NEW SCHOOL and a while new way of life!

     I have to admit, when I first left the US, I managed to leave my feminist card behind.  I knew that life in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) would be hella different than life in the US, especially for women.  Where I was living in Riyadh, I had easy access to the mall and used Uber as my new BFF.  The one good thing I had to say about my old company, was that they paid "on time".  I can neither confirm nor deny if they paid in full, because I never received any form of pay stub.  I was told this is what you get.  If I asked them to detail, they gave me some line of crap and moved on.  It was a take it or leave it moment almost every month.
     That said, I hated the hours, despised the housing, but I enjoyed the company of most of my co-workers.  I miss nothing about my former life except my friends, Danube, and Tamimi markets.  I do not miss "the life" of working at a language center while living in a crappy apartment.  I will say that it was nice to be able to go to work and take off the abaya, but then I was required to wear a long black skirt and black jacket.  I do NOT miss the skirts, but...
     Ok, back to where I left off.  I headed out at the buttcrack of dawn to the airport.  Again, thank you Becky for the ride!  I corralled my 2 huge bags, my large as they allow it "carry-on", and my "purse".  Every woman reading this knows purses are suddenly huge and heavy when flying!  My first leg was on Delta from O'Hare to New York for a layover, and then NYC to Jeddah, KSA.  I paid $300 for the overweight bags, and was told to talk to Saudi Air when I got to New York.  Ok, fingers still crossed!
     The Delta flight was ok, and I was happy my bags had been checked through to Jeddah.  I did NOT have to do the customs thing at NYC and shuttle my bags across many terminals to get to the international terminal.  So far, so good.  I made my way to the Saudi Air check-in and held my breath.  My first question was, "Am I able to upgrade?"  They quickly told me the flight wasn't even close to full, and if I wanted to pay extra, I could indeed upgrade to business class.  The upgrade would mean I did not have to pay another overweight fee for my luggage.  Fingers crossed, I asked the next question, "How much?"  I actually screamed, "YES!" when they informed me that the cost was only $500.  Because the company had booked the ticket at the last minute, and therefore paid full-price, I was able to get by with what I felt was a nothing fee.  So, total cost, $800, life just got better.  Last glass of Moet before I left and I headed to my cubby!

     After flying business class across an ocean, you are spoiled!  I cannot imagine ever flying coach more then 3 hours again.  Oh well, have to collect my miles!  I was very glad to be able to sleep, or at least lay down for a good part of the trip.  I was able to watch a bunch of recent release movies, so even though there are no movie theaters in Saudi, I get to see movies when I fly!

     I landed about 12:30 pm and was met by someone holding a sign.  He informed me that the gentleman with him was a doctor awaiting the arrival of his family, so I had to chill until they landed about 2pm. No problem!  I actually recharged my Saudi phone, had a latte, and a bite to eat.  I had no problems waiting, and the doctor had the number to call our driver.  So, myself, the doctor, his wife, and 3 children piled into a minivan and headed from Jeddah to Taif.  I guess the ride was about 2 hours, and with the stops for the driver to get something to eat (which he sat down and ate there), and time for the driver to pull over and pray, we arrived on the base at about 5:30pm. 

 This was what we saw on the ride from Jeddah to Taif.

Hard to see, but if you look closely, this is a hooded falcon in the back of this guy's car.

     When I arrived on base, and I am living on a military hospital base, I was taken to the security hut across from the Community Center (OMG will talk about that in a bit).  He called the woman in charge of female housing and I was escorted to my room, right around the corner from where I had landed.  The outsides and halls of the buildings are nothing to look at, so I was a bit apprehensive.  I was told that I would have my own room, and I would share a common area between the two with a roommate.  I have my own private bathroom (WITH A TUB AND A SHOWER CURTAIN ALREADY THERE!), and the common area consists of an actual kitchen, with sink and stove, 2 refrigerators, and a BALCONY!  The couch is the WORST thing I have ever sat on but there is a TV with limited cable.

 Much bigger then it looks.  I believe it is bigger than the place in China.

 SHOWER CURTAIN

 TUB!

Wardrobe

BALCONY!  Although we are East facing so sipping coffee on the balcony in the morning can be brutal.

