Bahrain again and then Oman!

As you can see, the laptop is back on the desk.  I am leaving for Oman, in about 30 minutes, for a 3 day paid vacation (aka a real visa run).  They are paying for my flight and hotel so I am springing for a rental car.  I hate driving, but cabs are HORRIBLE for tourists.  It is just easier to drive as long as I can walk to a bar..LOL  My last hotel in Bahrain had no bar...I chose poorly.  Apparently, I am not the only teacher going to Oman this weekend (Muscat), but I am the only one in my hotel :-)  No intention of looking anyone up while there, as the whole idea is to GET AWAY!

My last hotel in Bahrain was another experience.  When I finally arrived at my hotel at about midnight, I was exhausted.  I chose a hotel that was not close to anything so I went ahead and rented a car.  I waited in line behind a family who was trying to get adjoining rooms or something so that took about 20 minutes to get them checked in.  The man who went next was checking OUT at midnight.  When I finally got to check in, I was cranky.  After not having a tub in my last hotel, I made sure to ask if my room had a large single bed and a tub. I was told, "yes."  I had told him of my hunt for a hot soaking bath and how the last place had lied to me about having tubs.   When I finally got to my room, I discovered I had NEITHER of those items in my room.  I literally ran back to the front desk and pretty much screamed, "Are you freaking kidding me?!?"  I was pissed off and let him know it.  He then apologized and sent the housekeeper to check the room before he sent me to another room.  I was upgraded to a beautiful suite with a HUGE soaking tub.....NO HOT WATER!

Oh the people you meet and other stuff

     My overall impression of my fellow TEFL instructors in China was that they fejl into 4 catagories:  1)  Mid-life crisis mode (me); 2) young and adventurous; 3) loser men looking to get laid because no woman will give them the time of day in their home country and obviously ALL Asian women find white losers appealing (this is what they are thinking, can't make this shit up); and finally, 4) people with issues (drugs, alcohol, anger management, inability to hold a real job).  It seemed there were more men in China, but that might just be based on the fact they separate the sexes in Saudi.  I came with no expectations of who I might meet, and it has been a pretty crazy adventure so far.
     The biggest factor in Saudi, as to getting to know people, is that they seriously separate the sexes.  All women have to eat in the Family Section of the restaurant or get it to go.  This doesn't bother me in the least, EXCEPT for the fact that this can generally include screaming children.  So, I live in an apartment building (I still refer to as "the dorms") that is all women.  There is a male security guard outside the door, who is only good for yelling at the cab drivers in Arabic when they try to rip us off for a ride home.  They almost all run off meter and tell you to pay what you feel they should get.  I figure it probably doubles or triples the amount of the ride.  I use Uber.  It lets me enter the destination in English and put it on a card.  Also, it tells you ahead of time how much it will be AND I can complain and get a refund if I have an issue (like the guy who charged me twice after I cancelled the first time and got him anyways).
     Living in the dorms here is vastly different than in China.  NO ONE comes out to hang out.  First of all, there is nowhere to hang out.  There is no common area or patio.  We can go to the roof, but there is no furniture and you have to wear your abaya...in the sun...in the heat....no shade.  So, I have tried hosting a few open houses/crafting events, and had no luck.  It seems that people here prefer to stay in their rooms or hang out with a few select friends.  No problem, my Baby Girl gives me someone to talk to.  I do occasionally have someone over for coffee and a chat, but mostly it is just me.  My biggest complaint about China, ok, aside from all the other issues...LOL, was that I had no time for me or the space to do it in.  I have that in spades in Saudi.
     First of all, I have the space and the free Wii to exercise.  I was doing really good until my knee started to bother me.  See previous post for info.  Doc said to NOT do any kneeling, so have to watch the workouts, and no going up stairs, but walking or running on a flat surface is ok.  I can go for a 10 mile hike on the trail at the diplomatic quarters (DQ) and I can do it without an abaya.  Also, they have a Starbucks for a post hike treat.  Aside from the 40-60 SAR cost for the cab, it is a great option.  The gal I have gone with once walked to slow and was always stopping to take pics...I will have to go it alone!

     Because no one here "hangs out", because, with the exception of shopping, there is no place to go and nothing to do, I find I have a great deal of "me time" at my disposal.  I have collected everything I need to start crafting and have been going at it like gangbusters!  I made seasonal decorations for my door.

I crafted for the holidays.  

 I baked stolen as well.

