Vernon, BC, Canada
Sunday, January 14th, 2018
Well.....it has been a while. Sorry, I've been busy. But it's a new year so I got myself a new look and promise to get you all caught up.
So I am still in Canada, having left Riyadh in October 2015. I finished my Masters (Healthcare Administration and Management), went back to floor nursing (for a little while) and then at then end of October (2017) I started a new job. It's a management/coordinator position so finally getting to actually use my Masters degree......and it's in Vernon so I guess I'll be here a bit longer.
But there is so much more that lead up to today so keep your eye out to all the stories and updates. I took two epic journeys in 2015 (not including Debi's wedding ) that I am trying to get posted (tons of pictures to sort through still) but I will get to it....I promise.
So stay tuned.....but I am going back to where I left off.
Julie
Monday, January 15, 2018
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Boooo!!!
Thursday, October 30th, 2014
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Halloween comes but once a year.....even in Saudi Arabia. Luckily......there was a party and I got to dress up. Not really a thing in Saudi culture.....but the expats still take it pretty seriously. I had to order a costume online.....because you cannot buy one here. This was my first Halloween here though so decided I needed a real costume and not just something I threw together from random pieces in my closet.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Halloween comes but once a year.....even in Saudi Arabia. Luckily......there was a party and I got to dress up. Not really a thing in Saudi culture.....but the expats still take it pretty seriously. I had to order a costume online.....because you cannot buy one here. This was my first Halloween here though so decided I needed a real costume and not just something I threw together from random pieces in my closet.
I was happy with my costume....I even had a sword.
The only thing missing on this night was the pumpkin carving but a good night had by all. (I came in a very close second in the costume contest by the way.)
Julie
Red and White All Over Again
Friday, October 24, 2014
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Well it is that time of year again.....time to buy a red dress, get my hair done and head to the Canadian Embassy for the Annual Red and White Ball. Last year was a lot of fun so I was very much looking forward to the event this year. I decided I would go with a long dress this time around. The Embassy is undergoing some very delayed renovations so the usual spot around the pool and on the tennis court was unavailable. However, the CCOR (Canadian Club of Riyadh) were able to decorate the front lobby and entry of the Embassy up very nicely ( I helped) and it looked great. Of course only a few pictures (so no pictures of those decorations) but certainly a view of the dress.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Well it is that time of year again.....time to buy a red dress, get my hair done and head to the Canadian Embassy for the Annual Red and White Ball. Last year was a lot of fun so I was very much looking forward to the event this year. I decided I would go with a long dress this time around. The Embassy is undergoing some very delayed renovations so the usual spot around the pool and on the tennis court was unavailable. However, the CCOR (Canadian Club of Riyadh) were able to decorate the front lobby and entry of the Embassy up very nicely ( I helped) and it looked great. Of course only a few pictures (so no pictures of those decorations) but certainly a view of the dress.
Pretty simple dress.....but went with red again.
I really liked the back.....and the little train.
One of the groups of us heading to the ball. A lot of Canadians in this group but a few imports as well.
Lola was my date again. This was actually her last ball as she was heading back to the UK (for good) in a couple weeks. Thanks for the photobomb Omar.
With the hockey boys. They do clean up pretty good. So left to right is Bashir, Chris, Jason, Derek, Bruce, Darren, Chris, Happy, Bruce and Darryl. And that's me and Omar in the front.
As always, it was a fantastic night at the Canadian Embassy. Sometimes I wish we had a ball 2 times a year.
Julie
So I Crashed a Saudi Wedding
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
So I had a very interesting experience last night that I just have to share. As the title implies..... I crashed a Saudi Wedding.
It is a very exciting prospect when you get invited to a local wedding. As you can guess they are very different from what we are accustomed to and is an experience like no other. One of my colleagues, Yousef recently got engaged and I was very excited to receive an invite to his wedding. Of note Yousef is not Saudi although he was born and raised here. He carries a Eritrean passport and considers himself Eritrean so he told me it would be a bit different but also kind of similar.
