Busy Busy!

It seems I've been remiss about posting blog updates lately.  Part of my absence can be explained by not having home internet for a week (a very long week!), but most of it is due to a very busy few weeks at work.  When I first arrived, during Ramadan, things were much calmer.  Now we're firmly in the swing of a normal schedule, which I love because it keeps me busy.  However, it also means I spend most of my precious free time sleeping. 

There are some exciting events on the horizon, including a trip home to NH, which I'll post about once they're complete.  A highlight of the last couple of weeks was a day trip to Taif, a city tucked in the mountains about two hours drive from Jeddah. 

Taif has long been a popular vacation destination for Saudis, including the royal family, in large part because its weather is so much better than most of the rest of the country.  As soon as you ascend Al Wada mountain, the humidity eases and the temperature drops considerably.  Taif is known in particular for its agriculture and tourism industries.  It grows roses that are pressed into essential oils and coveted across the world.  I hope to return in the spring for the Rose Festival. 

Taif was a nice break from Jeddah (particularly the cooler weather!), but it was really the drive there that I want to comment on.  On the way out of Jeddah, you drive along the Mecca Road.  After about 30 minutes you start to see signs dividing the highway into two sections - one for Muslims Only and one for Non-Muslims.  We turned off right before the checkpoint into Mecca.  The authorities check the IDs of all visitors to ensure that only Muslims enter the holy city of Mecca.  I'd heard about these road signs for a long time, so it was exciting to finally see them.  As soon as we were outside the city limits, the road narrow to two lanes.  And almost instantaneously, it was a whole other world.  We were in the desert, surrounded by sloping hills, scrub brush, and desert scenes.  Jeddah is very flat and green, so the contrast was startling.  My favorite part of the change in scenery was the appearance of camels!  Hundreds of camels were grazing on either side of the road, with only cursory attempts to fence them off the road.  (Camels are a very dangerous road hazard here; they have similar physical characteristics to moose in that they have long legs and bulky bodies that can fall in just the right way to crush a car.)  We were speeding through without any chance to take pictures, so next time!

About 60km before getting to Taif, we started ascending Al Hada mountain.  A new road was constructed just a few years ago to allow cars to drive up the 6000+ foot mountain on a winding 35km road.  It's in very good condition and has decent barriers.  The drive is long, winding, and a bit nervewracking, but the view was spectacular!  We didn't see any of the mountain's resident baboons on the way up, though they were out in force when we drove down again.  (Again, no pictures.)  Taif city is a very pleasant place, with more of a small town feel than Jeddah, even though more than .5 million people live there.  It's relatively lush with agricultural projects.  I will definitely return!

(At the top of the mountain is the hotel from which the Kuwaiti government operated during the Gulf War.  We stopped for a rest break - quite a historic site!)

On the cat front, the kittens have discovered the joys of shredding paper.  I now have to keep napkins, paper towels, and bathroom tissue out of sight or risk coming home to find a mess.   (And wouldn't you know, just as I wrote that, I heard a thump.  I went into the bathroom to find both cats in the bathtub, ready to attack the toilet paper I'd hidden under a towel.  *Sigh*)  For beings that dislike water, they spend an awful lot of time in the bathtub...

Anyway, I still owe a posting on Cairo, and I want to write about education in Saudi, a sector I've been dealing with considerably lately.  Some very interesting observations.  Hopefully this week I'll be able to write at least one of those, although it is shaping up to be another very busy week...  (That's okay, I have a trip to NH, and a side trip to TX to see Lyle Lovett, coming up very soon!)

Happy Weekend!  (Or almost weekend for those of you not working in the Muslim world.)

The Hardest Part

About serving overseas is, without a doubt, missing the milestones that continue to happen even when you're not there.  Birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, births, deaths, and the myriad other events.  It's hard enough not to be there for the day to day, but missing those once-in-a-lifetime moments leaves me with a sense of guilt, longing, sadness, and frustration.

I'm feeling this acutely today for two reasons.  The first is that the rest of my siblings are all at my parents' house this weekend, something that happens once or twice a year if we're lucky.  I am feeling okay about this one, because I am headed back to the US for a visit next month and will more than likely be able to see all my brothers and their families.  But I still wish I could be spending the long weekend with all of them.  Fall is one of my favorite times in New England, and there's something about the season that makes me want to curl up and watch football, eat comfort food, and hang out with family and friends.

