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Post by fromthesouth on Nov 13, 2013 3:33:27 GMT
I have an offer and it includes moving to Rakah. I've seen the posts and it looks like this is a great place for young kids, but I have older kids. Are there families with 12 year olds currently living in Rakah?, What do kids of that age do after school? Can they have a social life on their own in Rakah? or they need to resort to Dhahram?. Any help with tis is greatly appreciated!
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Post by vpainter on Nov 13, 2013 3:38:53 GMT
I sent you an email.
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Post by xjonesy on Nov 13, 2013 16:13:29 GMT
We have older and younger kids and may be headed to Rakkah. Living in there, I worry about the amount of time my children would spend on the busses going back and forth to school. Can anyone living in Rakkah provide an honest assessment of how long the kids ride the bus in the morning and afternoon? The recruiter keeps telling us it's only 15-20 mins to the Dhahran elementary school, but with traffic I'm guessing it's much longer.
Also, what about the stay at home moms living on the Rakkah compound? I must admit, being stuck on a 90-acre compound without being able to drive and being subject to intermittent bus times sounds stifling. I'm worried! Any thoughts / honest perspectives from those there? Thanks!
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Post by vpainter on Nov 14, 2013 3:20:24 GMT
I sent you an email.
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Post by Catharinete on Nov 14, 2013 15:42:59 GMT
Hope this helps about older kids and Rakah generally: Since being at Rakah my sons aged 10 and 12 have:
Cycled and scooted anywhere they want to on the compound Had one on one 40 minute swimming lessons for 50SAR Swum for hours with friends and learnt to dive in unison off both boards Joined the community kids soccer training Played games of cricket on the communal grass behind the houses Played bowls with friends Played table football and table tennis Started to learn squash with their father Watched movies in the theatre Made many new friends Been to four different beaches - at one they saw angel fish under the water and dolphins Dinghy sailed Dropped in and out of their friends houses under their own steam. My youngest is about to start playing tennis and is loving the DBGS. The bus journey is around 25 minutes although it can vary between 20 and 35 minutes depending on traffic. It has an excellent bus monitor and careful driver There are about a dozen children aged 10 to 12 on the compound so far. They could also have done scouts, Zumbatonic and regular soccer, but I have their noses to the grindstone with music practice so we haven't fitted those in.
Before coming to Rakah I worried that I would be lonely, bored, unfit, claustrophobic and unable to continue my UK work. However in the 2 months since moving to Rakah I have Learnt to play squash - with an instructor Attended Zumba and aerobics classes Started an arabic class Played tennis with my family Played pickleball with friends Done early morning fitness with an instructor Made good use of the new fitness machines in the gymn Trained in the lap pool for hours with only the lifeguards for company Borrowed books from the library and read magazines there to which I would never normally treat myself Chosen 30 plants for the strip around our patio Been to four different beaches Been to brunches, lunches, coffee mornings and other community events including a beach barbeque Held dinner parties Tried to get used to my husband coming home in time to play football/squash after years of a miserable, arduous commute in the UK Continued to work in the UK online - facilitated by the fast internet access In my view the best things about living in Rakah are: Lovely houses - large, newly refurbished and soundproof, apparently not all the Dhahran main camp houses are very soundproof Brand new beautiful American wood furniture including, deep sleepeezee mattresses Climate - in August when it was 44 degrees C in Dhahran main camp it was 38 degrees C in Rakah compound. We generally have a breeze because we are right by the sea. Clean air, again due to coastal proximity Fast, free internet access Sweet water - even for clothes washing and bathing - I understand this is not always the norm Large American appliances - I could fit 2 children in the washing machine...and 4 full size turkeys in the oven Separate aircon/heating for upstairs and downstairs - very powerful and not too noisy New and clean exercise facilities - pool, tennis courts, etc.. Quick and comprehensive maintenance support A pro-active multinational community with western norms An excellent pre school for 3 and 4 year olds Proximity to good restaurants in Al Khobar Onsite laundry/ironing/dry cleaning services. Turn around is 2 days. Cost to iron a mans shirt is 1.50SAR (30p)! The less ideal things about living in Rakah are: The current shortage of taxis One or two unruly big dogs - barking echoes between the houses, and there isn't really anywhere for them to run off the lead The lack of a big back yard - although we have a good patio and an enclosed area which we use for storing bikes etc. The snack bar has a limited menu - although the brunch buffet we had on > Saay was excellent Other comments about Rakah The commissary offers most things including a reasonable amount of gluten free/dairy free, as you would find in Sainsburys. There are now regular bus services to all the main malls and supermarkets on different days The Rakah compound is not big enough to warrant keeping a car to drive around. You can leave a car at Dhahran main camp and take the bus to it. Ladies can not drive between the camps. Between the new bus services and taxis I generally get where I need to go, but we will also buy a car. Domestic electricity in KSA is converting from 110v to 220v, but the Rakah houses are still mainly 110v plugs. I haven't been able to find 110v Bayonet bulbs in KSA for our lamps, so imported them from an online company in the UK. We bought a step up voltage converter box for our UK TV and it seems to work fine in a room that has a 110v supply. There are 220v plugs in the kitchen and utility and they require a proprietary adaptor to a 3 pin plug- you can buy these in the commissary. Despite some posts suggesting otherwise there are no horses, riding facilities or stabling. Other comments for those considering moving from the UK to Saudi. If you are interested in good food, the Dammam fruit, veg, fish and meat markets are fabulous although a bus or taxi ride. I wear an abaya out in the community as is the norm - I got used to it quite quickly The Saudis that I have met to date have been interested and extremely welcoming - many have lived in the US and speak good English
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Post by westcoast on Nov 14, 2013 23:43:46 GMT
I too would like an honest perspective of day to day life for the moms and kids already there. If anyone can pm me that would be great! I remain optimistic at this point, and from experience of living in a tight knit community, it can be pretty fun for kids, and easy to connect with other moms.
