The trip and our first couple of days

On Wednesday, October 15th we started our trip across the world.  I've found that while describing this move to people saying, "We're moving out of the country."  Or, "We're moving overseas."  Just doesn't seem quite far enough to describe where we are going and the changes we will experience.  "Across the world" is the only phrase that seems to communicate the distance in miles and culture.  So here we go, across the world.  This is what we looked like at the airport.  Four dish barrel boxes, three large pieces of luggage, one box with our computer packed securely inside, three carry-ons, two car seats, one stroller, two kids, each with their most treasured stuffed animal in their arms, and Glenn and I.  Ready to embark on our biggest family adventure yet.

Mom and Kenz came with us to say goodbye and to help us drive the cars carrying all of our stuff!  It was sad to say goodbye to them.  Especially after everything we've been through this past year together.  And especially since we planned SO poorly and were leaving on Mom's birthday.  We'll miss having such easy access to them and so will our boys.  They sure love their Nana and Auntie Kenzie.  

We got to the airport around 2:30 in the afternoon.  Our flight was supposed to leave at 5.  Right after we checked in and got through security we went to the business class lounge.  Because why wouldn't you take advantage of every single business class perk!  And the perks were many, my friends.  I don't know if we'll ever be able to afford to fly that way again, but man, was it nice to do it on Aramco's dime!  As soon as we arrived in the lounge, Glenn got a text notifying him that our flight had been delayed for 2 hours and would now be leaving at 7pm.  So we had an extra 2 hours to kill with the kids in the airport.  We did a LOT of walking to try to wear them out.  And by the time we were wrapping up our dinner, they were both melting down and we were about an hour away from boarding. So we had a long look at our amazing, huge airplane.  The biggest any of us have ever seen, let alone flown on!  And we let them have turns on the ipad for a bit. 

Pretty soon we were able to board.  Glenn took the seat by Finn.

And I got to sit by Tate.

The seats were really cool.  They could recline or lie all the way down and had tons of different manual settings.  One of which was a massage.  Not a great massage, mind you, but a massage nonetheless.  We had free headphones, food (which was not amazing, sadly, but not surprisingly) and all the tv and movies we could watch.  We let the boys pick one show and by the end of their movies they were fast asleep.  Tate slept really soundly.  So soundly that he didn't wake when I picked him up from where he had curled up at the foot of his chair a few times to prop him back up on the seat.  Finn woke up a few times but he was pretty tired.  Glenn and I slept on and off.  It was not a restful sleep, by any means, but much more comfortable than trying to make it through a 9 hour flight through the night, having to sit straight up.
We arrived in Frankfurt in the morning.  I think it was around noon their time.  And we walked through the airport.  It took us about an hour, making short stops along the way, to get to the other side of the airport where our next flight was waiting.  It was actually kind of nice that our flight out of Denver was delayed because our layover was really short.
The Frankfurt airport was very clean and efficient.  They had sections with rows and rows of cots for people to sleep on, which reminded me of my brother Adam and his airport sleeping pod idea.

Once we made it to our gate, they announced right away that we were boarding for our flight to Dammam, Saudi Arabia.  We got checked in and were ushered onto a bus which took us way across the airport to an airplane waiting in the middle of the tarmac.  I was starting to get a teensy bit nervous at this point.  Seeing all of the women in abayas and men in thobes surrounding me and feeling in a very real way how isolating it can feel to be "the only one".  A feeling I will probably become very familiar with in the next few years.
The flight to Dammam was a little bit more rough.  We watched movies for a bit and then got antsy for a bit too.  It was a 5 hour flight and we were really tired by the time we arrived.  The stewardess was so sweet to the boys.  She gave them little toys to play with.  Tate was less interested in his toy, but Finn was so thrilled with his little puppet "Lu", the Lufthansa mascot.  He talked to it and played with it and snuggled with it through most of the flight.  Tate played with some of the toys that our dear friends the Garlocks.  Especially this little alligator puzzle toy.  He also played with a little pinball game for about an hour until he had a blister on his finger.  Here are the crazies, right after getting off the plane.

I was intrigued by the restroom signs.  Even the woman in the picture has an abaya and veil.

And the man is wearing a thobe and gutra.  Here we go!

We walked straight to the Aramco lounge and signed some papers and clarified some questions on our customs forms and then the guy from the Aramco lounge walked us to the front of every line.  He didn't speak much  English but he definitely knew how to get us through the process and it was SO helpful to have our own guide from line to line.  We had our pictures and fingerprints taken, picked up our luggage with the help of 3 luggage boys, and then went to another Aramco lounge to wait for someone to arrive and get us our temporary Aramco IDs.  Aramco sends someone to meet newcomers at the airport who is from the husband's department at work.  Our new friend's name is Brad and he met us in the lounge and helped find someone to get us our IDs.  The kids were wired and luckily we were in a big empty room with a few toys for them to wrestle and throw around.  After someone finally arrived to help us with our IDs, Brad took us and all our luggage our to two waiting Sequoia taxis.  Our luggage took one entire vehicle, and Brad rode with us in the other.  He told us stories and gave us some tips during our half hour drive to Rakah.  That first night is a bit of a blur...as well as the first couple days after we arrived.  We loaded in all of our luggage and boxes and found a nice little welcome spread on our counters.  New dishes, knives, serving utensils, and a small set of silverware as well as a cheapie set of pots and pans.  They are all pretty poor quality and we're glad we brought a few of our own pans, but it is really nice to have something to use while we wait for our things to arrive!  They also gave us a little bit of food, some cereal, bananas, apples, oranges, bread, peanut butter, pasta, milk and a few other things.  Enough to get us through the day without HAVING to go shopping.
We gave the boys quick tubs, made up their beds, and put them to bed.  Then Glenn and I started doing just a little bit of unpacking before we settled in for the night too.