And I traveled to Bahrain right before Christmas so I got to see a tree and holiday lights!

     Now to the people I have met and with whom I work and live.  Like the folks in China, there tend to be a few categories that the gals around here fall into:  1) mid-life crisis (me again); 2) loners; 3) Muslim women who appreciate living a purely Islamic environment; 4) nut jobs and whackos, or just plain too "unique" to qualify under another heading.  My first real encounter was with a woman I rode the bus with on the first day.  She was head to toe abaya, hijab, and niqab, and her fingers were covered in mostly silver rings.  I saw nothing but her eyes.  When we arrived at school and the coverings came off, it was a whole new ballgame.  She had bleached hair that screamed mad biker chick and her rings, voice, and the way she carried herself, I didn't think I was mistaken with my first impression.  I was singularly impressed with her intelligence and general knowledge of just about everything, but like others I met, I highly suspect Aspergers.  These women may spend large amounts of time by themselves for mental health issues.

     Another type I have met is the converted Muslim.  There are a number of women (tending to be American) who have converted.  How do I know they have converted?  Well, the fact they are from Kansas and Texas and not at all Arab looking, just a clue.  I had one of them living in my apartment on Granville and I called her ghad jane (spelling wrong to avoid NSA probe :-)  There is one almost exactly like her here.  She has issues and likes to hide behind her coverings and appear weak and incapable so folks do things for her.  Both woman may have had prior drug and alcohol issues, but I have no real idea, and don't want to open that can of worms.

     One of the women I have met came to us out of a bad relationship in the US.  The man cheated on her, took her money, and basically used her.  After divulging this to me, her first question was, "How do you meet men in Saudi?"  I wish I was kidding.  My heart broke for her immediately.  I tried to explain that Saudi culture was not conducive to "meeting men" and that she should focus on herself.  Her snippy reply was that she was fully capable of living on her own, she just wanted to meet men.  I reminded her repeatedly, after she discovered they were mostly married men she was meeting on Internations, that you can NOT be "just friends" with a married man in Saudi!  They stone people for that shit!  They give you actual fucking lashes with a whip, if they don't just behead you!.  She has been having these men pick her up, AT OUR DORMS!, with the security guard watching and everything!  She sits in back so she can pretend he is her "driver", but she then proceeds to go out for supper with them or have coffee.  (VERY heavy sigh and shaking my head)

     I am happy to sit at home and read, craft, or watch tv.  A HUGE reason for not blogging so much is that in order to watch my Netflix or my movies on my 32" TV in the living room, I have to move the laptop to the couch area and put it on my couch side table to plug in the HDMI cable.  While I can still type and use the laptop, it is MUCH HARDER to do any serious typing.  So, I tend to leave it by the TV and only move it back to the desk when I know I will be blogging.

     Finally, we have to be at school for 8 hours a day (in a split fucking shift thing that is killing me!) and we are only required to teach for 6 of those hours.  Because teachers are out all the time (sick, visa runs, or fake cough), we are promised "overtime" to cover their classes.  Because we are already being paid to sit there, we just get an extra few SAR to cover it.  I have told them repeatedly, that unless they give me comp time, DO NOT ASK!  I was promised comp time last month and was looking forward to a 3 day weekend in Bahrain.  Oops, wrong form, they gave me the pay.  I quickly informed them to not ask me again!  So, during my free time at school, I have taken up crochet.  It is one of those tasks that is impossible to do in the presence of a cat.  Yarn + cat can only = play time ....right???  I keep it in my locker and pull it out when I have some time or when I am proctoring tests.  We do tests once every 4 weeks and I don't think I give a rat's ass if they are cheating, so I am free to crochet away.  You can't tell but this is over a foot square.  I chose poorly in that I chose a hard yarn to work with that requires a small hook...

