Saudi Arabia, 1951-1960 (Part VI)
- Pipeline
- In Search Of Oil
- Looking Back
Author: Bob Waters
Released 30 November 2003
After departing Rome, we flew to Beirut for refueling, then on to Dhahran.
In Abqaiq, we were assigned to a brand new Row House catty-corner from the tennis courts and across the street from one of the Air Conditioning Plants.
We were the first ones to live there, so we got busy and put in a front lawn, complete with oleanders and periwinkles. I even built a raised 3-foot garden, filled it with topsoil and planted some pretty flowers.
 Row Houses in Abqaiq - Bobby (Cub Scout), Jo, and Susan (Brownie)
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Bus Tour to Qatif Gardens
Photograph Contributed by Bob Waters
When I came home from lunch one day, a company gardener had a hose connected to my faucet in the front yard and was outside my yard watering the grass out by the street. I shut off the water, and pulled the hose back into our yard. His supervisor showed up and explained that he had connected his hose to my hose to reach out to the street, and I had pulled his hose as well as mine back into my yard. So I red-faced let him finish watering, and he left me my hose when he was finished.
Life was much more pleasant in our new house, we finally got it all settled in, and I enjoyed being back, especially in a brand new house with my family with me.
Standard Derrick on Location
Photograph Contributed by Bob Waters
During my time in Abqaiq I served as a Lead Drilling Engineer in Umm Unaiq, Relief Lead Engineer in Uthmaniyah, Production Engineer, Equipment Engineer and finally Senior Drilling Engineer. All assignments were different, but I enjoyed all of them.
Bobby Little League Shortstop - Abqaiq Field
Photograph Contributed by Bob Waters
It was not all work and no play. We had bowling league teams; both Jo and I enjoyed bowling, as did our children. There were also baseball and softball teams where different departments had teams and played against one another. Watching the ball games was especially popular before the country got television. Little Bob played on the Little League team and was great little shortstop. His team played in Abqaiq, Dhahran and Ras Tanura.
Rider and Horse
Photograph Contributed by Bob Waters
There were golf courses in all three districts, I only played very little; it seemed to me to take too long to be out of radio contact with the rigs. All the original courses were outside of the Aramco compound. Years later most of the districts had golf courses inside the Aramco compounds, but they still had the gold courses outside the compound. We had the Outer Course and you can guess whet we called the course inside the compound, it was the Inner Course. There were tennis courts in each district, and those tennis folks enjoyed their tournaments as well. Many Aramco families kept horses at the Hobby Farm.
Bobby and Susan - Halloween
Photograph Contributed by Bob Waters
Each district had swimming pools, and the children had swimming meets, and again little Bob was a good swimmer. The clubhouses had pool halls, and little Bob once won the pool contest for his age group. Both of our children were either in the Boy Scouts or Girl Scout programs when they were young.
Holidays were a big celebration in Saudi and Jo made Halloween costumes for Bobby and Susan using material that was available in the local market.
Susan and Bobby
Photograph Contributed by Bob Waters
Susan was in many school activities including the Junior High Glee Club and most of the plays. She was in Amahl and the Night Visitors and also played Mrs. Cratchit in the 8th and 9th Grade Christmas Program, Scrooge.
In 1959, the year Susan graduated from Abqaiq Senior Staff School in a class of four boys and nine girls, she was the editor of the Abqaiq yearbook, Al Sejil. Susan left for Marymount Catholic School for girls in Rome after graduation. Bobby still had to finish up his schooling in Abqaiq before he could go off to Rome to Notre Dame Catholic School for boys.
Other activities included safety patrol, class officer and the school newspaper, Arazette, in the 8th grade.
Canasta and Hearts were the big wild card games to play as teenagers. They played at each others homes and in the East Lounge. Susan was also an avid reader, reading everything she could get her hands on which meant spending a lot of time in the library or seeing every movie that came to camp.
Patio Circus
Photograph Contributed by Bob Waters
Bingo games and dancing on the patio on Thursday night, Friday was our day off from work, was a big success. We usually had a live orchestra playing on the patios. I had two left feet and was a lousy dancer, so one home leave I took in Arthur Murray for many hours and dollars, and the next time I danced on the Patio, everyone asked Jo, how did he do that? So she told them and they begged us to start giving them lessons. Jo and I gave lessons to about 20 couples on two different occasions, learning all the dance steps of that time. It was great fun, and they rewarded me with a free set of golf clubs since we did not charge them for the lessons. All the couples appreciated the instructions and personally thanked us.
Bob
Photograph Contributed by Bob Waters
I was transferred into the Dhahran District in about 1955 as their Senior Production Engineer. We moved into another new Row House, but this one was a duplex. It was located behind the Dhahran Hospital. My office was in the old District office, where I started back in 1949, but this time I was a Senior Engineer, not just a trainee Engineer. Our territory included the Damman Field, Qatif, Abu Hadriyah and Fadhili Fields. We were also responsible for Khursaniyah Well #1 as well as Manifa Well #1. I enjoyed it very much, Dhahran was a much larger camp, and we had access to the little Arab town of Al Khobar, where the women loved to go shopping. The kids loved it also.
In 1956, during the Suez Canal crisis in the early years, several of us were nervous and we shipped a lot of our irreplaceable objects back to the states and put them in storage.
That stay only lasted about a couple years, and we had to move back to Abqaiq where I returned as a Senior Drilling Engineer. The kids cried to be leaving Dhahran, but they also cried when we moved into Dhahran. They soon reconciled the move and were happy again with their old friends, plus new ones that they made. We moved into the row house immediately kiddy corner from the tennis courts this time, and the front yard was already fully landscaped, but I did manage to plant a few things.