Post by davemanc50 on Nov 24, 2013 10:57:00 GMT
o from Abq, I started reading this form months ago and found it so helpful in our move over here. With this in mind I promised myself that, although I never really write on forums, I would in this case to make sure i pay something back in.
Vpainter you have my heartfelt thanks, and the other volunteers, for you support for this forum, without it our arrival here would have been very different.
I should say upfront that as with everything in life my opinion is mine alone and others will agree or disagree. Please take all my comments in this light, you may agree or not when you arrive but here are our thoughts so far. Also we have only been here a month and not ventured out of camp much so our perspective is very limited right now.
So here’s what you want to know! We come from the North West UK and have two children age 2 and 6. We were placed in Abq but really wanted to be in Dhahran (where my husband works). Now we are here I feel happy and fortunate to be in Abq, so those of you who are going to be here please don’t worry too much.
We choose to take the shipping money and spent a lot of it on bringing 30 pieces of luggage with us on the plane. This was so we had our things immediately. We re-cut boxes to comply with the airlines restrictions, that took us some time! We brought the 2 tvs, dvd players, lap tops, toys, cosmetics, food, clothes, housing décor, bedding, some pots and pans and cutlery etc…. I followed much of the advice in this forum, some of which helped enormously and other things due to progress here were not needed, but all of it is usable.
Note - If you do ship lots of aerosols be aware to split them across your luggage. We put all ours in one box and needed to open it in the airport and re pack the cans across several smaller bags of checked hand luggage to get it through. A few cans per box are fine just not all in one box.
If you want to take lots of luggage call the airport check-in desk before you arrive (although expect everyone to be shocked at how much you have anyway, just “stay calm and carry on”!! You are enled to take it if you pay for it, so just stand firm if will be worth it). Also we checked-in our pram this was so we could collect it with our other luggage and not wait for it at the plane door. Every second counts when getting from the plane to the customs queue ;-)
Seriously don’t worry too much about customs, we all make it through eventually, just expect to be there a few hours and take food and drink for the kids. If you make it to customs from the plane swiftly you may get lucky and get though quicker but if there is already a queue you will just join that. We were lucky (as are many but not everyone) as we were approached and asked to come to the front of the queue.
There are many Porters available at the airport who will help you with your luggage, at a price so be ready with your SR’s. And most of us are met by an Aramco rep who will then process you through. Everyone we came across was very pleasant and helpful.
What to bring!! Things I am most glad we brought. Three very heavy transformer, so we can use our appliances in the 110 sockets (we only have one 220 socket and that is in a place out of reach), My Abaya ( I would recommend black plain one to start off), we brought a 110v kettle, toaster, hairdryer, and microwave from a camper van seller on e-bay, The kids portable dvd players, two unlocked phones (so they are ready for the sims over here), Dyson (hand held long re chargeable) vacuum, window wiper blade. Things I wish we had brought… food mixer, sandwich maker, and more long jeans. We also forgot to get our i-phones unlocked at home (this takes 20 days with Orange) we wish we had done this. Safety covers for 110v sockets for the kids (maybe you can get these on the internet) would be good. And more Calpol!
When we arrived we were really pleased to find food in the fridge, towels in the bathrooms, sheets on the beds and thick blankets, soap in the bathrooms, curtains and blinds in the windows. I guess there aren’t many places in the world you can expect this kind of greeting. I'm not saying its extravagant stuff but good to get you settled. Although I should say that things are inconsistent over here and everyone has different experiences so you may or may not get these things. Personally I was very grateful for the effort that had been made.
The houses we have seen, and our house, are all pleasant and large in contrast to UK, with plenty of stoe. Tiled floors downstairs and carpeted upstairs. Gardens, like the houses, vary from small to large but all houses have them, including irrigation to maintain the lawn. Some people have their lawn laid after they arrive but ours was already here.
The commute! I don’t have to do it! but yes as this forum says you have to get up v early and its an hour or so to work in large air con buses. There are pros and cons to being here and for us my husband would have to travel to work in the UK anyway. It’s okay but not fun! Plus, we haven’t been out much but are told the driving is crazy here, so expect that too.
Abq itself ….we like it, it not too big but has good facilities. The shop is okay. The people are excellent and it really is good for families with children, school has really engaged / motivated our son and seems a good standard. Dress code on camp is relaxed but its early days for us to be sure on some of these points.
My favourite tips from this forum. 1. “the rule of threes” ask once and it might happen, ask twice and it will probably happen on the third ask you usually get a result! If you expect this it’s easier. 2. Its hard to get out and about at first, especially if you come when its v hot so try and bring some basic supplies that will keep you going for a couple of weeks, till you get a car, internet, iquama etc.... There is a shop etc, its just tricky to get to at first so less stressful if you feel more self-sufficient. 3. Get the kids the TB test and the TB vaccination in the UK as early as possible and make sure you have it all documented. 4. Stay calm at the airport if you bring loads of luggage and don’t worry when people stare, it’s worth it. 5. Bring some 110v stuff.
6. Its true you can get most things here but it’s at a price, if you want to save money bring things.
We didn’t ship, but if you do expect a wait of 3 months to get your things (it could be quicker but often isn’t) and some people get things damaged on the way, this is just what we have been told and may help when you decide what you want to bring.
Good luck and if your coming to ABQ, I hope to meet you, the weather is lovely today and so far the people we have met here have been great and once you are here you realise that’s probably the most important thing. I don’t come on this forum much anymore so will sign off now. But hope this entry goes someway to repaying my appreciation for its existence. Mrs D Manc!