     By landing on a Thursday, I had the weekend to "orientate" myself and get the lay of the land.  This time, I had water (the gal who delivers for cash arrived shortly after I did), Saudi Riyals (SAR), and an abaya.  My roommate is named Christine and she is from South Africa.  She is about my age, and she is the head nurse in the pediatrics department at the hospital.  She is always cooking, so we have to sort of dance around each other on the weekends.  We both enjoy cooking for the week on the weekend so we can heat and eat the rest of the week.  The convection toaster oven is because our oven doesn't always like to work and has been fixed half a dozen times.  I am in no mood to fight with an oven when I wanna bake...just sayin!

 My room is the door on the left behind the fridge.

This is from behind the counter.  There are 2 burners in the countertop, but they don't work so they brought us an oven.  We can only use 2 burners as the other two are under the countertop.  We have 2 fridges because the freezer works in one and the fridge works better in the other.  Note a pattern here? 

     If you go back to the first picture, I have a tiny twin.  In Riyadh, I had a "single", which is bigger than a twin, but smaller than a full.  I put padding on it and was able to function.  The bed they gave me is wretched. It is hard and lumpy and tiny.  I need something big enough to roll over while I am sleeping, so when I have a massive hot flash, that wakes me up, I can roll over to the cool side of the bed and go right back to sleep.  Hard to go right back to sleep if you roll off the bed or hit the wall.  No problem.  They have an Ikea in Jeddah!  Next post, I promise!

How I Spent My Summer

     When I finally knew I was coming home for a bit between jobs, my sons immediately informed me that they did NOT have a couch.  If I wanted to stay with them, and this was VERY STRONGLY DISCOURAGED, I would have to buy a mattress of some sort and follow their rules.  The thought of staying for an indefinite period of time on an air mattress was not making my old body happy.  When I posted this distressful news, I was immediately offered a room, and a bed, with my friend Becky.  Her and her mother live in a big old house (my favorite kind) in Evanston, and they would welcome the company.  I very quickly said YES!
     Before I left Riyadh, I made sure to book a hotel near the airport in Riyadh so I would not have to worry about making it to the airport on time.  I was of the understanding that the "airport shuttle" was included, but regardless, I would pay anything to leave.  I had paid the equivalent of my "bonus" to upgrade to business class, as I had "just" returned from the US a short time ago and was not up to sitting for another 14 hours.  Also, because I knew I was almost immediately turning around to do it in reverse, the money would be my small "vacation" treat to myself.  WELL WORTH EVERY PENNY TO LAY DOWN FLAT!  Also, because I had paid for business, I was able to spend my 3 hour layover in Istanbul in the business lounge!  I figured it would be a while before I got a bite to eat, so I grabbed a snack and a chardonnay :-)

     I had also booked a hotel for the night I arrived, so as not to have to deal with anyone until my body had adjusted to life back in the good 'ol US of A!  BTW, WTF has this asshat who calls himself the supreme leader been up to while I was gone?  Seriously, what is wrong with that man?  I find myself traveling the world and apologizing for him.  I have to swear I did not vote for him (I voted absentee in Saudi) and promise to work hard to never let this happen again.  I leave the country for one minute and the Cubs win the pennant and Lord Feltersnatch tries to start WWIII.  Don't even get me started on the race riots he has instigated and supported....sorry, hard to watch.  I don't bother trying to watch anything but world news anymore.  I figure the big shit will get reported on the BBC (Las Vegas?!?!)
    So, I stayed with Becky and her mom.  They were the world's best hostesses.  Mom and I had some great conversations and Becky....OMG that woman can cook!  One of the best parts of staying with them, is that the house came complete with CATS!

 This is Mr. Winston. He is a most regal old man.  He is 17 years old and quite the dignified cat.

 This is Niko.  He is a young hellion, and he loves to annoy Mr. Win.  He has the SOFTEST fur of ANY animal I have EVER petted!  He used me for a pillow quite regularly and I did NOT object!  I did not take a picture of Dali dog, as her and I butted heads the whole time I was there...LOL  She has her humans quite well trained and I just wasn't playing that game.

