Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007

On to Jeddah and a look back at our final day in the Eastern Providence of Saudi Arabia

Marhaba everyone. Today we flew out of Dhahran to Jeddah on the Red Sea arriving last night at 12:30pm. I updated my blog, posted pictures and comments and fell into bed at 3am. We were up at 7 am and just returned to the hotel now for a 2hours break, the first break we have had in 7 days. Believe me, I am not complaining, but we are fitting more into a 24 hour period than I could ever have imagined.

This is the city of Jeddah and the view from my hotel room at the Jeddah Hilton Hotel, a magnificent 4 star hotel on the Red Sea.

Jeddah is an incredibly beautiful resort city compared to the Aramco compound and oil field region we were in before. I will tell you that my hotel is incredible, but we are not allowed to leave the hotel unless we are leaving on a scheduled tour. Our Aramco Hosts request that we not go down to the water, or walk around the outside of the hotel unless we are escorted for security reasons. The hotel has several military guards posted at the gates behind sandbags - something you don't usually see at a 5 star hotel in the United States. After 911, the security level in Saudi Arabia has tightened dramatically and precautions are being taken to assure that westerners visiting their country are kept safe from extremists. While the restrictions are frustrating, we understand that it is being done in our best interest.

This is Gara Mountain- an incredible rock formation of caves in the middle of the oasis region of Al- Hasa. The temperature inside the caves was at least 15 degrees cooler than outside.

Let me tell you about yesterday. We headed on a trip about 1 1/2 hours from the compound to a place called Gara Mountain. This mountain was a rough outcropping of rocks with awesome caves that we could walk through. We spent about an hour exploring the caves before driving to a local pottery tent in the middle of very small rural town where we watched a man create his pottery. Then we went to a 400 year old historic mosque and toured through an underground jail cell that is no longer used. We had lunch at the Al-Hasa Intercontinental Hotel and then made the hour and half journey back to the compound.

From there, we drove 45 minutes to my favorite part of the day. Our host, Fasir, took us to a distant relative who is a Bedoin camel farmer. It was quite a site to see this enormous Greyhound type bus off roading through the desert sand. We drove for about 10 minutes until it clearly seemed unsafe to go any further in this vehicle, and then we were all transferred into SUV's and smaller trucks to get all the way out to the actual farm. This wild ride will forever be remembered. Picture 12 teachers, packed into a small SUV, bumping and flying all over the place, going quickly so we would not get stuck.

While I did not get to ride on a camel, I did get to kiss one (almost!).

When we arrived in the most remote section of desert, there were almost 100 camels of all sizes and colors for our viewing pleasure. The sound they make is incredible and one of them showed us his long tongue and made this gurgling sound, but I missed getting it on the camera. The host allowed us to be right next to them in the fields even though they were running right by us. We could touch and pet them, but did not get to ride them. Quite frankly, they seemed a bit wild and I understand they can be difficult to ride. A camel of good blood line is worth about 20,000 Riyals which is the equivalent of about $5,000. That would mean that this Bedouin farmer who lives in a tent in the desert had about $500,000 worth of camels in his possession. In Saudi Arabia, camels are used for some transportation, but mostly for the meat and milk. We see butcher shops across the country with camel carcass hanging in the windows. YUM...

This is the Bedouin Camel Farmer who owns all of these camels. I have a video which lets you listen as he describes, in Arabic, how they can tell the age of a camel. Do you know how?

Our camel adventure ended in with our Bedouin (a native tribe of Saudi) Host inviting us to one of his large tents for, yes, you guessed it.... coffee and pastries. We took off our shoes and sat on oriental rugs, leaning against pillows and exchanged pleasantries with our hosts next to an open fire. It was quite a site. The sun set and there was a full moon rising. As we left, the sky was turning a deep purple color and the desert scenery was amazing to see.

We caught a flight to Jeddah at 9:30pm which was an experience in and of itself. Seating on a Saudi flight is quite confusing due to the religious and native traditions regarding men and women sitting next to each other. Picture a puzzle that you are trying to fit together, but no woman can sit next to a male on the plane whom she is not a relative of. Then picture that they often travel with their house maids and they too cannot be near a male. It gets very complicated, and the stewardesses spend a great deal of time moving individuals from seat to seat to make it all work out!

