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...
Chip Stansbury pays tribute to Cornell Seymour who passed away on February 3rd, 2019, with a look back at a 1998 Abqaiq Scouts Troop 256 campout to Asir National Park.
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