I miss my kitchen!!!

As with any move into a new home, compromises must be made. Maybe the bedrooms are a little too small or the bathrooms are a little too old, but, in the end, with patience and perserverence, one can find something that they can live with. In our case, in moving to Riyadh, the choice of housing was pretty much made for us. A newly built compound at the north east edge of the city. There are a lot of pluses with living someplace newly built: the kitchen and bathrooms are clean, new and equiped with updated appliances etc, nobody else has had the chance to bang up the walls, the materials havent had the chance to start cracking and disintegrating, etc, etc.

The new compound was scheduled to be ready for move in on June 1. That date got moved back to June 15 and when we arrived on June 24th it still wasn't ready for move in. After living in a hotel for a week, we were finally given a house on a compound other than that on which we had planned to move. We moved a few days ago. (that's why there have been no posts...no internet until today). Our new home lies within a compound which is described as the compound that "has set the benchark for other compounds to follow and is much sought after by the expatriate and corporate communities". That may be the case but...THE KITCHEN IS HIDEOUS! I miss my kitchen!!! Is a kitchen a small thing in the big picture? Ok, ok, now I'm getting sidetracked.

As I said, since coming to Riyadh we have been staying at a hotel. I'm not 100% sure the kids have appreciated being pent up in a room with next to no toys. It hasn't helped that we've been right in the middle of a really big city where pedestrian traffic is non-existant and the heat is...well, you know.

Staying at a hotel has, however, given us just the motivation we have needed to get out of the house...uh, room. And, in getting out of the house, the kids and I have had the opportunity to visit a few compounds.

How do I describe a compound? Well, take a housing development of about 100 - 400 units. Put a wall around it, add some barbed wire, armored cars, tanks, machine guns, parimeters, baracades, checkpoints, tyre shredders, rolling patrols, look-outs, and a platoon of national guard...oh yeah, and gladly a wall around that...voila! compound!

The first time I entered a compound, I was, needless to say, unprepared. I had no idea. What looked like a harmless gated community on the outside, turned out to be WWIII on the inside, and desert resort on the inside of that. Two very stark contrasts in very close proximity messes with your head just a little bit. With few exception, cars other than those belonging to residents are not allowed on compound so, at this first visit, we parked our car on the street just outside of the wall and walked in through the pedestrian entrance. On the way in I was in awe, fascinated, curious...on the way out I was...apprehensive. If all of this security is necessary, shoud I really be going out there? But I suppose that is a question left for another maybe more philosophical entry...that's just not happening tonight!

On the bright side, once inside the compound it really is an oasis. But, in that I don't mean to say that the compound is an oasis from the "out there" of KSA, (on the contrary, I have found KSA to be very interesting and would love to explore more) it is an oasis from much more than that...an oasis from real life maybe? Here one has the gardener, the housekeeper, the nanny, the driver, the carpenter, the handyman, the security guard and the activities coordinator; the movie theater, the grocery store, the restaurant, the dry cleaners, the beautician, the clinic, the pre-school, the travel agency, and the jeweler; the swimming pools, the tennis courts, the squash courts, the bowling ally, the gym, the billiards room, the teen room, the youth room, the toddlers room, the basketball court, pilates, kids guitar lessons, gymnastics, soccer, football, badminton, hip hop classes, tae kwon do, ballet, drum lessons, volleyball, ping pong, golf, piano lessons, library, coffee shop, free shuttle to many shopping areas / places of interest, free limo service....whew, you get the idea! I imagine it is difficult for some to keep a foot in real life when on compound. That said....

I wonder how long it is going to take me to forget my kitchen?