All weddings here are gender segregated, so even though I was invited by my male colleague, I would not get to celebrate his wedding with him. But there would be plenty of friends and family to fill the void. Our entire office was invited so it would be an opportunity to spend some time with the Saudi girls I work with outside the hospital. Weddings here tend to be very lavish events. For women it is a huge opportunity to get dressed up and have some fun. Trust me the hair, make-up, shoes, and the dresses......you would not believe the dresses.
Three of us (all non-Arabic speakers) decided we would travel to the wedding together. I got maps and GPS locations and directions galore so we would know where we were going and somehow we still ended up at the wrong wedding. Yes that's right the wrong wedding. However, we did not know it was the wrong wedding until about 0100 (1am) after we had left and were already at home. Let's just say the night turned into a bunch of "should haves" but I'll tell you how something like that happens.
None of us had been to an event like this before so really did not know what to expect. The first surprise was when we arrived they took our phones from us....because of the cameras, as there are no pictures allowed in the wedding as the women are all uncovered. This threw us off a bit as we were still waiting for our Saudi colleagues to arrive . We tried to call them before we entered but thought it would be fine they would arrive soon after us. We found a table close to the door so we would see everyone come in and sat down and watched the dancing and listened to the music. A couple hours past and our Saudi colleagues had not arrived but it is not uncommon for people here to say they are coming to something and then not show up so we actually were not too surprised. At this point we should have gotten up to check our phones but we just continued to wonder why they hadn't arrived and enjoyed the experience. Funny thing was they were thinking the same thing at Yousef's actual wedding. Eventually midnight hit and the meal was served. And then our driver came at 0030 (after midnight) at this point I had my phone back and was seeing messages from the girls about being on their way and a couple missed calls. First sign that something was amiss. So I sent some messages wondering what had happened to them. At 0130 they responded wondering what had happened to us because they couldn't find us at the wedding. I said the same. At this point it became pretty apparent we had both attended weddings but not the same one. When I got to work on Thursday we totally confirmed it.
The directions to the wedding venue were very clear however they neglected to tell us that there were 2 wedding venues very close together, separated by a mosque. Also they neglected to tell us that the second venue was the one we were looking for and due to construction was a little hard to see. They did tell me however we would come off the U-turn (very common on Saudi roads) and it would be right there. So we came off the U-turn and stopped at the first wedding venue we saw. Little did we know we should have kept going.
So as you can imagine I was a little disappointed that I hadn't been to Yousef's wedding. Being at an event like that when you don't know anyone kind of leaves you in an observatory role versus a participatory role and I would have done a lot of dancing and that kind of stuff. I also regret not being able to meet Yousef's wife and family as I am told they are lovely people but hopefully another opportunity will arise.
Looking back on it today, I can see that from the moment we walked in we should have known things weren't right. No one asked who we were or anything. They just took our phones and we headed in. We probably should have asked to make sure we were in the right place. I should have done a little looking myself before giving the driver the directions to make sure I knew where we were going. Should, should, should. But no way to change it now. Kathleen and I have been laughing all day about it.
But to make a positive out of a negative I really enjoyed the night. It was a glimpse into a world not many get to see and I am thankful for that. I had to ask a lot of questions today because I just did not know what was happening last night (things have been cleared up). Not to worry, there are 2 more single guys in the office (and 2 single girls) so hopefully there will be more wedding opportunities.
Julie
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
So I had a very interesting experience last night that I just have to share. As the title implies..... I crashed a Saudi Wedding.
The beautiful wedding invitation I received.....of course I couldn't read it. That probably would have been helpful.
It is a very exciting prospect when you get invited to a local wedding. As you can guess they are very different from what we are accustomed to and is an experience like no other. One of my colleagues, Yousef recently got engaged and I was very excited to receive an invite to his wedding. Of note Yousef is not Saudi although he was born and raised here. He carries a Eritrean passport and considers himself Eritrean so he told me it would be a bit different but also kind of similar.
All weddings here are gender segregated, so even though I was invited by my male colleague, I would not get to celebrate his wedding with him. But there would be plenty of friends and family to fill the void. Our entire office was invited so it would be an opportunity to spend some time with the Saudi girls I work with outside the hospital. Weddings here tend to be very lavish events. For women it is a huge opportunity to get dressed up and have some fun. Trust me the hair, make-up, shoes, and the dresses......you would not believe the dresses.
