An Upcoming Adventure

So it appears that many of you might be curious as to why we are going to Saudi Arabia next March.

For those who are not old friends or family of Brian... maybe I'd better start at the beginning!

In 1979, when Brian and Allison were 10 months old (did you know he was a twin, too? :) their dad got a job working for Saudi Aramco. It's the oil company there in Saudi Arabia and he was working in the refinery (correct me if I'm wrong?) so that meant they all moved over there. They lived on a large compound with other families from many countries who were also working for the oil company.

They were there until 1990 when they moved to Corvallis, Oregon. Therefore Brian went to school and made friends and generally spent more of his growing up years overseas and traveling (I'm jealous!) than he did in the US.

In 2001, I believe, his dad went back to work there for another 2 years or so. Brian was able to go back and visit in the summer, but as he was out of college by then he didn't stay.

Now the reason we're going back...

In case you didn't know, Saudi Arabia is a closed country. That means that you can't just decide to go there, you have to have a good reason - like work or immediate family.

So how are we going?

Well, it's the 75th anniversary of the oil company next year so someone got the idea to sponsor a reunion. 600 people are invited and Brian's dad decided we were all going. He is the official employee allowed to go and he can bring his immediate family. That means there are 7 of us going (Brian's mom and dad, Brian, Cory, and I, plus Allison and her husband Joel). The company is officially "sponsoring" this reunion so that we can get visas to get into the country. We'll be staying with some friends of theirs that still live and work there.

Should be quite the adventure!