Saturday, September 25, 2010

Masalama-Adios-Goodbye Saudi

Yesterday was my last day of work before.....VACATION!! Tomorrow I leave for Amman Jordan. See ya'll in a couple weeks. Am sure I will have tons to blog about when I get back. Am really looking forward to floating in the Dead Sea, touring Petra, riding camels, and rounding out the trip with a couple Kiwi's in Beirut! Later xoxo

Monday, September 20, 2010

Syrian Embassy Take 4

So 4 trips later I finally have a Syrian Visa in my hot little passport. This was no easy feat. This last month has been jam packed with Muslim holidays, and as a result embassy hours have been pretty much non -existent. The Syrian embassy in Riyadh has a website that is only in Arabic. I had a guy I work with translate the page, but the website has no information about visa requirements for tourists, however it does offer information on how to get your maid a visa. Not especially helpful since I wasn't planning on bringing her :) Anyways today I showed up at the embassy- and this is probably near the top of the most uncomfortable experiences in my recent time. Picture this- me and my blond hair are the only westerner and woman in this place. Nothing like 100 sets of gawking eyes to make a girl feel slightly out of place. Luckily the visa line-up was super short, but when I got to the front of the line the nice little man asked where my letter was?? Apparently, I needed a permission form from the hospital, and they also needed to know my salary. Pain in the ass- back to the hospital to get requested letter, back to embassy. More staring. It sorta felt like I was wearing a tube top and mini skirt, and not the head to toe black abaya that I actually had on! This time though after much persistence my visa was processed. Syria here I come!!! The count down to my next holiday is on- on Sunday I fly to Amman to meet my old mate Jen for a Jordanian tour, then we'll cross into Syria, then end the holiday in Beirut!! Party, party, party!!!

Air Force Ball

So- got an invite to go to the Air Force Ball the other night. For those of you who know me, you know that I'm not a huge dress-up girl. More of a jeans and cute top kinda girl really. But I do heart boys in uniforms, and I had a dress that I needed an excuse to wear, so naturally I was in!! The last event I can liken this to was probably my high school graduation and this was close to a hundred years ago.

My hot date was my lovely Kiwi friend from work. We got dolled up, and waited for our Saudi version of a limo (2002 toyota corolla) driven by my trusty driver Chandoo. On route to the Ball we witnessed a group of men in the back of a partially covered truck light off a firecracker inside the truck going 100km on the highway. Seriously people- lets think about this??? Thankfully we were a couple cars behind, and were able to avoid this stupidness.

The Ball was great- more of a "to do" than expected. Lots of hand shaking, booty shaking, and good-looking all American Boys in uniforms. I have another Ball next month at the Canadian Embassy- oh the life of a nurse in Saudi!!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Saudi Arabia takes #1 spot

.......in deaths related to road accidents over any other country in the world. I have read that in Riyadh alone- 16 people die everyday. Driving here is not to be taken lightly. Not that I have the option- since as a person with female parts I am banned from driving anyways. Would I drive here even if I could??? Hells NO- my reflexes are way too slow for this shit. Almost every time I leave the compound with a driver I have a "oh shit" moment. I have become a very religious person in the car- I also cross my fingers for good luck (so far this has worked!!)

Let me say that I have seen some crazy stuff. It is a regular thing to see cars crumpled and flipped onto their roof on the side of the road- it isn't uncommon to see more than one in an outing. Seat belts are not encouraged or required here. It is supper common to see a man driving on the highway with a small child on his lap- say a 2 year old, and guess who's hands are actually steering the car??? Before I came here I had read a book with a joke that is popular amongst ex-pats- the joke goes- "What do you call a Saudi airbag?" ......a 2 year old. Sad, but actually true.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJupNDIKkEk

Saturday, September 11, 2010

9-11

So I was more than relieved to hear that the redneck preacher in Florida has decided not to burn the Qur'an today- and hopefully not ever! Its really quite a scary scenario to be a westerner living in a Muslim country if something like this had happened. Anyways, I will spend today remembering all those that died 9 years ago.

