My 4 month anniversary is quickly approaching, and the rest of the family has been here almost 2 months. There have been so many changes and adaptations in this short time.
Driving is getting easier. Many things that would greatly offend me and send me over the edge in the States now simply elicit a smile and head shake. This is an ulcer-avoidance requirement. It also helps if I leave before 6 a.m. and stay at work until 4:30 or later. The weekends…well, I’ve got the family in the car to temper my temper. One thing that still cracks me up is the fact that every time I’m worried about beating a red light, I look in my rear-view mirror to see no less than 6 cars come behind me. Reminds me of the old joke with the punchline, “My brother might be coming.” I do count to 3 (or 10) and cautiously proceed into the intersection when I get a green light.
The first few weeks involved discovering a lot of new restaurants and shopping places. We took the same drive that I took along the Red Sea and visited the Corniche.
The restaurants have been a mix of great to mildly disappointing, but the experiences at each has been very memorable. They are all family style, so we’ve learned what we should order as a family to prevent too much waste. As you can see from the pictures, the family sections are all enclosed areas. This bit of privacy is nice. The intent is for the Muslim women to be able to remove their hijab/niqab while eating in the presence of family but not be seen by strangers. Most nice restaurants have the family section upstairs. Many of the smaller and older restaurants and quick serve places are singles only. Most of the newer fast food places (Hardees, KFC, McDonalds, Al-Baik) have family sections with curtained off booths. Did I mention Al-Baik? Good stuff, and the Saudis treat it like we treat Chik-Fil-A. It’s always packed and the food is always good (at least the 2 times we have been). I had actually avoided the place until the family arrived because the singles line can turn into a mosh pit pretty quickly. Overall, we have enjoyed the new foods, and the kids have been willing to try everything.
Sampling of different foods. We haven’t done a very good job of documenting all the new things, but will add more with each post.
The process to get the iqamas for the family is similar to mine. I haven’t been in a rush, since we have 90 days to complete. I arranged the medical appointments through work and took them on a Tuesday morning. We arrived soon after 8 a.m. to the small Polyclinic, where the crowd is smaller and your risk for administrative issues is greater. It’s a trade-off. The other option is the Royal Commission Hospital, with bigger crowds and hide-and-go-seek rooms.
The process is straight-forward; vitals, doctor evaluation, x-rays, blood draw, urine and stool samples. With the smaller clinic, they ran through in series rather than parallel. This added to the total time, but things were going smoothly until x-ray time. The x-ray tech had not shown up to work by 9, so the staff called him and told us 10 minutes, Inshallah. 20 minutes later he arrived and we began sending everyone through.
Cade went first and had no problems. Drew went next. I stayed with her, mainly because the male x-ray tech was uncomfortable being in the room alone with her. She had to remove her abaya and cover up with a hospital gown in a small corner which was curtained off. I positioned her (because the male x-ra…ya know) and stepped behind the wall while he took the x-ray. Next came Macy. Macy had a little more prep time since the underwire would interfere (Drew rubbed it in that she chose a sports bra that day). Greene stepped in to help her with the gown. Once they were finished, I positioned Macy and stepped back behind the wall. Blackness. Complete and utter blackness. The power had gone out. I pulled out my phone and fired the flashlight up. I pulled Macy over to me and opened the door to let some of the daylight and emergency lighting from the hall into the room. Greene went in with her and got her back into the abaya by the light of the phone.
We waited for about 20 minutes in the hopes that the power would return, but the staff said it could be well into the afternoon. So we headed to the hospital. Locating the correct location is usually not the priority for us here…it’s usually locating someone we can half-way communicate with. We came in a secondary door, so the first two gentlemen we encountered were as good with English as we are with Arabic. They did locate another gentlemen who took us to the x-ray area. Cade and I waited in the men’s section while the girls waited in the women’s section. The computer systems were working flawlessly, so they had confirmation that Macy and Greene were the only ones needing x-rays.
They were soon done and we headed out to look for the labs. Another segregated area. The women’s services are provided in a separate wing. We walked in circles for a bit before finding the correct Take-A-Number station for lab work. The girls were finished pretty quickly. When it came time for them to provide their last samples, I left them and took Cade to the men’s lab to do blood work. There was no waiting, so he hopped up in the chair like there was nothing to it. The tech did a good job and Cade never flinched as the needle went in. At least outwardly.
We walked down the hall with his various sample bottles. The bathroom door was locked, so we stood outside waiting. I was telling him how well he did and he said, “Dad, I think they took to much blood.” “Why’s that?” “I’m feeling kinda dizzy.” “Let’s go sit down.”
Blackness. Complete and utter blackness. I had started to walk to some benches with Cade and he slowly faded out. I had been holding onto him when he complained about being dizzy, so I was able to lower him to the ground. The lab techs and a few other guys were there within seconds and carried him to the blood donation room. They gave him some juice and suggested we get him checked at the E.R. Once he was feeling better, we were escorted to the E.R. and the triage nurse took some vitals. His blood sugar was a little low, so the nurse told me to have him drink more juice and she would check it again. I went back to get more juice. After drinking and waiting, his levels were normal and he was acting normal. The techs and nurses did a great job caring for Cade. The nurse avoided opening a file, which would have led to delays and insurance charges.
