This is an article I wrote for the F&C Focus, the KAUST Community Newsletter. The writer of this newsletter is due to leave KAUST soon, and I want to take a moment to thank her for her dedication to information sharing within the community and all her hard work on behalf of everyone that lives here. Thank you Claire Morris. You will be missed!
Traveling With KAUST Friends
from the F&C Focus, September 2015
One of the commonalities that many of us at KAUST share is that we seem to be adventurers at heart. In the four years my husband and I have lived here, we’ve become close with several of our friends, even agreeing to travel or meet-up abroad with them. Seeing friends outside of our small community brings us even closer together. Traveling the world and experiencing new sites, sounds, foods, and customs – it enlightens and enriches us.
Here are a few memories from our trips abroad with KAUST friends:
Bahrain, March 2012 – Turkomani Family and Sale Family – The Turkomani family welcomed us to their home in Bahrain after they moved from KAUST. They showed us their new home, much of the small country, and even took us to a little league baseball game!
Dubai, July 2012 – Grace Grundler and Claire Sale – Grace and I took a ladies shopping trip to Dubai for the weekend. There is nothing better than spending some hard-earned cash to look fabulous with a good friend!
Saffron Walden, UK, May 2013 – Sale Family, Lisanti Family, and Rowden Family (not pictured) – We visited the Rowden Family’s hometown as well as my husband’s hometown with our own growing families. It was fun to meet extended families and eat lots of British food (the greatest British cuisine is Indian curry!)
Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, March 2014 – Rowden Family, Lisanti Family, and Sale Family – Here we are hiking with all the little ones in South Africa just after the Rowdens moved from KAUST. We spent two weeks together traveling in and around Cape Town with 5 small children and 6 adults.
Punting on the River Cam in Cambridge UK, July 2015 – Sarathy-Rajawat Family and Sale Family – We enjoyed showing our friends around my husband’s hometown doing the best touristy thing in the world: punting on the River Cam. We can highly recommend this day trip to anyone visiting London or elsewhere in the UK.
I really encourage you to travel with your friends. Visiting their homes or other places further afield brings greater appreciation of culture and a deeper friendship between you. The friends that we have traveled with now feel more like our family. Together we are fostering a passion for adventure in ourselves and our children while simultaneously building relationships that will last a lifetime.