Here is the boy's room the next morning.  All the rooms have AMAZING black out drapes, which saved our lives those first few days of trying to get sleep at the right times.  But the poor kids were so tired that they slept soundly that first morning long after we opened the curtains.

Glenn and I finished unpacking all of our suitcases and boxes.  It didn't take long, especially with the boys sound asleep.  It was so great to have everything put away and start feeling like we were settling, just a little bit, into our new space.
That first day was Friday.  Church is on Friday here and we decided to bail on that first day since the boys were still sleeping at 8 and we didn't want to push it to get to church at 9.  Glenn emailed the branch president and within 20 minutes we had a knock at our back door from some members who live in the villa right behind us.  Cromwell and Jenebie Wong were lifesavers those first few days.  He answered a bunch of questions, made sure we had what we needed then came over later after church too with his family.  They have kids about our kids ages so they ran around and played for a bit while we talked.  The Wongs offered to take us around on Saturday to help us get a phone plan, rental car, and groceries.  It was so sweet of them, and just the errands they helped us with that day really helped get us set up and off to a good start.  I love this about the Church.  We really take care of each other and the network that we have to keep us connected is invaluable when you're new anywhere, but here, it has been a complete lifesaver.  Having someone to answer questions and give me advice puts me so much at ease when I'm about ready to lose it!

The boys woke up really happy.  I snuggled Finny for a minute and he whispered to me, "Did we move to Thaudi Awabia?"  Yes we did Finn.  "And this is our Thaudi Awabia house?"  Yes it is Finn.  I was amazed, even that first morning, how unshaken they were by our long trip and the drastic changes we had been through and were going to go through.  They are tough little boys.  We spent the rest of the day exploring the compound a bit and trying to keep the boys up until bed time.  We went to a park, bought a few things at our little commissary, and explored the community center.  It was great to get out and comforting to see all of the amenities at our fingertips.

Here are the boys at one of our parks on our first day.  

That first night we were invited to a potluck dessert night at the Larsens house for all the members on Rakah.  There were about 7 families there and tons of kids.  The boys had a great time and we had snacks and talked  with the parents.  So many great people and so much helpful advice.  It is pretty wonderful to be in this tight community and to be able to adjust on a smaller scale for a bit.  I've been disappointed to hear how long shipments take to get here and how long people are here before they have a chance to move to main camp, but there are perks to this little community too.  It's great to know so many good people right off the bat who are rooting for us and have recently been through all of the exact same experiences and adjustments.  

Our second day was much much worse than the first.  The kids woke up at 12:30am.  We got up and tried to get them to go back to sleep for a few hours and finally gave up around 4 and brought them into our bed to watch a movie.  We were all exhausted by the time we headed out to run errands with the Wongs at 9.  We caught a taxi to main camp in Dhahran where we rented a car.  Then we tried to get a cell phone there on camp but they were closed for the day so we explored the commissary there, which is way bigger and has almost everything you could need.  We ate lunch with the Wongs at the dining hall and then we went to the mall to get an abaya for me and hit up Saco's for cleaning supplies and a few household things.  I was super nervous to walk into the mall without an abaya.  Luckily, the Wongs knew right where the nearest abaya store was and they helped me find something simple and plain.  I really didn't want anything fancy or heavy for my huge and still expanding body.  Then Cromwell negotiated the price for us, which was nice.  Glenn and I were pretty much in shock all day.  So tired and overwhelmed.  My first abaya cost 250 Saudi Arabian Riyals, or about $65.  

We got some cleaning supplies and a few things for the house at Saco's and then followed the Wongs to Tamimi grocery store on the Corniche.  It's run by safeway and supposed to have the most American and American-like products.  I was so overwhelmed.  We left with plenty of food but I had no idea what to make for dinner with it all.  I thought my recipe book got into our suitcase, but it unfortunately ended up in an ebox so I'm having to start over a little bit.  A lady I met at the potluck that first night gave me the advice to just start over with recipes anyway because everything tastes just a little different here so all of our favorites won't taste like our favorites anymore and we'll just be disappointed every time we make something.  I was mad about that at first, but it's actually pretty sound advice so I'm trying to embrace it and collect some new ideas to try.  Every time we've been to the store since, I've had some sort of meal plan to help me make a list of specific things we need that we will use and then a little dream list of things I always look for but rarely find.  That's helped me not feel overwhelmed at the store.  

That first day, Finn and Tate would fall asleep every time we got in the car and we'd have to wake them up every time we got to the next place.  Tate woke up fine and was very sweet and understanding.  Finn was a crying mess every time and he couldn't control himself or stop.  It was the worst at the grocery store.  I was overwhelmed, trying to get my bearings in a new layout and then trying to figure out what a comparable product would be when I didn't see familiar packaging or names for what I was looking for, and then there was poor Finn just out of his mind screaming and crying with drool and snot pouring down his face.  It was not our finest moment.  We got in line just as they were closing for prayer time, which was perfect.  Otherwise we would have had to wait a half an hour, wandering around the store, waiting for them to open the check out lanes again.  We got home, unpacked our groceries, and all took naps. Then we woke the kiddos up and tried to get them out for a bit before we hit the hay for early bed times.  It was by far the most exhausting and difficult day.  That next night and every night since, we've had good sleep which has made a huge difference.