A Fantastic First Day

We were up early this morning at 7 AM to depart by 7:45 AM. I got myself out of bed after only about 3.5 hours of sleep, and ate breakfast in the room from the hospitality basket of fruit and juice. Then, our first stop was to the Saudi Aramco Exhibit, which is a museum of the history and science of finding and extracting oil. It was a very nice museum in which I learned things like oil is not just in big pools in the ground ready to be slurped up. It is in rocks, and using water to bring it up in one technique used to extract it. You can see the museum below:

We experienced more Saudi hospitality today throughout our stops this morning. We had drinks and snacks provided everywhere we went. You can see one treat that is very common here—dates. Dates are a classic Saudi food that requires very warm temperatures to grow. They also don’t spoil easily, so they were perfect to take with you on treks through the desert. They are quite sweet, and I am looking forward to tasting them throughout the trip.

After this we went to an amazing Saudi Aramco corporate building called the Exploration and Petroleum Center (or EXPEC). This was a super modern computing facility where geologists are directing drilling in realtime from their desks to sites all over Saudi Arabia. The technology was amazing, with huge three screen workstations, giant panel displays, and high technology everywhere you looked. This was also a secure area, so we couldn’t bring our cameras in, so no pictures here.
After that we left the Saudi Aramco compound area and headed for another part of Dhahran. I reported early that we were staying in Dammam, but I wasn’t correct. The airport is in Dammam, but Saudi Aramco is in Dhahran. So, we are in Dhahran for the next few days. One interesting thing is that we have an armed patrol with us whenever we leave the compound. They seem to be Saudi Aramco security guards, and they always give us an escort everywhere. To be honest, everything seems quite safe here, and everyone is extremely friendly, but I think the guards are a precaution that they feel is worth it. Security is quite tight here with many buildings being housed in compounds, behind walls and barbed wire.

The lunch we had was an amazing spread as you can see below. Believe it or not, that was only about half of the food!

My meal was also just as colorful, with several foods I had never tried before. Can anyone ID some of the foods on the plate?

After lunch we headed back over the compound to visit a wonderful woman at her and her husband’s house. She is Mrs. Al-Ashgar, and she has been collecting artifacts and antiques for years and years. She shared her home with us, and also her private museum of Saudi and Asian artifacts. You can see her welcoming us below, and also some of her amazing house.



You can also see us having more time for Arabian coffee and dates.

After this event we spent a short visit at the Heritage Gallery where we saw more artifacts about Saudi Aramco. Then, it was time to head back to our rooms for a brief break before dinner tonight.