I Survived AND I got a NEW TOOTH!

     So, it seems I survived Ramadan.  It was very taxing and I hope to avoid doing the crazy hours again.  Because I was told we had 10 days paid leave to start on June 20, and because they refused to give me any idea in late April as to what my schedule might be like for Ramadan, I booked a flight for 1:00am departure on June 20 to Arkansas to see my dad.  My sister had informed the family the last week of April that dad was winding down and would not be traveling anymore.  I decided it was a great time to both get out of Saudi, and to see my dad.

     As it turned out, I was supposed to teach until 12:30am the morning of the 20th, so making my 1:00am flight was out of the question.  After my sister had suggested that 10 days was too long to stay in Arkadelphia (read, she wasn't really wanting me around that long), she told me dad would pay to change my departure city and fly me to Chicago for the last few days.  The airline said to check with CheapoAir, as they had booked my flight.  After hearing the cost of $1000, I nixed the idea until I checked in with the airline itself to see if I could change my flight.  School was starting back up July 2, so I booked my flights to arrive back in Saudi on July 1 so I could unpack and recoup.

     It was a week before the start of vacation that I was told I could not leave after the first period the night before my flight so I could make the flight.  I arranged to have my kids come in early to make up the classes, but the school said I was only working the morning session and they would give me a ride to the airport at 10:00pm.  Nice, but then I was informed that because I was leaving before the very end of the work day, I would not only be docked the half day of pay, for the classes I missed, but would be docked for the entire vacation period.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  I informed the director that I was not happy with this and explained the situation.  She said she would write a letter on my behalf to the men's side and see if they could make an exception for me?!?! REALLY????  So, I left on "vaca" to Arkansas not knowing if or how much my paycheck when I came back.  Typical, not unusual, for the company.

     I got to the airport in time, was told I could NOT even pay to upgrade to business, and prepared for almost 24 hours in planes or airports....wooohooo!  After I checked in, I was told that they could not change my departure city so check when I changed planes in Paris.  Ok.  When I arrived in Paris, I was told to check in Little Rock.  Ok.  In Little Rock, I was told to call the airlines.  Ok.  After claiming my almost empty bag, I was able to find my sister at arrivals (this is a joke, the airport is tiny).  She remarked about the huge bag I was bringing with me for only ten days.  I told her it was mostly empty and only contained gifts.  I was planning to fill it to go home :-)  Did I mention I live in a country where all the women have black hair so finding strawberry blonde....not gonna happen?

     On the hour drive from Little Rock to Arkadelphia, we stopped at IHop for dinner.  When asked what I wanted I simply said, "Bacon."  Asked if I wanted anything with that, I replied, "More bacon."  When pressured by my dad, I also ordered 2 eggs....with bacon :-)  When we got to the house, I was so exhausted I didn't have a glass of wine, I stayed awake until 8:30 and then literally crashed.  Slept until 8:30 am the next morning.  Just in time to get breakfast and coffee at the REAL LIVE coffee house down the street.  Actual espresso machine and bacon :-)

     Dad was quick to inform me that I was to be paraded into the senior center for lunch at least one day.  No problems.  I was also informed that the following day I would take dad to the dentist.  No problem.  Remember when I said I was living in a country where every single woman has black hair?  My only MUST for the entire trip was to find a hair salon to get my hair did.  Apparently, "red" translates to actual clown red in Saudi.  I had at least 3 shades of "red" in my hair.  I asked the ladies at the senior center and was directed to a place in town.  When I got there, I realized that only old ladies went there.  Fortunately, they did not have my color and directed me to a salon down the road that did "younger hair".  The poor gal took one look at me and simply said, "Oh my."  I was told they had a last minute cancellation and if I came back in an hour they would get me in.  NO PROBLEM!

     I was able to hit a local dollar store and purchase some items, like a hair coloring bowl/brush set, paperback books for $1, and some English language flash cards.  I had ordered some instant Starbucks, some inexpensive prescriptions glasses, and a few other items, that I had shipped to my sister's house.  It was far easier and cheaper then trying to get things shipped to Saudi.  I was able to get a cut and color for $120 + $20 tip.  She had to strip the "red" and then color it.  Took at least 2 hours but well worth it!

     I was finally able to call the airline and get my departure city changed to Chicago for only $120, no problem.  My father then booked me on the Amtrack from Arkadelphia to Chicago.  He was kind enough to splurge for a sleeper and I have to tell you, WELL WORTH EVERY PENNY to be able to lay down and sleep!  I was fed breakfast and lunch on the train....don't even ask, but it was food.  I was able to hop on the 147 bus downtown, and take the bus to my old hood.  I had been invited to stay with one of my besties (Holly), but I couldn't get ahold of her so I just got a room.  It turns out, the Motel 8 was only 1.5 blocks to her Chicago apartment.