Medical Things

  This too will be a shorty as I spent some time at medical.  NOT TO WORRY, I happen to have AWESOME health insurance so things I would have ignored in the past, not so much.  I have found a hospital center that hosts a number of specialty clinics.  You do NOT need a referral to see a specialist, you just have to pick the correct department for what ails you.  About 2 weeks ago, I had a sore throat, my glands were swollen, my ears hurt, and it was difficult to breathe.  Having had pneumonia a few times before, and with all the goobies going around the dorms, I knew to keep a close eye on my phlegm.  As soon as it, like the leaves in fall, starts to change colors, it is time to take is VERY seriously.  It hadn't changed yet, but man it was hard to breathe.
     I went home early on Tuesday and woke up Wednesday morning to visit a close/local clinic.  He ruled out asthma, based in part are an x-ray, and part on an almost listen to my lungs.  What is an "almost listen" you ask?  In Saudi, we are wearing that black robe thing (the loathed abaya) and the doctors, even with a woman nurse present, DO NOT WANT you to take off your clothes and DO NOT WANT to touch you anywhere under the abaya, except to poke your tummy.  So he maybe caught the top 1/4 of my lungs over the collar of my abaya, and that was it.  He referred me to a pulmonary specialist.
     So, stopped for lunch, and then off to my hospital center, which is where I should have gone in the first place.  I saw the specialist, who did another over the abaya listen, and he referred me to the ER for a full work-up.  He said he was not able to order x-rays for what he felt was all in my head.  So, headed to the ER where the female doctor took x-rays and actually listened to the whole lungs over my abaya.  Se agreed that I did not have asthma, did NOT have pneumonia, or any other awful chest thing, that what I had was an issue with dust.  Just as China was pretty much filthy, Saudi is 100% dust 100% of the time.  The ONLY time it is not dusty is when it rains.  I have been here going on 4 months and it rained about 3 days.  That may have been all we get.  So, I have to keep my window closed, wear a mask to go outside and sleep with a humidifier.  They gave me a couple of doses of nebulizer and sent me home with an inhaler in case it gets bad again.  They are doing construction in front of my place, so I am f'd for now.
     Today's trip was about my knees.  It totally feels like I am kneeling on glass when I kneel.  The knees don't hurt to walk or hurt when I bend, but what was an occasional pain is becoming more frequent and not just when I knee.  I explained to the orthopedist that I kept falling up the stairs when I tripped on my abaya.  He just nodded.  So, after more x-rays, he announced that my knees were younger then they looked and it was the cartilage that was irritated.  He prescribed lotion and told me to take the Naproxin Ian was good enough to send me for the pain.  I just wanted to rule out anything serious.
     What I failed to mention, was that the total cost for seeing 3 doctors, 2 sets of x-rays, 2 nebulizer scripts, and an ER visit (including expensive cab rides there and back,...about $56 TOTAL out-of-pocket cost.  Today's little visit with the knee doc...$56, and that included a latte, donut, and sandwich for dinner tonight.  Not bad.

SORRY about December

     I am soooooo sorry about not posting for the entire month of December.  I was busy crafting snowmen, shopping, and crafting for the holiday.  Christmas does not exist, in any way, shape, or form, in Saudi, so I had to cobble together stuff to serve as decorations.  I made another trip to Bahrain in December and was able to purchase a 2 foot faux tree, lights, pearl garland, and an angle topper.  I have left it up and enjoy the colored lights.

I had chosen a new hotel and found myself at the Baisan International Hotel. I was happy to see colored lights in Bahrain, but it turns out it was not for the holidays, but for Bahrain National Day.  Their colors are red and white.  It was simply fortuitous!

It was rather loud, with honking and yelling, when I was driving through the streets.  It was close to midnight and I had a feeling things were just starting to heat up.  I was not to be disappointed.  The view was nice.

So, after checking in, I prepared to go to bed and came to the hard realization that the shower sucked.  After the wonderful shower at the Diva, it was like going from Obama to Trump.  It was beyond a step down.  Old shower head, bad pressure, not much hot water, and that kind of spray that comes with a clogged showerhead.  Saddness ensued,  So, being about 1:00am, I headed to bed,  Sleep?  Not so much.  Apparently Bahrainians celebrate their day like out new year.  Automatic gunfire....at 2am...yup, and firecrackers.....(very heavy sigh)  At least the room was nice and the hotel was walking distance to a TON of things, including some great street food!  They sold these things that reminded me of calzones, but without the tomato sauce, and they were fabulous.  Cheap breakfast and lunch!  That is it for now, I have to head to work, but I will return at lunchtime and continue the saga!

Turkey and Bahrain

   Before I start, here is the pic of the "view" from my bedroom.