The second one is harder.  Today, one of my very good friends is getting married.  I had held out hope until just a few weeks ago that I'd make it home for this wedding, but it just wasn't to be.  And even though B and her fiancé understand and accept why I can't be there, I still really WANT to be there.  I want to share their special day and celebrate the amazing couple that they are.  So I'm sort of wallowing in my own sadness about this one, even though I'd seen it coming a year ago.  So B&O, all the best wishes to you on this beautiful autumn day.  I love you guys!  Congratulations!

(Note:  I have definitely reached the trough of the cultural adjustment cycle, which is not a fun time even when you know what's happening and why and how to get past it.  It's not as bad as it has been in past sojourns abroad, but I still have my moments.  Like today.)

So.  It's time to stop feeling sorry for myself and move on.  Luckily I have a fun, busy week ahead of me to keep me occupied.  Plus two very playful kittens who don't allow wallowing.  I do have to say, though, that I have no idea how I ever survived living abroad before without home internet access, Skype, APO, and Netflix streaming...  Things have gotten much easier in just a few years.  (B, how far we've come from our little Lemon Tree Cottage and SATC marathons with the best of Cape Town delivery services!)

The post in which I rave about my housekeeper...

I really will get around to a long post about Cairo, but for now I need to talk about something else. 

I have never been much for household chores.  My parents tried for years to get me to help out around the house, clean my room, empty the dishwasher, pick blueberries, etc. - all to no avail.  (Mom, here's where you can insert something about this being the understatement of all time.)  I absolutely loathe cleaning and often genuinely don't notice if something needs to be cleaned.  Vacuuming is one of my greatest downfalls.  Houseplants wilt at the thought of me taking care of them.  With the one exception being the orchid I nurtured somehow kept alive despite forgetting to water it for weeks (months) at a time for a year and a half.  It didn't die in the end, either.  I couldn't bring it with me to Saudi and so passed it along to a friend/neighbor.  Cleaning (and gardening for that matter) are not my strong suits.  A friend and I once lived in a furnished house for about three months before realizing there was a 5' potted tree in our dining room.  And it was discovered then only because it started dying and its dried leaves fell on the floor.  And even then my roommate noticed it, not me.  When it comes to household chores, I'm blissfully unaware. 

All last year in DC I had weekly housekeeping by a rotation of overworked and busy women.  It was such a relief to come home on Mondays to a clean apartment, a gleaming kitchen, freshly laundered linens and towels, and a confused dog.  (For some reason many of the housekeeping staff thought Hattie's chewed, ratty stuffed toys were mine, and they consistently ended up placed neatly among the pillows on my bed.) 

When I lived in Thailand a number of years ago, I had someone do my laundry (wash, dry, iron, fold; door-to-door service) for the small sum of $5 a month.  I thought that was luxury (especially since my roommate was slightly OCD and cleaned the room 2-3 times daily, thus relieving me of any responsibility).  But both of these together pale in comparison to the gem of a housekeeper I've found here.

So it's on this backdrop that I will rave about my newly hired housekeeper.  Some people are wary of hiring domestic help.  I have no such qualms.  It was always in the back of my mind as a bidding strategy, but I have now elevated it to a top priority.  (Translation:  I will bid more competitively for posts where domestic help is widely available, acceptable, and affordable.)

This particular woman was referred to me by a departing colleague, billed as a combination housekeeper/cat sitter.  My colleague told me she trusted S completely with her home and her cats, and that was quite a good reference.  So I got in touch with S, she came by for a visit and immediately took to my cats, and it was a match!  For logistical/scheduling reasons, S started last week while I was in Cairo.  She normally is slated to come twice a week, but when I'm away she'll come by each day to look after the cats. 

I came home yesterday to a masterpiece.  I hadn't yet truly unpacked from moving in (more on that later, once things are settled on that front), and I still had boxes and piles and even a suitcase lying around.  I left S a note telling her to ignore these piles.  She ignored me.  Wow.  Everything is unpacked, put away (logically and with great care), and my apartment is spotless and gleaming.  Plus, my cats couldn't be happier.  Sure, they were excited to cuddle and trip me when I returned, but it was obvious they had barely noticed my absence.  My house is fully stocked with cleaning materials, with receipts and exact change from the money I'd left for this purpose.  My kitchen had been organized, my bathroom, the cat's room, my room.  I was stunned and excited. 

