The fastest four weeks - EVER!

Well ,we are back in Saudi. By the way, it is almost a year to the day that we arrived here. We were home for a total of four and a half weeks. We saw everyone there was to see, ate everything there was to eat and drank everything there was to drink. What a great time.

I don't even know where to start. I suppose I could start at the end. Coming back to Saudi this time was very strange. I have visited here twice in the past and this was the first time I had left and come back so soon. We flew from Philly into Frankfurt and then onto Bahrain. We flew right over the Alps on a crystal clear day. Spectacular from the air and some day when the dollar gets more competative against the Euro I plan on seeing them up close. As the flight flew south we crossed over Tuscany, Greece, Turkey, Iraq and then into Saudi. What a change in geography from the Alps to the deserts of Saudi. And I know some people might not understand this but as we hit the brown deserts of Saudi below us I realized that I was ready!! Try going a month without sleeping in your own bed. I am also a creature of routine and I need to get back into my groove. It is time to go back to work. It felt really good to walk back into our house. I have always said that for me to consider this home I would have to go home again. Well I was right. When we got back to the house Sarah was up in her room jumping on her bed and screaming. I am not sure if this was her being happy to be home or just happy to be finished our long trip.

The best part of being back is that we spent a whole year saying I wish we had brought this and I wish we had brought that and now we have it all. Unpacking has been like Christmas morning. For all of you who have been away to school it felt like going back to college at the end of the summer. It was so great to see all of our good friends again. Some of which we have not seen since June. Even the non-westerners that work here were so excited to see us. The men who cook at the golf course dining room all came out to shake hands and say hello to the family when we went for dinner tonight. Coming through security at the main gate tonight I was checked by a security guard who I am friendly with and he was so happy to see me again. He gave me a big hug and held up traffic waiting to come into the gate for close to a minute while he asked me about my trip, family and jet lag. The security guys at school asked me to sit and have tea with them in their office - a huge sign of respect. These guys are all Saudi's and absolutely wonderful people!! It is good to be home. It is good to be back in Ras Tanura. And YES it is good to be back in Saudi Arabia.

I can't wait to share our stories from repat with all of you over the next few weeks. We had a blast seeing everyone. We missed seeing some people but will make sure to see them next summer. In the meantime it is really hot. 107 today with 85 percet humidity. Ouch. Welcome home.