* Click on photos to enlarge, move cursor over them for captions * Wow, it has actually been April since our last post. Don't worry - we're still alive. Like the rest of the world, we just haven't had a lot of travel this year! This blog will discuss life in Saudi during the pandemic, the little travel we did have, and a new addition to our family... Enjoy! Pandemic Life in Saudi ArabiaIt was quite amazing to watch how countries around the world were handling the COVID-19 pandemic. We saw many outbreaks in the US, Canada, Europe, and many are going through the 2nd waves right now and experiencing lockdowns. Saudi was quite strict, as discussed in the last blog we posted. The country locked down in March and didn't open back up (for expats) until September 15th. Yes, that was over 6 months INSIDE the Kingdom with no pork or alcohol but we managed. Masks have been mandatory in all public areas since March and nobody is protesting or fighting against that. Many friends and their families were also stuck out of Kingdom. Aramco was amazing at continuing to pay them and arrange travel to get them back into Kingdom. We had many vacations in Kingdom at home, staying on our compound to enjoy the pool and have many BBQ's with friends. There was a few weeks with 24 hour quarantine where you could only go out for essentials like medical or groceries and you also needed a government pass to go through check stops to get to work. Overall, the Saudi government and health officials did an outstanding job managing the pandemic which is why our cases continue to stay low. The pics below will show some of the things we did to keep entertained throughout this period: - Lots of BBQ's - teaching friends how to make tandoori - Celebrating Birthdays - Friends shipped items to us from Canada and the US - sure cheered us up while locked inside - Many game nights and karaoke nights that turned into great costume parties (for us anyway!) - As things opened up, there were some concerts - We tried many new restaurants as a way of getting out into the city - We did some Saudi marathons. Nothing hardcore - just tracking distance over time with targets of 100km in a month - We did our first COVID tests, allowing us to take a trip to Bahrain in early October - we did a couple trips to a sister compound (Murjan Village) in Jubail, going with many friends for some pool and beach fun - Then of course, there was a great Halloween party Looking at all of these pics sure makes us feel very lucky. Sure we didn't travel like we wanted. Sure we didn't get home to see family & friends like we wanted. But we are healthy. Our friends & family are healthy. And we made the best of the lockdown time. Maverick the CatDuring the lockdown, we were walking in our compound and found an abandoned kitten. He was so cute but so scared. We fed him one night and we decided to make him ours. We struggled with names...do we call him Corona or Covie to remind us of the crazy times when we got him. Instead, we landed on Maverick...probably because Lisa is so excited for the new Top Gun movie that is coming out. We are now getting adjusted to life with a kitten...a kitten that has tons of energy & doesn't always listen. A kitten that rips apart Lisa's 2000 piece puzzle...when she has 1950 of them in place already. A kitten that decides the thawing hamburger should be his and not ours. A kitten that fetches toys like a dog and likes chasing (and eating) geckos - so funny to watch (see the videos!) But...a kitten that is ours and fits into our family! Here are a few pics of the little fella... Jeddah - August 2020At the end of August we had a couple weeks off and could not travel out of Kingdom so we decided here was our chance to see the Red Sea and the west coast of Saudi. Off to Jeddah for the 1 hour flight. Our first flight since COVID. Loved the extra space! You can see from the pics below that Jeddah had some very nice architecture, and amazing corniche, the world's tallest water fountain (over 1000 feet tall), and a very cool historic part of the city - Al Balad (Old Jeddah) that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Note to self...late August Saudi temperatures (45 degrees Celsius) and no cold beers is not a good combination! KAEC - September 2020After Jeddah, we went up the coast to KAEC (King Abdullah Economic City) which is a city designed to function on economies other than oil. There is a large port there and it was also the first part of Saudi to allow ladies to drive. Lots of great beach area and the Royal Greens golf course which has hosted PGA and