Our hotel in Jeddah is amazing. I have room on the 8th floor with a view of the city. Most of the architecture here is stucco and painted white or cream color. Mosque towers are everywhere. Jeddah is the city of architecture and driving around the city is like being in an open air museum. Modern art sculptures and interesting building designs are the main focus.

We spent the morning talking with young women attending the Effat College in Jeddah and meeting with the local Chamber of Commerce at Khadeejah Bint Khuwailed, which just started the first Women's Business Center in the country. These women are very western thinking and have wonderful dreams and goals for their country. We have made wonderful contacts and generally dine with the people who have just presented to us, so we use the meal times to ask questions and learn about the culture here.

Signs around the cities are in both English and Arabic. Arabic is written and read from right to left.

Well, time to run. I hope you continue to post your comments and ask questions. I will try to answer the questions you ask in the next posting.

Monday (late), April 2nd, 2007

A salaam a laikom. It was a very late night last night. We flew out of Dharhan to Jeddah on Saudi Airlines arriving here at 12:15am. By the time I had unpacked, ate and updated my blog with photos, it was nearly 2:30am before I crawled into bed.

You have all asked so many great questions so I am going to try and answer those questions in this blog in addition to telling you more specifically about what I have seen and learned over the last 3 days in Dharhan.

This is a picture of the most dynamic woman I have met in Saudi Arabia. She is employed with Aramco Services and is an ambassador for women's rights in Saudi Arabia. I cannot wait to tell you about her life, her dreams and her views on the world.

First of all, it is important that you know more about Aramco Services, the oil company that is sponsoring this educators trip to Saudi Arabia. Aramco is owned by the Saudi government. The government is the sole shareholder in a company that generates a revenue of over 700 billion dollars a year. ( I am still trying to confirm that number) This company has set their mission to bring oil to the world in a responsible and efficient manner.

Saudi Arabia contains the world's largest supply of crude oil in the world. They have the 4th largest supply of gas reserves. This company was initially established with American help in the early 1970's. Slowly, the company transfered ownership from 75% American and 25% Saudi to 100% Saudi Arabia by 1980.

Many of us teachers here are constantly asking ourselves and our hosts why Aramco Services went to such great expense to bring 24 teachers from the United States here to Saudi Arabia. We have been told that they want us to ask questions,many questions so that we can form our own opinions about the people and the culture of the Saudis.

My opinion changes daily and I will reserve my comments on this until our trip is complete and I have time to think about everything I have seen and heard. I will tell you that there are definitely two Saudi Arabia's ( I don't mean this literally), to see and we, as teachers, are trying very hard to see both.

OK, on to your questions. Clothing is a great place to start because like it or not it is the first impression you have of people and here the clothing makes a powerful statement. We were fitted for our abayas on the first day and as you can see from my photos, the garments can be quite beautiful. The more traditional abaya is solid black with no embroidery, as the purpose of the abaya is to not draw attention to yourself. Women begin wearing an abaya with the hajib, head covering, at the age of puberty, but you see girls younger than this wearing abayas in a more casual, less covered way.

Women here cover themselves to different degrees depending on their family values and traditions. Fundamental muslim women are completely covered, including black gloves and a veil without eye holes. Lesser versions include those with eye openings, and scarves that your face from the eyes down, to no veil on your face, just on your head.

Men wear what is called Saudi formal, which is the long cotton white robe, with a gutra and igel, the red checked cloth and black rope on their heads. Men also wear western clothing and have other color options on attire as you may see later from my pictures. Men clearly have less restrictions.

On to more questions...

There are no movie theaters in Saudi as they are banned, but they do have cable tv and the hotels have movie stations. While I was on the plane into Saudi, I was able to watch "The Perfect Storm" a movie about Glouster Massachusetts fisherman! I also watched a comedy channel show with Jack Black, from School of Rock. They have CNN, Fox news and of course local arabic channels.

Outdoor markets....