Three of us (all non-Arabic speakers) decided we would travel to the wedding together. I got maps and GPS locations and directions galore so we would know where we were going and somehow we still ended up at the wrong wedding. Yes that's right the wrong wedding. However, we did not know it was the wrong wedding until about 0100 (1am) after we had left and were already at home. Let's just say the night turned into a bunch of "should haves" but I'll tell you how something like that happens.
Kathleen, Cherry and Myself at the wedding.
None of us had been to an event like this before so really did not know what to expect. The first surprise was when we arrived they took our phones from us....because of the cameras, as there are no pictures allowed in the wedding as the women are all uncovered. This threw us off a bit as we were still waiting for our Saudi colleagues to arrive . We tried to call them before we entered but thought it would be fine they would arrive soon after us. We found a table close to the door so we would see everyone come in and sat down and watched the dancing and listened to the music. A couple hours past and our Saudi colleagues had not arrived but it is not uncommon for people here to say they are coming to something and then not show up so we actually were not too surprised. At this point we should have gotten up to check our phones but we just continued to wonder why they hadn't arrived and enjoyed the experience. Funny thing was they were thinking the same thing at Yousef's actual wedding. Eventually midnight hit and the meal was served. And then our driver came at 0030 (after midnight) at this point I had my phone back and was seeing messages from the girls about being on their way and a couple missed calls. First sign that something was amiss. So I sent some messages wondering what had happened to them. At 0130 they responded wondering what had happened to us because they couldn't find us at the wedding. I said the same. At this point it became pretty apparent we had both attended weddings but not the same one. When I got to work on Thursday we totally confirmed it.
The directions to the wedding venue were very clear however they neglected to tell us that there were 2 wedding venues very close together, separated by a mosque. Also they neglected to tell us that the second venue was the one we were looking for and due to construction was a little hard to see. They did tell me however we would come off the U-turn (very common on Saudi roads) and it would be right there. So we came off the U-turn and stopped at the first wedding venue we saw. Little did we know we should have kept going.
The one place we could take pictures......where no one else is around.
So as you can imagine I was a little disappointed that I hadn't been to Yousef's wedding. Being at an event like that when you don't know anyone kind of leaves you in an observatory role versus a participatory role and I would have done a lot of dancing and that kind of stuff. I also regret not being able to meet Yousef's wife and family as I am told they are lovely people but hopefully another opportunity will arise.
Kathleen and I. We have both attended a number of Embassy balls but this was something totally different.
Looking back on it today, I can see that from the moment we walked in we should have known things weren't right. No one asked who we were or anything. They just took our phones and we headed in. We probably should have asked to make sure we were in the right place. I should have done a little looking myself before giving the driver the directions to make sure I knew where we were going. Should, should, should. But no way to change it now. Kathleen and I have been laughing all day about it.
But to make a positive out of a negative I really enjoyed the night. It was a glimpse into a world not many get to see and I am thankful for that. I had to ask a lot of questions today because I just did not know what was happening last night (things have been cleared up). Not to worry, there are 2 more single guys in the office (and 2 single girls) so hopefully there will be more wedding opportunities.
Julie
Friday, November 25, 2016
My Summer Guest
Wednesday, July 16th, 2014 to Sunday, August 3rd, 2014
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
After I got home from Canada I had a friend come stay with me for a couple weeks. Well more exactly I had a friend's kitten come stay with me for a few weeks. One of the guys that plays hockey with the group, needed a kitten sitter for a couple weeks while he went home and well I was more than happy to volunteer. Technically, I'm not allowed to have pets in my apartment but I knew other people on the floor (and in my building) had cats so I was not too worried about it. I just snuck the little guy in and took it from there.
I haven't had a cat in a long time.....and certainly not a kitten, so while it was a lot of fun, it was trying at times.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
After I got home from Canada I had a friend come stay with me for a couple weeks. Well more exactly I had a friend's kitten come stay with me for a few weeks. One of the guys that plays hockey with the group, needed a kitten sitter for a couple weeks while he went home and well I was more than happy to volunteer. Technically, I'm not allowed to have pets in my apartment but I knew other people on the floor (and in my building) had cats so I was not too worried about it. I just snuck the little guy in and took it from there.
