Day 2: Dhahran Camp, Desert Designs & Heritage Village Dinner

This morning we toured Dhahran, starting with the old 3rd Street school which we both attended in elementary and junior high.  Not surprisingly, there were many changes.  The school is now surrounded by a high wall and imposing security gates.  The limestone and sand areas that were in the back of the school are now beautifully landscaped and green.  The same buildings made up the school complex, but the interior has been entirely redone.  Except for the mascot change from Bears/Bruins to Wildcats, the gym looks just the same.  In fact, stepping into the gym was really what felt most like “home.”

Much of the camp tour was by bus.  In addition to all of the lush, green landscaping, many of the old houses had new facades and were hardly recognizable.  The Rolling Hills Country Club “clubhouse” is still in the same building, and the grassless, old nines, no longer maintained, are still visible.

We had a nice tour of Dhahran Nurseries which neither of us had ever been to.  Originally started as an experiment in growing produce locally, the nurseries now grow all the plants used in landscaping the Aramco Communities.  They also support tree-planting projects in Kingdom.

After a quick lunch in the building that used to house the Snack Bar and some Recreation offices, we headed into Desert Designs in Khobar to do some shopping.  We both could have spent a lot more money but made out pretty well. Tom bought a nice camel bag that is now smelling up the hotel room.

Dinner was the highlight of the day. The sandstorm that hit Riyadh earlier in the afternoon made it to the Eastern Province just as our buses pulled out of Dhahran to take us to the Heritage Village Museum and dinner in Dammam.  We actually had to wait on the dinner guests who had gone to Shaybah and Hofuf for the day and were delayed by the poor visibility.

The Heritage Village was created by Abdullah Busbait to promote Saudi Arabia’s cultural heritage.  It is a replica of an old Saudi fort, and the interior is decorated to show off the typical style of the different regions of Saudi Arabia.  The 3rd floor houses a small museum with interesting artifacts and documents collected by the owner.

Dinner, a traditional “goat grab,” was held in a beautifully decorated tent set up out of doors and served by waiters in traditional Saudi garb.  The entire evening was compliments of our host, Mr. Busbait, to thank us for all that Aramcons had done for his country -- Saudi hospitality at its finest.  The evening, alone, made this trip worthwhile.  Shukran, Mr. Busbait. 

We hope to add some photo captions later, so everyone will know what they are looking at, but we need to run do some more shopping in Khobar!  You’ll note some of these photos were adversely affected by the sand storm.

And more fun with sand...