Happy 7 Year's Anniversary

     Let me preface this by saying, I never knew what a real marriage was. I came from parents who had their fair share of divorces and even a few other people's share as well. I failed miserably at love, relationships, and marriage. Why, because I was not yet a man in the sense of maturity and knowing what true love is. True love is loving and meeting the needs of your mate with no regard or thought of what's in it for me. It's being happy, sad, angry, frustrated, and at your wits end; but knowing in all of that, your love will persevere. It's taking the good with the bad and not complaining over the bad and being thankful for the good. It's laying down one's life for his friend, it's conquering all because that's what love does, and love is the greatest of all the fruits of the spirit. 

     So here we are, many thousands of miles apart, and my love for you has grown stronger with each passing day. The sacrifice we are making now, matters little when we have a vision of our future and God guiding and directing our paths. You and I have so much to look forward to after these two short years are through. And I am so looking forward to the next seven years with you and more as we live debt free and blessed beyond what we deserve. 

     With all of that being said, I love you more than you could ever imagine. I love your smile; especially how excited you get when talking to me on Skype. I love that you saw the better man in me and I love that you encourage me to continue growing as a husband, father and as a Godly man. I love the beauty of you both inside and out. Mostly, I love that you love me in spite of my faults. 

     Happy anniversary Mrs. Brenda Hersey. I miss you deeply. You are my lobster, my world, and my love. Talk to you later tonight on Skype. 

Always and forever yours,

Friday-Three Weeks in KSA

    Well here I am, three weeks down and heading into week four. Life here can be challenging to say the least. Internet service is not the best and trial and error is the best course to find a service that you are happy with. I currently have Mobily which is 4G, but the only available top speed or Mbps is 4. That's right folks I said 4 Mbps. So you can imagine my frustration when attempting to stream a movie. Buffering, buffering, buffering, and more buffering. You are lucky to get through a 2 hour movie in under 3 hours. I found a Internet service through Saudi Telecom or STC that offers 100 Mbps and plan to give it a try tomorrow. I'm praying it provides me with what I need for entertainment since the local television is mostly Arabic, did I mention I don't speak Arabic. Any-who, they do offer a provider that gives you premium channels in English for a premium price. I think I'll just stick to streaming. 

    On the other side of things, the weather here is extremely hot, like the last few days its been between 108 and 113 degrees with humidity making it feel like 121 to 127 degrees. Every afternoon comes with storms. Now hold on, these aren't the storms you are thinking of. No, not thunder, lightning, and wonderful, wet, cool rain. These are sand storms, dry, dusty, and will peel the flesh off your skin if exposed too long. If you need exfoliating every day, then this is the place for you. 

    The above picture says it all, this was a milder area we passed through on our way to the big town of Jeddah for some shopping and fun. Lots of pretty desert scenery and the occasional camel or two makes for a interesting ride. I'll post pictures of camels later. It was hard to take while speeding by at speeds in excess of 120 km/h, you do the math. I think we were at speeds of 160 km/h most of the trip. Just so you know, 120 km/h is the max speed, there is no minimum, anywhere. School zones, residential areas, wherever. If you can hit it, you can drive it without being stopped. Stopping at stop signs is purely suggestive and red lights are ran frequently. One must pause for a second longer to make sure there are no oncoming cars approaching your intersection fast. This would work great if you didn't have another car attached to your bumper and blowing the horn the second the light turns green, it's the weirdest thing, they love their horns here. Btw, these are all men drivers too, Lol!

    With all of that said, I have made a few good friends here and we spend most of our time off hanging out or shopping together. There's a group of guys from the Philippines that I hang with. All married with  wives and children back home so we all have this in common. Here's a photo of three of us, my new kaibigans or friends in Jeddah at the Mall of Arabia. Wonderful mall by the way, tons of shops and very good people watching. 

    Towards the end of this past week I developed a bad sinus infection and slight cold. The good news is all you have to do here if its minor issues is go to the local pharmacy, because they don't carry medicine of any kind in the stores, and tell them what's wrong. They give you the meds. you need and you pay for it. No doctor visit or prescription required. I am day two into my antibiotics and I'm hoping to feel better with these two days of rest soon. I honestly believe it was my old flat they had me in. The A/C didn't work well, the flat had a musky odor to it, and because of the A/C issue it was a balmy 86 degrees all the time. My new flat is much nicer, on the second floor which means less stairs to climb, especially when bringing home groceries. There is an elevator system in the building, but it doesn't work. Fire alarm system is inoperable as well. So yes, there are some challenges with the living situation. But overall, very comfortable, I have a decent sized kitchen, bath, large living/dining area, and huge master bedroom with king sized bed. Here's a photo of the bedroom and furniture. 

    Well, I hope everyone is well back in the States. Take care my friends and I will talk to you all again soon. I am living like nobody else, so later, I can live like nobody else. 

Love you all, 

Larry