Saudi Arabia, 1951-1960 (Part V)
- Pipeline
- In Search Of Oil
- Looking Back
Author: Bob Waters
Released 6 November 2003
Abqaiq Housing
Photograph contributed by Bob Waters
I really don’t remember too much about moving back to Abqaiq in 1953, but we were awarded a freestanding house on a street in the south end of town and were very happy.
We really fixed it up; had them pour a cement patio in the yard and other renovations, but shortly after the refurbishment Aramco decided to demolish our house and build a much larger one for the "executives". It was about this same time that I was made Senior Drilling Engineer.
One of the other engineers was on his long vacation so I had to wait over my normal contract before heading back to the states and we had already made plans to pick up a 1953 Ford in New Jersey. After moving out of our freestanding house, that was being demolished, into a portable down at the end of an alley and over a sewer outlet which really smelled badly, Jo was anxious to get on home to the USA. She went ahead with Susan and Bobby to pick up the car and meet her mother in New York.
Abqaiq - 7-Unit in Foreground
Photograph contributed by Bob Waters
While in a New York hotel, Susan and Bobby came down with the chicken pox or measles, so Jo bundled them up when they left the hotel so as not to get them all quarantined. They drove our new Ford to Ponca City, Oklahoma and waited for my return.
I moved into a bachelor room after storing our household items in one bedroom of the assigned portable. One day, I had lunch with my buddy. Byron Green. He wanted me to buy a raffle ticket for some furniture that one of the driller families was raffling off in Uthmaniyah. I said no, but he grabbed my wallet out of my shirt pocket, took out 10 Riyals, signed my name to a ticket, tore off the stub and put my ticket in my wallet. So I purchased a ticket I really did not want.
Bryan Green
Photograph Contributed by Bob Waters
A few evenings later I had a call that I had won the raffle. The family wanted to buy back the ticket; they said they did not sell as many as they had hoped. I was advised to go to Uthmaniyah and pick up my winnings; so I did with Byron’s help. My successful raffle ticket netted us a washer and dryer, a carpet, a set of dishes and a set of sterling silver dinnerware. We are still using the dinnerware!
I stored all of this in my bachelor room and went on vacation to join my family in Ponca City, Oklahoma. I arrived in Ponca City one or two days before my luggage, but it eventually found me.
It was now 1953 and very good to be home after our first two years as a family in Saudi Arabia. In those two years, we moved five times, had one paint job and then stored everything in one bedroom while I moved to a bachelor room until vacation time.
Aramco often sent their employees on a training assignment while they were on Long leave. I had one on this leave, so Jo and I went from Ponca City to Tulsa Ok. I met with the folks at Loffland Drilling Company and they suggested that I go to New Iberia, Louisiana and visit some of their offshore drilling rigs. During my visit, they stated to tell me they could not take me out to dinner because of other commitments, but when I told them that was okay since my wife was with me, they changed their schedule and we had dinner at the Petroleum Club in Tulsa. That was when we were introduced to Oysters on the Half Shell. They were great after a couple drinks! We also had our first Rib-eye steaks and have loved them ever since.
Our trip to New Iberia was a very long drive before the freeways and we passed through many little towns with 25-mph speed limits. New Iberia is the home of the Tabasco Sauce that is so famous and we could smell the Tabasco before we even came to the town.
After I visited their rigs, Jo and I drove on over to New Orleans for the weekend and saw the football game at Louisiana State University. Boy, those guys really played rough!
We spent the rest of the vacation just visiting with family and friends before heading back to Saudi Arabia.
Jo - World Class Shopper
Photograph by Bob Waters
We decided to fly KLM to Saudi, but planned to make a few stopovers along the way to show Jo, Susan and Bobby a little of the world. First, we flew from New York to Amsterdam and arrived there early in the morning after flying all night. After getting settled into our hotel, we walked down to the waterfront and bought tickets for a boat tour later in the afternoon; that way we could get a little rest before going on the tour.
I woke up much later; it was dark outside, on top of the bed covers with all my clothes on. Jo was asleep beside me with all her clothes on and both Bobby and Susan were on the floor, completely dressed, with their coloring books, and sound asleep. Needless to say, we missed our boat tour of Amsterdam.
We went to bed and left the next morning for Paris, France. In Paris, we decided to do our tour first, but before going on our tour, we decided to send out some dirty laundry, which had to be back that evening because we were off to Rome, Italy the next morning early. The room service bellhop did not understand "Be back tonight". I tried English, then my Arabic, then my beginners French to no avail, and finally used one word of each; lazem (Arabic), laundry (English), ce soir (French).
Jo burst out laughing and said "Bob, he will never understand you when you speak in three languages with only three words." But somehow, we got the message across and believe it or not, our laundry did come back that evening.
Lovely Gardens
Photograph by Bob Waters
We went downstairs and ordered a taxi and the driver could not understand Eiffel Tower. I gestured with my hands the shape of the Eiffel Tower and finally he said, "AH Le Tour de Feel".
Yes, we did get to the tower and decided to go up to the top on the elevator and then come half way down and have lunch in the restaurant. The elevator was a shaky old thing that went up the legs at about a 45-degree angle. By the time we got to the first stop for the restaurant, I got off. The rest of the family went to the top, walked around for a while and then came back to my level to join me for lunch.
Beautiful Old Building
Photograph by Bob Waters
Our arrival was late into Rome the next night. We took a bus from the airport to the downtown check-in terminal. As our bags were being unloaded, an Italian taxi driver asked if I needed a taxi and where were we going? We told him the name of our hotel; he gathered our bags and hung them on a long pole, put the pole over his shoulder and went out the door. There was no taxi and he took off at a rapid pace to our hotel about three blocks away. I was furious, thinking he was stealing our bags, so we hurried along after him. He did lead us to the hotel and deposited all our bags and demanded the fare of a taxi, which I would not pay. But since we arrived so late, our room reservation had been cancelled and the room given to someone else. There were not any other rooms available for us, so they furnished us with an alternate room in another hotel at their expense, including the taxi to get there. By that time I was really, really upset!
Fountains Everywhere
Photograph by Bob Waters
The next morning we slept in, got showered and dressed and went down to breakfast. Breakfast was very formal with all the waiters in tuxedoes, and an orchestra playing waltz type music. As we entered the dining area, the Maitre D' took us clear across the dining room towards the far end of the room. The band just stopped in the middle of their song and broke out with a blast of "Oklahoma", which was popular at that time. Jo and Susan were dressed in colorful Squaw dresses, Susan was in pigtails, Bobby had on jeans and a cowboy shirt and Big Dad was wearing a pink gabardine long sleeve shirt, no tie or jacket and matching trousers. No wonder we were greeted with "Oklahoma." We were very embarrassed until everyone in the dining room started clapping for us; that made us feel much better, so we all smiled and waved as we were seated.
After departing Rome, we flew to Beirut for refueling, then on to Dhahran.