     Her "studio", which is HUGE, is a penthouse on the north lakeshore area.  She is close to Toughy and East of Sheridan.  I spent 3 wonderful days with an amazing friend and a tremendous view!

Leaving her apartment was one of the hardest things I have done.  I was headed back to this:

Sad to leave my home sweet home :-(

     I was not able to get my new tooth put in before I left, so I was at least looking forward to getting that finished.  It took many months and much money, but I finally got a new tooth!

It is so nice to be able to talk and smile without worrying.  I no longer have to chant, "Keys, wallet, phone, tooth." when I leave the house!

The "R" word and a new job??

     Ok, Ramadan...where to begin?  I believe I have repeatedly said that working a split shift (8-12 then 4-8) was rough and I hated it.  Well, Ramadan takes the split shift to crack on steroids level of hell.  Sorry, I have a very profound appreciation for the whole idea behind Ramadan, and I respect the religious nature of the holiday, but most people get to stay home and sleep/pray almost all day as schools and most business either close or severely restrict their hours.  Because the people who observe the holiday are Muslim, all restaurants are closed during the day.  There is the usual number of calls to prayer, but there are additional, "sermons"? delivered over loudspeaker on and off all day.  There seems to be additional such prayers/sermons in the evening.  So, we are now working 10-1 then 9:30pm-12:30am.....shoot me!
     You are NOT allowed to eat or drink anything in public and we are not allowed to eat or drink in front of the students.  YES, we have lots of students....and kids....lots of kids....it is like a daycare drop off while the parents are out socializing with family and friends....(loud, heavy, long sigh).  We have 4 classes for each session, but the time of each class has been shortened to 45 minutes.  I teach only 2 in the morning, first and last, but the admin at school has us doing busy work all morning...I hide....and growl....I am still trying to catch up on the stuff I never got a chance to organize/sort from last sessions.  Because the students are mostly fasting, they are groggy and grumpy in the morning classes.  After the sunset prayer (? - about 6:30ish?), the folks who have been fasting all day gorge themselves.  So, in the evening they are tired and sluggish...yeah, it is a blast.  I am usually in bed by 10pm every night so this is killing me.
     My entire body is screaming at me.  I am NOT getting enough sleep, my eating schedule is all off, and my eating habits are for shit.  I get up at 9 and have breakfast after my first class at 10:15...if I remember to pack food.  I come home at 1:00pm and either crash and burn or eat myself silly and pass out from a foodgasm....I try to nap again around 8pm, but nothing is normal.  Baby Girl is not handling it well either and is not quite sure what and when we are going and doing....Decorations seem to be red, blue, and gold, and consist of crescent moons and stars.

     I have talked to other people who work at regular schools, and most of them are closed for the month of Ramadan or working a normal straight shift with adjusted hours or a later start.  So, this is where the possible new job comes in (fingers, toes, and intestines crossed).  I received an email about 2 weeks ago asking me to fly to Sharjah, just outside Dubai, I had to pay for my own flight and accommodations, but I was told the client, the Department of Education for the UAE, had asked the agency to invite me.  If nothing else, I got to see how the other half lives.  I flew in the night before and stayed in a hotel.  I left for the airport immediately following the interview.  I worked until 12:30 then caught a ride to the airport at 6:45am.  I slept the whole flight.

The sights were amazing and I was thrilled to be there.  I was given a queen sized bed and a room with a tub...life was good!  Because I had been unable to find a copy store that worked, let alone find a fax machine, my first goal was to print and fax the documentation I needed to update my income based repayment plan for my student loans.  Sharjah is also a Muslim country/province, so all food places were closed.  I had a small packet of cookies and a cup of instant coffee in my room, then headed downstairs to find printer/fax.  The hotel I stayed at let me print all my docs for free and headed me in the direction of a possible fax machine.  I was also given a list of local Souks.
     It is Ramadan, EVERYTHING is pretty much closed during the day.  I did manage to find a grocery store who let me sneak into the back room to chug the cold beverage I had purchased.  I showed them medicine (Aleve) I had to take so they forgave me drinking during daylight :-)  All possible fax shops were......closed until likely 8 or 9 pm.  At that point, I hailed a cab and headed for the farthest Souk.  I was THRILLED to see that the cabs in Sharjah were cheap and every single cab driver put the meter on while playing a reminder to put my seat belt on.  I made it the farthest souk and it was an amazing old world style, traditional, out-door souk....where most of the stores were closed, but I still found plenty open.