Syrian Embassy Take 1

So the other day I attempted to obtain my Syrian visa for my upcoming trip. Stupidly I forgot 2 important things: it was still Ramadan, and my Arabic is still shit. All the embassies in Riyadh are located in the DQ (Diplomatic Quarter) and one must pass through security checkpoints in order to get into the area. Riyadh is pretty great in that all the embassies are located here- it is an ideal place to travel from, and makes getting a visa pretty easy. Unfortunately, the Syrian embassy was not operating under regular embassy hours. My driver had dropped me off outside the embassy, and gone to park the car before I realized that they weren't going to let me in. The security man outside just get shaking his head and yelling at me in Arabic. I kept pointing at my wrist miming my absent wristwatch and then rising my shoulders up trying to convey the universal sign for "what time are they open?" More Arabic yelling- more confusion on my part. Luckily, my Indian driver Chandoo speaks decent English so I passed my mobile phone to the angry man to figure it out. It is now currently Eid and all embassies are closed down until the 14th, so I will have to attempt this again- I'm sure it will be more eventful than this trip!!!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Where does the time go??

Time here in the desert is a funny thing. Sometimes it passes very quickly while at other times it feels much longer than it actually has been. I just hit my 4 month mark here, and in many ways it feels much longer than that. I have done a lot in the last 4 months- Jeddah, Bahrain, Hungary, Austria. Maybe time passes weirdly here because its hard to really live in the moment. Seems like you're always on the count down- 3 shift left this week, 21 days till my next vacation, 7 months left till my contract is done etc etc. 

So with 21 days left till I go to Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon- I am off to the Syrian Embassy tomorrow (inshallah) to get my visa. Hopefully my blond hair will work its wonders and get me to the front of the line!!!!

Freedom in the form of Budapest and Vienna

So this past week I got a much needed taste of freedom, and did a little traveling. One of my desert friends (a Kiwi that I work with) found cheap tickets to Budapest last month, and had been counting down the days till our vacation began. We worked our regular 3 shifts and then had a 3am flight to Cairo. We were scheduled to have a 6 hour lay-over in Cairo, so we hoped on a 3 hour city tour to see the sights!! Was a great idea- went to the pyramids, the sphinx, drove thru the city, and ended with a tour of a local perfumery. I am scheduled to go back to Egypt in November when an old traveling friend of mine will be meeting me there, and I can't wait to get back!!

We then had a shorter flight into Budapest. I have really got to do something about this fear of flying- meds seem to help a little, but I'm pretty sure my travel companions do not like to have to hold my hand. I'm also pretty sure that my death grip on the arm rails while rocking back and forth praying might make other passengers nervous. Anyone know of a good hypnotist in Saudi Arabia??

We arrived in Budapest safe and sound, and checked into a small hostel on the Pest side of the city. People on this side of the Danube were not so friendly (maybe they thought we were American?? Just kidding!) We did have a delicious meal that 1st night, and some great wine- so rudeness really didn't matter anyways!
The Opera House in Budapest
St Stephen's Basilica
Inside the Basilica
View of the Parliament from the Danube
After 2 nights in Budapest we traveled by train to Vienna.
Vienna was lovely- the people so friendly- going out of their way to give us directions. The weather was less than ideal though. We went from temps in the 40-50C in Saudi to 15-20C in Vienna. It was cold, windy, and rainy. We made the best of it- and tried to stay dry!
Schonbrunn Palace
After 2 days in the cold and rain we headed back to Budapest. We checked into a lovely boutique hotel, and the weather was perfect. We toured the Castle District and went for a dip in the Gellert Baths.

It's funny the things I took for granted before I lost my freedom in this desert. I miss walking outside- here its too hot, and there aren't sidewalks conducive to walking. I miss wearing a sweater, sitting at a cafe, drinking wine. I miss the change of season, being able to take photos without the fear of being yelled at. Prior to this trip I bought a new camera, and I had a great time playing with it, and trying the numerous settings it has. It took amazing night shots- here are a few of the Danube river in Budapest:
So after a week away I brought something back that I wish I hadn't- a damn summer cold. Have been off sick the last 2 nights. On a work note- someone decided that after nearly 4 months of being here I was competent enough to be left in charge of the unit?? I am proud to report that everyone was alive and kicking when my shifts were over- phewww!!!