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2019 KSA Expat Reunion Annuitants Get an Up Close Look at Kingdom’s Transformation
“A priceless gift to us and we cannot say enough great things about this trip!” Karen Gadai Johnson wrote at the conclusion of the 2019 KSA Expat Reunion. She brought her children with her from the U.S. to share with them where their grandparents had worked and where she was raised — the first time she had returned to Kingdom in more than 30 years.
Wonder Reef
It was the summer of 1964. Smith and I were 17, working as apprentice divers for the freshly established Al Gossaibi Diving Services, the brain child of the legendary Dee McVey. Dee had been the lead diver and manager of undersea operations for all of Bechtel’s offshore projects since the mid-fifties.
Bedouin Connection Chapter 2 – Living and Working in the oil fields of Saudi Arabia
Shortly after my arrival in Saudi Arabia in 1978, I was assigned to a Gas Oil Separation Plant (GOSP) construction site, Ain Dar GOSP-4, which was a one-hour drive from my new home in Abqaiq.
First Trip to the K.S.A.: Chapter XII
As required by the company to go to the Mother House in Dhahran at least a week before the due date of the birth of your baby, Oran drove me to Dhahran on September 29th, and we checked in, and made all the necessary arrangements.
First Trip to the K.S.A.: Chapter IV
Oran had been back in Arabia long enough to warrant his short leave or vacation, which every employee could go on once a year. We had decided to go to Beirut, Lebanon, so at 1:30 a.m. on November 14, 1951, we flew out of the Dhahran Airport aboard a KLM airplane for a two week local vacation.
First Trip to the K.S.A.: Chapter VII
My roommate there (in the Mother House) was a woman from Abqaiq Camp named Rosemary Gushue (Mrs. John Gushue). When I arrived, she had been in the annex long enough to see two women, expecting their first babies, come and go.
Tales of the Bedouin - Part X: Flashback: My Near-Fatal Flip on Fazran Road
First thing in the morning, I checked in at our admin offices and turned in my passport for safekeeping. The day prior, I had just returned from my first R&R. Now, back at the office...
Aramco Retiree Golf Group Teed It Up in Phoenix, Arizona
The Aramco Retiree Golf Group held their sixth overall and first 2022 event in Phoenix, Arizona at Sheraton Grand Wild Horse Pass Resort March 28 – April 1, 2022. It was a fun filled 5-days of activities including 3 rounds of golf at Whirlwind Troon Devils Claw and Cattail golf courses. The evenings included an “Ice Breaker” Monday night at the Sheraton Grand Lobby Bar area onsite...
1950s Christmas Scenes from Sun and Flare
The pleasures of the holiday season, as celebrated in Aramco camps throughout the 1950s, are depicted here in photographs from the Arabian Sun & Flare.
Tales of the Bedouin – Part XXVII: How To Khabsa
Midafternoon on a bright and warm November day, Bdah and I drove to the outskirts of New Ain Dar near Jebel Al Riyahiyah. Bdah’s cousin runs a roadside business there where camels, goats, and sheep are kept in open-air stables and offered for sale.
Safe Water or Saaf Paani - USA
The inception of Saaf Paani took place during the “Golden Jubilee Function” of NED69ers in February 2019 in Karachi, Pakistan. As soon as the Saaf Paani was launched, Abdul Majid Adam received 1.1 Million US Dollars as donations from NED69ers, their families, and friends through donation appeals to various Masjids.
Tales of the Bedouin – Part XXX: Aramco Helicopter Ride 1979
In this piece, recent college graduates Mark Lowey and Jim Sides venture to Saudi Arabia to work in Aramco’s vast Ghawar oil field, where on one eventful day they find themselves aboard an Aramco helicopter flying over Bedouin encampments.
Tales of the Bedouin – Part XXXI: Bedouin Wisdom, A Video
In this piece, Mark Lowey shares a special video of a recent, in-depth interview with desert legend and retired Aramcon, Quriyan Mohammed Al Hajri, who has gained growing recognition in Saudi Arabia for his twin passions, advocacy of environmental awareness and preserving Bedouin traditions.
Tales of the Bedouin - Part I
For centuries, Saudi Bedouins have passed down their rich oral and poetic storytelling traditions. Their elders have recounted and embellished vivid tales of bravery, skill, and family values, often over a glowing campfire...
The Tri-D Swim Meet
As a child growing up in Dhahran in the early 1950s, I had an unrequited obsession with sugar – the more the better. At the time, the Dhahran commissary didn’t have much beyond Droste chocolate and O’Henry bars, Khobar had even less to offer. Hard candies and hopelessly expired candies from England such as Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles...
Erik Hebert: The Fight Continues
Aramcons are known for their big hearts, as are Aramco brats like Erik Hebert. Born in the Kingdom in 1979, Erik was raised in Dhahran by his parents, prominent annuitants Cindy and Byron Hebert.
Ski Half Moon
By the early 1950s, the extravagant waterskiing shows at places like Cypress Gardens in Florida had ignited a rage for waterskiing that swept the nation.
Driving Riyadh
In the mid-1970s if there had been an institution of higher learning such as Harvard, Oxford or the Sorbonne that hosted an advanced degree in Automotive Survival there is little doubt that doctorates would have required not only a learned thesis, but also a 90-day residency in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – a hands-on tutorial in a turbulent driving environment that was part pinball machine, part bumper cars, and always a game of cat and mouse.
Pilgrims Arrive in Saudi Arabia for Journey of a Lifetime
In Madinah, pilgrims are being provided with all they need for their convenience and care, under the direct supervision of Prince Faisal bin Salman, governor of Madinah, and Prince Saud bin Khalid Al-Faisal, deputy governor of the region.
Journey to Asir
In the Kingdom’s Southwest, there exists a province unlike any other. With high, rolling hills that seem to stretch forever toward a cloudy horizon, the landscape, the people, the heritage, and the weather are a special blend that provide a welcome surprise for visitors.