One Long Hot Summer

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Summer 2013

I wish I could say I did a lot this summer.....but I didn't. For the second year in a row, the Holy Month of Ramadan took place during the hottest months of the year. For those you who don't know, the dates of Ramadan will change in the Gregorian calendar most of us are use to because the Hijra year (the Arabic calendar) is shorter. Ramadan and summer don't mix very well. It is the hottest time of the year and Muslims fast during the daylight hours. For the non-Muslims in Riyadh, we are required to follow the rules or risk arrest or deportation. No that doesn't mean we have to fast, it just means we are not allowed to eat or drink in public.....not even water.....which really sucks when the temperature hovers around 50C.

The other thing you run into is that many expats leave for Ramadan. Many companies close for 4 to 5 weeks during Ramadan so most people go travelling or go home. That equates to not much happening on the Riyadh Social Calendar. I volunteered to work Ramadan......in particular the last couple of weeks, so that Mohammad (the guy who covers my on call and job when I'm on leave) could enjoy Ramadan and Eid with his family. In exchange I get Christmas and New Year's and he never hesitates to cover for me when I need a night off for an embassy party or whatever.

The biggest event of the summer was my move. With my new job I was able to upgrade my apartment. I was a little sad to be leaving Catherine but she will be leaving the Kingdom soon and thought it was best to move while I wasn't as busy. My new job entitled me to a one bedroom unit in the new apartments on the other side of the hospital. It is a little bit closer to walk which is nice considering the extra hours and my on call status. Plus it allows me to sleep in a couple extra minutes everyday. There will be some decorating etc. to do (I get to head to Ikea......YEAH!!!!!!) and then it will become my new home. The move made it pretty obvious how much stuff you can accumulate in such a small period of time.

My stuff on the truck. I've only been here a year and a half but there is a lot of stuff. I had to pack it all up myself but the movers then come to carry it down the stairs, load it onto the truck, unload it at the other end and get it into my apartment.

My last few moments outside MCV 46E. A little sad to be leaving but always exciting to get to move into a new place.

Mohammad, one of the nice guys that helped me move. That's my little kitchen behind him. Funny, every girl I know who has moved in the last few months has a picture of Mohammad. He likes to pose for the girls.

My living room. I'll have some furniture rearranging to do but there is a lot of space.

Shoe rack!!!!! Looks like I have a bit more space so could probably use some new shoes.

My new view. West Compound is behind me and I don't see them tearing it down anytime soon so my view should remain unobstructed. It's a little dusty on this day but that is Kingdom Tower on the left and Faisalia Tower on the right.

My new Tupperware cupboard. Let's hope I can keep it looking this organised.

The rest of the summer was spent mostly relaxing and celebrating a few birthdays. Here are some pictures. 

Me with Manguay and Lindsey. This was Lindsey's 27th birthday party at a friend's compound. Not a lot of other people around so we had the pool to ourselves.

I tried to help out but Jeff was taking Laura into the pool. At least the water was warm.

This is at like 3am. Not many of us left but Lindsay, Kelly, Myself, Laura, Jeff and Jos (taking the picture) were still up playing some music. Once again the compound was pretty empty so no one seemed to mind. 

The end of Ramadan. The start of the Eid celebrations.I get a pretty good view of the fireworks from my balcony.

A few more fireworks.

I love seeing the reflection of nearby buildings in Kingdom Tower.

The big party we threw this summer was Yin's 40th. Now Yin is usually the one organising things and she has been here forever so knows a ton of people but we managed to pull off a full on 70's/80's themed surprise party for her. Now it wasn't a total surprise....she knew something was going on but she didn't expect all this.

Walking in the door to find about 50 people waiting to surprise her. Not sure how her girlfriend Jackie manged to get her into some 80's inspired clothing and then to Sumit's house, but she did it. And Yin was so surprised she shed a few tears.

Watching the slide slow a few of the  girls put together.

Would not be a birthday without a cake.....with a lot of candles.

Wendy and I. Wendy went totally 70's glam. Most of the rest of us totally hit up as much florescent 80's inspired stuff as we could.

Amy, Camara and I.

