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Fasting Days, Festive Nights
It's three o'clock in the afternoon and a cacophony of car horns, bus engines and shouting people is making an unusually unbearable din in what is, on the best of days, a noisy city. This is not rush hour, nor a construction bottleneck. This is Ramadan. Nearly everyone in this metropolis of 16 million people is trying to get home by exactly 4:55, in time to break the day's fast with family and friends.
Bee-Eaters and Hoop-Hoops: Arabia on the Wing
Saudi Arabia has four times as many species of birds per square mile of territory as does the United States. Whenever I point this out to a fellow American, they refuse to believe me. They simply can’t imagine that a desert country like the Kingdom could possibly match the USA...
Seismic: Pushing the Boundaries in Frontier Exploration
When the early pioneers set foot in Saudi Arabia in the 1930s, their mission was simple: explore for oil. Those early years were fraught with hope and disappointment in equal measure — but persistency paid off.
A Swimming Journey From Saudi Aramco to the Corporate World
Zubair Iftekhar's love of swimming began when he was just a boy playing in a Saudi Aramco pool. But it wasn't love at first site. He first had to conquer his fears.
A Look Back At Our Favorite 2023 Highlights & Notices
Take a look back at the top hits and highlights of 2023 including our favorite photos, stories, celebrations, and more. Thanks to all our readers, contributors, and sponsors for another great year!
Joseph Elden Cullen
Joseph Elden Cullen was born on February 24, 1940 to Laurence 'Tut' Elden Cullen and Edna Talbott Cullen in Ronan, Montana. He was the third of their four children (Paul, Virginia, Joe and Carol) and lived in the Mission Valley, Montana area until he went to Army Boot Camp after high school graduation in 1958.
Adventures in France Continue: On to Bordeaux!
Many months ago—too many months ago—you read in this newsletter an account of an October 2013 visit to Paris.
Red Bull and Verstappen Make it a Perfect 10
Ferrari gave it everything to try to halt Red Bull's winning streak at its home Formula 1 round — the Italian Grand Prix. It resulted in one of the best races of the season so far, but despite some very spirited driving by Carlos Sainz in particular, Red Bull's Max Verstappen still took a record-breaking 10th straight Grand Prix win.
"Dear Folks": Chapter 19
The first half of 1956 is full of interesting developments for Aramco. Notable visitors to Dhahran include King Saud, who is feted at a 600-guest dinner, Steve Bechtel, president of the Bechtel Corporation, top officials from the Aramco’s owner companies...
Karin Avila’s Story: From Salinas Valley to the Middle East
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with Karin Avila, an Aramco Brat who moved to Saudi Arabia from California during her teenage years. Her family resided in Ras Tanura, where her father was a general physician at the Saudi Aramco hospital. Karin’s story brought back my own nostalgic memories of the Kingdom...
Tales of the Bedouin – Part XIV: The Lost City of Wabar
Atlantis of the Sands? A lost city? A meteorite impact site? For years, the mystery of Wabar fascinated a young associate professor of geology at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran. This is the story of his travels to the site – in Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter...
Kelleks: The Inflatable Rafts of Yesteryear
The creativity and inventiveness of the early civilizations of the Middle East continue to astonish us moderns. Faced with major obstacles to overcome, Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Arabs, et. al. time and again successfully devised solutions using available materials and know-how.
Tales of the Bedouin – Part IX: Travels with Stephen, Part 2
“Let’s go to Kuwait.” ... “What do you mean?” I asked. ... “We’ll drive to Kuwait on Thursday.” In Steve’s mind, Thursday afternoon would be optimal, as it was the beginning of the weekend, and Fridays were our only full day off...
Desert Designs - Celebrating 30 Years of Distinctive Saudi Design
In this piece, Mark Lowey chronicles the story of Desert Designs and its founders, Qamar Ahmed and Farid Bukhari, who own the unique, family-run interior design studio, home décor gift shop and art gallery, in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, that is dedicated to Saudi culture and Islamic design.
Nomadic Youth - Vignette from 'Aramco Brat: How Arabia, Oil, Gold and Tragedy Shaped My Life'
Not quite 4,000 days before the Cairo crash, I could be found in Glenshaw, a suburb outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the day after Christmas, 1955. My father had joined giant Aramco (the Arabian American Oil Company) thirteen months before, and we would soon be with him in KSA, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Tales of the Bedouin – Part XIX: Journey to Meet The Son of Bathan – Part 2
In this piece, Mark Lowey, known as “Abu Jack” (father of Jack) to his Saudi friends, is escorted deep into the Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) to meet, for the first time, the son of an old acquaintance. We stopped at the edge of the camp. I stepped out of the Landcruiser and called out “Salaam Aleikum!” to the group of men standing facing us.
Tales of the Bedouin – Part XX: Journey to Meet The Son of Bathan – Part 3
In this piece, Mark Lowey, known as “Abu Jack” (father of Jack) to his Saudi friends, is escorted deep into the Rub Al Khali (the Empty Quarter) to meet, for the first time, the son of an old acquaintance. Before first light there was a slight chill in the air, and the men gathered around the cooking fire. Coffee and tea were served, and conversation ensued. Inevitably the discussion turned to the herd.
Tales of the Bedouin – Part XXIII: The Remarkable Life of Bdah Al Hajri – Part 3
In this series, Mark Lowey, known as “Abu Jack” (Father of Jack) to his Saudi friends, tells the story of Bdah Al Hajri, whom he first encountered in the desert as a baby in 1979. Reunited in 2013, Abu Jack and Bdah have become close friends. In 1986, Bdah was seven years old, and his two older sisters were already attending elementary school at Salasil. It was time for Bdah to begin his formal education.
Tales of the Bedouin – Part XXVIII: Old Ain Dar
In this piece, Mark Lowey describes a day spent with Quriyan Mohammed Al Hajri touring his boyhood home village, Old Ain Dar, in 2021. At Quriyan’s farm in Junayah, I awakened at first light. I knew Quriyan would have been up for at least an hour already.
1960s Christmas Scenes from Sun and Flare
The pleasures of the holiday season, as celebrated in Aramco camps throughout the 1960s, are depicted here in photographs from the Arabian Sun & Flare.