But it gets better.

I passed S coming in as I was headed to work today (her regular day to clean).  I told her how fabulous a job she'd done and that I'd just messed everything up by partly unpacking.  I felt guilty and told her to just ignore my piles of clothes and half-empty suitcases.  She told me she would. 

Needless to say, I got home tonight to find an apartment even more spotless and glowing than yesterday.  I don't know how she did it.  My foyer is cleared out (it was previously full of boxes of dog toys); she noticed that these boxes didn't really need to be unpacked just yet.  My laundry is all done - not just my dirty laundry, but ALL my laundry.  Whether it was clean or dirty before, it is now all clean, dry, ironed, and folded.  And the drawers are organized.  Plus S noticed my washer and dryer aren't functioning properly (I hadn't noticed).  So she called maintenance; they're already half done fixing them.  My suitcases are unpacked and put away, as is everything else.  My shoes have been put away in the closet; my purses are neatly displayed on shelves in the closet.  The few household decor items I had with me in suitcases are displayed. 

What is so amazing to me is that, with only a couple exceptions, everything is put away exactly where I'd envisioned putting it.  Not only is S a magnificent woman and housekeeper and cat wrangler, she's a mind reader.  I've hit the jackpot.  I'm also very glad I agreed to a slightly higher salary than some of my colleagues pay their housekeepers, because she's worth every penny.  And much more. 

So I'm just wandering around tonight in awe.  It's a great feeling.  And I'm spoiled for life.  S is more than I could have ever hoped for in a housekeeper.  And I just had to share (gloat?).  So thanks for listening.

Cairo Teaser

I just got home from Cairo a couple of hours ago (amazing and wonderful trip) and am working on a blog about my adventures. That will take a little while, as I have other pressing matters (like unpacking and going to work tomorrow), but I wanted to post a few photos in advance...  (these are out of order and uncaptioned, because I still am not good with the pic-adding feature of this editor.) 

A Childhood Dream Come True

The week after Eid has, predictably, been extremely busy.  Between hosting an amazing music performance (see previous post) and a quick trip to Riyadh (where I got to see many good friends and colleagues and meet some new ones), sleep has been hard to come by.  I wouldn't trade it for anything, though, and I've now had two straight decent nights of sleep. 

Tomorrow I head out across the Red Sea to a place that I've dreamed of visiting since I was very young - Cairo, Egypt!  In my elementary school, we studied Ancient Egypt and the Pharaohs several times through the years, followed by at least once in each high school and college as well.  So, like many of my contemporaries, I have the typical idolization of the history and archaeology of Egypt.  Interestingly, though, after a year spent trying to mentally distance myself from all things Egyptian in an effort not to have my Arabic 'polluted' by the very different and distinct dialect spoken there, I lost a little bit of the magic and wonder I've always had about the place.  Going to Cairo became an inevitable visit rather than a true dream destination like it had been throughout my childhood.  It's the same way you start to take things for granted after awhile when they once seemed wondrous and novel.  Whenever I've moved somewhere and been struck by the beauty or excitement or potential of a place, I've vowed not to take it for granted, but it always ends up happening.  I think this is what happened to Egypt.  (I also think that spending a year learning about a volatile region and talking daily about the comparatively unstable situations in other Middle Eastern countries has desensitized me somewhat, wherein Egypt became a tame alternative to places like Iraq or Yemen.)

So when the opportunity to attend a great conference in Cairo came up, I was excited to go but not overly so.  (Frankly, I was more excited about the prospect of staying in a fancy hotel for a week and getting another stamp in my passport...)  But after spending all of yesterday frantically planning my last-minute trip and much of today getting caught up enough to be able to go, it was time to relax and start planning.  I am bookending two weekends, so I'll end up having a couple of free days to explore.  One of my friends/classmates from my DC training days has graciously agreed to host me for the few nights I'm not on per diem, and I'm thrilled to see her again and compare our first months at post.  So that's a very exciting part of my visit.  But what else to do?  And that's when it hit me.