 

 As you may or may not know, I spent my last visa run in Bahrain.  I want to go on record as saying I LOVE Bahrain, and not just because I didn't have to wear an abaya.  I booked a high end hotel, Diva Hotel, Manama, Bahrain.  It was a recommendation from one of the other teachers.  The two reasons I was looking forward to staying there were the free airport shuttle and the breakfast included.  Ok, that and the huge soaking tub!  I arrived at 11:00 pm and was picked up by the shuttle driver carrying a sign with my name.  So far, I was very impressed.  And then, I arrived at the hotel.  They had received my request for a queen bed, but they only had a room with 2 twins, which they would gladly push together to form a king.  When I got into the room, I realized that their "twin" was larger then the single I have in my room so I told them not to bother.

     What I didn't realize, until they had left, was the fact that they had unplugged the bedside lamp between the beds so if I wanted to read, I had to take the bed closer to the window.  Not my choice, but it would do.  The room was huge, the bathroom very nice, the tub HUGE, and I had a mini-fridge and a water kettle.  They had real ceramic mugs of a reasonable size.  I immediately went across the street and found a cafe that was closing and convinced them to sell me a cup of milk.  Coffee....check :-)

     With coffee secured, I could think only of taking a shower and going to bed.  I was terribly disappointed with the amenities. There was no hand soap next to the sink so I used the blue shower gel (?)  It did not smell good or bad, but I was not impressed.  I stepped into the rainfall shower and the upset melted away...until I was finished and it hit me that I had exactly one washcloth, one hand towel, and a bath mat.  I stepped out of the shower, dripping wet, and put the bath mat on the floor while I dried myself with the hand towel.  (very heavy sigh)  I made a note to ask for towels and another mental note that I could not work out in the morning if I didn't have any towels to shower afterwards.

     The bed wasn't very comfortable, the pillows were hard as rocks, but the sheets appeared clean so I cranked the AC and crawled under the covers.  I had a very hard time getting to sleep so my plans to wake up at 8:00 to go work out, yeah, that didn't work out.  Instead, I simply made coffee and went to breakfast.  I had been told I had a view of the sea, and nope, that didn't happen either.  I had made myself a reasonable cup of coffee in my room so the crap they served in the dining room was ok, but not great.  My made to order omelet was fabulous and the view made up for the bad coffee.

     Having given up on the idea of working out, I asked at the desk and was told that the best place to shop, that was not an overpriced tourist mall, was Manama Souk.  A souk is an outdoor mall type place.  In my area I visit Taiba Souk.  So, I grabbed a cab and headed out.  The place was HUGE, but most of the stalls were closed as it was Friday in a Muslim country.  There were, however, enough stalls open to make for a tremendous shopping experience.

BEST MOCHA EVER!

     I spent the afternoon shopping and did not return until 4:00 pm.  I had not remembered to get something to eat...I had shopping to do!, so I was wiped, hungry, and in no mood to work out.  So, I relaxed a bit and headed down to the bar.  There is a Japanese restaurant in the lobby of the hotel and it looked promising.  I perused the drink menu and was tempted to order.  Too bad I don't like Jaeger.

     I was given a free drink by the bar manager, apparently, because it is a Muslim country, most women in the place don't drink but the expats do, so they are always short of women in the bars.  I was broke before I left and no less broke when I returned from shopping, so I left a tip and headed across the street for a burger.  Amazing burger!  

When I finished I stepped into the grocery store in the "mall" and purchased candy canes and stolen...life just got better!

     I decided to try and find the pool for an early morning swim before I left.  The view from the roof was amazing, but the pool was empty!

    I forgot to buy bath salts or something to soak with, (remember the shitty quality bath stuffs?), but I had purchased lavender oil so it was all good.  OMFG it was WONDERFUL to soak in a real tub.  It was only 8:30, but I was ready for bed. 

     All in all, it was a nice trip, crappy hotel stay, and great shopping.  I will do this again next month and this time, I booked a different hotel.  The one thing I love the most was that Bahrain is far more green then Saudi.

     Now for the turkey part.  I was able to find a turkey, although it may have been a large chicken, the taste was not as turkey as I would think, and I thawed it in my fridge.

     I was able to find yeast and so I made a batch of granny rolls.  Unfortunately, baking is not the time to eyeball and I don't have a set of Western measuring cups or measuring spoons.  They turned out ok, but there was not enough sugar, and too much flour.  Oh well, they were edible.  I had invited only one person for dinner, and she no-showed.  I was fine with eating alone and by the time that dinner was ready, the latest X-files movie was playing so I settled in for dinner and a movie.  Yeah, great plan.  

