On May 29, 2004, two attacks happened on oil installations and one on Oasis, a residential compound in the heart of Al Khobar. The Oasis had a restaurant that we frequented and a skating rink where our friends’ kids learned ice hockey.
"We launched a global architectural competition, inviting some of the world’s best-known architects to come up with designs for the Center. We ultimately chose the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta...
David Thomas happened upon a unique flea market find - a sword with the name Dr. T. C. Alexander inscribed on the blade and an accompanying document that speaks to the sword's great significance. It begins, "I present to my friend, Dr. T. C. Alexander, a memorial gift in recognition of his remarkable services and continuous kindness to the Saudi patients in the Dhahran Arab Hospital. This gift is the sword of my father, Abdul Aziz ibn Madhi..."
Basketry is a time-honored tradition with relevance to societies around the world. From Asia to the Middle East, from Africa to the Americas, basketry is part of everyday life. From carrying food to storage, these traditional vessels are primarily woven by women, less so by men.
All personnel, whether Americans, Canadians, Brits, Filipinos, South Americans, Europeans, Indians, Bangladeshis or Sri Lankans, were on differing pay scales at Aramco. This stratification was originally designed to compensate people in relation to their standard of living back home.
My introduction to Arabian patience was with one of my husband’s colleagues in Japan. He wanted to lease a large family mover, a huge SUV by Japanese standards, for his Saudi wife, the maid and his six children. He went to the dealership and took an entire eight-hour day to bargain the salesman down.
It is with deepest regret that we announce the passing of Mary Ann Reilly, beloved wife of RFA Chairman Emeritus Don Reilly, mother of RFA President Frank Reilly, and grandmother to the remainder of RFA’s Reilly family.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Brid Beeler, a pioneer of inbound adventure desert tourism to Saudi Arabia. Back in the 1990s, when she founded her own travel company Worlds Apart Expeditions...
Hoarding groceries was a way of life for some in Dhahran. But Sharon took hoarding to the next level. Rob and Sharon spent more than twenty-five years in Dhahran. Sharon's lifetime favorite food is Mexican. She could eat it three meals a day, every day. She bought refried beans by the case, just to be sure.
I remember my mother telling me that when she got married in 1960 her family paid a dowry of a thousand pounds to my father for her hand in marriage. That was a lot of money back then. Dowries are found in many other societies and cultures in the world. It is common throughout the Middle East where the groom provides the dowry to the family of the bride...
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.
As any resident or passerby of the cities of Aramco knows, the cities of Dhahran, Ras Tanura, Abqaiq and Udailyah are extremely clean and well maintained. And that reality wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of the domestic workers that spend hours working in the hot, Arabian sun.
I knew my grandfather Milton after he retired in 1960 until his death in 1970. I fantasize about the questions I would ask him now. Sadly, I didn’t really understand the breadth of his distinguished career until 2013.
A group of Aramco Retiree Golfers, determined to play the top golf courses on their “Bucket List” in North America and around the world, bagged world-renowned Pinehurst May 3-7, 2021. The courses hosted the Men’s U.S. Open Championships in 1999, 2005 and 2014 and the U.S. Women's Open Championship in 2014.
Big changes are happening at Reilly Financial Advisors, and we want to make sure everyone at Aramco is kept in the loop! It seems that while Vice President – Middle East Mark Shane was helping Aramcons craft and maintain their retirement plans, he was also working on his own.
Washington, D.C.: The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations' ("National Council") Annual 10-week University Student Internship and Summer Scholars Program began on May 24, 2021. Keynoting the inaugural session – and serving as the lead lecturer and resource specialist for the duration of the program – was Dr. John Duke Anthony, the National Council's Founding President and CEO.
Who does not like roses? They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. When I heard that a rose farm existed in Wadi Hanifa, close to D’Iriyah, it was hard to know if the rumor was true or not. Buzzing with excitement, I set off one morning with my driver, bumping down dusty tracks to locate the farm and buy a dozen red roses before they were all sold out.
When the devastation caused by the winter storm Uri in the U.S. dominated the news in mid-February, UPA was in the midst of its Winter Shield campaign. The annual initiative to protect Palestinian refugees from the harshest stretch of winter took place in the Gaza and Hittin refugee camps in Jordan, both of which were established to accommodate...
Scent has been entrenched into every aspect of Arabian society since the Queen of Sheba’s visit to King Soleiman, the development of the spice trade, and the control exercised by the Nabateans at Mada’in Saleh (Al Hegra) over the camel caravans traveling north to the Levant. Socially and spiritually, scent still plays a prominent role in every aspect of today’s society.
Ali-Al Baluchi's new memoir Heart and Soul is now available in Saudi Arabia, other GCC states, the UK and Europe, and North America. In his own words and through testimonials from friends and colleagues, Ali Al-Baluchi offers unique personal insights, from the challenges of navigating a foreign work culture to nurturing lifelong global friendships in Saudi Aramco.