I'm going to CAIRO!  EGYPT!  A place I have learned and read about from the time I was old enough to remember.  How on earth could I not be stay-up-all-night-in-anticipation, first visit to Disney World, Christmas Eve excited for this!?  So after spending a day thinking, planning, reading, now I am :-).  I have a list of things I want to do/see on this trip (Giza Pyramids, Sphinx, Khan-al-Khalili, Blue Mosque, Nile boat ride, etc.) as well as a backup list of many many other things for the next visit (and there will definitely be a next visit).  There's so much to do and see that I have to accept I can't see it all this week.  The conference also has a couple of activities planned, including a visit to a UNESCO World Heritage site called Valley of the Whales, to which I'm very much looking forward. 

So I'm currently doing laundry, packing, and planning for tomorrow's departure.  The kittens have still not quite gotten over the trauma of me being gone for a few days this week, but they'll be in very capable hands with my housekeeper.  A short two-hour flight tomorrow, and I'll be retracing the paths of the Pharaohs.  Stories and pictures to follow!

Country Music in the Kingdom

I try to keep this blog about my personal life, but I have to add in a quick work-related story.  (This also explains why I haven't had time to blog this week.)  This week the Kingdom's three posts hosted a country music band from the US, Thom Shepherd & the Nashville Songwriters.  Their performance was my first event, and, needless to say, I spent much of the Eid week worrying and planning and what-if-ing.  I was control officer for the band, which involves pre-planning and logistics as well as escorting them and facilitating everything during their stay.  As soon as they arrived at the airport with all their luggage, I breathed a big sigh of relief, and everything went swimmingly from there.  The performance was amazing, and guests, musicians, and our staff all had a wonderful time.  The band has been blogging and taking lots of wonderful photos and video, so please visit their site to learn more (http://jerryv-backtosaudiarabia.blogspot.com).  I of course owe the lion's share of the credit to my amazing colleagues, who also put in countless hours to make this a successful program.  The band is having a similarly great time touring the rest of the Kingdom right now!  So the short version of the story is that I truly have one of the greatest jobs in the world, getting to meet wonderful people like these and contribute to cultural exchange in a myriad of ways.  I've gotten lots of email, phone, and verbal responses to the concert, which have all been overwhelmingly positive and excited.  Here's to many, many more wonderful events!

Eid and Adjustment

Well, I've been in Jeddah for a month now.  I've experienced some highs and lows, as is to be expected, and I'm seeing glimpses of the trough of cultural adjustment on the continuum, though I am still in the honeymoon phase.  I had such a tragic entrance to Saudi that I wonder if my continuum will be different than usual.  I miss Hattie every day, some days painfully so, perhaps partly because living with the kittens is so different from living with my very well-adjusted, calm dog.  My daily routine is very different as I don't have to schedule walks and ensure I'm not gone from home too long.  Living abroad this time is different, also, because I still have a lot of the creature comforts of home (US mail, US work environment, logistical assistance) and because I have internet at home.  While it's not the best or fastest internet, it still allows me to skype and call home and watch Netflix. 

The two things that are starting to irritate me, signaling a downward phase of cultural adjustment, are the abaya and not being able to drive.  I've experimented a couple times not wearing the abaya (or wearing it open, or tying it around my waist) with no problems, though I'll have to continue to test the waters.  As for not driving, it's hard.  Even though I can almost always get a driver and car to go anywhere I need to when I want to go, there's less spontaneity in my life these days.  Every little trip requires at least some forethought and planning.  I also miss being alone in the car; that's always been where I've done a lot of thinking and reflecting.  There's nothing I can do about it, and I'll make the most of it and come to a happy medium, but I expected the novelty of having a driver to last a bit longer.  I'm not complaining, just commenting.  I knew what I was in for, but it's a bit more of a pain than I anticipated. 

Interestingly, because my work life contains a lot of long-range planning, two years seems very short.  In the past when I've lived abroad, six months feels like it could stretch out for years, but now I'm actually wondering how I'll manage to schedule vacations...  I'll manage, of course, but there's just so much to think about and plan for.

Today is day three of a nine-day vacation for Eid al-Fitr.  Ramadan is finally over, so I am getting a glimpse now of 'real' Saudi Arabia, not the modified Ramadan version.  You're allowed to eat and drink during the daytime, stores and restaurants have normal hours, and people are coming back from long summer holidays.  I received my residency permit and exit visa right before Eid, which means I can now leave the country; I do wish, though, that I'd known ahead of time I'd have travel availability so I could have planned a trip.  Oh well.  There will be plenty of opportunity to travel over the next two years.