They had installed a bird feeder in the front window, so I could sit by the window with a lap full of fur and watch the birds....squirrel!

     I was able to spend some quality time with my boys as well!  Ian and Mike both picked me up from the airport and we had dinner at Longhorn.  I barely ate and barely finished my cocktail before I knew that all I wanted to do was crawl into a soft bed and sleep til I could sleep no more.

     Mike was quite proud that he was able to buy me dinner one night (a fish meal with the pizza he ordered), and make me dinner one night (He called it "spaghetti", I called it pasta casserole.  Then he made me dessert....hot baked chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice-cream!  He took me to the BEST Mexican place I have eaten at in ages and had them cook me up some fresh, hot churros.  OMG they were good!  This was what we saw in the gift shop window next door.  Did I mention the neighborhood is predominately Hispanic?

I also did not question the beer on the shelf in the shower...

I did finally get a picture of the third afghan I crocheted for Ian.  The picture does not do it justice, as it is beautiful shades of blue and green!

     As is turned out, it was actually quite fortuitous that Becky had invited me to stay.  She had made plans to attend a concert in Minneapolis and it was comforting to her to know that someone else was in the house in case mom needed anything.  I was happy for the opportunity to cook mom dinner.  Becky is an AMAZING cook and preferred to cook while I happily (except for the day I got my manicure :-) did the dishes.  They have a dishwasher so it was not that hard.  In addition to the concert, both Becky and her mother had tickets to attend the Shakespeare festival in Winston, Canada.  I was happy to spend a great deal of quality time with Win and Niko.  

      Dali dog was NOT happy at their departure and let me know in no uncertain terms that she was unhappy.  Apparently when they have gone before, she has a habit of taking a crap on the white bathroom rug in the large upstairs bathroom.  She also has a horrible habit of eating the cat food if it is left unattended.  When she does this, she gets horrible diarrhea.  So......

This was the second round.  The first round had been cleaned up before I went to bed.  (very heavy sigh).  They have a woman who walks the dog, and I was happy she arrived that morning.  I was worried that there was something wrong with the dog and was freaking out because they had not made a point to give me a number for the vet.  Fortunately, the dog walker was very well versed on all things dog and informed me the problem was the cat food, she would keep an eye on the dog, and I simply needed to add some white rice and plain chicken to the dry food.  She also told me that it was perfectly fine to have Dali sleep outside on the covered porch at night.  The porch I could hose off if need be. :-)

     I was also able to spend some real quality with my friend Holly in her fabu penthouse rental.

     She took me out for "life changing fried chicken", and I have to admit it was pretty damned good! The mac and cheese was amazing, and the peach cobbler for dessert? The long things are fried green beans that were, in fact, life altering...I stuffed myself silly! YOLO

Speaking of food, you KNOW I hit up Portillo's before I left...ok, hit them hard a few times!

 I was also able to fulfill my promise to my dad and check on mom's grave.  I had picked up some flowers at Meier's and planted those.

I had mailed in my passport to the visa processing center in D.C. immediately upon returning home and had it back with the visa in a week.  I immediately contacted the recruiter to inform them that visa was in hand, and I was told the ticket would come.....so I waited.... Two weeks later I received an email from the principal telling me she was excited about my coming.  I told her I had the visa was and waiting on the ticket.  After another week, she contacted me again asking, "Where the heck are you?"  School had started....told her ask the office...  She told me she would take care of it and sure enough, the next day, I had a ticket.  So Monday morning, about 10am, I was informed that I was leaving on a 10 am flight on Wednesday.  Cool.  48 hours to get my shit together to fly out of the country.

     So, I tried to call the airline to upgrade and was told to just check in and deal with it then....great, but in coach I get 20kg in each of 2 bags, and in business class, I get 32kg in each of 2 bags...so, books? underwear? clothes? toothpaste? (I actually seem to have lost that)  I packed the bags at 32kg and figured I would just eat the over baggage fees if I couldn't upgrade.  I set aside $3000 on a credit card to pay for baggage and upgrade.  Fingers crossed, I headed to the airport (Becky gave me a ride) and my next grand adventure!