We have been to some local shops like potters but haven't been to a place with outdoor markets but we will this week. Here they are called suqs and they sell jewelry, clothing and other items. The time we have been given to shop has been quite limited, so when we are given 30 minutes, we are shopping maniacs.

Religions...

Religion is incredibly important to this country. Here, church and state are not separated, so it is mandatory that every Saudi national is Muslim. Mosques are everywhere and the muslims pray 5 times a day, which closes the country down for short periods each day as we travel and visit. When Muslims pray, they use a prayer rug and face towards Mecca, the holiest city according to the Muslim faith. Every room you enter has a directional arrow showing you the location of Mecca from where you are. Even on the plane, a video screen showed the direction of Mecca as we flew.

Well, I have to run to my first session in Jeddah today. I have so much more to tell you and if we get a break before dinner today, I will tell you all about Gara Mountain, my experience with camels and my Arabian feast. In the mean time, I will just post you these three pictures so you can get excited about learning more. Salaam!

The top picture is of a what is called a squat toilet. Most places have both a traditional toilet and a squat toilet to chose from.

This is a picture of our Arabian Night Banquet near Dharhan. The food was amazing as you can clearly see!

Monday 4/2

Greetings from the students of Saudi Arabia. These boys were visiting the Aramco Oil Exhibit Museum.

Asalam a lai kom (Greetings)...
Your reply Aliakom Asalaam ( and greetings to you)!

Hi everyone. My apologies for delaying in posting but the blog and chat room formats are censored on the Aramco compound so I could not access my blog to update it. I have been able to email my family daily and thanks to my sister, Barbara Bellipanni, who teaches first grade at Clark School, I have been able to update my site through her. Thank you Barb! We have been incredibly busy these last two days so let me fill you in.

My beautiful abaya was tailored and ready for me in a few hours. Each female teacher received an abayba which we are required to wear in most cities in Saudi Arabia. The embroidery on each garmet is lovely.

We start each day at 6:30am and never get back to our rooms until 11:30-12 midnight. Tonight we got back at 11:30pm and while it has only been 2 days here in Saudi Arabia, I feel that we have seen so much. Our hosts are men dressed in long white robes and red scarfs on their heads, named Khalid Al- Amoudi and Abdullah Al-Ghamdi. Each day there is a schedule planned, but as of today, we have never followed that exact schedule, so we never know exactly what we are doing next! We just get on the bus and they take us to the next spot. They are trying to coordinate speakers and lunches and dinners, as well as take us to key sites and also museums and other sites. At most, we have 5 minutes before we take off to the next place.

Last night we ate at a seafood restaurant, Al Sanbok, in the city of Al-Khobar, at a long table that sat 30 of us! It was enormous and I felt like a princess at a palace. The meal is served on big trays and they continue to offer you more and more until you feel like you might explode. I have been trying to be so careful with my stomach, eating a simple breakfast and taking small samples at each meal so I don't overeat. So far so good, but there are still many days ahead.

Today, the men in our group need to shop for the thobes- the white robes to wear for a formal banquet tonight. So we all were driven to a local men's shop and I bought the entire garment that men wear and a few that children would wear, and a muslim prayer rug which has a compass in it so you can point your rug towards Mecca as you pray. Later in the day, we got to go to an arabic book store and I got lots of items to display at school... books that show how to count in arabic, the Saudi flag, and a Fula doll.. this is their version of a Barbie doll and it is a modern doll with modern clothing and it comes with a Burka (abaya), the black gown that the Muslim women are required to wear.

Here is a photo from our Arabian feast at the Heritage Gallery Museum and Restaurant. We were served a delicious feast consisting of large platters of lamp, shrimp, and chicken. Hummus, taboule, salads and other appetizers along with pita breads and fruits were served. Absolutely delicious!