I am making the most of the holiday and getting back into one of my favorite hobbies - diving!  I got certified in South Africa several years ago, but the last couple years have been devoid of any diving.  I did a quick refresher course the other day and then did a day-long boat trip with three dives yesterday.  Tomorrow is a half-day trip with two dives, and I may go for another day later in the week if I'm feeling up to it.  The diving here is wonderful, though at least for the few dives I've been on, it's not quite as spectacular as I thought it would be.  I think in some lesser-traveled places the coral will be more vibrant.  Or maybe diving French Polynesia spoiled me for life...  Still, I can't complain.  Abundant, accessible reefs with ample sea life, as well as many wrecks are all in easy reach.  Yesterday I saw a giant puffer fish and a blue-spotted sting ray, along with dozens of beautiful tropical fish species.  I am a sucker for rays, so I was thrilled. 

The dive conditions are wonderful.  I'm going through a company that was recommended to me by colleagues, and it has surpassed expectations.  The staff, crews, and instructors are professional, courteous, accommodating, and encouraging; the dive boats are well-equipped; the rental gear is in good shape; prices are reasonable; and the atmosphere is relaxed and fun.  The water is amazingly warm, almost hot, and a wetsuit isn't necessary.  The water is beautiful, though visibility is poorer than I would have expected. 

My kittens finally have names - Griffin (gray) and Callaghan (white).  Their lives have not changed a bit since this happened, of course.  I just don't feel like a bad pet owner anymore.  We're settling in to a nice routine, though I am still frustrated at not being able to keep them off of surfaces like tables and counters.  I need to get a water gun...  They're happy, cuddly, playful, and furry, so life is good. 

Anyway, time to get a good night's sleep before another boat adventure.  I love living next to the water again.  Maybe over the next two years I'll progress from pasty white to slightly less white.  A tan is too much to ask of my sensitive skin, I think, and the price of getting one (horrific sunburns) is too high.  So SPF 85+ for me it is! 

Tropical Paradise and Balad Redux

It's vacation season here in the Kingdom.  Unlike most of my colleagues and neighbors, however, I cannot use the several long weekends as well as the upcoming one-week break for traveling, as my residency permit and multiple entry visa are still not ready.  I really shouldn't complain - I have a lot of time off in a fascinating foreign place - but I'm jealous of the far-flung destinations others are going to.

So what do I do instead?  Explore!  This past 3-day weekend, several friends came to visit from another KSA city.  Their expectations were quite low (all they asked for was beach and Al Baik, the local KFC-like chain), so we started from there.  As you might expect, Saudi laws and culture do not mesh with beach culture, so public beaches are not really available.  Instead, and ingeniously, hotels and private clubs buy up beachfront property, wall it off, and only allow entry to an exclusive group of patrons.  You can buy membership (at a high price), ou can pay entry at the hotels and share the beach with tourists, or you can be invited by beach club members as guests.  We did the latter.  We still paid an entrance fee (a relatively steep $25), but it was well worth it.  Once you enter the gates, you're transported to paradise.  The beaches are sandy and pristine; the water is deep aqua and heavenly; and there are plenty of palm trees, loungers, and umbrellas.  Plus there's even a snack bar operating during Ramadan!  One of my colleagues and her husband own a share in this particular beach club, which also gets them use of a cabin.  So we had a kitchen, bathroom, and covered deck for lounging.  There was even a man-made island covered with palm trees that you could swim out to.  I felt like I was in the Caribbean or somewhere similar.  It was amazing.  The water was VERY warm, even hot, but it felt so luxurious to just float in the Red Sea.  We played beach volleyball and petanque, listened to music, and grilled all afternoon/evening.  A perfect day.  Amazingly, the humidity was kept at bay by a sea breeze, so the weather was tolerable - enjoyable, even.  I knew about the private beaches before getting here, but this one exceeded all of my expectations.  A little slice of tropical paradise, only 30 minutes north of Jeddah.