Natalie, Sarah and Me enjoying some of the amazing refreshments.

Corrie, Me and Sish.

This picture is a little blurry but one of the best pictures of the group having a good time.

Yin making another speech. We made her cry.....more than once. We also collected a few thousand SAR (Saudi Riyals) as a gift. She had just bought a drum set and I think we more than helped pay for it. She's awesome so totally deserves it.

And that about sums up my summer. It was good fun, but looking forward to Ramadan moving in the calender next year.

Julie

The Air Seems Fresher Up Here

Buck Mountain, Southern Adirondacks, NY
Sunday, May 30, 2010

I have been working in the US for around 4.5 years......and still have no idea when all their holidays are. It was almost the weekend before I realized that it was the long weekend here in the US (May long in America is a week later than May long in Canada). Anyway, it wasn't a long weekend for me but I still took some time to enjoy the holiday. With my previous closed and locked out experience at Thacher park I decided that I would take a bit of a drive to find some hiking. Some of the girls at work suggested I head to the Adirondacks (the local mountain range). The Adirondacks have a great website that lists everything there is to do in the area.....including all the hiking trails.

I didn't want to drive too far for my weekend hike so I took a look at a few trails that were within about an hour and a half from Albany. I then narrowed it down to one hike that was a "moderate" hike and one that was a "difficult" hike. I smartly chose the moderate hike......because in my opinion "moderate" is a relative term.

Like the sign says.......The Trail head. I did go blowing by it at first but what would a road trip with me be without having to turn around at least once.

I actually headed out pretty earlier and I am glad I did as it got a lot warmer as the day went on and it turned out the trail actually got quite busy. The parking lot was spilling out on the road by the time I got back down.

Not sure how that little sport utility is getting out. Hopefully they are traveling with the vehicles who are blocking him in. Very happy I didn't run into this problem and I was parked in a non-blockable spot.

The trail markers I was following. It actually was really important to watch for them because at some points I wasn't really sure what was trail and what was mountain.

That's 3.1 miles to the summit. (that's just under 5 kilometers). So yes, 5 kilometers straight up and then 5 kilometres back down. 10 kilometers in all.......but once I got back down, actually felt pretty good.

Part of the trail.......that still looks like a trail.

I've only just started at this point. That's why I look so happy.

Also part of the trail. I wasn't sure at first because that rock in the centre.......is straight up. You actually have to go off trail to get up around it.

Eventually I made it to the top where I could rest and relax and enjoy the view.......and it was a great view.

Still looking happy because I made it to the top......and it was all down hill from here.

Julie

They Closed the Park.......I Went Hiking Anyway

Thacher State Park, New York
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

I mentioned a few posts ago that the Governor of NY decided to close several state parks in an attempt to save money. They did in deed close but I knew that the look out was still open so I thought I should still be able to get on the trails to do some hiking. So without hesitation I found another nice day and headed back to Thacher Park for some more hiking. Who knew how "closed" the place was really going to be.

This is what I was met with at every other parking lot in the park. I did manage to park at the Scenic lookout for a while.

I actually had a plan to hike a certain trail but I was met with barricades at the trail entrance. I was easily able to walk by these.

Unfortunately I was met a little bit later with a completely locked gate at the actual entrance to the trail.

With the assistance of another hiker who was also not expecting a locked gate, I climbed over the gate and hit the trail. It actually is a really nice little hike. Everything I have read said that it was a lot of fun for kids and I can see why. Here you have to bend down real low to get under this section of rock.

At this part of the trail you actually have to walk under a small waterfall. That is the one other person on the trail with me. Earlier on the trail he felt it necessary to point out a poisonous snake that I had walked by unaware. That changed the complexion of the rest of my hike.

Some of the stairwells you have to climb on the trail. It is called the Indian Ladders Trail.....but these stairs are the closest thing you would find to a ladder. These stairwells were kept up but I was a little worried in other places on the trail where there should have been safety rails that were clearly missing. You could also tell that we were not the first ones to climb over that locked gate.

Even with the locked gates......it was nice to be outside.

