An Amazing Arabian Arrival

Well I made it to Saudi Arabia - a place I never thought I would go. In college my Mideast Culture professor talked about what a hard country it was to enter since there is no tourism and you have to be sponsored by a company if you even want to get in. I remember standing on the Egyptian shore looking across the Red Sea and seeing some lights in the distance that I knew were from a Saudi Arabian town and thinking what a forbidden place it was. So after a long process of paperwork this summer I finally made it. There won't be many pictures on my blog from now on since there are so many things that are forbidden to be photographed. So I'll try to describe more with words. This picture is from the little screen on the airplane where you can follow the plane's progression to your destination. It was a long flight and before stepping off the plane all the women had to dress in their black abayas. I had heard many stories about the strict customs: no pork, no alcohol, no questionable movies, no pictures of women, etc. However, after throwing my bags through an X-ray machine I was free to go.

There was nobody there waiting for me in the arrival hall but I felt strangely calm that everything would be fine. I found the ATM, got money, and just as I started thinking about calling someone from the company I saw a guy with my name on a paper. I put my luggage and my life in the hands of this guy dressed in a long white robe who only knew a few words of English and followed him through the airport to the parking garage.

We sped through the suburbs and I got dumped off at a hotel that somehow managed to have a king-sized bed and cable TV with over 700 channels but only a squatty potty and crumbling walls where the ants got in. I didn't cry until I opened my suitcase and it still smelled like my grandma's house where I had been staying. But I knew most of my emotional problems would be solved by a good night's sleep.

The next day I got picked up and met some fellow teachers that were in the same boat as me. We went to the company office and did some paperwork and then begged the driver to stop at a restaurant so we could eat something. That evening I wrote an email to the company requesting to move as soon as possible into the furnished apartment that I was promised. Within 10 minutes of sending the email my new company-furnished cell phone rang. It was a guy I had met in the office that day wondering what was wrong with my current accommodation. I explained all the things I didn't like about it and he was promptly at my door with a car waiting to take me to see an alternative place to stay. He took me to the apartment and I guess they didn't want people moving in yet because the kitchenettes weren't finished. Other people had obviously moved in already so I said I would prefer to stay there. (more pictures will be posted of it later) So at 10pm we gathered up my luggage and I moved into my little studio apartment that was much nicer (and had a normal toilet - yay!) My stove was installed the next day.

That night I didn't sleep at all due to jet lag and the next morning the minivan came to pick up all the women teachers to go to the school. Another minivan came for the men since they are on a different campus. We had some orientation meetings and had some time to sit around and chat with other teachers on break. In the meeting we talked a lot about cultural sensitivities and topics that the university has to officially ban from discussion in the classroom (politics, feminism, relationships between men and women who aren't related, pop culture like movies and music, etc.) Then I found out about the class I'll be teaching. Apparently the university has a small program for adult women (most of whom are faculty in the main university or work in hospitals). I was told I would be teaching the advanced class of these older professionals instead of the 18-19 year old girls just out of high school that I thought I'd be teaching. I was so happy to be working with students who are self motivated and won't have discipline problems.

That afternoon a few of us organized a van to come take us to the supermarket. As you can see from the photo I'm already getting lazy with my headscarf and you can see my purple T-shirt underneath. This is the lobby of the apartment building. The men's van is in the background and there's a mosque behind that. The women here are so graceful with the way they dress and I look like a babushka.
Yesterday was my first day teaching and all the girls come in covered head to toe in black abayas and niqabs (the full face covering) and then they get in the door and take them off since it's an all girl's school with all female faculty and cleaning staff. The girls all have their hair and makeup done and some wear baggy T-shirts and dangly necklaces with their school uniform skirt. They giggle in groups and text on their cell phones just like every other teenage girl. And here I thought I would get away with not having to do my hair for a year . . . .

In my first class I gave a writing assignment to get to know the women better and also to see their level of English. They wrote about their families, their careers, their hopes to study Master's and PhD. programs in English speaking countries, and the various places they had traveled. They are bright, happy women who are eager to know more and have a lot of life experience.

Today in class we were discussing qualities of a good leader when suddenly the fire alarm went off in the school. Other teachers started to evacuate their classes but there was mass confusion and nervousness to go outside because they didn't have their abayas on. It turned out to be a false alarm and we all went back to class before anyone really had to go outside. My students were laughing at it all and I said something like, 'I'm sorry but I would choose prison for not wearing the abaya before I would burn to death.' They just laughed at me and rolled their eyes and said, 'Oh you wouldn't go to prison for that.' They are so eager and willing to help me understand their culture and feel at home here. They explained that constant interruptions and confusion and delays are just part of the culture here. I'm lucky to have such an easy-going personality that things like that don't bother me.

Here's a little video I took driving down the street. It's short but you can see a bit of what it looks like here. Thanks for reading!