The rest of the weekend was filled with lots of relaxing and napping, a bit of textile shopping (apparently thobes and abayas are cheaper in Jeddah), eating, and exploring.  A couple of my colleagues arranged for some friends/contacts to take use around Balad, this time in the evening.  We started out with a hotel iftar and moved on to the famous Nassif House for a private tour.  Nassif House, detailed in a previous post, is fascinating inside as well as out.  It's several stories high, with winding staircases, mazes of rooms, and plenty of amazing artifacts.  The stairways on the first few levels are very wide and have short, long steps - to accommodate camels of course!  It was great to see the mashrabiya from the inside, to experience where King Abdelaziz lived in the beginning of KSA's modern history, and to marvel at the architecture.  We ended our tour at the top of the house, where a wooden room (akin to a New England widow's walk), open to the elements with windows all around, offers perhaps the best view of the city.  We arrived at the top just in time for the adhaan for isha, the call to prayer for the evening prayer.  From that vantage point we could hear dozens of mosques, and the eerie but beautiful sounds echoed and beckoned to the city's faithful.  We relaxed and had tea - a beautiful evening.  Following that, we toured another older home in Balad, visited a 500-year old water cistern, and experienced this area of the city at night.  One of my favorite scenes was observing a sleeping butcher, sprawled out on the counter so he seemingly lined up with hanging slabs of meat.  My photos are blurry, but I'll try to post anyway.  (We also had iftar at Nassif House last night, so I was able to get some daylight pictures of Jeddah as well.)

Hot, exhausted, but satisfied, we all slept well that night.  The final day was a chance to relax, eat Al Baik, and bid farewell to our friends.  Several of us ended the evening with yet another iftar, this time at a hip downtown restaurant.  It lived up to its reputation with amazing food and even better ambience.  We relaxed on low couches and chairs piled with pillows.  Every meal should be that comfortable!

I'm now halfway through a short work week, with nine days off to look forward to.  I plan to unpack, settle in a bit more, relax, do some shopping, and go diving!  I am so excited to get back into one of my favorite activities; the diving here is affordable and extraordinary.  I am hoping to go 2-3 times next week. 

In other news, one of the cats now has a name!  Gray kitten is now known as Griffin.  No name yet for white kitten; I feel I'm close to deciding, though.  Stay tuned...

(One of these days I'll learn how to properly load pictures and arrange them in posts.  Until then, bear with me.)

Kittens!

My actual postings this week have been far fewer than my intended ones, but it's been a busy week.  I will spend some time in the next few days detailing some of my adventures; there have been a lot of work functions that have literally kept me out all hours, so I haven't had time to write. 

The big news is that I am once again a pet owner.  Stray cats are unfortunately endemic in the Kingdom.  A colleague of mine, the local cat rescue guru, introduced me to a local expat woman who has taken in literally hundreds of strays over time.  She spays and neuters them all, gets them vet care, feeds and cares for them, and tries to find good homes.  She's quite amazing.  There were dozens of beautiful cats to choose from, but I fell in love with a pair of adolescent kittens.  These two cats came in at different times but were hand-raised in the house and have become best friends.  One is a medium-hair white male with a gray V on his head; the other is a long-hair gray male with deep amber eyes.  They are roughly 6 months and 8 months old, respectively.  I took them to the vet last night and got a pronouncement of good health, aside from the expected ear mites. 

These two little guys are cuddly, playful, affectionate, and curious.  Everything cats should be.  They do not, however, have names yet.  I have spent almost a week scouring baby name sites, newspapers, film synopses, and books, and picking the brains of friends, family, and colleagues, but nothing quite works.  Everyone laughs at me, but the right names will come along.  I've tried out and discarded literally hundreds of names for each of them.  The vet laughed but agreed that I didn't need to rush it. 

So, I have two balls of fur to come home to every day.  They do not come close to replacing Hattie, but they represent a new chapter of life, and I love and adore them.  I thought that having them would help with the grieving process, but it's actually set me back a bit.  It may have been a bit soon, but I wouldn't trade these little guys for anything.  At least now if I need to cry, I can hug a kitten while doing it.  They have adapted to life in the apartment; they even have their own room.   The white one likes to hang out in the bathtub, and the gray one has claimed the top of the refrigerator.  It's nice to have these bundles of energy to play with.

I'm off to bed after a long, full day.  I have friends coming in from another Saudi city for the weekend (which starts after work tomorrow), so it'll be a lot of fun to hang out, catch up, go to the beach, and see the sights.  I love three-day weekends!