Summers in Saudi

Yes, there are women and children who go home in the summers. But there is always a group who are here through out the summer as well. The camp is definitely less populated in the summers with family vacations and wives and children OOK. There is high heat and at times high humidity. Different camps have different levels of humidity at different times throughout the summer. It is amazing how fast the kids acclimate to the temperature here and still play and do things outside - sun block required. Families, adults, children all do activities in the evening after the sun goes down as well and it seems cooler.

You go from AC'd house, to AC'd car, to AC'd building, etc.

We arrived in Dhahran last August. We're from the Midwest US, so heat and humidity like we experienced here was a new scene for us, and we were definitely in shock. Thankfully, Aramco doesn't mess around with air conditioners. They are large and effective. 8) Like Vpainter said, the kids seem to acclimate pretty fast, and yes, they do go outside (in spurts) a lot more than adults might choose to in the heat. The pools are popular destinations in the camp, as you can imagine. The pools are chilled in the summer. Summers here have the same "cabin fever" effect on our kids as cold snowy winters, so they tend to venture out for a change of scenery even when it's uncomfortably hot.

We didn't realize just how many kids live in our neighborhood until the days right before school started. All of a sudden, our quiet street was filled with children and families everywhere, and that's actually when we met our neighbors more fully. The majority of families (wives, kids, some fathers), said they had left Dhahran as soon as school was out, and they wait until the very last minute to arrive before the next school year starts -- all designed to avoid the heat and be someplace different. Some families didn't even arrive back in Kingdom until after the first week of school had passed.

This will be our family's first summer going on repat. It will be a split vacation for our family. Mom and kids gone for two months, with dad joining for a few weeks at the tail end if he gets the time off approval. It will be a lonely summer situation with our family a bit split up, but the kids are looking forward to seeing grandparents and doing their school shopping in the US. They're also looking forward to doing outdoor things in the type of summer heat they're used to, which is not the Saudi heat.

I was wondering if anyone could provide some thoughts on what its like for kids in Dhahran during the summer months. Specifically, I know most families try to take repat when the schools are out but are there kids still in the camp during the summer ? if so are there activities available for them. We have an 8 year old daughter and will likely be moving in Late April / Early May now (delayed from the original March departure estimate).

Given its getting late in the school year the two options are :

1. Bring the family over in May with me so that our daughter can join school for a couple of months and make friends etc for the summer period. If they all go on repat however, that may do more harm than good in getting her settled in.

2. Have the family finish out the school year here in Canada by waiting the 90 days allowed. That would mean a late July / early August arrival with a month of Summer heat and no friends before the next school year starts. It would also delay them getting their Iqama's and the overall settling in to our new life.

I guess a third option would be to have them come over in May and return to Canada for a few weeks after the school year and we all get our Iqama's.

The option chosen really would depend on what activities there would be available for our daughter to keep her engaged and occupied during the heat. If anyone can give their thoughts, I would really appreciate it

Thanks

Thanks for the quick response to our post Hadia. This forum really is a great resource for decision making announcing ideas and thoughts of others that have gone through this.
There's a lot to consider and we've been discussing this at length within the family.
When we expected to move in early March, coming together made sense. However, now that's it's been delayed, we're having another look at it. Many of the reasons we thought it best to travel as a family still hold true but as mentioned, the summer months may cause some wrinkles in the thought process that you've highlighted.
We have involved our daughter in the discussions and decision making throughout and she has come around to the idea of moving over and leaving her friends for a new adventure.

The other thing we have to consider is that since she's December born, by age, she's been placed a year behind her current grade level here in Canada (the cut off here in ontario is Dec 31st). I'm not sure if an assessment is done on each child upon entrance to the school but if that's the case, I'd like it to be done before the school year ends so she can start fresh in the appropriate grade come september.

Lots to consider . Hopefully we will make the right choice but in any event, we do look forward to meeting many of the people we've gotten to know through these discussing boards.

The school policy here is that the child is placed in the grade which corresponds to age. They're pretty firm on that, but of course you're free to take up any exceptions with the school administration. If your child was 8 on August 31, 2012, she would be placed in 3rd grade here. If she turns 9 by August 31, 2013, she will go into grade 4 for next year.

It is very common for new kids to start at any time of year here, and there are constantly kids (and teachers) going out on repat leaves throughout the year. Your daughter will be welcomed by many new friends, whenever it is you choose for her to arrive.

We are scheduled to arrive in Dhahran in mid-June. I am excited to hear that there will be other kids for our two daughters (ages 5 and 8) to play with. I am hoping that they will be able to participate in a few activities, as well. The Relocation booklet lists a bunch of groups they can join, but will we miss the registration date since we're arriving after summer's started? Or are summer activities only from July 1 - August 30? Will we have to wait until we arrive to go to the Community Center to sign up or can we do some perusing of available summer activities now?
Since we will be new to the area, how do we find new friends? Will there be neighborhood BBQ's or Meet-and-Greets to attend?

Thank you all for your great questions and answers for us newbies!!!

May I ask what costs are associated with the different activities? I would expect they'd vary, but how might it compare to the States? For example,the 5 year old attends a 45 minute gymnastics class once a week for an avee of $58 per month. The 8 year old goes to a 60 minute cooking class for about $20/class.

Thanks vpainter! We are looking forward to our new adventure and appreciate all the guidance!