The long and winding road

by Brian Stirling Saturday, November 07, 2015 2 comments

It's a few days in now so it's probably about time to say a few words about how it's gone so far. 

My lobster, scallop, and salmon
appetizer. Impressive!

Up at 5 am I was dutifully accompanied to the airport by Paula and Leah, probably to bid a fond farewell but possibly to ensure that I actually did leave! As I've mentioned on fb I flew business class which was pretty sweet, especially on the 11,000 km 13.5 hr flight from Toronto to Riyadh with a brief stop in Jedda (also in Saudi Arabia). Power reclining leather seats that fold into a bed, big screen TV and swanky meals were all very impressive! What was really puzzling though was that I ordered the grilled lamb for supper but ended up with some mystery meat rice dish. I suppose it could've been lamb, but I couldn't find anything on the menu that resembled what I got! Good thing I'm not picky like Leah, 'cause down the hatch it went!

Anyway, suitably fattened up for landing we touched down in Jedda and most of the

No jetway for you, take the stairs! The view from the
door of our plane.

passengers got off. There's no covered walkway like in Canada you just walk down some stairs and get on a bus. (I guess they don't have our weather but what about sandstorms?) Us remaining passengers patiently wait for the continuation of our journey to Riyadh and after a while the pilot announces "get off, there's something wrong with the plane" but in a nicer way like airlines do. They say they'll put us on another plane so we get off and take a bus to the terminal only to find that nobody there had even the slightest clue what to do with us. We ended up getting shunted around for a few hours, through security, back out of security then back through security again. A few of the Saudi passengers decided they'd enough and demanded some progress which I certainly appreciated! Eventually the army showed up to help manage the "catastrophe" and we were processed and sent on our way. Honestly, it was a real snafu for sure. I was beginning to wonder if we'd end up like Tom Hanks in "The Terminal", movie where he ends up living at JFK for 9 months! 

Knowing there was only about 30 of us to go to Riyadh I expected to be put on some puddle jumper for the hour or so flight. Nope, that's not how it's done here I guess. They put our 30 peeps on one of the spare 777's (which holds about 450) that were sitting parked on the apron and lifted us off into the wild blue yonder! Not only that but there was a full breakfast service again! OK, sure they screwed up the first part but they sure pulled out all the stops once they got us going! I finally pulled into Riyadh, exhausted and cranky, a mere 24 hours after waking up in Winnipeg! 

My new boss was waiting for me and thankfully took me to my new digs, a villa in the Al Waha compound where most of our staff here in Saudi stay. Helping me in with my bags he says "wanna go for dinner?" so I say "sure!" of course. He says, "good, have a nap, get cleaned up and I'll be back to get you at 4:30". "No problem I say, what time is it now?" to which he replies, "3:45". OK, that sleep I've been dreaming about the last 26 hrs now will have to wait! "There's plenty of time to sleep when you're dead!" as they say!

So we go out for dinner to the Steakhouse (which I thought was Outback Steakhouse, but no) but show up just in time for Mahgrib, the sunset prayer. There are five of these prayer times in a day and there's even an app to tell you when they are because they change constantly. In KSA by law businesses must close to allow employees time to pray. So we had to wait outside until prayer was done, then we could get in. If you're already in a restaurant or store you can stay, but you can't check out or get service until prayer is done.

It was the same thing when we went for groceries. I was meandering the isles of the Safeway brand Tamimi Markets when my friend came up and says, "got everything you need?". I was only half way through the store but if we didn't go check out right then we would essentially be trapped until Mahgrib ended because we wouldn't be allowed to check out and go. It's different for sure, but it's the way it is here, you have to just go with it.

Speaking of prayer, I guess there's to be a mosque within 1800 m of any population. It's also the standard to call people to prayer at each of these times (starting at 4:44 am today) and the best way in a big city is loudspeakers! So, five times a day you can hear the call to prayer blasted all over the city. I don't really notice it in my villa but I suppose it would get on some people's nerves.

Well, that's enough for now. My Sunday is the western worlds Monday since the weekend is Fri/Sat here. So I'll be up early to go earn my keep! Another day, another 3.5 Saudi Riyals as they say. OK, maybe they don't say that.