Vpainter you have my heartfelt thanks, and the other volunteers, for you support for this forum, without it our arrival here would have been very different.
I should say upfront that as with everything in life my opinion is mine alone and others will agree or disagree. Please take all my comments in this light, you may agree or not when you arrive but here are our thoughts so far. Also we have only been here a month and not ventured out of camp much so our perspective is very limited right now.
So here’s what you want to know! We come from the North West UK and have two children age 2 and 6. We were placed in Abq but really wanted to be in Dhahran (where my husband works). Now we are here I feel happy and fortunate to be in Abq, so those of you who are going to be here please don’t worry too much.
We choose to take the shipping money and spent a lot of it on bringing 30 pieces of luggage with us on the plane. This was so we had our things immediately. We re-cut boxes to comply with the airlines restrictions, that took us some time! We brought the 2 tvs, dvd players, lap tops, toys, cosmetics, food, clothes, housing décor, bedding, some pots and pans and cutlery etc…. I followed much of the advice in this forum, some of which helped enormously and other things due to progress here were not needed, but all of it is usable.
Note - If you do ship lots of aerosols be aware to split them across your luggage. We put all ours in one box and needed to open it in the airport and re pack the cans across several smaller bags of checked hand luggage to get it through. A few cans per box are fine just not all in one box.
If you want to take lots of luggage call the airport check-in desk before you arrive (although expect everyone to be shocked at how much you have anyway, just “stay calm and carry on”!! You are enled to take it if you pay for it, so just stand firm if will be worth it). Also we checked-in our pram this was so we could collect it with our other luggage and not wait for it at the plane door. Every second counts when getting from the plane to the customs queue ;-)
Seriously don’t worry too much about customs, we all make it through eventually, just expect to be there a few hours and take food and drink for the kids. If you make it to customs from the plane swiftly you may get lucky and get though quicker but if there is already a queue you will just join that. We were lucky (as are many but not everyone) as we were approached and asked to come to the front of the queue.
There are many Porters available at the airport who will help you with your luggage, at a price so be ready with your SR’s. And most of us are met by an Aramco rep who will then process you through. Everyone we came across was very pleasant and helpful.
What to bring!! Things I am most glad we brought. Three very heavy transformer, so we can use our appliances in the 110 sockets (we only have one 220 socket and that is in a place out of reach), My Abaya ( I would recommend black plain one to start off), we brought a 110v kettle, toaster, hairdryer, and microwave from a camper van seller on e-bay, The kids portable dvd players, two unlocked phones (so they are ready for the sims over here), Dyson (hand held long re chargeable) vacuum, window wiper blade. Things I wish we had brought… food mixer, sandwich maker, and more long jeans. We also forgot to get our i-phones unlocked at home (this takes 20 days with Orange) we wish we had done this. Safety covers for 110v sockets for the kids (maybe you can get these on the internet) would be good. And more Calpol!
When we arrived we were really pleased to find food in the fridge, towels in the bathrooms, sheets on the beds and thick blankets, soap in the bathrooms, curtains and blinds in the windows. I guess there aren’t many places in the world you can expect this kind of greeting. I'm not saying its extravagant stuff but good to get you settled. Although I should say that things are inconsistent over here and everyone has different experiences so you may or may not get these things. Personally I was very grateful for the effort that had been made.
The houses we have seen, and our house, are all pleasant and large in contrast to UK, with plenty of stoe. Tiled floors downstairs and carpeted upstairs. Gardens, like the houses, vary from small to large but all houses have them, including irrigation to maintain the lawn. Some people have their lawn laid after they arrive but ours was already here.
The commute! I don’t have to do it! but yes as this forum says you have to get up v early and its an hour or so to work in large air con buses. There are pros and cons to being here and for us my husband would have to travel to work in the UK anyway. It’s okay but not fun! Plus, we haven’t been out much but are told the driving is crazy here, so expect that too.
Abq itself ….we like it, it not too big but has good facilities. The shop is okay. The people are excellent and it really is good for families with children, school has really engaged / motivated our son and seems a good standard. Dress code on camp is relaxed but its early days for us to be sure on some of these points.
My favourite tips from this forum. 1. “the rule of threes” ask once and it might happen, ask twice and it will probably happen on the third ask you usually get a result! If you expect this it’s easier. 2. Its hard to get out and about at first, especially if you come when its v hot so try and bring some basic supplies that will keep you going for a couple of weeks, till you get a car, internet, iquama etc.... There is a shop etc, its just tricky to get to at first so less stressful if you feel more self-sufficient. 3. Get the kids the TB test and the TB vaccination in the UK as early as possible and make sure you have it all documented. 4. Stay calm at the airport if you bring loads of luggage and don’t worry when people stare, it’s worth it. 5. Bring some 110v stuff.
6. Its true you can get most things here but it’s at a price, if you want to save money bring things.
We didn’t ship, but if you do expect a wait of 3 months to get your things (it could be quicker but often isn’t) and some people get things damaged on the way, this is just what we have been told and may help when you decide what you want to bring.
Good luck and if your coming to ABQ, I hope to meet you, the weather is lovely today and so far the people we have met here have been great and once you are here you realise that’s probably the most important thing. I don’t come on this forum much anymore so will sign off now. But hope this entry goes someway to repaying my appreciation for its existence. Mrs D Manc!
