We arrived in Buraidah, just before the noon prayer when everything closes for 20 to 30 minutes as the faithful head off to the mosque. During prayer, we drove around the town. Buraidah is in the heart of the Nejd...
This small collection of verses was written as a poetic diary of my thoughts and impressions, influenced by my life and travel within Saudi Arabia during the past eight years (circa 1980s), intending, hopefully, for them to be handed on...
Elise Kellett submitted a photo of a rock she's had in her possession for many years, collected from the desert near Dhahran. Out of curiosity, she is hoping someone can identify the type of rock.
Retired employee Mohammed Ifteqaruddin Badge #140948, Technical Advisor Mechanical Services from Ras Tanura Refinery Maintenance Department, machine shop unit, has put the well-being of the family and the community at the center of attention.
UK resident Mel Trotter supplied this image of a 1973 Aramco magazine cover that includes him, and we're hoping to identify others that are also in the photograph. Of the magazine cover, Mel explains, "it cheered me up when I looked at it the other day."
For two weeks now, Jackie Voskamp and Joyce Kriesmer have barely left the apartment they share at the Vi at La Jolla Village senior complex. The 91-year-old identical twins are in a high-risk age group for COVID-19, so they have been in self-imposed lockdown.
It is a long, curvy drive up the Saudi Arabian mountain to Alhada and then Taif, enough to make anyone motion sick. Yet many of life’s most beautiful things are found at the top of a climb. So it is with one of the world’s most expensive commodities–rose water and the rose oil that distills along with it.
Drew Irving worked for the Fluor Corporation SERVORG group that provided Engineers and Construction Specialist directly to Aramco project engineers to be "their eyes and ears" on all the projects going on at that time throughout the Eastern Province.
This year marks the 31st anniversary of my first setting foot in Saudi Arabia. Back then, it was still a sleepy, laid back place with little in the way of entertainment or amenities. So, as expats , we made our own entertainment and...
Camping trips are among the most treasured family memories and many an Aramcon family ventured beyond the gates of Aramco camps to experience the great outdoors. In December 2000, Wallace Colly and his family, along with another 'Udhailiyah family, made a memorable camping trip to the Hijaz region.
The year was 1983, and I had just returned from a developmental assignment in Udhailiyah working for Southern Area Producing in maintenance. My good friend, Brian Dunloy, had become a collector of oriental carpets...
This small collection of verses was written as a poetic diary of my thoughts and impressions, influenced by my life and travel within Saudi Arabia during the past eight years (circa 1980s), intending, hopefully, for them to be handed on to my three granddaughters - Emma Louise, Sarah Jane and Lisa Maria - in the fullness of time.
When I’m scouting for home and realize it’s 7,598 miles away in Dhahran, I find refuge in the stories of others who share similar sentiments to mine. The recent pandemic that is rapidly evolving, coronavirus...
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young." ~Henry Ford
It can be argued that, outside the Arab world proper, the richness of Arabic poetry has gone largely under-appreciated by the general reading public, albeit with a few exceptions, one of the most notable being the 8th-century Mu’allaqat...
The US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia John Abizaid made an address in Jeddah on Sunday at a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the meeting between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and King Abdul Aziz on board the USS Quincy in 1945.
One does not expect to see a label on their tin of caviar stating, “Product of Saudi Arabia”. After all, the sturgeon that produce caviar are found in countries that have plenty of cool, fresh water - something that is not found in large quantities in Saudi Arabia.
The Farasan Islands, lying 30 miles off the coast of the Red Sea near the city of Jizan, have been called “the Crown Jewels of Saudi Arabia’s travel treasures,” and with good reason. Their unique natural habitat, which includes...
While the Hafla Reunion will have bus tours to three of the top attractions in the Colorado Springs (COS) region, there are over 300 other activities that you may want to consider during your time before, during or after the reunion.
As we begin a new year in a new decade, we gather inspiration by taking a look back at what news the Aramco ExPats community enjoyed the most. Here are the highlights - stories, photos and more - in case you missed them...