November 23, 2007 - Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it."
~ Charles R. Swindoll

Dhahran temperature high: 79 degrees F
Hood River temperature high: 34 degrees F

Calendars used in the United States and around most of the world are solar, based on 365 days in the year. However, the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar is based on the moon (lunar), recognizing only 354 days in a year. My Saudi Arabian Visa marks the year as 1428 AH.

In addition, the Islamic countries recognize their weekend as Thursday and Friday. Friday (much like our Sunday) is the Islamic holy day. Progressively, many Islamic countries are changing their weekend to Friday and Saturday in order to align with world banking and business practices.

Today, Friday, no businesses were open, so we headed to the Ras Tanura Beach on one of the seven Saudi Aramco Residential Compounds. The compounds house over 50 different nationalities and look much like a Southern California suburb.

The Ras Tanura Beach on the Persian-Arabian Gulf was absolutely beautiful! The day was not what I expected from the Middle East.

The Persian-Arabian Gulf is fairly shallow, creating incredible hues of blue water as the depth of agua increases. High levels of salt in the gulf also allowed for easy floating on-top of the water. The palm trees, cabanas, volleyball court, and open sandy beaches invited much relaxation for some and an intense game of Ultimate Frisbee for others.

The above writing in the sand is the Arabic Calligraphy writing of "Sarah".








Dandayamana-Dhanurasana
Standing Bow Pulling Pose
on the Pursian (Arabian) Gulf