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Off to a Foreign Land

this blog Captures the sights and stories as we
​venture off to saudi arabia

Winter/Spring 2021 in KSA

4/25/2021

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Hello everyone!  

Just a quick update from us - lots of hope this year for the world to open up....with the different COVID variants it seems that we are still waiting.

The vaccination roll out in Saudi has been going very well.  We both have had our first shots - 2nd shots will be coming in late May.  

Many countries are now allowing travel to them for anyone who is fully vaccinated, so this is great news!

​Anyways - here are a few updates from our winter/spring in KSA.  Enjoy.

Random pics from Winter/Spring 2021

We spent our January to April 2021 in Saudi, as there is a 3 day quarantine upon returning from Bahrain and flights to UAE, Oman were not running due to travel restrictions for those countries.

So, what was the plan for 4 months in Kingdom?

Lots of fun with friends:
- pool cocktails - even a couple of cold nights where the girls had to bring out their farwas (the traditional arabic "winter coat" worn by the bedouins.
- backyard Pictionary (adult version), compliments of Jeff "The GameMaster" Coppage
- many restaurant excursions 
- St.Patrick's Day - always a favorite party!
- trip to Jubail to hit the beach at Murjan Village

Oh, and there are a few other random pics, including Maverick the cat
Click on the pics to enlarge them if you want.
L'Antica Pizzeria da Michelle - Lisa's favorite
Cold night in KSA - 12 Celsius
The Farwa Gang
Lisa and Nicky fit in to Hayden's farwa
Backyard Pictionary
Oh boy - shooter time!
You can take us out of Canada, but you can't take Canada out of us!
Nap time with Maverick
Flame Restaurant - all you can eat meat
Happy Birthday Sara
Murjan Village beach in Jubail
Paddy's Day 2021

​We signed up to become members at the Aramco golf course.  Pretty crazy - 4000 Saudi Riyals for a year for family membership - about $1100US, $1300CDN.  Very cheap for such a nice course!  It's about 15 minutes from our house and is something to do on a weekend, especially when we can't go to Bahrain or Dubai.  Lisa goes with the girls during the week as well.   We're trying to get out early now, as the temperatures are rising.  Golfed yesterday at 7:10AM - it was over 30 Celsius by the time we finished 9 holes.  Can't imagine much golf over the summer period.

Super cool story coming up...


In January, we went out for dinner with our friends Jeff & Sara.  Sara went to the bathroom and Jeff says "hey, I have an idea for a cool surprise for Sara...do you think our friends would be on board for this?"

Our friends are amazing and of course they were up for this.

So, here's what happened.  Sara is a huge fan of the Friends TV show so Jeff ordered all kinds of Friends items from the set of Central Perks.  He had to measure and build some items but he is an amazing handyman, so this was no problem.

His master plan?  
While collecting all the items and storing them at other peoples homes, he needed a day to set it up without Sara knowing.
He sent Sara and her friend Jen on a huge treasure hunt kind of adventure, with everything linked to something from the Friends TV show...including a trip to Starbucks, breakfast with one set of friends, shopping with others, lunch with others, then off to get nails done.  All of this happened throughout the day while Jeff and their kids worked feverishly to complete the transformation of their living room to the Central Perks set.

Then, to top it all off...Jeff invited a bunch of friends to their house for drinks and BBQ to surprise Sara.  She walked in not knowing anything about their "new" living room or anyone being in their home.  Jeff even switched into pyjamas to trick her into thinking it would be a chill family night.

Sara walks in, blindfolded, to hear a friend (Nic) and their son (Brent) play the Friends theme song on guitars and all the friends singing and then to see her new Central Perks living room.  

​Just watch the video - it tells the story!

It was amazing.  
Jeff Coppage.  
Husband of the Year!  
#makingusalllookbad  #fuckeditupfortherestofus

April 9th, we had a Hawaiian party at Hayden & Christy's house to celebrate Christy's birthday in advance.  Hayden, aka DJ Chunky Luv, was going to play  some of his great mixes, friends were going to celebrate, and we were all going to do this in a Hawaiian-themed event (or a "Cafe Del Mar" theme as Chunky Luv called it in an attempt to confuse his Canadian guests).  

​Another amazing time...enjoying lockdown life in KSA!

2021 Travel?

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Travel continues to be a challenge with this pandemic.

Currently, KSA still has 20 countries on the "shit list" - you can't fly into KSA from them or through them without spending 14 days in a country not on that list.

So, our travel planning has been focused on where can we go?  Where can we fly in from?

Good news - many countries are starting to now open up for fully vaccinated tourists.  Looking good for summer!

What's not looking good for summer?  Visiting Canada.  There are still major quarantines there if we go, so we may not be able to make it for our planned August/September trip.

So, what are the plans???

  • May 12-18 - Going to Maldives with a big group.  Always a fun trip.  Love our beach vacations!
  • July 12-28 - Not 100% sure yet.  Have plans to go to south France for the first week for some Mediterranean fun and then a couple weeks in Spain, Italy, or Croatia....but this is all up in the air until it gets closer.
  • August 18-September 8 - Still would love to get to Canada.  If it's not an option, our plan B is a week in Tanzania for safari, a week on the beach in Zanzibar, and then a few days in Dubai.  Will know details as it gets closer.
  • November 29-December 8 - still to far in the future to tell what COVID will allow.  Possibly Canada if we can't get back in summer?​

Fingers are crossed to be able to travel more soon and see our friends and family!

We hope you all are staying safe and getting your vaccinations.  Let's end this fucking pandemic!

Will end with a few random pics.
​
Cheers and love from the desert...
​L&J 
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Ras Tanura beach (where Jeff works)
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Map of Saudi - we live where the heart is
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Our compound at night
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The pool at our compound
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So true. Especially in times like these.
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Ramadan decorations on a home in our compound
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