Highs and Lows

Highs and lows

This place is exceedingly isolating! A colleague summed it up for me by saying that the difference between home with your family, and being here alone, is that here, when you go home, there is no one to go home to – it is empty. After 25 years of living with someone, this part of being here really ‘bites!’

I was planning and started the process for our two children to come for a visit. They were to fly to Dubai where I would meet them, we would visit old friends there for a week and then travel on to KAUST. Upon attempting to find affordable flights from Edmonton Alberta, we realized that a two week holiday with a price tag of over CDN $5000.00 was unacceptable, so those plans have been shelved. Onto more positive news, our plans for Garnet to live with me next academic year are still in the works.

Speed-taxi

A week ago I traveled into Jeddah, again using a KAUST taxi, and on the way I noticed that where there used to be bare sand, open space and dirt fields, a velvet patchwork of green from the recent rains now covers the area. It is nice to see the thorn bushes that sprinkle these open expanses have leaves now too.

The taxi trip was a panic… in a negative sense! The driver was one of those people who are really placid while away from the wheel, but look out when they start to drive! I suspect his easy-going nature is how he got the job… nice guy in an interview, just don’t put him behind the wheel. This guy was really impatient and reached speeds of over 180 km/h (where the speedometer stopped). We tried to tell him that we were not in a rush a number of times and he would slow down a bit and then forget and away we would go again. The guy knew no English which was frustrating although he knew how to get around -- we received many angry looks from other drivers as this guy cut them off and burnt a strip through Jeddah traffic. I could have got whiplash from the accelerator/breaking he was doing as he whipped in and out to pass people! Whew! We made it home anyway and that was our main goal after we realized how the trip was going to play out. From now on I am going to ensure I ask for an English speaking driver so that we can express ourselves better.

Arindam and I now have tennis rackets, purchased on the Jeddah-speed-trip. We got out for a bit of ‘chase-the-ball’ the other night and I realize that there is a lot of room for improvement. It is good to know one’s limitations. I can honestly tell you I do not know: the size of my racquet, how TO hit the ball, how HARD to hit the ball and the rules, but do know that I am out of shape. 8-)

Domestic Planning: aka, what to eat because I am hungry

Monitoring my behavior is helping me to plan my meals. Don't know if this is a ‘guy’ thing or just me, but I find that I can plan my meals more effectively if I leave all the cupboards open so that I can see what is in them. When I see the ingredients I automatically scan my thoughts for what I want to eat even if I am not hungry. I can then plan what I need to purchase ahead of time. A number of times now, I have been able to plan ahead because I unconsciously scanned the cupboards in the morning and that seemed to plant a seed of an idea so that on the way home on my bike I dropped in at the store and picked up some fresh fish to have with the rice that was sitting in the sack in the cupboard. 8-) I am wondering if it might even be a better idea to remove the doors completely! I wonder if I have stumbled upon the ultimate 'man-kitchen;' a gender specific ‘open-concept’ man-kitchen.

Bike License again

This past week I went out again in the ongoing process of acquiring a motorcycle license. Each time I go, I travel with a few other people and the Government Affairs people from KAUST who are the ‘facilitators’ and translators to help us expats with the fluid laws and rules. This time I was with two other people, one getting their motorcycle license from the beginning of the process and another their car licenses so I have to go through the WHOLE thing all over again – this time just sitting and waiting at the different offices we visit. We visited the medical clinic for blood and vision, the administration police station for another eye exam, the driving school for license translation and payment of fees and a few other rooms for stamps and finally to the local police station prison where we were fingerprinted. Somehow motorcyclists are given extra attention and have to get fingerprinted like the other common criminals that were being cycled in and out of the station's prison holding cells. We walked into the building and there was a handcuffed person standing in the middle of an empty room which we had to pass through. Along the walls were armored doors with small grated windows. Inside I glimpsed people standing or sleeping against the walls. We got to the final stop for the day and the call for prayer happened which left us sitting in an empty room while everyone left for a half hour. One has to maintain their patience when working though government processes; it all happens eventually. We started the day at 9 am. and we got back to the university at 3:30. I believe I still have to wait for a few weeks – but no one actually knows! I will visit the Government Affairs office in a few days and make sure that they remember me. 8-)