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

I remember, we went to a soccer tournament once.

We didn’t watch it, we played in it.

See, we had a school soccer team for a time.

We practiced in the back corner of the softball fields.

We ran laps.

We did drill after drill.

The issue was that there were not a lot of other international schools to play against.

Finally, we got to go to a tournament in Riyadh.

It was a short flight, from Jeddah, and the flight was so empty we pulled up the armrests and lay down across the seats.

We each got our own row.

The tournament was a blast, although I don’t think we scored more than a point or two the entire time.

I think we lost every game but one that we tied.

The telling part is that I barely remember the scores.

I just remember it was fun going somewhere different, and playing soccer with my friends.