I can only assume that this was not always ripped and lying on the ground. I have a feeling some hikers were showing their displeasure with the park closure. They certainly made it easier for me to negotiate this part of the path.

You will all be happy to know that shortly after this The Governor changed his mind and re-opened the parks. Smartest thing he has done in a while.

Julie

P.S Sorry about the weird editing. I was playing with a few of my settings and then I couldn't get rid of them.

Back to Canada.....Nova Scotia this time

Yarmouth Lighthouse

So my 10 day visit to Nova Scotia started in Portland Maine on June 7th. Now I figured that Portland was going to be a boring city so really did not plan on doing much except sleep while I waited for the ferry to arrive. However when I got there I quickly learned that the city is filled with things that I love to see and do like museums and lighthouses and history and trolley tours and lots more. Of course I did not arrive there in time to check out too much on my first night there but I made myself a nice list of things to see so that I could check them out on my way home. It is a really quick 4 hour drive (well actually I made it home in 3.5) from Hamden so I planned to check out a few things before I made the drive home on the 18th.

Old Fort in the middle of Portland harbour

After a night in Portland I hopped (well more correctly drove) aboard The Cat Ferry nice and early for an 8am departure time. The Cat is a high speed catamaran ferry that makes the trip from Portland to Yarmouth (and then back again) a few times a week (in 5.5 hours) and makes the same trip to and from Bar Harbour Maine (in 3 hours) the other days during the week. I have been told the trip can be quite rough and lot of people hit Nova Scotia looking pretty green but I must say I had a very uneventful trip. The water was perfectly flat and although the boat moves pretty good (I ran into poles every time I tried to walk anywhere) I am like a baby and the rocking motion simply put me to sleep. So once I saw the Canadian navy frigate patrolling the water I felt nice and safe and slept the rest of the trip.

Leaving Portland Harbour from the back of The Cat

The Cat by the way does have a lot on board for those who don’t sleep for the entire trip including a couple bars (they serve Alexander Keith’s by the way…that’s Canadian beer for my American friends), a little Casino, some movie screens and a little cafeteria.

The final lighthouse on the way out of Portland Harbour

Upon arrival in Yarmouth I headed to the hospital…no I wasn’t missing work but that is where Gramma is right now so that is where I went. A little back ground for those of you who do not know, Yarmouth is my Dad’s hometown and Gramma still lives there. Unfortunately she has been in the hospital since early this year after breaking her hip. Some more background, Yarmouth’s hospital is about 93 beds and approximately 56 of them are filled with people like my Gramma who are medically stable but cannot go home so are waiting for placement in extended care facilities. The average wait time is 9 months although it can take up to a year so it appears that she will be there a bit longer. The hospital is in a very nice spot though (kind of like Rockyview) looking down Yarmouth Harbour.

Yarmouth Hospital

A lot of my days were spent there and I must say is was nice to be in a hospital and not have to do anything (although I did get offered a couple jobs, which I promptly turned down).

Me with Gramma at the hospital. She has a bed by the window so at least she has something to look at while she waits.

I did spend time visiting a couple other family members as well. It was nice because Dad actually came into town while I was there so I got to see him, but I also got to visit with my Dad’s cousins Bruce and Stephen and his Uncle Ernie (Ernie is Bruce and Stephen’s dad and Gramma's brother). I also spent some time with my Aunt Winnie (dad's sister) who has been staying in Yarmouth and helping out with Gramma as much as she can. I went whale watching (pictures to follow). What else did I do….ate a lot of fish and chips…..mmmmm…..fish and chips, drank some good Canadian beer ( I brought back my allowable amount as well), checked out some churches (what else) and hit the Yarmouth Museum (of course). It was very nice and relaxing. Some much needed time off.

Me and Aunt Winnie outside the ferry terminal

My Dad (on the right) and Bruce

Me and Uncle Ernie. He will be 90 this summer. Apparently a dislike for cooking comes from this side of the family because I think he and I both live off microwave dinners.

Saint Mary's Parish. You will find this church at Church Point along the french shore. It is the largest wooden church in North America.

The sunset over Yarmouth Harbour from the patio at Rudder's Restaurant. We had a few very good meals there (lots of fish and chips)

Julie