     The woman next door had knocked earlier to ask me a question and I offered her a granny roll.  She saw what was cooking but I had not invited her to join me as she was hanging out with the one person in the dorms I really don't like, whose cat comes to see me all the time and is pissed because I won't let him in my bath or bedroom.  The other gal from upstairs, who has helped me out, but that I am not a real fan of either, had also knocked earlier and she turned down my offer of a granny roll.          Well, no sooner had I finished eating, she knocked again and said she would like a granny roll now...oh yeah, and did I make anything that was vegetarian that she could eat as well?  WTF!  Being the gracious host I am, I said that the stuffing, green bean casserole and mashed sweet potatoes were veggie only, but she had to bring her own eating utensils and plates.  She ran upstairs and brought her stuff back and allowed me to serve her.  My next door neighbor suddenly stopped back and plate in hand, helped herself as well, after thanking me for cooking a Thanksgiving supper.  I did NOT get to watch my movie and they basically sat talking to each other, eating, and ignoring me, while I set about putting away the leftovers.

     The universe was listening because when I rolled out of bed late this morning, my movie was playing at about the same point it was interrupted last night.  Having done some crafting last night, it is my plan to eat leftovers and craft some more today.  Life is good.

Still wet...

     In China, the bathroom floors were always wet because I was sharing squat toilets with other members of the general public who may not have had the same aiming skills.  In Saudi, my school has Western toilets, but no tissue inside the stalls.  Instead, they use the spray nozzle, and well, their aim is not the best either.  So, once again, in long skirts and abayas, I am wrapping everything into a bundle around my waist and try not to get anything wet.  NO, I do not use the spray nozzle, they have tissue in the bathroom.  At least the spray is not that of urine.  However, the smell....OMG the bathrooms reek of urinal cakes and incense.  The smell of incense first thing in the morning when I get to school is ........ no words.
     So,   a typical day at my new job consists of a split shift schedule.  Like China, we take a break for lunch, but in Saudi, it is a four hour break and we return to teach another 4 hours.  I work from 8:00 am to noon, and then 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm.  With my severe acid reflux, this makes dinner a rough go if I am teaching all four classes in the evening.  We teach each session for 4 weeks and then spend 2 days grading exams.  After that, we start a new 4 week session with all new classes.  So, this means my schedule changes every 4 weeks.
     My current schedule has me working 4 hours in the morning and then 2 hours after the break.  My contract says I am not to teach more then 6 hours per day, and anything beyond that is OT.  Unfortunately, my current schedule now has me tutoring IELTS classes for the last 2 hours so I am teaching all day every day.  I have a 20 minute break to shovel food down my throat before I return to teaching.  I just can't handle eating at 8:30 pm when I get home from work because I was told not to eat for 2 hours before bed.  By the time I get home in the evening I am just wiped.  I am just about able to get to bed by 10:00 pm each night.  THIS is why I hate working at a language center.  The hours just plain suck!
     My school is far more modern then the one in China, but the computers never seem to work, the overhead projectors connected to the smart boards are for shit, and the "smart boards" just plain suck. We struggle and fight every day to scrape up enough paper and printer ink to print anything we need, like exam papers, and for the last few days we were out of tissue for the bathroom.  I am told the male school wants for nothing, but they  have no students.  Almost all of the profits for this company apparently come from the female schools, but we apparently get the dredges of everything.  The male teachers apparently work as outside contractors for businesses in town, but I could not tell you if this is true.  I am pretty damned sure that the men live in much better accommodations.
     Enough about school for now.  Let's talk about where I live.  I still choose to refer to this place as the dorms.  My biggest complaints, other than the totally sucky quality of everything in it, trust me, I am waiting for my kitchen "cabinets" to fall down or collapse, is the fact there is NO circulation, no fresh air, and NO direct sunlight!  The window in my bathroom is tinted, which is ok, but the window in my bedroom is blocked by a brick wall.

I tried to upload a pic of the brick wall outside my window...no go!

     In China, there were many dogs roaming the streets.  You saw few if any cats.  In Saudi, I have seen NO dogs and stray/feral cats run the streets.  We have a small group of cats that live around our complex and we were finally told, in no uncertain terms, to stop feeding the cats.  I still feed them, after all, what do you do with all that delicious leftover turkey skin and fat?  Now, I just feed them across the street.

     Because I will likely stay in the Middle East for another year or two, I am tempted to adopt a cat from the shelter.  They are fixed, have all their shots, and come with a pet passport so I can take them when I move....still thinking about it.