19 December 2013

Madain Saleh

Can I complain about work again?  No?  I suppose I've met my annual quota.
Think Nursing Home.  Yugk.

Moving on then...a few weeks ago a handful of us popped up to Madain Saleh for a look at the old city & tombs built into the rock.  For those who may be familiar with Petra, it was created by the same group of Nabeteans, but on a smaller scale.  The landscape was not dissimilar to the American Southwest.  Let me rewind, "popped up" is not an appropriate description.  Ten of us piled in a minivan for a 9 hour trek on Thursday, we saw some amazing things on Friday (ate some Great food & had a real shower) and piled back in the van for the 9 hr drive home Saturday.  The spiciest part of the trip was an encounter with a local camel dude who thought we were trespassing.  Our driver stopped to ask him directions & he tried to grab the keys out of the ignition.  He wanted to get the authorities involved but let us go when he realized we were a bunch of women...he was not a happy herder.  We also horrified our driver by insisting we were going to pee on the side of the road.  Of course it was much nicer than the other nasty options we experienced along the way.  Needless to say, he only allowed us to do it once :)  Good trip, always nice to get out of town...but wait for the direct flight!





















Oh, the weather!  So Fantastic!!  I've never considered 80-85 degrees "cool"...but it's so pleasant!  It even rained once - VERY exciting.


 

Yes, I had to capture it on film.  Notice the sky is still blue.  It didn't last long :(



I hope I don't turn into one of those crazy ladies who wears a hoody in September.




OK, I will complain about ONE thing.  Saudi Arabia is giving me gray hair!  I don't mind the pesky little crooked ones that stick up - very pluckable.  Its the sly, smooth ones that blend right in that are causing me angst.  You just catch a little glitter in the mirror & then spend the next 10 min trying to find it.  Ug, lame.  Maybe the gray hair will make me wiser...nsha'allah!  No, no photo here.

That is all.  I hope you are having a Wonderful holiday season - my brain & body have NO idea it's winter!  I work Christmas but am off to Morocco on the 27th...only 8 days and 5 more shifts!!  Yeah!
Take care ya'll ~
kris