RIYADH, 21 January 2005 — With the Eid holidays upon them, expatriates in the capital are having a field day here, visiting parks or malls while others drive to the Eastern Province for a day out with their families. “Since there’s nothing much to do at home, about 20 other families and I traveled yesterday to Hair where we spent the day,” said Edna Torrecampo, a head nurse at the Security Forces Hospital. “The skies were overcast, but we didn’t have to worry about the impending rain because there was a building near the park. There was singing and even dancing.”

She said that they brought food prepared earlier at home, and to cap the excitement they had a chicken barbecue at the park. Although they were eating chicken, they had a whale of a time. “That’s understandable,” she said. “We are not able to go outside Riyadh as often as we’d like.”

Others spent the holidays in the city. Cenon C. Sagadal, an RCBC representative working in Hofuf in the Eastern Province, came home to Riyadh to be with his family. They invited friends to their residence in the Sulaimaniah district where he and his wife, Soldelicia, a nurse at the Riyadh Military Hospital, played host.

“We prepared food, including chicken barbecue for lunch,” he said. “The occasion served as remembrance of things past, including the years we have spent in the Kingdom to earn a living and send our children to school. It was a good walk down memory lane. There was a great fun indeed.”

They also sang old-time favorites — “Roses are Red,” “Eternally,” “Moon River,” and “Only You.”

In the afternoon, they drove out of Riyadh to visit friends and enjoy themselves at a farm. Other RCBC staff members Rey Base, Normel Fajardo and Tony Miguel went to the Eastern Province to spend the day at Half Moon Bay.

Some wanted even more adventure. Tony Miguel, a computer and cell phone technician, teamed up with officers from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), for an expedition to Hofuf to explore the so-called Mystery Caves. “The name is intriguing, so we went there to find out what is there to see,” he said.

Jun Nacion, secretary-general of the Bicol Federation, said he and his family and friends went to the Eastern Province for a visit to places they have not yet seen before.

“It’s fun every time I drive out of Riyadh and travel the distance to the Eastern Province,” he said. “Being with the family during the Haj holidays is quality time well spent.”

But while some spent their holidays in the Kingdom, expats from the subcontinent went home. “I’ve always been going home on brief visits to my family since my wife and son left for India,” said V. K. Menon, who works for Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC).

And as Eid is a time to join family and friends, it sounds like he’s got the right idea.