I found some amazing items as gifts for friends, and again, found a store willing to let me drink my cold beverage while hiding behind the counter.  Not kidding.  I bought 2 bottles of water and a thing that tasted like a virgin mojito....I was happy, but still pretty hungry.  My next stop was the "gold souk".  It was two enormous buildings connected by an overpass walkway. On the way, the cab driver circled an amazing park and pulled over to purchase something in a plastic bag from a guy who was standing on the curb...didn't ask, didn't want to know....I was on the meter and didn't want to argue.

I did finally get to the souk.

Again, most of the stores were closed but I found enough to keep me occupied until after fasting broke at 7:00pm.  I found a place that sold soft serve cones that would tide me over til I got real food.  When I left, the buildings were all lit up and the skyline was amazing.

 I didn't sleep well, but I got a hot bath the night before and I had purchased food and milk for breakfast.  I got dressed, checked out, and headed to my interview.

Because I was not in Saudi, I was not required to wear an abaya and the other women applying were also wearing pants or an abaya.  The recruiter said I looked perfect and I felt fabulous.  I had to take a test prior to interviewing that included drafting a lesson plan and then defending my choice of subject and teaching methods.  My lesson plan was for contract construction and negotiation.  I was of the understanding that I was interviewing to teach college level business English.  Nope, middle school English...oh well.  I thought it went well and my last words to the recruiter were, "I want this job!"

     When I got to the airport, I found that food court was open, albeit hiding behind a wall, but the only food available was Indian food and McD;s.  Because of the language barrier and my experience with the level of "hot" the Indians use to define spicy, I went with McD's.  They also served a decent latte, which I mixed with the milk from my happy meal to make it a drinkable temp :-)

After eating, I went shopping and found they were just toying with me...

Because my flight was going into Saudi, they did not even have booze on the plane...

I will keep everyone posted...if I survive Ramadan....InShaAllah....

The Games We Play, or Real Life in Saudi

     As I may or may not have ranted before, the school/company has a tendency to shuffle people's schedules, I have had mine changed 3 times in one day, and move people from one branch to another.  There are 3 branches for the women's branch, and no clue how many for the men.  What I do know is that the director of the women's branch answers to the folks at the men's school.  I also know that while we do not have wifi, they have wifi both at home and at school.  It was a cost cutting measure on their part, and therefore, a business decision.

     While we are talking about business decisions, it seems the women's section makes almost all of the profits for the company and pays for the fact that the men's divisions do not really make much money.  They continue to exist because we work hard to keep the company going.  It also seems to me that they go out of the way to make the men happy while working harder still to reign us in and exert their control over us.  There is much discussion, and some dissent, about the fact that the new teachers being brought in are being given an Iqama.  This is a type of residence card that allows the bearer to do things like open an account, buy a sim card, and take out a loan.  The flip side to this is that the teacher has to get written permission to leave the country, whereas, my visa allows me to come an go at will, even if I do have to obtain a nefarious sim card.  Small price to pay indeed.

     The reason I am discussing this is that they recently took the concept of a "split shift" to a whole new level by having me teach at the Exit 10 branch (they are named for the proximity to their respective highway exits) in the mornings, and then, after lunch, return to teach at my normal Exit 5 branch.  The bus for 10 leaves 15 minutes earlier and returns 15 minutes later.  My only real complaint about the branch is that they have the teacher's lounge on the second floor and my classes are all on the first floor.  I spend the entire morning going up and down and my knee finally screamed, "STOP!"  About a week ago, I informed them I could not take the stairs so I spend my break period in the lobby watching Netflix on my tablet and doing crafts.  They are NOT happy about this, but figure it is only slightly better then my solution of getting a doctor note saying no stairs at all, which would almost preclude me from working for them. :-)

     It is quite common for the students to complain about a teacher so as to get a different teacher.  If the students insist, this can become a written warning that the teacher has to sign.  In seven and a half months of teaching, after transferring part-time to Exit 10, I finally got my first written warning.  I popped my cherry on a class I do not care for...LOL  Apparently I speak too fast (which considering it was a level 7 class and my usual level 1-3 classes have NEVER complained about this, made it actually laughable), I was spending too much time googling the definition of words, and I did not know what I was doing.

     I told the supervisor, that in my own defense, they had insisted I write definitions on the board, and because the marker board was positioned in such a way as to make it difficult at best, I had resorted to googling to project on the "smartboard" behind me.  The students had suggested that I type everything out on a word doc and then email it to them, but positioning of the desk made typing all that difficult as well, so I just googled it.  This way, they had it in writing, on the board, and visible.  They were apparently pissed that I was no longer typing it and emailing it, thereby spoon feeding them everything.  I know for a fact that you do not learn as well if the momma bird chews it up and spits it into your mouth partially digested.
   
