Golly, has it been this long since my last post? The start of RETIREMENT!

OK, yes, we retired!  Left Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia (our home of almost 4 years) and have been living in De Kelders, Western Cape, Republic of South Africa, for over two months.  After settling in and feeling pretty relaxed, we embarked 10 days ago on our epic 2 1/2 month vacation.

First stop was Johannesburg for Elmien & Schalk's wedding.  Beautiful!  Very honored to be invited.  Flew up there with our dear friends Alet & Gerhard Kotze, Elmien's parents.  Elmien looked stunning!  Her new husband, Schalk Burger, is a kind, intelligent and handsome man! They make a beautiful couple. I know they will be very happy.  Elmien's cake wins hands down the "most interesting, different and beautiful" wedding cake I've ever seen!  She baked it herself.  Pix will follow eventually...

It took us 30 hours to fly from Jo'burg to Denpasar, Bali.  But upon arrival, we were picked up and transported to Ubud.  The town has grown a lot since our first visit in Dec 2006 - more people, more tourist shops, and, unfortunately, more trash (something that really bugs me, but Bo never notices!). So many scooters on the roads!  Developers are crowding out the rice paddies in many places. The people are as friendly and welcoming as ever.  They are still hurting for tourists.  Then again, it is the low season.  But the children are so cheerful - they play outside a lot.  I was tickled to see one little girl playing on a computer inside a restaurant - a game called "Goth Makeover".   Kelsey would have loved that game when she was 6!

We skipped the Monkey Forest and instead trekked up to a village above Ubud (5 hour walk) one day, and then to the ARMA (museum of modern art) another day (4 hours).  We may not be running, but we are getting some exercise!

The last 3 days has found us in Amed.  It's on the northeast shore, dry, rocky, volcanic. Went snorkeling this morning to see a sunken Japanese fishing boat from a funny little Balinese fishing boat.  The boat was not much to see, and, sadly, it seems that 1/2 the coral is dead.  Lots of pretty fish around, tho.  It was pretty difficult getting back into the boat from the water, imagine a walrus flopping about, so I think I cracked a rib when the guy pulled me aboard.  Nothing serious, mostly comical.

This is the quietest vacation we have ever had.  (Welcome to retirement!)  I've read 4 books in 5 days, about to start on a 5th. Bo is getting a lot of reading in, too.  Would love to go walking like we did in Ubud, but the only road is narrow with a lot of truck & motorbike traffic.  No long beach paths, unfortunately.
Bo is having a wonderful time taking photos.  He is content.  Always makes me happy when he's happy!

Tomorrow we are heading back to Kuta where we will get to see our old running buddies from Dhahran and, even better, cousin Alexa!    Not sure what we will be doing, but it will be great to chill with them.
My cell phone isn't working because of the stupid contract we have from the Vodacom people in RSA, so I can receive texts, but not send any.  Really disgusted with that.  When we reach Australia, we will buy a phone card.

The food has been great!  Wish I could find a Balinese cook in South Africa... Actually, I had been cooking a lot since we retired.  My goal is to try a new recipe per week.  I've almost succeeded.
It's hot & humid right now.  Since it's summer in the southern hemisphere, this is the way it's gonna be for 2 more months.

Tomorrow we head for Kuta and the last three days in this still laid-back, friendly, fast-becoming-too-westernized little island.

That's it for now.  I hope to write more installments and keep up this time!

My eternal quest for fitness

Sad news that Jack Lalanne died this week. The guy was fabulous!  My mom used to watch him while she ironed.  We would do leg lifts together with him.  My mom never got fit, but she did take the occasional walk around the block.  Sadly, she smoked cigarettes and died of lung cancer at age 64, depriving my children of the wonderful grandmother experience she would have provided.

So - I've never thought of myself as sedentary.  But I did not get into my quest for fitness (defined as being able to go for hikes, walks, bike rides, jogs without huffing and puffing and being "heart healthy") until coming to Aramco at age 37.  What a wonderful place - the gym is free, classes are free (or have a minimal charge), self-directed fitness groups abound.  I finally started "running" (and I do use that term loosely) in 1999 (age 46).  'Hate' is not a strong enough word for how I felt about being on the track!  I could not jog around the 400 m track even once!  Amazing that I stuck with it.  But I did.  The support I received from my friends in the DRRC (Dhahran Road Runners Club) was simply amazing.  What a fun bunch of people to hang out with - a diverse group of many different nationalities - Saudi, American, Canadian, Philippino, Irish, English, Welsh, French, Austrailian, New Zealander, Lebanese, and the list goes on!  We trained hard and partied even harder. 

