Frances Meade lived in Saudi Arabia from 1965 to 1998. She and her husband and two daughters exchanged their desert life in Arizona for another desert land when they had the opportunity to transplant themselves to Arabia for an eighteen month adventure that was to last thirty-three years. This was not the Arabia of the oil companies with their replicated American communities complete with theaters and restaurants nor the high tech country of today. Hers was the experience of Riyadh, the capital, in the days before paved roads, telephones and dependable electricity and water.Her story opens a window onto a culture much misunderstood by westerners. How the family adjusted to an alien way of life and became a part of it is told with humor and an intimate understanding of a people and a country that are constantly in the news today.. Originally published in 1996 in Saudi Arabia, this revised edition is even more timely in 2004.