FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After two and a half weeks in Spain I am finally back in Utah. I went from the center of Islam to the center of Mormonism and I must say it is very very good to be back. On the plane ride home I couldn't believe how fast it all seemed to go. I remember thinking in my first few months that it would never end, but here I am. I wanted to write a little about my last few days in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and maybe later I will do some posts on Spain.
Our last two days in Riyadh we rented a car so we could do one last exploration of the city. We went to the store for food and I saw these special holiday Ramadan Pepsis that I really liked. I like the crescent moon on them.
We headed out into the desert to try and find some new sights to see. We actually did find a lot we had never seen in Riyadh before. It was a very refreshing day (except for me towards then end when we found out our company had not yet gotten us our passports and final paycheck).
Here are some date farmers getting ready their dates. I don't know how they work during the day when they can't eat or drink anything. It is probably around 115 degrees here.
Here is Jared and Chris walking in the desert.
Some crazy looking palm trees and one of the newly redone walls of Dariyah. Dariyah is the ancestral home of the royal Saud family of Saudi Arabia. It is kind of on the outskirts of Riyadh.
More walls. I like this style of building. I wish they would do more of it throughout the city.
Here is part of the old city of Dariyah. This might be the mosque. The events that happened here hundreds of years ago have had a large impact on Saudi Arabia, and in my opinion, the world. One of the Saud rulers hundreds of years ago joined forces with a super religious guy named Mohammad Ibn Abd-al Wahhab and basically conquered Arabia and killed anyone that didn't agree with their rule or their form of religious worship. People often call the Islam of Saudi Arabia Wahabbi Islam - one of the most strict forms of Islam. The events that occured here because of Abd-al Wahhab are the reason that Saudi Arabia is so very very strict today.
Here are some old mud houses near Dariah.
We couldn't go inside the area, so we stood outside the fence and took pictures of it. It is a very fascinating place. They are currently restoring the area. Perhaps it will be some kind of museum or historical site people visit in the future.
Water in Saudi Arabia!? We were surprised to see this. It isn't often to see water just sitting like this. This is near some incredibl homes outside the main part of the city. Some really rich people probably live in this area.
After looking at the Dariah area, we went to Hagar Park in the Diplomatic Quarter. We had seen the park before but we never went inside. It is named after Hagar, the wife of Abraham and the mother of Ishmael. The theme of this park is water because when she was sent away with Ishmael, they almost died of thirst, but God revealed to them a spring of water and they were able to live. This is not the location of that spring. Muslims believe the spring is in Mecca and they call it the Zamzam spring. Zamzam water, according to Muslims, has the power to heal diseases. You can buy bottled Zamzam water in Saudi Arabia. I never got any though! Probably my biggest regret. Because the park is named after Hagar they have water towards and pools scattered throughout the park.
I don't know why I put this picture in. I guess I just thought I looked funny. This is Hagar Park again. I wish we'd had a place like this near where we lived. It was very quiet and peaceful (and shady which was nice).
Here is a cool tower in the park with water coming down the sides.
Playing in the park.
Chris is very displeased with this thing.
Climbing on the ropes.
More climbing. Being at this park was kind of a rare experience.
They had these huge stone thrones throughout the park as well.
After, we climbed a hill in the Diplomatic Quarter and got a nice view of this mosque and some other cool stuff.
We went to the Musmak fortress one last time.
Here is chop chop square again, the place where they do public executions. Because it was Ramadan, they are invited a lot of the poorer people in the city to the mosque to have a free meal. During Ramadan they do a lot of charity work for the poor. these people are waiting for the meal to begin.
Chop chop square area.
Me in front of Musmak. Our last day in Saudi Arabia was a stressful one. We were wondering if our company would fail to get us our passports so we could fly out the next day. True to my company's way of doing things they waited to the last minute, but luckily they got us our pay and passports on time. I have to say I am very happy to no longer be under their thumb. I loved my job teaching the students and I will miss them, but I consider the people I worked for to be very dishonest in their dealings with their employees. It was a relief to fly out of Riyadh and I can't believe I'm home now. When we were near the airport in Salt Lake City I saw 5 Latter Day Saint Temples from the air and that was a welcoming site. When our plane touched down and started coming to our gate I looked out the window and I saw the crescent moon in the sky (the symbol of Islam) which I thought was a nice end to an 11 month trip to the land of the two holy mosques, Saudi Arabia.
