Udhailiyah, Saudi Arabia

Remember the swiming pool? (revisit)

Remember jumping off the pool roof?

  

 

From Celia:  (other pictures Celia sent)
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I don’t know why we didn’t take them of ourselves maybe we didn’t want any evidence of our misconduct?  The big thing was this guy who professed to be able to do a gainer off and he sure did.  I think it was a visiting soccer team from Abqaiq that stayed the night (where would they have stayed, did they ever do that–that’s my memory of it) the guy’s name was Danny or Daniel something if I remember correctly.  Not “our” Danny Simpton.  I recall Mike McGrath being there that night, down from Abqaiq they had moved by then and Bubba Kent mostly because of that name and lots of the girls thought he was hot.  Adrienne was there, I don’t recall who else.  Were either of you?
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Let’s revisit the pool!

James

Time in a Bottle

I recently watched the class of 84′ graduation and man were we all excited to sing “Time in a Bottle”. James, Paul, Dan and all the guys really put there all in it. We out sang the girls, they just didn’t sing loud enough and put there heart in it like the guys did. NOT!!!! LOL… I have just one question. Who in the world picked that song out for all of us to sing? It was terrible. Funny to watch though. They have a commercial out now and a lady comes on and says ” Do you know that song “Time in a Bottle” and I crack up every time. Some people were lucky enough not to sing it, though I won’t mention any names (Robert, Mark, Scott) Ha..Ha.. I tell you this though, we had the standing up at the same time down pat. Good job guys!

Ok for old times sake let’s hear it everybody “If I could spend time in a bottle, the first thing that I’d like to do”. Now your going to be singing it all day and I know you know the rest of it too….LOL

Take care,

   Rick B.

 

I need a Shawarma!

I’m sitting here thinking about going to kobar down where we used to buy all our tapes ( that I still have) and walking across the street to get a shawarma. I am craving one sooo bad. I loved them things. If anyone from Udhailiyah reads this please send me one soon, I’m dying. Won’t be the same but here’s how you make one .

SHAWARMA   Serving size: 8                                                             

2 pounds beef, lamb or chicken – very thinly sliced           

Marinade: 1 cup yogurt 2 tablespoons lemon juice

4 cloves garlic — minced

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon onion — finely minced

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon red pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground mace

1/2 teaspoon salt   

Combine all marinade ingredients. Add meat and marinate overnight. Place the marinated meat in a barbeque cage and cook over hot coals for 15 minutes. Combine tahini (sesame paste), clove of garlic, lemon juice and parsley until it is of a creamy texture, Add water if necessary. Place the cooked meat, sliced tomatoes and onions in pita bread and pour on the tahini mixture as desired.

NOTES : The cone of meat, marinated in yogurt and seasoning, is layers upon layers of meat (lamb, beef or chicken) place on a spit and topped off with an onion and lemon. The spit is placed vertically in front of an open flame. As the meat cooks it is turned. The shwarma chef takes his sharp knife in hand and cuts off paper thin slices of cooked meat which drop into a waiting tray below. The cooked meat, salad and yogurt or hot sauce are placed in the pocket of pita bread or on a long toasted roll.   

Rick Barnes

coke (oops, Pepsi) cannons!

I remember making coke (pepsi!!) cannons and shooting tennis balls lit on fire!  The steel cans worked quite well.  I don’t believe you could use these flimsy aluminum cans they have now. Why I didn’t blow a hand off at some point in my childhood I don’t know.  It was easy to be a pyro when your in the desert with nothing around. 

Click image above for link to video showing how to make one if you have forgotten.

James

Bats that chased rocks!

 I remember hitting little rocks into the air (with a flat peice of wood) and watch the bats go crazy to get them.  They thought there were bugs!  Pretty cool actually.  I found there were more bats down by the “trailers” (on the water tower side of UDH) than the other side.  Guess there were caves down there.

James

MIRANDA(STRAWBERRY YUMMY)

Ok I have never seen or heard of vimto, but I guess it’s because I always drank miranda’s. Those things were so addictive, but for me now it’s coke! I also can’t believe that no one has even metioned the scharma’s that we ate all the time. OMG! were they so good are what? Going to khobar and eating one of those was the best.

Rick B.

Rec Hall memories

I remember sneaking into the rec hall and playing zaxon many times.  (coff, for free.) 

 

Remember the dances?  Ahh.. still think of Udhailiyah when I hear Journey (Open Arms) being played. 

James

prayer intermission

Scott’s Dad helped install satelite tv and internet access in Udhailiyah.  Pretty cool, considering we only had one channel in 83-84.  And…  5x a day we got to look at this image.

