Celebrating my first year teaching in Saudi this month. It’s been a wild last 13 months. I appreciate the friendships I have with each of you, and it’s cruel how little time I get to communicate properly.
This posting includes some pictures from my week and a half trip to Rome and the Bay of Naples. Very hard to select just a few, but I’ll try.
Started with a 6 hour layover in Cairo, where we met a tour guide who quickly took us around the local hidden gem known as Garbage City, boasting with the largest Christian church in the Middle East:
Then Rome and all its glory:
Then to Naples:
And on to Pompeii
Then arriving at our Lemon Grove agriturismo accommodations for the week on a trip called “Sorrento- Local Living” – a trip through G Adventures.
Garden of the Gods hike along the Amalfi Coast, ending in Positano.
Learning how to cook local dishes of the and taking a ferry to Sorrento:
Amalfi beach and Isle of Capri:
Finished the trip with a hike up Vesuvius:
Great trip and so many more pictures I could have posted. Hard not to share them all. Life’s good and I hope you can say the same. Looking forward to talking to you soon!
P.S. – Thanks Rachel Hohendorf for the tips on Italy travel. YOUR wonderful photos helped inspire me to take this trip. 🙂
Trip back home enjoying time with friends and family. Then, day before flying back to Saudi, brother James’ band was invited to open for the Foo Fighters at Wrigley. It was an amazing show and he hooked us up with the backstage experience.
Hope this update finds you doing well. Here are some photos from the past month, starting with a half marathon I participated in. It was a great day for a race: rainy, and pretty crazy, seeing as it was only the fourth day of rain since I moved here last July.
Hunted down a spot in Bahrain to catch a legit Irish band performing for St. Patrick’s Day. Wasn’t going to let that go by uncelebrated!
And speaking of celebrating, word got out about my birthday this week, so I got treated to some tacos and a 5 minute long English/Arabic rendition of Happy birthday sang by the Phillipino servers at a “Mexican” restaurant. That’s life on an international compound.
I hope this post finds you enjoying 2018 and well on your way to making this year better than the last. I don’t mean that in the way that assumes a rough past year, but only in the way that wishes improvement, progress, and I suppose a tinge more happiness to the year ahead.
I enjoyed my time at home in KC over break, catching a Division-clenching game at Arrowhead.
Although the Titans game could have gone better, I’m looking forward to next season. Gotta move on.
It was nice to be home for the holiday to enjoy some other KC staples:
I left KC in its most chilling form…
I returned back to Saudi Arabia only to head back out of the country to Bahrain. This time, I managed to join some friends for a walk around the historic fort there in Manama.
And found Cola flavored Mambas…
Back on compound, I’m working on finding a new owner for my car as it needs a bit more financial attention than I have to throw at it. So to keep me moving, I snagged this car from a retiring employee:
Its a great car and that picture is right after washing it, which would typically mean rain. But here in Saudi we just get dust:
Was a bit eerie with the sky glowing yellow through the duration of the day. I had a guy tell me this is what typically happens before the cold comes in. We may be soon dipping into the 40’s people.
That’s all for now. Now scroll back up and watch that lion video again. That really happened. Visiting the zoo in cold weather is where it’s at.
Finally gotten out into the desert of Saudi Arabia this month. Here’s a few pictures from a hike out in the dunes this pst weekend:
I’ve got to mention that no filters were used in these photos, it was just a windy day causing for a hazy sky. In the photos is a friend who also joined the group of 25 or so of us from an organization called InterNations – connecting expats around the world. Happy to be the only American other than this dude:
Yes, that’s a KC cap he’s wearing, and he hails from south KCMO. After the sun set, we all headed through the desert in our cars to a spot to build a campfire and enjoy dinner in the dunes.
It was an awesome trip out there, and I’m sure many more InterNations trips will be made.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for many things, and remaining in touch with you all in KC, using this site to share my adventures, is something I’m especially grateful for this year. Being away from home does help me really value the great friends and family I have in each of you there in Kansas City.
Being away has also helped me appreciate the complex experience of building an identity from scratch in a place where no one’s got a clue who you are or shares any of your references of home. A complicated, yet fun process shared by most expats anywhere. And it’s in that shared new-ness of identity we expats commiserate, bond, and find family in one another. All making for a never-dull experience which I’m also very thankful for this year.
Ah, and finishing with a couple shots from my three Thanksgiving dinners. It was wonderful to have three new family friends invite me to join them for their holiday meal:
And I can’t help but share this photo of sunrise outside my school building in our now very beautiful daily weather. Low 50’s in the mornings to upper 70’s in the afternoon.
First off, things are alright here right now, despite what people have been telling me is on the news.
The weather is getting nice. Every day sunny and highs in the upper 80’s, still some low 90’s. But at least not generally hitting 100 anymore!
Hearing the call to prayer all over town during my evening runs is very hypnotic and actually a rather soothing part of the workout.
I’m starting up a running club for fifth graders with a coworker who’s an experienced and talented triathlete.
So I never told you about Halloween! It was observed here on camp which was a lot of fun to see some houses decorated up, trick-or-treating down the streets, and of course, what’s Halloween without chili!
Some friends and I headed down to Bahrain for a Halloween Beach party (which we never made it to due to a protest which closed the highway to the beach). Lots of fun walking around Manama, finding some recognizable signage…
(That Grill and Chill shot is a shout out to Rachel and Jessica… oh Friday’s in Manhattan in college.)
And no, the BLVD place doesn’t sell Boulevard. They just stole the logo apparently. 😦
Bahrain was also a good destination for Octoberfest. Now some of my coworkers actually headed to Munich for the real thing over our three day weekend. I guess they know how to do it right. As for me, I still had fun in the Middle East’s version!
I’m slowly discovering new places to eat in the city.
Every Thursday at school we have an additional period in which students compete in games for “House Points,” or have an assembly, or something. Lots of fun last week in a photo scavenger hunt:
Yesterday was “Thwacky Day,” and man do I love myself some school spirit days. (Didn’t get a picture of my own garb I’m afraid.)
Working with student council for fifth grade has been fun too. They have lots of creative ideas, many service-based. We have a Walk for Juvenile Diabetes next week.
I appreciate the chance to talk with more and more of you via WhatsApp. Still blows my mind how accessible conversations with you all can be thanks to technology.
That includes keeping in touch with my class from last year through Edmodo- a Facebook type website/app for schools. I enjoy getting the lowdown on Frank Rushton, the Chiefs, and all sorts of other random news from them.
I miss you all, but I’m having a really great time. Some challenges, but lots of successes and good people.
I left KC in its most chilling form… 
WETZEL'S WANDERINGS 