An up close and personal look at Saudi Arabia (Jeddah and Riyadh): history, culture, and health care.

Saudi Arabia was one of the greatest travel destinations that I have had the opportunity to experience. I made this pilgrimage to Jeddah and Riyadh, and was truly welcomed into the kingdom. After almost three years of caring for those precious gems (the five surviving babies of the famous Saudi Arabian Septuplets) born July 2001 in the Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC, I was issued a visa and asked to serve as the Nurse Escort in taking these babies home. Through a detailed glimpse of everyday life, I was privileged to enter an arena of not only forming lifelong friendships, but exploring how a country so difficult to gain entry, is also a land of astonishing natural beauty. A visit to that famous King Faisal Hospital made me a believer that Saudi Arabia has one of the best medical facilities in the Middle East, with well-trained nurses and physicians, who many are from other countries, including the United States. Observing health care professionals providing competent nursing and medical care in that environment was unique, because it evolved a culture based on an amalgam of religion and politics.