then relax and have dinner in the flat.  It worked really well for fighting the jet lag as well as getting to see some really interesting things in the city. The only real downer was the cost! Food is crazy-expensive and while some sights were free or cheap others were outrageously expensive.

We had a great time, and were even able to catch up with another school family, Jaison, Crystal and Aiden (4) for dinner the first night. And I know this is contrary to popular wisdom, but all the meals we had were really tasty. Anyway, among our stops were the Tower of London where the kids got to draw images and have them uploaded to a web site of kids art work. The link to that site is here and then navigate to the photos from 5-8-09. Later that day we saw the bridge raised for a large sailboat to pass through, very interesting!  Alex also really liked looking at the restored original engines that were used to raise the bridge.

Another highlight was a ride on the London Eye. This large ferris wheel gives you amazing views of the city and we were fortunate enough to have weather that allowed us to see what seemed like the entire city. After the “flight” as they call it, we took a long walk around the area and found the only cheap lunch of our trip in a local community center.

For Alex the only other must-see was Churchill’s war time bunkers. There is a really nice tour that goes through the complex where they have restored many rooms and even added in mannequins to give it a more realistic feel. It was really interesting and Alex was not disappointed.

Our last major stop with the Lefebvres was the Tower of London. What a great place! So much of it is wonderfully restored and the exhibits inside and out were very informative and interactive. The kids got to practice sword play and try on mid evil helmets and chain mail. We all had a lot of fun, and other than the crown jewel display (long lines to see old video of coronations before being whisked past the jewels on a conveyor belt) we had a great time.They had a really nice display of armor, including a lot from Henry VIII…you know, the king with six wives and and a poor self image - or so the very large cod piece in his armor would indicate.

As we stayed a day longer than the Lefebvres we spent our last day at the London Zoo. There were a lot of nice areas, especially the primate and aquarium. Isabel enjoyed the lion, though he was sleeping and Dante was a big fan of the Galapagos turtle. From there we made our way through Hyde Park and back to the flat for a late night flight to Riyadh.

We had a really nice trip, and the Lefebvres were great travel companions. The second goal of overcoming jet lag was also achieved and we will be doing the same thing, who knows where, next summer on our way back to Riyadh.

To see more photos of our trip in London click here.