Arabian Homes

Some weeks ago I wrote about the possibility of getting a villa in the Arabian Homes compound. This has become reality and I'm now living in Arabian Homes since my return to Saudi 3 weeks ago. Arabian Homes is one of the best compounds in Riyadh and is one of the preferred ones of the expatriate community here. It has got around 250 villas, high security, 16 swimming pools, tennis courts, gym, shops, restaurants and lots of other services. There live people from all over the world here, mostly westerners and once inside the compound the only thing remembering you are in Saudi Arabia is the sound of the call to prayer from the mosque at the other side of the wall.

I'm sharing the villa with 2 colleagues of mine, André and Filipe. The villa is big, like everything is big in Saudi and has got 4 bedrooms. And I am loving it, it really makes all the difference, it is great living here, having my own house here, getting to know people, jumping into the pool after work, etc.

Our villa is the one in the right corner.

They took my spare wheel

Last week I started driving in Riyadh. This is an adventure on itself and I will dedicate a post to it in the near future. Anyway, I got my internatinal driving license when I was in Portugal recently and I've been driving a Toyota Camry (rented by the company) until I get my company car.

Some days ago, we left office around 21.30 and we found that someone had broken in the car, breaking the small window of the back door. We wondered what they could have taken as we didn't leave anything valueable in the car. We discovered it next morning...they took the spare wheel from the trunk!!! Later we were told there is a gang operating in Riyadh, specialized in Toyota Camry tyres. Many taxi drivers in Saudi drive Camry's and they buy these 'second hand' tyres. The strange thing here is that robbery wasn't supposed to happen in a country where they cut off hands. But it turns out they don't do it so often anymore...at least not for these minor offenses.

Anyway, I had to report it to the police in order the insurance company to pay. I went with a local Saudi from Stesa and we were sent from the one police station to the other, 'not in our jurisdiction' we were told. Finally we got the right one, but no one would handle the case, we were sent from A to B, from B to C, etc...and finally sent back to A. Finally someone, who must have been higher ranking officer wrote something on a paper, and we were sent back office B, or whatever...there they started argueing who had to handle the case as no one wanted to work...and then another 15 minutes how they had to handle the case as no one had the minimum idea. This all, of course in Arabic and I was just looking at my Saudi colleagues's face to get a clue of what was going on while he was argueing with the officers to get the thing done. Finally we got the piece of paper....and again from A to B, etc to get a stamp and a signature....It was quite an experience and I took it with sense of humor....I just hope never to crash here...if one broken window is what it is....

Back in Saudi

Wow, I just realized it's been a long time since my last post on my blog. I'm back in Saudi since the 13th of this month and the truth is that I just haven't had any spare time. We have a couple of deadlines in the next weeks and we have been working 12 hours a day. The other reason is that I moved to my new villa in Arabian Homes (I will write more about this next time) where I had no internet yet. Anyway, I'm enjoying a lot being back here. At work, we are entering a critical phase now, we have a lot of technical documentation to prepare and to submit but I really like my work and the responsibility. I have been working around 12 hours everyday and the days still seem to short. But it's not been work only, we have been to a party at the French embassy last week and it was great. We met a lot of other expats and we also found that, despite women are not allowed to work here and single women are not allowed to enter the country, there is one big exception: most of the nurses here in Saudi are foreigners. To my sister and friends who are nurses: I will find out how much they earn here and how to apply:).

We have also been shopping buying stuff for the new house. The villa was fully furnitured but there were some items missing in the kitchen.

Now, that I have internet at home again I'll be posting more regularly. Cheers

Back in Portugal

It's been some days since my last post. The reason is that I'm back in Portugal for 2 weeks. I arrived last Friday and it's great being back home. I've had a completely full agenda so far and it's great seeing everybody again. I'm returning to Saudi the 13th of July and I don't know if I'm posting anything before that...have to take advantage of my time here:)