just this last weekend an LPGA event. In fact, Dustin Johnson holds the course record. We had fun golfing with our friends Hayden & Christy...even had to drink some non-alcoholic beers to keep refreshed. Maldives - October 2020We finally got out of Kingdom for a vacation mid-October, venturing off to the Maldives for a 1-week all inclusive at Varu by Atmosphere. This was a great resort and we took advantage of the beautiful weather, amazing beaches, snorkelling, and our water villa with pool on the patio. We even got to see shark and sting ray feeding nightly. The vacation took a scary turn on our second night just after 8PM. We were getting ready to leave the bar (honestly, only had 2-3 drinks) and we were going to head back to our patio pool for a few more. Lisa looked at me and said "There's a problem...something's not right". By the time I went to get a sit down chair, she had fainted and smacked her hand and head on the floor. Everyone rushed to help and they got a doctor to help and get us back to the room. It seems that the fainting was due to dehydration (lots of sun and not enough water). Scary as hell! And a bruised hand that Lisa couldn't move the entire time we were there. The resort did everything to take care of us and didn't even charge for the doctor. They even had a doctor come to the room our 2nd last day to do the COVID PCR test needed to get back into Dubai. Overall, besides Lisa's tumble, it was an amazing week away. Since everyone arriving at the island needed a negative PCR test, nobody was wearing masks and it was almost like a 1-week window in 2020 where COVID didn't exist. So strange! The resort was at 40% capacity and had only about 100 guests so it was almost like having an island to yourself. We feel so lucky to have been able to visit Maldives a second time. What a beautiful place! Dubai - October 2020After the Maldives, we spent a week in Dubai, which we were very excited for. Usually we are there for a weekend only...fly in, party, fly home. This time we could relax, see parts we hadn't seen, and chill in the area near our Airbnb. We stayed in the JBR (Jumeriah Beach Residence) area which is our favourite part of Dubai. Within a 10 minute walk you have a free beach, many hotel pools with bars and beach access, tons of other restaurants and bars, a movie theatre, and a marina with a great mall. The first weekend, we visited the Dubai Mall for shopping but also so Lisa could see the Mediclinic. After a consultation, they did 3 x-rays and determined she had 3 fractures in her hand so they splinted it and then called us back the next day for a cast. This only cost $300US. Can't imagine what that would've cost back in Canada or the US. FYI, Lisa just had the cast removed November 15th (one month after "The Fall")...she will need a month of rehab, as she is still bruised and can't move her fingers. Besides a bunch of shopping (at 3 malls!), some beach/pool time, and a visit to Souq Madinat Jumeirah, we found some places in Dubai we had never seen: - The Pointe - with the World's Largest Fountain - celebrated Jeff's birthday at Chicago Meatpackers for Meat Monday....$75US got us a huge steak, 2 sides, and all we could drink wine from 6-9PM - Bluewater Island - great new island near JBR with many restaurants - tried the Mexican themed Puerto 99 - Global Village - huge amusement park with pavilions from most countries in the world...park access $4US...unbelievable. Lots of great 2 for 1 and Happy Hour deals in Dubai as they do everything to generate tourism right now! Another great time in Dubai! 2021 PlansWe had to submit our 2021 vacations already and don't have much planned yet. Orange highlighted days are the vacations. We left Q1 empty as we still don't know what will happen with travel due to COVID (fingers crossed for an effective vaccine soon!). This means that our T&A fun will have to wait until 2022...but don't worry - we will be back with a vengeance! July - we will be doing France and somewhere else in Europe for a couple weeks August/September - Canada (for the first time since 2019 for Lisa and 2018 for Jeff)...maybe a week in the Montana cottage? We will fill in the other vacations as time gets closer. Too much uncertainty now. Would love to get in a Tanzania/Zanzibar trip! Hopefully some friends and family will join us for some travels! We are so fortunate that all of our friends and family are staying healthy during these times. We miss you all and hope to see you soon.
Have a safe and Merry Christmas season! Love, L&J
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