The DRRC hosts many races and fun runs throughout the year.  Many of us participate in the Bahrain Marathon Relay, a charity run held every fall in the small island kingdom of Bahrain, located just over a 25 km causeway linking Al Khobar with the island.  More a "party weekend with 15 minutes of running" than anything else, the BMR became the highlight of our year as far as fun weekends went!  Of course, I got sucked onto the planning committee, but that is one thing I'm pretty good at (organizing). 

Anyway, what got me thinking about writing about fitness was this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/fashion/27SKIN.html?pagewanted=1&ref=health 
We have been so lucky for the past 20 years to have access to free gyms.  I am on Facebook with many of my old classmates from Belleville Township High School West class of 1971 and when I see their pictures, the majority of them look fat or out of shape.  Very sad. Even the ones who were athletes in our high school years gave that lifestyle up, it seems.  As I get older all I hear is about everyone's aches and pains.  I never want to be that way!  If I'm hurt, I want it to be the result of a sports injury because I was out there busting my butt trying to stay fit!

My sister Carol worked out regularly and stayed fit until she was diagnosed with Parkinson's 10 years ago.  She still fights it, going to the gym or walking when she can.  My admiration for her knows no bounds!

I digress -
These past 2.5 years we've lived in RT, my friend Åsa and I started the Ras Tanura Fitness Group Beginning Runners' Workshop.  There was one community running group here, but it was designed for people who were already fast and wanted to get faster.  The coach would have taken beginners, but most beginning runners were too intimidated to join.  I then carried on with the Intermediate Running Group.  Geeze, I'm 57 years old and more fit than I've ever been.  It's never too late to start a fitness program.  I love motivating others to run & get fit.  But, as the article mentioned says, most people don't stick with the program.

To continue my story, the group of us in the DRRC (when Bo and I still lived in Dhahran) decided to do a marathon.  Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think I could run 26.2 miles!  But 19 of us trained together and all of us completed the Rome Marathon in 2007.  I'm still proud of all of us!  Many of us carried on to do a marathon each year.  I participated in the Phoenix Marathon in 2008 and the others continued in other marathons in Europe.  Sadly I stopped with 2 because my foot did not cooperate, but I hope to build back up to half marathons.  The others have done Paris, Barcelona, Vienna and will be in Prague this year.
 
There is no more fun group than a running group.  My friend Kathy in Phoenix (who is a cancer survivor and has gained a lot of weight from the drugs) joined up with Team In Training and did the Phoenix half marathon this year. Haven't heard how she did yet.  She used to hate running, too, but loves it now!  I'm so proud of her!

Since I have not been running 1000 miles a week to train for a marathon, I have gained 15 pounds.  So, part of my fitness quest is also a weight-loss quest.  I hope to blog about it here.  If I write about it, perhaps it will make me accountable?
Anyway, we have 17 MONTHS TO GO in Saudi Arabia.  Whatever will I do without a free gym?  No worries, I'll find one wherever I am and carry on with all my different programs.  Who knows, maybe I'll start a running group in Gansbaai, South Africa, when I get there! 

Time's slipping away

Days have flown by.  Work keeps me very busy and the day goes by so quickly it seems like minutes from 7:00 - 4:00 instead of 9 hours.  Guilt about NOT working out, NOT riding my bike enough, NOT getting everything done at work eats at me. 
The pervading sadness from the shooting in Tucson is everywhere.  Bo and I are familiar with the shopping center.  It's only a few miles from our new home.
He follows the political scene there more than I do and is very familiar with Gabrielle Giffords.  Not that my opinion matters, but all of the political jockying by Republicans, Democrats, etc., does not shed any light on why that young man chose to act out his frustrations with a Glock.  He is mentally ill. Several people tried to get him to get help but to no avail.  Too bad the clerk that so easily sold him the gun could not see through his skull to read the intent. America can easily keep the tenants of the 2nd Amendment without selling guns whose only purpose are to kill people.  Screw the gun lobby.
The framers of the Constitution could not have imagined semi-automatic weapons and 44 magnums. 
Bo and I are questioning whether we want to live permanently in Tucson.  We simply do not find ourselves alligned with society in America.

