Saudi Museums

During our winter break, we visited three museums in the area of Al Khobar.  My impression of these museums, and almost everything in Saudi Arabia, is that they must have been really nice about 5 years ago.  Also, no one goes there!  All three museums were empty or very close to empty.  Granted, the Saudi schools were still in session (they obviously don't have Christmas break...) and we went during the day.  People don't go out here until night time.

That reminds me of one of the main things that baffle me here, which I may have already written about...kids out at night.  My mom and I were at the mall doing late night shopping (it was around 10pm) and the busiest places were the children's barbershop and the play area.  Okay, it's a desert culture and people go out when it is cooler, but...in a culture where almost everyone has a nanny, why don't you leave the kids at home with the nanny?  Instead the whole family, nanny included, are out shopping after Jack has been asleep for 4 hours!

But I digress...I want to tell you about the museums we went to.

First we went to the Aramco Exhibit, which is a museum at Saudi Aramco oil company.  It tells about the history of oil production in Saudi Arabia, the science behind finding oil and extracting it, and the history of technology and science in Islamic culture.  Very interesting, and again, completely empty so Jack had the run of the place.

Jack and our friend Triniti learning to be engineers

World Travelers

Then another day we went to the Heritage Village in Dammam.  The city of Dammam is next to Al Khobar, about a 20 minute drive from our compound.  We went while Jack was napping with a babysitter, since it didn't seem like it would be toddler-friendly.  The Heritage Viallage was created by a Saudi man who is a collector.  He has collected artifacts from each of the seven regions of Saudi Arabia and they are displayed in the museum.  He also has a traditional restaurant, in which you sit on the floor on carpets.

The Heritage Village

This is the traditional seating area, viewed from above

An Old Religious Book Since 222 Years Ago

Arabic daggers

I usually use theses for cake decorating...but apparently they have a different historical purpose...

Apparently this is what they used for tea in ancient times...how exotic...

Of course Rob and my dad were more interested in the owner's truck.

The view from the top of the Heritage Village, looking over Dammam 

On our way home we stopped on the Dammam Corniche to see traditional fishing boats called dhows.   A "corniche" is a road along the coast, and most Middle Eastern cities seem to have one.  In both Al Khobar and Dammam, the Corniche has many playground and picnic areas, and beaches but of course no one swims.  The dhows are still built and used in Dammam.

Rob by some old dhows

Grandma commemorating the trip

Laura the rebel, pulling up my abaya to test the water

The third museum we visited was the SciTech Museum, which is on the Al Khobar Corniche.  It is an amazing three-floor museum, affiliated with the Science Museum of Minnesota, but like everything else, it was probably really nice 5 years ago and has not been kept up.  The exhibits were really similar to those at SMM.  They even have an IMAX - the only public movie theater I think.  They have a nice toddler room that resembles the Children's Museum in St. Paul - except a lot of pieces were missing or broken - and it was "ladies only".  So Jack and I could go in but there was a large sign saying "Men not allowed"!  Some day maybe Jack and I will go over there to have a mommy/Jack date....oh but I guess we'll have to take a taxi.