The Other Side of Life

I realized that my Saudi posts have mostly centered around the scary and shocking things that have happened since moving here, and I don't think that's a fair and accurate picture of our life. While they are fun to talk about, I'm not sharing the whole story. We actually have a pretty nice life! Here's why:

1. We live on a compound that has almost everything we need within walking distance, including a beach, restaurant, mini-mart, fitness center, pool, and playschool.  The compound feels extremely safe (much safer than our neighborhood in Houston), and I really like it. Yesterday Lucy and I walked out our backyard and played on the beach for two hours. Travis has had more opportunities to exercise since moving here 6 weeks ago than in the previous six months. He can spend his time with us and focus on his health instead of commuting. Which brings me to:

2. NO DRIVING! Travis is never stuck in traffic (or at a train!) coming home from work. I'm never stuck in traffic just trying to go to an appointment or playdate! I can always address the toddler's needs when we're in the car (although sometimes I miss being able to sit up front and ignore her). Our drivers are fabulous and truly take care of us--I haven't put groceries in the car or taken them out since we arrived! A really nice change from having to carry groceries up the stairs in our townhome. Now I have heard that when more families are back from their summer vacation a car might not always be available when I want to go somewhere, but I suppose that will just force me to plan ahead better.

3. Living on a compound means we live within walking distance of our entire community. I love the regularity we can eat dinner and fellowship with friends simply because they are close! It's also really nice actually knowing all of our neighbors.

4. Moving here isn't just about being in Saudi--We will have so many more travel opportunities than ever before. Travis gets 3x as much vacation, and as part of our benefits package we also get compensated for some of our traveling expenses. Some of the places our friends here have traveled to are (most of) Europe, Thailand, the Seychelles, Maldives, Australia, and of course other parts of the middle east like Dubai. I am so excited to see the world! 

5. Financially we could not make a better decision. Our time here will allow me to stay at home with the girls indefinitely... or go back to school to pursue something I'm truly passionate about.

6. The cities we spend our time in are so much more Western than I ever anticipated, so it doesn't feel like we're actually living all that differently from before. Maybe it was because I was 10 years younger and a poor student at the time, but living in Prague felt more complicated than living here.

Yes, there are inconveniences. If we want to shop or eat we have to plan them around prayer time. We have to call for a driver ahead of time, but they can usually be here in 15 minutes which actually has helped me to be more prepared to leave the house! I do have to wear an abaya when we leave the compound. Clearly we have some work to do to figure out the visa situation. To talk to our families we schedule skype dates--however this is how we communicated with them when we lived in Houston, now we just have to accomodate the time difference. I think being here has actually prompted MORE skype dates since it seemed "easier" when we lived in the states. Or maybe it's because we aren't as busy so we have more time to talk with our families? Regardless it is a welcome change. It is inconvenient not finding chicken stock in the grocery store, and not having alcohol or pork available, but there are plenty of other options and no one seems to be any less happy here because of it.

And yes there are things we miss about being in the US, namely our Houston community who we shared life with on a daily basis for 7 years. But for this season of our lives, this feels like the right place to be. We are excited for future adventures and hope that all of our learning experiences in the past six weeks will prevent some of the scary things from happening again. And while I don't yet feel comfortable discussing the details on a public blog while living here, know that we are leaning on our faith to provide for us and sustain us in those times of need.