The concept of patriotism - that one's country is the best - is so out of date.  Global travelers see and appreciate the good and bad in every country they visit.  People have to think their country is the best.  It's an unavoidable human emotion.  Yes, the USA is a wonderful country.  It's a great place to live.  But it's become paranoid, litigation happy, conservative, pompous, and OTT.  Especially the TSA, among others.  I wish I could articulate better.  Bo is the best at that.  I do ramble.  But I guess that's what a blog is for, eh?

Life goes on. 

Brody starts grad school again tomorrow.  It was delayed a day for President Obama's speech at McKale.
Amanda just moved to NYC.  We don't know her employment status.  Or any status for that matter!

I keep thinking about what I want to accomplish in the less than 18 months we have left in Saudi.  I really want to visit Shaybah, Taif, Medina, and Jeddah.  There will be no coming back once we leave.  I regret not going camping in the desert in our 20 years here in Saudi Arabia.  Just about every holiday we've had, we've gone OOK (out of Kingdom) to visit another country.

Today I'm starting my latest "resolution" - that to work out at the gym 2 or 3 times a week.  That will mean getting up at 4:30 a.m. twice weekly.  I'll have to be firm about going to bed at 9:00 p.m. and not staying up for 4 hours to read a book (too hyper-focused).

I'll close by saying that my hopes and wishes for a speedy recovery go to the people injured by the gunman in Tucson.  And, my hopes and wishes also go to my friends with cancer - may they recover quickly, too.  I would hope for world peace and harmony, but that is so far beyond any reality that I can't even imagine it.

A very nice day

Friday is the second day of the weekend in Saudi Arabia.  This morning, I had my alarm set to wake up and walk with my friend Rose at 7:30.  But she phoned at 7:25 to postpone to 7 pm.    And that was fine.

My other friends Karen & Ryszard rode the bus out from Dhahran to have breakfast with us and walk on the beautiful Ras Tanura beach path.  Our commissary makes really good zatar & cheese bread.  If you've never had those, you are missing quite a treat!  Karen brought me a portable phone in the US and was delivering it.  We do that quite often for one another - whoever is going to the US picks up stuff one can't buy in KSA for their friends and brings it back.  It's usually 110v appliances or special candy or foodstuff.  For example, I can't get chili powder or garlic salt here.  Karen usually had me bring her Swedish Fish & Hot Tamales candies.
Whatever.

Bo worked at school, I played on the computer all afternoon. 

New York Times ran an article on chicken adobo, a very popular Philipino dish, so I decided to make it.  It turned out OK, but is a bit vinegary for my tastes.  Will have to make adjustments.

So, I keep thinking about the last 18 months but can't think of anything special I want to do before we leave.  We will continue to travel - on the short list are Morocco, Tibet, Bhutan, Myanmar.  We live for our holidays here!  have to plan 6 months to a year ahead.

Bedtime now.  My "resolutions" include getting up at 4:30 am to get a work out of some type in before going to work.  Hmmmmm.