After our quick (everything is quick) shopping spree, we were taken to the Heritage House, which is a museum and restaurant which looks like an old terracottta sandcastle. We sat on pillows on the floor in a rounded room for more coffee and appetizers, then took a tour of the musueum. Then we were brougth outside to a large tent for the banquet. This super sized tent the size of the AMS gym was divided into 3 sections. Carpeting was on the floor and sofas lined the walls of the room. MORE coffee was served along with dates as a predinner snack. Then we were brought into the most amazing room. This part of the tent looked like a banquet from the movie "Alladin". A 30 person low table was in the middle of the room and pillows surrounded the table. We all sat and feasted for 2 hours on a meal of lamb, rice, salad, taboule, humus, pita, shrimp and more. It was incredible. We ended the night with a celebration for one of the teachers who was turning 50 today.

It has been an incredible 2 days so far, and we still have 7 more days and two cities to go. Tomorrow night, we will be flying from Damman to Jeddah on the Red Sea for four days and then we fly to Riyadh for another 3 days before flying home.

Before we fly out tomorrow night to Jeddah, we are going to have one more terrifc day here. We are going to get to ride camels and then we are visiting an oasis in the desert. We are all so excited. Our flight is not until 9pm tomorrow so we have all day to enjoy this region of the country. I will tell you all about it in my post late tonight. We don't land in the next city until 11:30pm (Saudi time) so it will be very late by the time we check into our hotel.

Well, thanks for sending me such an awesome update. I will update my blog tomorrow night (InShallah- God willing), when we arrive at the Jeddah Hilton Hotel. Hopefully, I can post more pictures to the blog and you can see how it all looks. We are meeting some incredible people and are learning a lot about Saudi lifestyle and asking a lot of questions.

Saturday/ Sunday 3/31 & 4/1

Marahba everyone! Sorry for not writing again sooner but we have virtually no free time and we are getting to bed well past midnight each night. It is 12;15 am and we just got back in after heading out today at 6:50am. They have set up a jam packed itinerary and we are hosted, toured and dined all day long.

They had a full sit down buffet lunch for us at a beautiful HolyDay Inn ( as they call it) Hotel overlooking a pretty swimming pool. We began the day with a tour of the Aramco Oil Exhibits and then later a trip to EXPEC their R& D development center.

After lunch we went to a small museum on the Aramco compound and then a museum in an Aramco Executives home which was amazing. We sat in one of those rooms with matching couches that reached around the room and sat all 26 of us. They fed us coffee, dates and little pastries. I took a sip of the coffee but it is like bitter tea and I really couldn't drink it all. Then after an hour they toured us through their museum and then when we thought we were leaving, we came back into their house to see their house servants bringing out another round of coffees, appetizers, breads and desserts. So much food, so little time.

We had 40 minutes before the bus to the dinner location, so we all ran to the commissary to pick up food items to bring home various food items to show everyone when we return to school and then it was time for our abaya fittings and dinner.

We had dinner at a long table that sat over 30 of us at a restaurant on the Arabian Gulf. A sea food fest.... if you weren't careful and turned away from your plate, the waitstaff would come along and put more food on your plate. Saudi hospitality at its finest. We ate with 3 amazing Saudi women who were incredible to talk to - very open and honest. I can't wait to share with everyone how interesting, intelligent and confident I found these women to be.

The women brought all of the women in our group these beautiful flowing gowns and the other places we went to each gave us books, music cds, dvds of the country.... my 2nd luggage bag will be very full and we still have 7 more days of travel. This is truly a once in a life time trip.\

I am not having great luck with posting to my blog here at the Aramco compound because they have filters on their internet so I might not be able to add all of this until Tuesday. Keep checking the blog to see if I have new postings or pictures.

If you wish to email me directly as we sometimes have problems with the internet connection, my email is dhinrichs@sprise.com and that I can access daily.

In'Shallah (God Willing) I will post again tomorrow night!

Thursday/ Friday March 29th & 30th

(Our group of 24 educators from across the United States standing in front of Aramco Headquarters in Houston, Texas.)

(Mrs. Hinrichs and a few new friends she has made on her trip to Saudi Arabia.)





(A Picture of myself and a teacher from Houston who has traveled to Saudi Arabia twice as part of the Educators to Saudi Arabia program. We are standing in front of the many materials she collected for during her travels.)

Assalam' alaikoom! (This is the formal greeting which means " Greetings and peace be with you" The correct reply to this greeting would be "A laikoom assalam".

