Home alone!

Tonight I'm home alone while husband is up at the work site, a two and a half hour drive north. On the weekend we had a practise drive through the city north of us to make sure he knew where to go. The sign for the highway he had to take said 'kuwait'. Which was surreal to read, sometimes I forget where we are!

While he's away I thought I'd take the chance to jot down a few more experiences.

I'm using our names on the blog now after my Mum said that it didn't sound like me. I was concerned that I shouldn't use our names but after sorting out the privacy settings, I will use our first names and sound a bit more like me! EDIT - no changed my mind! Read next post!

When I started writing this blog in October I wasn't sure if I'd share it with people who knew me but now my family and friends know the address. So I  must apologize for spelling mistakes and poor grammar.

Anyway onto some of our experiences...

When arrived at our new home I was pleasantly surprised. The compound has wonderful facilities. We have a family pool which is resort like! Husband constantly referred the compound as a resort before we got here and the pool is certainly that.

There is an adult (no kids allowed) pool, squash court, tennis courts, gym, kid and toddler playgrounds, milk bar, restaurant, hair salon and physio/masseuse. There are also gym classes that are run at the rec centre and a creche/kindergarten.  I'll try and post some photos soon.

There are villas (semi detached homes) and apartment blocks in our compound. We live in a villa which backs onto the outer wall of the compound. You will notice there is barbed wire on the wall. It is one of the many security measures put in place. Outside the compound is a Saudi National Guard checkpoint where the car boot and underside is checked. After that you  need to pass through a compound security gate.

Tomorrow afternoon we are driving to Bahrain. We plan on relaxing, shopping and maybe having a drink or two! Saudi is a dry country. At present our visa requires us to leave Saudi every 30 days. So rather than cross the checkpoint and then simply turn around and come back, we thought we'd stay and see what Bahrain has to offer.

Regarding shopping we hardly need to leave Saudi to shop. I've been told that shopping is considered a national sport and I really believe it to be so. In one shopping centre I've seen two and three of the same shop. The range is extraordinary. Before we came I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to find the clothes, toys, books etc for Daughter. Kids are loved here and there is an amazing number of children's clothing, toy and educational stores. The tricky part in shopping (not that I'm a 'shopper' although I'm going about it)  is that there are no change rooms, you must take the clothes home to try them on and then return them if they're not right.

So where do the women wear their new purchases? At home. Out in public women must wear a black abaya. Although walking around town there are many women with pattern, sequined, beaded and detailed abayas. I actually am loving wearing an abaya...however it's not summer yet! Ladies, think about that mad rush before you leave the house trying to work out what you'll wear, now think about how simple it is to just throw an abaya and walk out the door. Easy! Now I have to wait for Husband.

Thats all for now. I'll write more post Bahrain.