[This is part of the series: A List of Things I Remember About Living In Saudi Arabia.]

I remember the first night we arrived in Saudi Arabia.

My dad picked my mom and I up from the airport in Jeddah.

It felt like a different world. A blur of sights and sounds.

We drove the three hours back to the Al-Gaim compound in Taif in an old dusty brown Suburban, and arrived sometime in the early morning hours.

It was still dark.

I tried to walk the twenty steps from the car to the door of our new home barefoot, but my dad stopped me with a stern warning about scorpions.

The warning seemed ridiculous. It was ridiculous.

But now that I have kids, I know I would have done the same.

I lay in my new bed with butterflies in my stomach about the possibilities ahead of me.