I am going to preface this post by saying no pics yet, still feeling out what is an is not allowed when it comes to taking pics.
I arrived in Saudi at about 9:30pm and proceeded to customs. In and out in a breeze and on to baggage claim. I was toting 2 checked bags, a carry-on, and my "purse". Some guy standing next to me at the carousel tried to help grab my bag and managed to drop it on my foot. Not having really walked anywhere, it only now is starting to hurt like hell. I manage to make it all the way to the exit with the help of a man who insists on "helping me" until I inform him I have no cash. :-) I left the states with about $15 USD but I knew I had cash in my accounts and it made no sense to keep converting dollars until I knew what I was up against. My cards all have chips so I was good.
My "driver" did eventually find me, and my name was spelled correctly on his sign. (+1 point for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)). The driver was to provide me with an abaya (the long black cloak that covers a woman from neck to ankle), but he did not have one. So, wearing clothes that fully covered me and were lose, I headed to the parking garage with a scarf wrapped badly around my head. We drove directly to my new "home" and I believe the guard gave him a ration of grief for letting me come out without an abaya. Regardless, I was now officially "home".
Before I go any further, I must say that I fail to understand why every single TEFL recruiter feels a need to lie about everything and anything related to our work, our lives, our homes, our pay, etc. I am in an apartment building, not a compound, and there is NO gym nearby that will allow women to work out. (-5 points KSA).
So, by the time I arrived at my new apartment it was pushing midnight and I was exhausted. Fortunately, I was provided with an actually comfortable bed with clean sheets and a pillow! (+2 points KSA). I did not pack a towel, but the shower had no curtain and the bathroom was poorly designed. (no points as = to China). I was too exhausted to think too much about this so I simply took a whore's bath and went to bed. I did not sleep much on the plane, had been up for more then 24 hours, and knew my inner clock would be off, but WTF was that loud noise (horns and singing???) at 4:30 AM?!? Pre-dawn call to prayers....really??
So, when I finally got out of bed at about 11:00 am, I found myself in a spacious apartment with minimal but functional furniture, a full size fridge, a four burner stove WITH OVEN (+10 points KSA) and a washing machine. I do have a microwave but NO counter space. Anyone who saw or recalls my pics from China knows this is not even an issue...just have to shop! What I did NOT find easy to deal with was the fact that they left me with an empty fridge and no drinkable water! Throwing on clothes, I wandered down the hall until I found an open door and was able to borrow an abaya and 100 riyal in order to run next door to the ultra MINI mart and procure coffee, milk, sugar, water, and some cheese and crackers. More to follow.
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