So of course during all of this, I had to let Greene know that Cade had passed out. It began with, “Don’t freak out…” but what else is she going to do while separated from her son who just lost consciousness.
Without any graphic details, the samples proved more difficult than anticipated for some, but the timing was perfect (They had found a bathroom next to the Ob-Gyn with a single stall. They were being pressured by increasingly frustrated pregnant ladies, which only added stress to the task at hand. The only way they could communicate was to hold up the empty sample bottles as an explanation. All while texting her husband caring for her son in the E.R.). They all finished about the same time, which was about 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Six hours to accomplish what would normally take two hours in the States. That’s living on Saudi time, it will be done, Inshallah. Patience is learned very quickly, and we will all be the better for it.
The rom-com montage (accompanied by your favorite 80’s chart-topper).
You Have Mail! Having set up a P.O. box, I kept expecting to get notified when mail arrived. I was mistaken. We knew we had some mail on the way and expected to wait a few weeks for it to arrive. When it stretched out, we decided to make the trek downtown to check on it.
I have a bit of Bugs Bunny strategery when I need to get things done. The sight of a bare head has one of two effects in places of business. The workers either rush through the transaction to get the temptation away as soon as possible, or they make every effort possible to make a favorable impression while stealing furtive glances. Either way, great service. So I shamelessly use Greene in these situations. I at first told her to sit tight while I went into the post office, then thought better.
We walked into the front and stood around for a bit looking lost. Well, not just looking. I noticed people entering and exiting through a door to the left with packages and mail, so I rounded the corner and saw the boxes down the corridor. There was a window with two gentlemen behind it working with customers to deliver packages. I joined the mob with Greene behind me. One of the two guys behind the counter looked at me and I asked about our P.O. box. He looked at me, then looked at Greene and went into favorable impression mode. He typed into the computer and located my information. He then called a young guy over and gave him some instructions in Arabic. The young guy then asked us to follow him.
We went up 3 flights of stairs to another office. The older gentleman was just entering the office, and the young guy conversed in Arabic about what we needed. The older gent looked at me and looked disinterested. (This is where I am told to come back tomorrow, they can help me then, Inshallah). Then he looked at Greene. Yep, we’re getting our key today.
The young guy said, “5 minutes” and took us down to the ground floor on the elevator. 2 minutes later, the older gentlemen showed up and led us back up the 3 flights of stairs. I was chuckling the whole time, while Greene was chuckling and gasping because she was dealing with a bit of a head cold. We were both struggling to keep from laughing out loud, since it could easily be misunderstood by the gentleman helping us.
He brought us into a room with two other guys. They asked me the number, and I replied 2081. About six times. They looked on the wall, full of keys. They looked for about 5 minutes, then asked for the number again. 2.0.8.1. They repeated back to me. 2.0.8.1. Looked again. No dice. They asked me to write it down. 2081. Oh, 2081. Here’s the key.
I showed some identification, signed a log sheet, and was given my key. We headed back down the stairs to the boxes and located our box in short order. We could see several letters through the perforated metal door. It felt great to get mail, to hold something that you know your loved ones held previously. Technology is great, but it’s not tangible.
We talked on the way home about how incredible mail must have been when it was the only method of long distance communication. It’s still great, and everyone who takes time to send something can be assured they will get a little piece of Saudi Arabia in return!
Macy has taken up volleyball, and with her athletic ability and tenacity when taking on new challenges, has already made quite the impression. Cade has taken to the soccer field and enjoyed it more than he ever thought he would. I’m proud of the challenges they have already accepted and conquered. They have settled in nicely and we think the environment is going to be perfect for them to learn about other cultures and grow as individuals.
Drew has developed a good routine. She volunteers at the school three days out of the week. She has started working with a personal trainer here on site, and goes with Greene on bus trips for shopping on the days they have together. She is doing great with her classes and is looking forward to increasing her course load in the upcoming mini term and spring. She has started researching possibilities for university, mainly focusing on Europe. We will see how that progresses, but her confidence and responsibility have grown exponentially in the short time here.
Greene has enjoyed meeting new people here and throughout Yanbu. She attended a Breast Cancer Awareness luncheon at The Cove, another compound in Yanbu Al Sinaiyah. PTO is getting started back and it seems to be building into a very active organization. She’s learning Arabic from Cade and Macy. She’s planned a trip to Dubai for the middle of November, so stay tuned for her post after that trip.
Though mail is great for other reasons, we do have fun with Skype and FaceTime.
We will purchase an SUV soon, and look forward to beach and mountain trips when we have room for the family and gear. There are several day/weekend trips on the itinerary that we will share, including Nabataean ruins, a T.E. Lawrence house, craters and dune-bashing.
From Tennessee To Texas to Saudi Arabia 