     In order to put this farce into perspective, while I had never been written up before for ANYTHING, another teacher at Exit 5 was written up for being "too calm".  She was not animated enough...I wish I was kidding...LOL  The students play this game with admin to get rid of the teachers that do not let them play on their phones, expect them to participate, and actually refuse to spoon feed them the answers to all exams.  This is one of the reasons for the highly unstable schedules because they let students dictate who teaches what.  When we are fortunate enough to be transferred out of a class we do not like, we refer to it as a "divorce" and the teachers are generally very happy with this.

     Another game we play is "favorites and pets."  The teachers who tell the students and staff that they are Muslim, appear to be treated far more favorably in regards to scheduling and choosing what classes they teach to what levels.  I don't like to teach grammar to upper levels because I have never been a grammar nazi and am not a fan of grammar rules.  As a native speaker, I am far better at listening and speaking anyways.  At Exit 10, I am one of very few native speakers with most teachers from Georgia or Spanish speaking countries (I think).  I can always tell when the students had mostly non-native teachers prior to my getting them because I can barely understand a word they are saying.  I had to proctor a level 10 exam and had them repeating everything 3 times before I would likely throw up my hands and tell them I didn't understand what they were even asking me...LOL

     A perfect example of this is also found in the case where there is a teacher at Exit 26 who has set out to make everyone else's life miserable.  She has allegedly snuck men into the building in the past, hence the need for cameras outside the building, regularly bragged of brewing wine in her room, and attempted to kick in the door of another teacher who "insulted her", while threatening her life.  She has chased down a teacher in the hall yelling, screaming, and threatening her while the students stood by watching.  She is still at the school and still teaching.  She claims to be American, based on her American passport, but she was born in Trinidad and her accent is so thick you would need to hack at it with a machete.  The teacher, whose door she tried to kick in, calls her Voldemort.  I agree.

     When it was stated to the company that she was brewing wine in her room, they allegedly conducted a building/room? search that turned up nothing.  If they had actually conducted such a search, they would have noticed that the first floor of the building had actually become flooded.

    The peeling paint has been an  issue even before the flood.  I did not take a before picture but I had 1/2 " of water on the left side of my living room and bedroom.  I was apparently the worst hit and the recently emptied room next door wasn't looking so good, had not been cleaned after the teacher left, and was not smelling great either...oh well.










One of the "victims" of the flood was Baby Girl's Hootie Hoot.  It is a stuffed owl puppet I bought at Ikea when I first got her so she could "wrestle" hard with me and not actually bite me.  It has become her favorite toy and she will sometimes drag it out of her bed during the day to sleep with on my bed.  Hootie got wet so he had to take a bath.  When he came out of the washing machine, I hung him on the line to dry.  She cried almost continuously until I took a still slightly damp Hootie down off the line.

Baby Girl and Hootie are now back together and snuggling as I type.

     Speaking of cats, another game we play is "let's f*ck with the teachers at home".  If a man comes into the building, with a female observer, to fix or repair, you cannot open the door or go out of your room without being fully covered.  Ok, whatever.  We were told not to feed the stray cats inside the building.  Ok, whatever.  The only stray cat that had a habit of trying to come in was Baby Mamma. 

 She was kitty 9 months pregnant when she was no longer kicked out of the building when she was found sleeping in the abandoned stroller under the stairs.  The folks on the second floor were upset because she took to going up there to piss and shit.  As SOON as I realized she was giving birth, I wheeled her and the babies out of the building.  I knew that as soon as she had started the birthing process, she would become aggressive in her protection of her babies.  This way, she would be out of the building and could not attempt to hide them inside.  Shortly thereafter, apparently every single pregnant cat in the hood has taken to camping out on our doorstep.....sigh

     For anyone who has been following this blog, you know Baby Girl is a rescue.  A second cat was found crying outside my window and was given to a gal down the hall.  This little gal is named Genevieve.  I had no say in the naming.

     Just last week, yet ANOTHER kitten was found crying outside my window.  Apparently it was one of the Baby Mamma kittens so it was mere days old.  I climbed out my window and rescued it.  I did not attempt to wash it, gave it some watered milk, and put it in a box outside so the mama would hear it cry and come and get it.  One of the other teachers volunteered to take it if mama didn't come back, but sure enough, as soon as they were getting on the bus to go to their school, mama came out and claimed the kitten.

