Life in the Marriott

Greetings once again. Many of you have asked about our hotel life. We have two adjoining rooms for our family, and we have actually been able to unpack a bit. There is a restaurant here with a HUGE buffet spread for every meal. Our breakfasts and dinners are included; we are on our own for lunch. Through colleagues we have discovered a newly opened and amazing little Lebanese restaurant two blocks from hotel. We have started having lunch there when KAUST does not cover it. On weekends, which are Thursday and Friday, lunches are included for us - and the buffet is even bigger than usual. Hayden was even lucky to discover tacos on Friday, and I found some crepes! I think the hotel draws wealthy Saudis to come and enjoy Friday buffet brunch (similar to our Sunday brunches), so the offerings are vast!

We have no kitchen in our rooms, nor laundry facilities (it is a hotel after all), but laundry is included for us here, as well as Internet service. The staff who clean the rooms - all South Asian men - and who run the restaurant - again South Asian men and a Lebanese manager - are all so friendly and tell us frequently that they really like working for the Marriott. I guess they feel well-treated and tend to appreciate working here.

We began work today - orientation really. We met most all of the other teachers and staff members, and their families, for the KAUST Schools. It was a phenomenally interesting, diverse, and dynamic group of people. It seemed every other person either was Australian or from Seattle at some point in their background, which became a bit of a standing joke. We felt really fortunate to be working with such amazing people - funny, professional, experienced in overseas teaching, passionate about travel and personal interests ... Since we are nearly all living at the hotel, we are getting to know one another quite well. We were issued our official KAUST IDs today as well. On Monday we get to travel by bus to the campus to see the progress and have additional meetings there. It should be interesting! During the weekdays (Saturday-Wednesday) when we have work and planning and meetings, all of the kids are cared for by some hotel "babysitters" where they do art projects and watch cartoons. We parents are trying to come up with some other activities and have been buying toys and games for the kids to do. Some of the older high school kids have been helping out as well, and one of the boys took Hayden down to the pool to swim and play table tennis for part of the day. It seems to be working out well, but four weeks of hotel time might get a bit long!

There is a lovely pool here at the hotel, but Saudi law prohibits any women from swimming in it, except girls under eight years old. Similarly, there is also a lovely workout room - again only for the men. We have found that there is a small workout room (without windows) for women, and I have started running on the treadmills there.

We are managing with humor and companionship with the other faculty and staff - and really having fun so far, though we will be ready to move to our houses and campus - whenever that may be!

Thanks for reading. Love to all - Jennifer