I haven't had a cat in a long time.....and certainly not a kitten, so while it was a lot of fun, it was trying at times.
This is Naji. At this point we are not totally sure how old he is. My friend actually rescued him off the side of the road but we figure he's 4-6 months old....but possibly older.
This is Naji checking out my fridge.....
and my bathtub......
and my bed......
and my pot cupboard........
my laundry hamper......
eating my plants........
and watching The Daily Show with me.
Sometimes he slept.
And Blue Jays games relaxed him.
Adorably he liked to play fetch.
Not sure why this is where he felt he would go to sleep on this night.
Waiting for me to print something....he really liked that.
Hmmmm.....helping me do my homework.......as in not being very helpful at all.
And also not very helpful with my laundry.
Eventually he had to go back home. It was fun having him for a couple weeks but I think any desire I had to have a kitten of my own.....is completely gone.
Julie
Heading Home for Some Summer Fun
Friday, June 20th to Saturday, July 12th, 2014
Various Canadian Locations
Yeah to coming home!!!! My favourite time of year is when I make my yearly pilgrimage back to Canada. After coming home the last couple of years in the winter I decided this year I needed to visit Canada in the summer. And what a great idea it was. I got a lot of great weather and some even better family time. Just two stops this time around (Vernon, BC followed by Milton, Ontario) but there certainly were not a lot of dull days. Here are some pictures:
Around Vernon, BC:
Various Canadian Locations
Yeah to coming home!!!! My favourite time of year is when I make my yearly pilgrimage back to Canada. After coming home the last couple of years in the winter I decided this year I needed to visit Canada in the summer. And what a great idea it was. I got a lot of great weather and some even better family time. Just two stops this time around (Vernon, BC followed by Milton, Ontario) but there certainly were not a lot of dull days. Here are some pictures:
Around Vernon, BC:
A little bit of a hike and a trip to the hot springs in Nakusp.
The beautiful bridge the crosses that river.
Beautiful day at the golf course. Can't say the golf was very good but certainly was a nice day to be out there.
About as close to the water as I got......way too cold for me.
My friend Shadia came into town for a few days and we headed out to check out a few things as well......like our little hike up Silver Star.
Nothing like a little black bear sighting in the summer. You can see in the background some of the mountain bikers who use the hill in the summer. They had to do some creative maneuvering when they came across this little guy.
Not to worry.....he had no interest in any of us.....was just looking for some berries and stuff to eat.
We hiked down the hill....but elected to take the ski lift up to the top.
Another very nice day....also happened to be Canada Day.
Found a little snow at the top of the hill.
We made a quick stop at Davidson's Orchard as well.....to feed the goats.
Just a few little goats to feed. They are pretty cute.
It was then back home in time for some Canada Day celebrations.
And of course some fireworks.
Final detail of the Vernon portion of the trip.....buying some fun new luggage......at like 90% off.
Around Milton, Ontario:
After my fun days in Vernon, it was time to head east to visit Steve, Heather and little Olivia....who just keeps on getting bigger. We had lots of fun days there.
We did a little gardening.
And blew some bubbles on the back deck.
Took a little trip out to the shooting range.
I wasn't a terrible shot.....but can't say this is my thing.
We spent some time at the park.
And at the splash pad.
And made a trip to Springridge Farm.
We played on the slides.
And saw some super cute little animals.
And Olivia got herself a pony ride. She doesn't like dogs so much..... but really liked the pony ride.
It was a pretty nice day at the farm.
We also spent a day hiking.
Very pretty day in the woods.
And another splash pad.
And a little wine tasting......
.....while catching up with a good friend. (This is Vanessa.....who I met in Antarctica, in case you weren't sure).......
.......on a beautiful night in Toronto.
And of course some strawberry picking.
Olivia did a good job picking.
Another nice day.
As always, my visit was too short and I had to head back to Riyadh when I seemed like I had just gotten here. But that always leaves me looking forward to the next trip.
Until next time Canada.
Julie
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