I have just arrived in Amsterdam after a long, long, long 9 hour flight. We now have a 6 hour layover and then continue on with a 6 hour flight into Damman, Saudi Arabia. I am thrilled to see so many postings and will try to answer many of your questions in this posting.

Presently, I am having difficulty uploading pictures to this blog, but I hope to work out the bugs in the next few days. In the meantime, writing to the blog is working out just fine so I will continue to post daily in the locations that have Internet connections.

Amanda, you asked about setting up accounts to use the blog; You don't need to set up individual google accounts to make a comment. Click on the anonymous button and then you can type your comment and include your name in the comments so that I know who it is from.

I hear that we will get to see camels at a local camel market, but I am not sure if we can ride one. If we can, you can be sure that I will. So far, the food that we have been given has been typical American cuisine, but far more food than I am used to eating. We have been told that we will need to learn to pace ourselves because the Saudi's enjoy entertaining over long meals and elaborate buffets.

The weather here in Amsterdam is very foggy and unfortunately, we don't have time to go exploring. There is the possibility on our return flight from Saudi that we could take a 2 hour tour of Amsterdam during our layover, so I may explore that option.

Our Aramco hosts have given us a rough itinerary which looks like this:

Friday, March 30- Monday April 2nd City of Dhahran
Here we will stay at the Aramco Compound which is like a military base. On this compound, we will be fitted for our abaya's (the long black robes) and we have typical western freedoms to do as we please. We will take day trips from the compound and stay in a hotel-like facility called Steineke Hall. This city is located near the Persian Gulf ( which Arabs refer to as the Arabian Gulf). We will get to see this large body of water and hopefully collect some sand.

*** Late flight to Jeddah

Late Monday night, April 2nd- Friday, April 6 City of Jeddah
In this city, we will stay at the Jeddah Hilton which is located right on the Red Sea. We will be spending 3+ days in this region and on Friday, we will spend the day at a westernized resort, as Friday is the holiest day of the week for the Islamic faith. At this resort, we can jet ski, snorkle and scuba dive. (I will not have to wear the burkini!)

****Late flight to Riyadh

Late Friday, April 6th- Monday, April 9th City of Riyadh
This is the capital city of Saudi Arabia and the last city on our tour. Here we will be required to wear the head covering piece (called a Hajib) along with our abayas as the religious police are quite strict in this region.

I wish I knew more about our itinerary within each city, but even our American Aramco guides have only a tentative schedule. We will be meeting with a variety of important individuals representing a variety of aspects in Saudi society. We will be escorted by two guards during our entire trip and are treated as important diplomatic guests. It really is quite an experience so far.

OK, for Mrs. Leknes (lover of all things math-like)- let's try some arabic counting!

1 wahid .........................................11 hidashar
2 itnayn......................................... 12 itnashar
3 ttalaata....................................... 13 talatashar
4 arbaa ..........................................14 arbaatashar
5 khmsa......................................... 15 khamastashar
6 sitta ............................................16 shtashar
7 sabaa........................................... 17 sabaatasha
8 tamanya..................................... 18 tamaantashar
9 tisaa ............................................19 tisaatashar
10 ashara...................................... 20 ashriin

We'll, I think it is time to end this entry for now. It is 2am your time right now and 9:30am Amsterdam time( a 7 hour time difference). When we travel to Saudi Arabia, there will be a 9 hour time difference; I will be 9 hours ahead of you.

I hope I have answered all of your questions.

Shukran (Thank you) all for traveling with me.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Marhaba everyone! (Hello in arabic)

Today was an amazing start to our trip. We were brought to the Aramco Headquarters where we were given an intensive 8 hour orientation to prepare us for the trip to Saudi Arabia. We were given very basic Arabic instructions so that we can say all the courtesy phrases such as:

Good Morning... Sabah el khair
Good Evening... Masa el khair
Yes... Na'am
No... La
Please... Min Fadhlak
Thank you ... Shukran

We are also learning to count in Arabic. We have to do a head count everywhere we go to be sure that we have all 24 of us together, so we are learning to count up to 24 in Arabic. I am number 11!

