Home, Sweet Home-Pt. 2

It was Steven! Now understand, the only flight Steven was able to book had him arriving around midnight, so I was fully expecting to have to wrangle 6 suitcases, Kellan and his backpack, a car seat, a stroller and my tote bag to a waiting area where I'd have to keep Kellan occupied for the next 5 or so hours. Unbeknownst to me, he had been able to catch an earlier flight at the last minute and had been in  Jeddah waiting for us since that morning! I immediately teared up, my relief palpable. Kellan screamed and Steven grabbed him up in his arms. He assured me it was okay and gave me a peck on the cheek, 1 second worth of contact after 4 1/2 months...and short as it was, it was worth the wait. Anymore contact than that and we could have risked the wrath of any religious police lurking about.

We headed by hotel shuttle to our hotel, where we spent the night. Exhausted, we all three crashed pretty quickly after eating and showering.  The next morning at 1010, we headed out on our third flight in 2 1/2 days and landed uneventfully in Abha.  Before every takeoff on Saudia Airlines, they play a traveling prayer by the prophet Mohhamad. The other VERY unusual thing that happened? Before takeoff, the flight attendant walked down the aisle spraying misting cans of a "harmless insecticide". I was NOT down with that, but it was over before I could even make sense of it. Weird!!

We were picked up at the airport by friend's of Steven, and off we went to the compound, about 10 minutes away. (That was for you B.G) I won't discuss the security measures in depth, but the compound seems quite well guarded.  Our villa is huge, as I've said before in previous posts, 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths and a formal dining room. I have gotten turned around numerous times due to the layout!

We spent Friday settling in and napping. Saturday, (the second day of Saudi's weekend) Steven took us to the mall. He shares a company car with 2 other guys, and it's a simple matter to work out scheduling.

We happened to go to the mall when there was little traffic, but even still the roads are dodgy. There's no real lanes, you drive where you want usually as fast as you want and and no one seems to care if the drivers can see them. The mall was not the nicest in the city, but even in spite of that, they have some awesome stores! Saudis really prize their children and they have many really nice children's stores, in addition to a two story amusement area inside the mall.

It's been a topsy turvy few days, but it's awfully refreshing to go around the world and know you can still Buy One, Get One Half Off! :)