Also, I realize there are many discussions on what to bring, but if there is anything anyone from Rakkah or otherwise would like to add (we are opting out of shipping) that would be super helpful!!
TIA!
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Post by vpainter on Nov 15, 2013 4:27:06 GMT
I sent you an email.
Thank you, CATHARINETE, for posting. It is appreciated.
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Post by Catharinete on Nov 15, 2013 6:29:42 GMT
Hi VPainter - can you tell me how to PM someone and I will PM Westcoast, although I'm not sure I'll have a lot to add after my mega missive! CatharineTE
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Post by Catharinete on Nov 15, 2013 7:42:45 GMT
Hi Westcoast
This is an email that I sent yesterday to two mothers that are due to arrive in Rakah in December.
'You can get pretty much anything for the house - e.g. there is an Ikea, a Lakeland Plastics and a PotteryBarn, a good store called SACO world and many of the supermarkets do have things like bins. The only tricky thing is electrics because of the conversion to 220v. We bought a step up box for our TV because we wanted it in a room that only has 110v. The Aramco houses are in the main 110v so US appliances should be fine. I had to buy sheets in PotteryBarn as there weren't 100% cotton anywhere else to fit our enormous beds with super deep mattresses and that was expensive. Towels you'll find no problem - there's a Debenhams. Anything you can't get here you can get in Bahrain although about 25% more expensive. There are loads and loads of clothes, shoes and handbag shops. Nurseries for plants, and there are markets for fresh fish and veggies.'
I would also add that I loathe shiny shopping malls and therefore avoid them where possible so other people might be able to give you a better view.
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Post by becca-joh on Nov 15, 2013 15:40:06 GMT
Catherine your reply has been very helpful, particularly as someone from the UK. It is looking likely my husband and I will be moving to KSA in the spring, although our family situation is a bit different to yours - 16 month old daughter and another baby who is still under construction! Due in late January.
The dept my husband will work for is going to push for us to be housed in DHA as his working hours might be erratic. Not sure how much sway they have, though, so we're assuming we'll be living in Rakkah.
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Post by Ferreg on Nov 15, 2013 16:19:10 GMT
Coming back to main point, will like to know if there are teenagers in the compound ( 14 years +), what they do in weekends, can they take bus by themselves to main compound.... Any info about what they will find will be very usefull.
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Post by westcoast on Nov 15, 2013 19:07:08 GMT
Thank-you Catherinete for your detailed/awesome posts!! Looking forward to meeting everyone soon!
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Maursh
Senior Member
Posts: 169
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Post by Maursh on Nov 15, 2013 22:25:37 GMT
Great post Catharinete - thanks a lot
We are due to head out to Rakah soon, but like so many others are stuck on the block visa stage. I am assuming that you are British since you reference the DBGS. Considering local british curriculum schools ourselves, I was wondering whether you looked at BISAK as well or did transport options define your decision?
Concerning power sockets: we have been advised that they can be converted to 220V throughout (I think that maintenance flip a switch or something). Have you not found this to be the case - or is it that your appliances are 110V and it's just new items you are finding issue with?
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Post by Catharinete on Nov 25, 2013 4:01:06 GMT
Dear Ferreg, There are currently about 12 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18, and I assume this will increase as the camp fills up. On avee there are 1.6 children per villa in Rakah and on avee they are younger - we have a chapter of 8-12 year old boys on bikes. What do teenagers do at the weekends? I'm not completely sure but there are movies aimed at varying age groups - yesterday it was Madagascar followed by Wolverine, the girls seem to be keen to go the the mall, the boys seem to be sporty and play basketball/soccer, there is snooker, table football, and a gym for 14plus only. They also have friends on main camp and go and do things there - yes they can go on the bus on their own. People seem to do things more as families here - maybe its because in the main fathers don't work over the weekend - so people will go to Bahrain, the beach, dune buggy driving and that kind of thing.
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Post by Catharinete on Nov 25, 2013 4:11:47 GMT
Hi Maursh, Yes, from the UK. I don't think that the whole house can be converted to 220v. In ours maintenance have converted the sockets of one circuit upstairs to 220v which means that we now have 220v power in the separate bathroom, the landing and the twin room but not the master or guest bedroom. We still have to use adaptors from Lulu's as the 220v plug is a proprietary perpendicular pattern. We have kept the 110v lamps that were provided in one room and imported 110v bayonet bulbs for our own lamps in another. You can only buy screw in bulbs here.
Downstairs we have one 220v socket in the kitchen and two in the utility. I have put a multi-socket adaptor on these to save pulling/pushing plugs in and out when I swap between the kettle and the toaster, but I don't use both high power appliances at the same time. I haven't been told not to, I'm just being cautious.
Finally - we brought our TV from the UK. It looked normal there but here it looks tiny! We have it in the maid's bedroom and run it from the 110v socket with a step up box which cost about 600SAR in Sacoworld.
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