Travel Itinerary!

Well, today my travel itinerary arrived from Houston along with my E-Tickets from Aramco. Tuesday, March 27th I am depart from Manchester, NH and fly to Houston via Cincinnati, Ohio. When I arrive in Houston I will meet 23 other fellow teacher/ travelers and we will be brought to a hotel in Houston for a day and a half orientation with our Aramco hosts and mentor teachers who have previously traveled to Saudi Arabia.

Thursday, March 29th, I will depart from Houston on a 9 hour and 20 minute flight to Amsterdam (5,014 miles). There I will have a FIVE hour layover before I travel another 6 hours on a flight from Amsterdam to Dammam, Saudi Arabia (another 2,925 miles). After over TWENTY hours of traveling, I should arrive in Saudi Arabia and I hope we are scheduled for one LONG nap!

The travel plans inside the country have not been given to us, but I do know that I will be staying at the Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh and the Jeddah Hilton. Check out my web links if you want to see pictures of these gorgeous hotel facilities. Notice the gorgeous health clubs. Unfortunately, as a woman traveler, I will not be able to use those health facilities as they are designated as men's only.

Please continue to check this site frequently so that you can travel with me and learn about life in Saudi Arabia!

Two weeks left !

Hello again!

With only two weeks left until my trip to Saudi Arabia, the excitement is really beginning to build. Each of the 24 teachers who were selected from across the US to travel on this trip have been in regular contact with each other through a listserv set up by our host, Aramco Services. We have mentors who host the listserv who can answer specific questions about our upcoming experience. They have been a wonderful resource.

What am I doing to get ready?
Great question! Aramco provided each of us with a detailed packing list, so each day now, I review the list and add a few more items to my suitcase. The clothing we are allowed to wear is quite conservative, so I am being especially careful to select items which will be both comfortable and professional to wear, while also conforming to the dress code for women.

I also bought a brand new camera to help capture wonderful images of Saudi Arabia while I travel. I plan to bring a laptop from the Amherst Middle School to help record and post daily entries while I travel.

Are your students helping you to get ready?

Yes! My 7th graders are all helping to get me ready by asking lots of great questions. Each student wrote a mini report about Saudi Arabia on a topic of their choice and then presented their research to the class. They shared wonderful information about the local customs, culture, architecture, sporting events and government of the region. I hope to add to the discussions when I return with additional information.

What will you be doing while you are in Saudi Arabia?

We have a rough itinerary which will bring us to the cities of Damman, Riyhad and Jeddah. We are expected to meet with local business men and women, newspaper journalists, school teachers and local community members.

Are you bringing any gifts to give to the schools you visit?

The 7th graders at AMS are helping me to prepare bags to give to each school. The bags will contain a colorful book on the history and culture of New Hampshire, a New Hampshire bumper sticker, NH pins donated by the local Amherst Lions Club, maple syrup samples and NH postcards written by many of the students in the grade.

Don't forget to post your comments and questions each time you visit this site.

Friday, March 2, 2007

Marhaba (Hello!)

It is only one month until my trip to Saudi Arabia begins. The excitement of the trip has been building for months and I cannot wait for it to begin. Using a listserv provided by our sponsors, the educators on this trip are emailing daily to ask questions and learn about each other prior to the trip.

Packing lists have been sent to us along with wonderful books and other pieces of literature to help us prepare for this adventure. I hope that each of you will visit my blog regularly to learn about the culture of Saudi Arabia as I do.

Who is traveling with me?
24 teachers and library media specialists were selected out of 150- 200 applicants to participate in the Educators to Saudi Arabia program.

Who is sponsoring our travels?
This trip is fully funded and sponsored by Aramco Services Company, a wholly-owned affiliate of Saudi Arabian Oil Company. Their national headquarters is located in Houston, Texas, which is where our orientation for the trip will begin.

What is the itinerary for the trip?
Excellent question! We have not been told our exact itinerary, but have been told that during our 10 day visit, we will travel to the cities of Dhahran, Riyadh and Jeddah. We will be experiencing tours, site visits and lectures while meeting with government officials, business people, college students, fellow educators and individuals in the medical field. We will visit one of the largest deserts in the world and may even see a camel race!

What clothing will you have to wear?
While traveling to a strict Muslim country, females are required to dress quite conservatively. Long skirts or pants are worn by women and long sleeve shirts must cover our wrists and the color bone region of our necks. When we arrive in Houston, all of the females in the group will be provided with an abaya, a tailored black garment, which is worn over the clothing items mentioned above. In some areas, we will also have to wear a special scarf, called a hijab, to cover our heads.

What clothing will the men wear?

The men traveling in our group must also wear long pants and collared shirts. Foreign men are not required to wear the more traditional dress of Muslim men who wear a thobe, gutra and igal as shown in the photos on the right.