Our last two days in Riyadh we rented a car so we could do one last exploration of the city. We went to the store for food and I saw these special holiday Ramadan Pepsis that I really liked. I like the crescent moon on them.
We headed out into the desert to try and find some new sights to see. We actually did find a lot we had never seen in Riyadh before. It was a very refreshing day (except for me towards then end when we found out our company had not yet gotten us our passports and final paycheck).
Here are some date farmers getting ready their dates. I don't know how they work during the day when they can't eat or drink anything. It is probably around 115 degrees here.
Here is Jared and Chris walking in the desert.
Some crazy looking palm trees and one of the newly redone walls of Dariyah. Dariyah is the ancestral home of the royal Saud family of Saudi Arabia. It is kind of on the outskirts of Riyadh.
More walls. I like this style of building. I wish they would do more of it throughout the city.
Here is part of the old city of Dariyah. This might be the mosque. The events that happened here hundreds of years ago have had a large impact on Saudi Arabia, and in my opinion, the world. One of the Saud rulers hundreds of years ago joined forces with a super religious guy named Mohammad Ibn Abd-al Wahhab and basically conquered Arabia and killed anyone that didn't agree with their rule or their form of religious worship. People often call the Islam of Saudi Arabia Wahabbi Islam - one of the most strict forms of Islam. The events that occured here because of Abd-al Wahhab are the reason that Saudi Arabia is so very very strict today.
Here are some old mud houses near Dariah.
We couldn't go inside the area, so we stood outside the fence and took pictures of it. It is a very fascinating place. They are currently restoring the area. Perhaps it will be some kind of museum or historical site people visit in the future.
Water in Saudi Arabia!? We were surprised to see this. It isn't often to see water just sitting like this. This is near some incredibl homes outside the main part of the city. Some really rich people probably live in this area.
After looking at the Dariah area, we went to Hagar Park in the Diplomatic Quarter. We had seen the park before but we never went inside. It is named after Hagar, the wife of Abraham and the mother of Ishmael. The theme of this park is water because when she was sent away with Ishmael, they almost died of thirst, but God revealed to them a spring of water and they were able to live. This is not the location of that spring. Muslims believe the spring is in Mecca and they call it the Zamzam spring. Zamzam water, according to Muslims, has the power to heal diseases. You can buy bottled Zamzam water in Saudi Arabia. I never got any though! Probably my biggest regret. Because the park is named after Hagar they have water towards and pools scattered throughout the park.
I don't know why I put this picture in. I guess I just thought I looked funny. This is Hagar Park again. I wish we'd had a place like this near where we lived. It was very quiet and peaceful (and shady which was nice).
Here is a cool tower in the park with water coming down the sides.
Playing in the park.
Chris is very displeased with this thing.
Climbing on the ropes.
More climbing. Being at this park was kind of a rare experience.
They had these huge stone thrones throughout the park as well.
After, we climbed a hill in the Diplomatic Quarter and got a nice view of this mosque and some other cool stuff.
We went to the Musmak fortress one last time.
Here is chop chop square again, the place where they do public executions. Because it was Ramadan, they are invited a lot of the poorer people in the city to the mosque to have a free meal. During Ramadan they do a lot of charity work for the poor. these people are waiting for the meal to begin.
Chop chop square area.
Me in front of Musmak. Our last day in Saudi Arabia was a stressful one. We were wondering if our company would fail to get us our passports so we could fly out the next day. True to my company's way of doing things they waited to the last minute, but luckily they got us our pay and passports on time. I have to say I am very happy to no longer be under their thumb. I loved my job teaching the students and I will miss them, but I consider the people I worked for to be very dishonest in their dealings with their employees. It was a relief to fly out of Riyadh and I can't believe I'm home now. When we were near the airport in Salt Lake City I saw 5 Latter Day Saint Temples from the air and that was a welcoming site. When our plane touched down and started coming to our gate I looked out the window and I saw the crescent moon in the sky (the symbol of Islam) which I thought was a nice end to an 11 month trip to the land of the two holy mosques, Saudi Arabia.
