ExPat life in the Aramco communities is full of contradictions — within all the complexities that surrounded us, from geopolitical turmoil to the rules and regulations that we had to abide by, life was abundantly simple...
Sean, an Aramco brat, has been named Dean’s Scholar by Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada for outstanding academic performance by the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science for the 2019-20 academic session. Sean graduated in Mechanical Engineering with a 3.5 GPA.
Beneath often vivid blue skies and surrounded by the crystal-clear waters of the Aegean lies Porto Heli, Greece, a small fishing village a short ferry ride from Athens. Known for its protective coves and bays, it is a frequent mooring...
Jonathan Way, his wife Shirley and daughter Cynthia were in Dhahran during the last stages of Desert Shield. In response to a recent request for photographs from the Gulf War, Jonathan submitted this photo of Shirley and Cynthia...
That evening we dined at a magnificent Moroccan restaurant next to Beit Al Nassif with a horse-drawn carriage perched outside the entrance. It was opulent to say the least. We felt like we were in a royal palace and the food...
Stories often have the power of bringing dormant feelings and faded memories back to life. The words ricochet off of some figment of our experience and take us back to a very special place, where nostalgia wakes up and finds itself in a portable home.
Through hard work and perseverance, Aramco retiree Dr. Azzam Eltarahony, badge number 139844, recently celebrated the grand opening of Alnahar General Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt. As the photographs show, this is a top-rate facility.
When we left Mada’in Saleh, our next destination was Jeddah. That is a long road to Jeddah and having since traveled all the roads of the Kingdom, it is still the one road I do not enjoy traveling. I avoid it with a passion...
Aramco annuitant and current resident of Japan Eiichi Nakamura was recently featured in these pages. The highlight of that article was his account of a traditional tea ceremony performed at his home in Yokohama for top executives from Saudi Aramco and their key customers in Japan.
Saudi Arabia has taken dramatic steps in recent years to open its borders to foreign tourists; to restore, maintain, and protect its many important natural and man-made attractions; and to spread the word of these astonishing sites...
One of the most beautiful privileges of growing up in the expat world in Saudi Arabia is that virtually everyone is different. A different race, ethnicity, religion. The main thread that ties us together is the expat culture...
The desert floor stretched before us as we headed west. As the hours passed and the heat soared, the terrain became flat and expansive with mirages dancing on the horizon. It was evening once more as we approached Tayma...
From the moment he met Ibn Saud, Harry St. John Bridger Philby was mesmerised by the charisma of the King and made no secret of his dedication to the Saudi cause and the unification of the Arabian Peninsula.
While many countries in the world have halted construction work and put projects on hold due to the pandemic, Saudi Arabia continues to move forward with its giga-projects, including the homeland of its forefathers, Diriyah.
With The King’s good offices, Harry had prospered in his business ventures and was proprietor of The Ford Motor Company franchise in Jeddah. He owned a house in Riyadh, given to him by Ibn Saud and a beautiful Saudi wife named Rozy.
So went the philosophy of the mentors who tutored Ibn Saud as a child and it remained his lifelong practice to tryout the integrity of those he would rely on. His friendship with Harry St. John Bridger Philby was strong but Philby was not exempt from the scrutiny of the desert fighter, though Philby never knew or understood this.
The binding truth that ties the entire Aramco family together is the ephemeral, transitory periods of our lives that we spend in the cookie-cutter homes, basking under the hot desert sun. Some of us are born here, some move as children, and some as teenagers, and some of us even find our way back here as adults.
When Ibn Saud scaled the walls of Riyadh in 1902, it began his celebrated passage to becoming King of Saudi Arabia. This story briefly describes the years when he recovered his heritage and oil was on the horizon.
It was a Saturday and the skydivers had jumped this morning. Nobody worked on Saturday afternoon except the island telephone operator and she was busy. There were three phones at the exchange and people stood in lines to make their calls home. Folks in England waited for their loved ones to call on Saturdays.
If you’re a fan of geological wonders—as many Aramco annuitants understandably are—a visit to Jabal Sawda will suit your tastes “to a T.” Standing just over 10,000 feet, Jabal Sawda in the Asir region of southwestern Saudi Arabia...