Thomas journals

ISG Jubail School is the Anglo-American school for this area: Jubail is one of two planned industrial cities in Saudi Arabia, given a special royal commission for development and planning.  Our district, the seven schools of International Schools Group, runs the school in the other industrial city -- Yanbu -- as well.   Jubail is on the east coast, between Dhahran and Kuwait.  Our nearby "big city" is the tri-city metropolis of Dhahran-Khobar-Dammam, where all the big shopping malls and quaint old markets are, along with the central 3 schools of our district, where Coleman attends high school.  ISG Jubail has 410 students -- an average of 2 homerooms for each grade, K-10.  Class size varies, up to 22.  I have 12 in my required course "Computers & Information Management"; Barb has 12 students in her first-grade class.   Most of the teaching staff come from the U.S., some from the Commonwealth.   Several teachers are wives of engineers an...

The Red Sea Housing Company operates our Desert Palms Compound, of about 150 prefab townhouses built about 30 years ago.   One advantage of the age is that there are numerous large shady trees now, including a couple in front of our place.   This photo catches our front door and the driveway that connects several units.  The fitness center is visible on the right side of the screen, with outdoor basketball half-court and tennis courts beyond it.  Our building is a duplex townhouse -- our neighbors are teaching colleagues with three young children. The photo is taken from our small driveway where we will park our car (once I get my residence permit and can legally own a car).   To the left of our front door is our garden hose and trash (which is collected daily).  Behind the unit is a fenced area of pebbled ground--some people manage to keep a few bushes, but the climate is quite harsh.  Inside are three bedrooms on two floors.  Photos here...

50% humidity It’s hot, stunningly so.  Truly like a steam bath – the eyeglasses fog up, and clothes get sticky within two minutes of just standing around. But we knew that.  Summers in Texas, or south Florida, are occasionally similar.  This is relentless.  The only change seems to be the humidity level, as we are located within a mile of the coast. Back to the house... a couple more inside photos, taken last night: One of three powder rooms.  The other two have bathtubs. The view from the stairs

We arrived at Dammam airport to a tremendous crowd of migrant workers waiting to get passports examined.  A few of us bossy teacher-types found the group of 20 new teachers and herded them together, then the school’s travel agent fortunately had contacts that took us to the front of the queue.  Our customs check consisted simply of Xraying all the bags (perhaps seeking bottles of liquor?), thus eliminating our worry about search for religious books or immoral DVDs or vitamins.    Although they had told us they would be waiting for us, it was still a pleasant surprise to be greeted at the airport by so many administrators – the superintendent and the principals and counselors of the two schools that we new teachers would join.  The heat and humidity outside the airport was expected, but still wilting.  The minibus was pleasantly air-conditioned, so we enjoyed a cushioned ride over superhighways for the hour-long ride to our new homes.  We finally ...

We flew easily, with surprisingly few problems departing New York.  However, Barb’s brand-new carry-on bag did not fit in the test box just prior to boarding the plane, so she had to check it. Coincidentally, one of our soon-to-be colleagues experienced the same thing just before us, and recognized Barb when we arrived in Dammam Airport – both small bags had gotten waylaid somewhere in transit, and we both had to wait to report them. Our scheduled layover in Amsterdam allowed Barb to get her nails done in style, and Jeff to win a few euros in the slot machines – a good omen.

We sort, discard, sell, pack in preparation for renting out the house -- sooner than anticipated, August first. Put many things up in the attic, loan a piano and some furniture out to friends, and put some in storage room 444.  Then we depart later than anticipated: August 10th, for International Schools Group in Saudi Arabia. Click on the link for some photos of our last weeks in New York.