We fly out tomorrow, Thursday, around 3pm and have a very long 24 hours of flying and traveling ahead of us. When we arrive in Saudi Arabia, it will be Friday at around 8pm. For the first few nights, we will be staying at a hotel on the Aramco Compound. The very first morning there, the women in our group will all be measured for our abayas (the black robes) but we will not need to wear them until we travel to the capital city of Riyadh.

Our hosts have told us so much information already about life in Saudi, that I cannot wait to begin this trip. We have been given video cd's to show in the classroom and power point presentations to use when we return. Aramco seems to have thought of everything and keeps improving their program each year.

My next entry will be from Amsterdam during our 6 hour layover. Salaam.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Hello New Hampshire. I have successfully traveled to Houston, Texas for orientation. One by one, teachers from across the United States have been ,arriving at the hotel this afternoon to learn about how this program will operate. On our agenda this evening, we will be meeting with mentors, teachers from the Houston area who have recently taken this trip to Saudi Arabia. My roommate’s name is Nicole and she is a teacher from the state of Utah.

The orientation schedule has us meeting this evening and then again at 7:45am in the morning, where we will be transported to Aramco’s Headquarters in Houston. Everyone that I have met today is eager to begin our adventure in Saudi Arabia, but we are all dreading the long flight to get there.

Just in case you are wondering, it is a sunny 80 degrees here in Texas and the trees are green with leaves and the flowers are in bloom. I am hoping that Amherst will look like this by the time I have returned from this trip.

I will post again tomorrow and let you know what information they have given us to prepare for our journey. Take care.

Tuesday, March 27th- Time to Leave!

Well it is 5am and I am doing my final list of things before I leave. My team of students and colleagues held a memorable "BonVoyage" party in my honor during school yesterday and sent me on my way with a bag of items to entertain me on the long flights ahead. Many of you posted great comments to my blog last night sending along words of "Best wishes on your trip" and "Ride a camel". I hope to do that and more! Thanks for checking in on my travel blog and posting your comments. It makes me feel like I am traveling with a huge group of people. OFF TO TEXAS for orientation. I'll check in with all of you later tonight.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Two days until this trip begins... that seems unbelievable. After spending a difficult week grieving as a community for one of our students, I am certain that I am well behind in my packing, and I am just trying to wrap my brain around the fact that I will be leaving for this incredible trip in less than 48 hours. I am excited for the opportunity to explore new lands but hestitant about leaving my students, friends and family behind.

The good news is that I have figured out how to operate my new camera and laptop, which are both necessary components for operating my blog while overseas. I keep updating my list of "things to do before I leave", and each time I cross something off the list, I remember one more thing to put on the list!

Today, my daughter helped me to prepare the gift bags that I will deliver to each school I visit. Each school will receive a picture book about New Hampshire, a NH bumper sticker, a NH magnet, several NH pins donated by the Lion's Club and handfuls of NH postcards with messages from our seventh graders here at AMS.

Students and community members are beginning to visit my blog regularly and the Nashua Telegraph even contacted me today saying that they would like to run a piece on my travels when I return! In class on Monday, I will be randomly picking names of students on my team who I will send postcards to while I travel. They can bring in the postcards to school to share with their classmates.

Aramco Services, the company who is sponsoring this trip, has done an incredible job providing each of us teachers across the US with materials, itineraries and mentor contacts so that we can prepare for this adventure. I encourage everyone to continue to visit this site and post their comments. I look forward to seeing the Middle East with all of you!

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Today's post is one that I am struggling to make. With just one week until I depart, a tragedy has struck our school community as a young girl on our team dies suddenly during an overnight environmental school field trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Her unexpected death leaves our entire team in a state of shock and we are all reaching out to each other to try and provide comfort to each other. McKayla was an incredibly bright, talented and loving 13 year old that touched the lives of everyone she knew. My love and prayers to go out to all of my students and McKayla's family and friends. The images of McKayla's beautiful smile with be with me as I take this journey. Peace and love to all. Debbie Hinrichs

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.