This one is absolutely adorable, but Baby Girl was having NONE OF IT.  She hissed at it, she hissed at me, and I had to wash my hands about 4 times before she would let me touch her again.

     Back to the issue of cats in general, apparently the crazy woman (Voldemort), complained of the cats so, in addition to being told we may not run the AC during the day (I do so to keep my meds and supplements from melting - did I mention it hits 120 degrees?), we are no longer allowed to have any pets, especially cats.  The mother of the big fluffy grey cat down the hall has lived here for 2 years, with said cat.

I know for a fact that her cat and my cat are fixed and have had their shots, etc.  My response to the email follows:

Hello ladies,

Hope this email finds you well.

It has been noticed that some teachers leave the air conditioner on when they go to work. Ladies, it will cause a fire! Please turn it off before leaving. Also, it has been noticed that there are cats in the building which is not allowed. Ms. Maha will go to the building to check by herself. 

Kind Regards,

**Note, the only fire was caused when they turned on a brand new unit and then left it unattended.  The building owner makes no attempts to clean or monitor said AC units.

Dear .....

I leave my AC on while I am at school.  I leave it at a very reasonable temp of 24 or 25C.  I do this so that my various medications and vitamin supplements from melting.  This includes such supplements as the vitamin D I take due to a severe deficiency of said vitamin from lack of sun, as I am forced to wear an abaya to go outdoors.  Such supplements are only available as a gel formula and it is NOT recommended that I put them in the fridge.  I have been doing this for MONTHS and it has never been a problem before.  If the place doesn't catch fire when I am asleep for 8 hours each night, in which I run both the living room and the bedroom AC (bedroom one on full blast), I doubt that my leaving it running for the 4 hours at a time I am gone at school is worse than the 8 hours I am home asleep.

As to the issue of the cats.  It is my belief that all of the cats in the building, and there are only 3 that I am aware of, are all on the first floor and remain almost solely in their owners apartments.  Of the 3 cats, I know for a fact that mine and one other's have been to the vet, they have been fixed, and have all of the shots.  There was a homeless cat that was pregnant who gave birth in the stroller someone had abandoned in the hall.  As soon as I was aware she was indoors and giving birth, I wheeled her and her new home out of the building and she has not been back since.  There are a large number of homeless cats that park themselves on the doorstep in front of the building, but none of those cats has been allowed indoors.

As for my cat, and I speak only as to my cat, the man who manages/owns/repairs? things for the building, has been IN MY APARTMENT, SEEN MY CAT, AND SAID NOTHING.  This was while Fazia was still the "manager" and NOTHING was said any of the many times he entered my apartment to make repairs.  As far as I am concerned, unless this is in writing from the building's actual owner, I am afraid that by not saying anything before this, the building owner has allowed me to rely, to my detriment, on his acquiescence to keep the cat.

This is the first I have heard that there is any "policy" against cats in the building.  It seems to me that this is merely a vindictive move on the part of the management of ALFAC to further make our lives slightly less tolerable.  They have taken our driver for weekend grocery runs, our wifi, and now they want to remove my cat. For whatever reason, we weren't even allowed to procure our own wifi, and were forced to find other means that are far more expensive then it would have been to simply split the bill for inhouse wifi among the tenants on each floor.  

 If it comes to a choice between my cat and ALFAC, there is no choice for me.  My cat brings me joy and happiness, whereas ALFAC has brought me nothing but deception in the inducement, misery, and constant change and shuffling of schedules.  I believe in being flexible but ALFAC snapped me over backwards a long time ago.  

Considering that the women's division is the "cash cow" or the "goose who lays the golden egg" and therefore the primary means of income for ALFAC, it would seem to me they would want us to be minimally happy.  That is not the case.  Within my first two weeks of arriving in Saudi, I knew for a fact I would NOT be renewing or extending my contract with ALFAC and would be counting the days to my departure date of Aug. 24, 2017.  I am at 107 days.

Kindest regards,

Catherine Blythe

I have not signed the notice they sent around, nor would I sign it at Exit 10.  I said I would discuss this with the director in person, but my plans were interrupted by the flood.  I let the director know directly that I was staying home to bail out my apartment.  They will deduct from my check for the time missed, but I no longer really care.  I will NOT be quitting anytime soon.  They require 60 days notice both ways and if they fire me, I believe they have to buy me out AND fly me home.  This is a pissing contest, and I ain't backing down....LOL..ok, time to check the prayer schedule and try to buy groceries.  I am out of milk for coffee OOOOOOOOHHHHHHNNNNOOOOOOOO and catfood MEEEEOOOOWWWWHHHATTTTT?????