Jayci's 9th Grade Graduation

Jayci's Graduation Dinner

Emri and Jayci's big day

June 14th was a pretty big day for Jayci and Emri.  It started of with a 9am trip to Dhahran High School to attend Emri's graduation.

 
This amazing ceremony was a microcosm of our adventure here in KSA because it represented all the different aspects of life in the Kingdom.  All around us sat parents and students from over 40 different countries.

 Although on the surface it looked like a normal high school student body, a closer looked revealed a high performance collection of brainOs, where over 70% landed on honor rolls.  Some highlights included an address given by the US Ambassador's wife as well as a handshake to the newly minted graduates by the man himself.

Afterwards some of Emri's closest friends and their parents met at the nearby "Dhahran Hotel" for a wonderful lunch.

 We are very proud of Emri and her incredible senior year.  She chose to be outgoing and involved in many classes, clubs and sports which resulted in a wonderful collection of memories and friends.  She kept focused on her schooling, learned a lot and is well prepared for college.












Now on we go to part two - Jayci's 9th grade Prom.  For the past several weeks Krishna and several other moms have been working feverishly to pull of the prom of a lifetime for these 9th graders.

  The theme was New York, which meant that these woman did a superhuman job of fixing up the venue to reflect some iconic NYC landmarks

The kids were treated to photographs near the beach, limo rides to the dance, a paparazzi reception, a plethora of food and treats, and music hosted by both live musicians and hip DJs.  By all accounts, this was a big hit for all involved!

Footnote, a few days earlier Jayci was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society.  This was a meaningful recognition for her commitment to academics.

Kuwait - Checked that box

The Repats here have a phrase called "check the box".  It means that there is a mandatory list of countries that all Aramcons must visit and Kuwait is on the list.

We just returned from a amazing weekend thanks to our new BFF from Kuwait - Sana.  I met her the first month I was in kingdom and she offered to show us around her country when we had some time.  Well, this past weekend was a long one, so we headed North to the border.

Although Kuwait is no Dubai, it does have some great things to check out and a recent history that should appeal to Americans.

The places we visited were:

Kuwaiti Towers.  This is their signature landmark.  During the Iraqi invasion these towers were damaged, but since have been repaired.  Unfortunately thay were under renovation the day we visited so we were only able to see the out side.

National Museum


Bedouin weaving museum

Liberation Tower  - this is a communication tower that was constructed after the Iraqi army was kicked out.


Sliders


PF Chang

Souqs  (Emri's pic with Black hair)

Friday Flea Market

On our last night there, we went to an African restaurant and had some delicious steaks, seafood and chicken.  But the highlight was when Sana erroneously told the waiters that it was my birthday, which meant that they would play drums and sing happy birthday to me.  After they finished their unique rendition, they then launched into a super charged drum fest completed with indiscernible lyrics and tribal yells.


We headed back early on Saturday morning satisfied with our adventure.  We saw some important cultural monuments, experienced Kuwaiti life and saw first hand the opulance that oil provides (mansions, castles and a never ending parade of high end exotic cars)  All in all, time well spent.+