Food, Family, Friendship and Music

Another incredible day here for us in Saudi Arabia. Thom said earlier that all his preconceptions about Saudi Arabia have been thrown out the window. Once he has met these beautiful people, he (as I and everyone else) feels he has new friends for life. I am reminded of the phrase, "think globally, act locally." In that spirit, I sincerely hope we can bring some of that good will home and be able to do our small part in spreading the word that we all, regardless of our nationality, religion and race, have the same hopes, dreams and well wishes for everyone.

Today started with a trip to a really great local color shop called Desert Designs. It is a beautiful upscale shop of local art and decor owned and operated by a most delightful couple - Farid and Kim Bukhari. This is a pic of Thom with Farid, Kim and their multi-talented son, Raif (note that Raif is holding my guitar which you'll hear him play in a video below):

Check out the jam that spontaneously started when we handed Raif my guitar. That is Farid playing a Saudi drum:

I played Raif a little of "For A Little While" and he actually recognized it! We are now friends for life!

After our time together, the family invited us to their home for lunch. We enthusiastically accepted. They graciously opened their home to us vagabonds and were the kindest and warmest hosts you could ever want to have. Here are a few pics of their Saudi home.

The dining room:

a carpeted ceiling in the family room:

Lunch was ready and Kim gave us a description of the offerings:

I can enthusiastically tell you that it was, from the first bite, one of the finest meals I've had. We all agreed that if a restaurant offering these items were on a menu in Nashville that it would be wildly successful.

In one conversation, Tim discovered that the boys were Beatles fans only recently discovering them on the internet. That led us to go upstairs to their instrument/practice room and Tim broke out in a song you might recognize:

Smiles abounded in this home today and new international friendships were forged. The family does travel to the US from time to time and now want to plan on visiting Nashville. I told them I would cook them some BBQ if they came and that we'd put together a Bluebird round in their honor.

I can't tell you how much we appreciated this delightful family opening up their home and hearts to us. Shukrahn!

All good things must end and we had to head to our venue for sound system set up for the evening. The performance was much like the one for the Consulate invitees in Jeddah. The attendees were local Saudis, employees of the Consulate, and friends and family of those employees, some American, others international.

The stage was decorated beautifully:

and the band did a great job with a standing ovation following the performance:

We met some wonderful people from all walks of life and another hand of international brotherhood was once again extended and taken.

It was a great, great day and evening that I think we'll be talking about for a long time.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Chris, our contact/guide/information officer/schedule consultant/friend from the Consulate. We have run the poor guy ragged. Chris has put in long, long hours taking care of us and getting us where we need to go and trying to keep eight people on schedule. He deserves a "job well done" from the Consulate and some R&R!

Tomorrow Thom is being interviewed by two local newspapers then we check out and fly to Riyadh.

Thanks for being on this adventure with us.

Jerry