To the Land of Sand....

A couple of weeks ago I (Midge) ventured to the country of Saudi Arabia for professional training. While I didn't get to see much (because is was learning a lot) I did find that yes, there are friendly people everywhere you go.  Here are some pictures of my short adventure.

Since I flew in after dark this was the first view I saw when I got there. Outside of my hotel room

Something we don't have in Lebanon. I wish we did. 

My very nice hotel.

This is at the school I was thinking WOW! This place is HUGE! But then I realized how flat and spread out it is compared to where we are. We are just more vertical. I took this picture because there sure is a lot of sand on the campus. With all of the cats we have, it would be a SERIOUS litter box!

Another picture of the school

This and the next picture are a little blurry because I didn't want to make a scene taking a picture in the mall. This was a mall on steroids. Some wonderful people that teach in Riyadh took pity on me (being alone) and invited me to go with them to the Outback Steakhouse here. We walked from entrance #2 to entrance #11 for 45 minutes until we found the restaruant.

This mall seemed to be the place for women to go. The only men I saw were with women or they were boys.  I guess this is tradition here.

This was a lovely sunset I saw.

Many of the shops have this kind of entrance. Sorry it's blurry. Taking pictures in the car is tough.

I did successfully get some Starbucks mugs. This was a challenge since women cannot drive in Saudi Arabia. I had an hour before someone was taking me to the airport. When I was at the hotel I asked them if someone could get me a taxi to go. This man came up and said he would take me for free because I reminded him of the English tutor he had when he lived in the U.S. for 6 years. This was very nice. He rushed me to Starbucks and I ran in to get the cups. While I was buying them the Call the Prayer happened. This means that all businesses lock their doors. I thought I was going to be stuck there for 20 or so minutes but a nice Indian man that worked there let me out. YAY!

I found that not only was going to Saudi Arabia an adventure. Getting into this country was an adventure in and of itself.  You have to be officially "Invited" to be able to go to Saudi Arabia. This is a challenging thing to do for foreigners in the Kingdom so the school hosting the training could not help me.  It took the efforts of many people here at ACS to get me there AND the help of the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Lebanon as well. This was some of the best professional development I have had in a few years and so I truly appreciate all who helped me to get there!

The Beautiful Cedars of Lebanon

Last Sunday we went up to see some of the trees from the Bible, the Cedars of Lebanon. These majestic giants are a protected species here with many trying to save the few that are left.  When we first got there it was in the morning and the day was clear but while we were there the fog rolled in.

In the winter there is snow here.

Thanks to Sharon, we got a great family picture.

A younger tree.

Apparently a man lived in this tree for years.

We got to the top of the hill and this dead tree was there.  There were great places to sit and enjoy. BUT! As we got closer we realized why there were  places to sit. The tree is FULL of carvings. I think every time you see it you will see something new! Such a beautiful work of art!

For some reason, this one was my favorite.

Sharon and the girls.

Fresh water spigot up on the hill. I'm assuming you need a drink in the summer here.

This is the tree in the "family picture above. Yes, the fog came in!

 When we got to the car we realized that getting off the hill was going to be a serious adventure. We could not see 10 feet in front of the car. All of the cars we went by had their hazards blinking.  THEN the torrential rain came along with a serious side wind.  The flooding started and mudslides were everywhere. Rocks were coming down onto the road as well. I have never driven through such high flood waters. It was apparent that there was going to be some serious clean up happening in the small villages after the storm went through.

When we got down to Kousbah we had to stop and have ice cream and there we saw this man heading  down the street with a bunch of cotton candy.  Nothing stops the Lebanese!

Overall it was a great day. A lot of beauty matched with some heart quickening peril. 

Qadisha, the Sacred Valley

Last Saturday we went and stayed at the Monastery of Saint Anthony of Qozhaya in the Qadisha Valley with our close friend Sharon.  What an adventure! Another one of those moments when you think......when would I EVER do that in my lifetime.  The Qadisha Valley is very narrow with high steep mountains/hills around it.  There is a well known hiking trail along the bottom and many churches and monasteries within the valley. Many of them were built into caves. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The view from where we stayed.

This old printing press was in the small museum at the monastery. All of the work was in Arabic. Very interesting to see.

Janna in the museum

Interesting how small walkways are in this area of the monastery.

We went walking below the monastery.

Along the valley floor.

We stayed in the building to the far left.

We saw this as we were walking.

Janna and Tim on an old bridge.

We then went back up and looked inside of this cave. In the past, people would bring their "possessed" or mentally ill loved ones here to be cured with prayer. They would chain them up and if the manacles unlocked after a night of prayer they were healed.

I was having fun with panoramic views on this one.

The entrance to the church. Yes, there were services on Sunday morning. This is built into a cave.

We then went to the Monastery of Our Lady of Hawqa. This was was built into a large cave.

This was inside of the building.

The view of the valley.

Inside

Inside the church.

Tim went wandering with Janna on this path.

They found a nice waterfall.

We then went and had some mezze. What a great meal.

Overall, what a wonderful day!! It was so nice to get away from the city and the noise.