Mr. Young and that projector

I know this is very childish.  Cmon, I was young ok?  Mr. Young would endlessly write out math problems with that overhead projector.  (you know, the clear plastic with usually a green pen?) On one such occasion while he had his back turned writing… Scott Olsen sat innocently next to me, completely unaware of what would happen to him in just the next few minutes.  The time was right.  I could not hold it any longer!!  I let out, probably of all my entire life, the loudest FART EVER!   (Yes, even i was aghast at the utter shock wave it sent through the room!)  I immediately turned to Scott and LOUDLY said…  “Ahhhh!!  Scott!!”.  Of course the entire room was in an uproar.  Class disruption? 10.0 on the rictor!  Scott began to deny profusely that he didn’t do it… (all the while laughing himself, because it was funny) … but it was too late. Mr. Young marched Scott out of the room (like a scape goat) and scolded him in the hallway!  I must admit, Scott was pretty cool about it.  He never turned me in.  =)  Was anyone else in that class?  — James

  

skoal in school

I remember Donnie Lasser sharing his “skoal” with me in 8th grade just after lunch.  I thought I could be “like” Donnie and not be required to “spit”.   I almost threw up in Mr Reily’s social studies class!
 
Talk about a fit of non stop HICCUPS!  bleeh!!  — James

swimming pool

We used to jump off the swimming pool roof into the deep end.  That was a blast!

James

The arrow that went up and then…

I can’t remember who I was with…  I think it was Mark and Scott and probably Robert too.  I just remember that we had a bow and arrow out in the jebels and one of us shot that arrow straight up in the sky…   it went up and disappeared.  AHH!  We started running in all directions screaming….  never did find that arrow.  If we had, one of us probably wouldn’t be here today!  — James

motorcycle ride

I remember learning how to ride a motorcycle.  Robert Scott’s bike.  This was out behind the jebel that is behind 747.  I started off ok… but I hit a dip and it bounced me to the back of the mud guard (racked me!) and I was trying to “hang on” and as I was trying to pull myself back on to the seat (because each time I hit another bump, it racked me again!) … guess what?  I’m THROTTLING it even harder…  ahhhh!!  Yeah, it finally fell over with me on it.   I never muched liked motorcycles from that point on. 

James

skateboarding

Behind 747, what was that jebel called?

Well, behind that jebel was a really long steep down hill road that was just too dang scary to ride your skateboard down standing up on.  Your “trucks” would start getting really “wobbily” and you just knew you were about to crash and burn.  Besides, if you hit one pebble in the road you were going to do a face plant.  OW!!

Chuck Matthews

Ok Ok… he wasn’t cool.  But heck, he taught me how to play “strategy games”.   I played “blitzkrieg” red and blue and “D-Day”.   Chuck was probably considered a “geek”.  I bet your rich now huh Chucky?  That will teach us! 
 

Security chase!

Wasn’t it stupid?  But, cmon… wasn’t it fun?   I don’t know about other Aramco kids in other parts of the country, but I know in Udhailiyah it was a lot of fun.  I often wonder if the only reason we didn’t get caught was because it provided “fun” for the security late at night.  Mr. Adams, your comments? 

Scott got caught!

In this room… right window as  you look at it…

Scott Olsen got busted by my Mom.  LOL!   I was so tired… I slept through it all…   Scott decided he was “sneaking out” that evening…   he tapped on the window loud and long enough.. but I was not going to wake up.  My Mom opened the front door and said… “What the hell are you doing!??”.   Scott ran away.. ha ha…  then I got woke up by Mom…  (not so much fun).

 This is Scott:

helicopter rides

In 1978, 4th grade, I could go down to the “airport” in Udhailiyah and get a “free” helicopter ride.  We would walk down and ask them for a ride and the pilots would say … “lets go”!   I remember the “Hammer head”.   The pilot would fly up up up up… then flatten out at the top and go ‘weightless’ for about 5 seconds or more.  I do believe in the US they train astronauts on the “vomit comit”.  This was it.  By the time I came back to Udhailiyah in 1983, all such activities had ceased.

sadieki? who knows how to spell it?

Robert, It’s ok to confess. 

Everyone should just know we siphoned off your Dad’s stash and replaced it with “clean, clear water”.     Sorry, Mr. Scott, it’s true.  Robert led us to the stash.  We were young and you were THE DAD. We would go up into the jebels and start a fire with some, and drink the rest.  I think I remember some of that… dang that stuff was STRONG!!

snaping off the sprinkler heads!

There was this big feild right in the middle of Udhailiyah… past the tennis courts..

late at night when “sneaking out” we used to “snap off the sprinkler heads”.   Yikes!  Water would shoot up 15 feet in the air!  For some strange reason, it seemed like a lot of fun back then.  eh?     I really don’t know who fixed that stuff.  In my old age, I apologize…  however, looking back, it was a lot of fun.  hehe…

Oh, I haven’t a clue who that person is in the picture.  But it shows the area from a distance in front of 747.