New school

 Starting a New School

My brother, sister and I were enrolled in Parents Cooperative School or PCS.  It was an international school that went from kindergarten to ninth grade.  I remember my dad bringing me to school which was odd because my mom always did.  He brought me because women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia.

I was in first grade and my teacher was an American woman named Mrs. Lehman.  She was so sweet to me which really made a difference at this new school so very far away from my old one.  She paired me with another recent arrival, a girl named Julia, to show me around school.  Julia and I became the best of friends during my entire time in Saudi Arabia.  

First grade with Mrs. Lehman.  I'm on the left in red. 

 I made friends with kids from all over the world like England, Denmark, Cyprus, Scotland,  and Ethiopia.  It didn't matter where we had come from because we were all in this strange place together.

We were constantly doing things at school like singing programs and art shows.

Music program

In third grade, we went on a camping trip out in the desert which was both scary and exciting.  We were told to be very careful if we removed our shoes because scorpions might find their way inside!

Lining up for the camping trip

Getting ready for nightfall

Sleeping above the ground to get away from crawling things!

Our guides had a sing along after supper

Third Culture Kid

 

Some Thoughts

Once day, my brownie troop was going on a field trip to the market or souk.  Here you could find everything from the most mundane to the most extravagant.  We were taking the bus, which became an adventure in itself.  In Jeddah, women have to ride in the back of the bus which is separated from the front.  Additionally, the space is much smaller.  We were cramming twelve girls and three adults into a very small area which already held some Arab women.  We were sitting on each other's laps.  I remember feeling how unfair it was that the handful of men in the front wouldn't make room for us.


Spending five years growing up in Saudi Arabia has shaped the way I look at people.  Living with people from so many places showed me the differences we had but also the similarities.  My friends all fought with their siblings the way I did.  We didn't always do what our parents told us to do.  I got to travel the world and see how things are in other countries.  It's always made me appreciate how good we have it in this country despite the problems we face.

Social media has allowed me to regain contact with so many old friends who shared this experience.  We all say what a special and wonderful thing it was for us all to come together for that brief time.

For more information on what a third culture kid is, I suggest checking these out.

http://www.tckworld.com/useem/art1.html

http://www.amazon.com/Third-Culture-Kids-Growing-Revised/dp/1857885252/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373331765&sr=8-1&keywords=third+culture+kids

How it all started

A Big Change

    My family moved to Saudi Arabia in 1979.  My father was a pilot and had gone to work for the national airline. We moved to Jeddah which is on the Red Sea which surprisingly enough isn't red!   As I was only 6 years old, I didn't realize what a tumultuous and dangerous time it was in the Middle East.  All I knew was that we had moved very far from friends and family and were now in a very hot, sandy place.  When we arrived, we had no place to live and stayed with friends.  I walked down the street in the compound with my father until we came to an empty house and he said this looks good.  He made the arrangements and soon we moved in.  The house was fully furnished which is a good thing since our shipment of personal items wouldn't arrive for about six months.

This is what our house looked like when we moved in.  Grass and landscaping came later.

The water tower in our compound.  It was our directional beacon for every place in the compound.

We had moved to a place where you had dust storms instead of rain storms.  It was so hot but the dry heat was something we gradually got used to but we still loved the air conditioners we had in every room!