Thursday and Friday were mostly taken up with travel. We landed at the Damman Airport on Friday evening and have been in a place called Dharhan. Dhahran was the 'military type' base which the US first set up when they came over to drill for oil back in 1932. It has, of course, changed since then but is still referred to as "The Compound". It is in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.
Saturday
We began the day with a tour of Saudi Aramco’s luxurious facility. We saw presentations about the history of the company, the financial state of the company, and how oil is extracted and refined. We also viewed a really cool 3-D movie on providing energy to the world. We then went into an elevator-sized room to experience a simulated oil dig. Still part of the Aramco facility was their engineering center where we learned of how they keep their data safe. As we entered the facility we saw two engineers monitoring 20 computers that are managing the systems. Their computer storage facility is gigantic—they have 2,100 k bytes on line and 9,000 terabytes in the data storage facility with 2 different off site back-up locations. They discussed how they had converted their storage processing to cluster data storage centers; these were indeed very impressive.
Next we went to an environmental exhibit where many booths displayed information promoting a safe environment. We were then off to another beautiful lunch with more salads, entrees and desserts than imaginable.
After lunch we visited the Cultural Heritage Museum which focuses on the life of Ibn Battuta, a famous Middle Eastern explorer. This was followed by a visit to a museum in a private home. Totally unimaginable! Our hosts served a very popular Arabian coffee which made with cardamom. It is traditional to serve this with dates when guests first arrive. After touring the museum house; we then went back to the living room for an afternoon tea—we were served 3 rounds of food and dessert with tea—ginger or mint (neither like our ginger or mint tea—strong with quite a bite.)
For supper we went to a very expensive, very famous seafood restaurant where we were served a very elegant seafood dinner. The meal began with an array of appetizers, then soup followed by many types of fresh seafood—sea clams, shrimp, lobster, fish, crabs; all served with heavy sauces. Of course, rice and many side dishes were also available. We ended with a heavy cream dessert served along side a tart filled with ice cream. Food is an important part of Saudi Arabia where we have been greeted with indescribable hospitality.
We concluded the day with a walk along the Arabian Gulf. The Saudis stay up quite late—even young children. An evening at the beach often includes a 10:00 picnic supper.
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