Another memorable entry to the Magic Kingdom

Thank goodness it turned out the way it did.  For once "Allah" was on our side. 
After traveling for 20+ hours (2 from DK to the CT airport, 2 hours in the CT airport, 2 in the air from CT to Jo'burg, 2 on the ground in Jo'burg, 8 in the air from J to Abu Dhabi, 2 on the ground there, 1 in the air from AD to Bahrain, 1 getting our luggage, 1 to the middle of the Saudi/Bahraini Causeway), getting only a few hours of uncomfortable airline sleep, we were greeted by a Saudi Passport Person saying "She is OK but your visa has expired."  Words NO ONE ever wants to hear on the Bahraini side of the border.  Our friend Lauren heard those words a year ago and 2 weeks later (off work with a huge hotel bill) she got her visa to come back "home" to Ras Tanura. 
Bo has not been lucky of late with passports and visas.  Our house was broken into in De Kelders, South Africa, on April Fool's day 2010.  Bo then spent a month there (off work without pay, but no hotel bill) waiting for the visa to come through.  Visas are usually good for one year.  Hence why we did not look at his before we left for December holidays.  It expired at midnight, Jan 4.  We arrived at the passport booth at 3 am, Jan 4.  No, they do not cut you any slack, any breaks, any anything.  Oh my, were we SAD.  Beyond sad.
I, of course, took over (as Bo is my hero in many ways but when it comes to cell phones and emergencies, I'm the competent partner).  Mind you, by the time we begged and pleaded with the supervisor to please let us in and we would get the visa as soon as we got to RT, it was 4 am.  My cell phone was just about out of juice.  So I called the person I knew would be up (since she is an early morning exerciser), my friend Åsa.  She just happened to have a number in her cell phone labeled "visa problems".  It was actually the number for the on-call guy for Aramco personnel.  I phoned a pleasant (for that time of morning - but I guess he's used to it) Hussain at 4:10.  We gave him our sad story and found a plug to charge the phone. He got in touch with Saad from Government Affairs.  We figured he (Saad) would come help us out around 8 or 9 am, after normal working hours commenced at Aramco in Saudi.  Saudi immigration offices leave much to be desired in furnishings (and overall cleanliness) and they don't really like the chicks hanging out so, as I was beyond tired then, I went to grab a nap in the car.  It was so cold, but exhaustion beat the chill factor and I slept a while.  Upon waking at 6:30, I went to check on Bo.  Much to my surprise, there stood Saad, handing Bo his new emergency visa!  Wow wow wow!  Beyond WOW.  Saad had been telling Bo "they never grant emergency visas anymore".  Why us?
Seriously, this could have been a very sad (no pun intended) story had Saad not come through.
We thanked him profusely and were finally on our way, completing the journey a mere 26 hours after we had begun. (actually, that is not such a long time when compared to many of our journeys)
No time to sleep - a quick shower and bowl of cereal and we headed to our respective jobs, a mere 1 1/2 hour late.  But, at least there would be no more X time (leave without pay) and the visa only cost 400 SR ($110).
The mystery has not been solved yet. We thought perhaps our igama was about to expire so that's why the visa expired.  But the igama is good til Sept 2012. 
The moral of this part of the story, kids, is always check your visa before you leave on an OOK (out of Kingdom) trip!
Arriving home after work, we tried to stay awake but tumbled into bed at 5 pm.  I got up at 4:30 am, took a short nap after that and now it's afternoon. 
I am dressed to go for a bike ride so I will bid you adieu and try to get some training in before dark.
The moral to that part of my story is, if I don't train for the Cape Argus in March, I'm not going to make the distance!!

Heading back to BF Saudi Arabia

I think this blogging thing is going to be more of an effort than I thought.
Today we have to pack, clean the DK house, pick up my road bike & get everything ready for departure (Tuesday 6 am drive to CT).
Very very sad time.
Though, I will be back in March to ride in the Cape Argus - a bike race through Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula. 


I thought 18 months would be a short stint, but it's going to be too long before we can live here as retired people.

Had a lovely dinner last night at Johan & Brian's "bunker" house on Standford's Cove (Bo enjoying the view from their porch above).  They live in England, but our good friends (Sandra & Reinhard Kern) are caretaking the house and they use it as a little getaway from their own B&B when it's full of guests.  The bunker house is prominently displayed in a book called "Arch & Nature," coffee table book showcasing fabulous architecture around the world. 
So, tonight our last dinner here will take place at Bellavista, another really fabulous house/B&B/restaurant high up on the hill overlooking Walker Bay.  It's owned by another German, George, who is good friends with the aforementioned Kerns.
Must get moving now.  Have to polish the balustrade and then head to Gansbaai to get all the other stuff done.

Counting down - 18 months...

Jan 1, 2011.  De Kelders, South Africa. 
Departing for Ras Tanura, KSA, on Tuesday.  Starting the 18 month countdown to "leaving Mother Aramco forever."  My purpose in starting a blog is to chronicle our last months at Aramco and put all my random thoughts down so when Alzheimers sets in, I'll have something to remember.  I want to state my views, have fun, and be disciplined about writing daily.

The first time we "retired," we started planning 5 years ahead.  The time flew by and before you could say "last paycheck," we left Saudi Arabia to start a new life.  Two or three new lives later, we're getting ready to go again.  Won't be so hard this time.  Made some good friends in RT, whom we'll miss, but for the most part, we have not jumped into the social scene there like we did in Dhahran.  Maybe because we're the Old Farts now?

Goals for 2011:
- ride my bike a lot so my butt won't hurt when I do the Cape Argus in March
- have a disciplined workout program to stay fit and lose this excess poundage gained since moving to Ras Tanura in Nov 08
- be nicer to Bo
- communicate with my children more often
(more to come later...)

That's a good enough start for now!