My sister in law is spenidng a week in Riyadh, visiting us and the city. Here are her first impressions...
Well, friends, I'm spending my quarter break in Saudi Arabia to visit my brother and his family. Lots of folks have asked me if it's wise to travel to the Middle East right now. I can only say that this has been planned since October, and I just had to see my little ones!!!
I set out Friday noonish for Houston. Only a five-and-a-half hour drive, but a heck of a lot cheaper than the $750 extra it would've cost to fly from Monroe to Intergalactic (including luggage fees, yikes!). Got a free reward night at a hotel right by the airport. Their shuttle picked me up a little after 9:30 am, and by 10 a.m, I was waiting at the gate. I tell you, a morning flight to Dubai is definitely the way to go. It's only about half full, which makes security move much faster. I finally had to go through one of those full-body scanners. I really wanted to flip the bird as it took the picture, but I didn't want to risk getting into trouble. bleah.
So, a 14-hour flight to Dubai on Emirates airlines isn't that bad. There's a really good amount of legroom, an amazing individual entertainment system, and good food. The service is GREAT! I admired the little hand puppets they handed out to the kids and asked to buy one for Emma & Alex, and she just gave me one... for each of them! I wish all had gone as smoothly, though, as I had the worst seatmates ever! Couple in their 40s, I think from Africa. She snored like a revving sports car, and sang to herself (outloud) when the ride got bumpy. He never learned to use his inside voice, so whenever he turned to talk to his wife, I felt like he was yelling at me. And apparently, he didn't like the headphones, or couldn't figure out how to adjust them, so he hung them around his neck, and turned up the sound *really loud*! Then, they both sang along with the music, while he conducted! I asked them to turn it down, I got earplugs, I moved to the seat across the aisle, and I could still hear it!
That flight reiterated something for me, though: I'm not as young (or as thin) as I used to be. Traveling is getting harder on this old body. When I landed in Dubai, I had a 6 hour layover, so I'd hoped to go into the City. By the time I had finalized the arrangements for the bus tour, they told me, "Oh, well, the bus won't be here until 3:00. [it was at that poing about 1:45] You won't have time to take the tour and get back for your flight." Huh. So I decided to stay put. Camped out in one of the chaises they have, I actually slept more in the airport than I did on the plane!
It's probably a good thing I didn't go into Dubai at that point though. I was feeling a bit ... overwhelmed? I've been thinking about this and can't quite pin-point my emotion. Was it just exhaustion? homesickness? culture shock? I'm not really sure. I've had 2 honest-to-goodness bouts of homesickness in my life: Japan, 1986; Wales, 1992. Not fun. So I don't think this was really homesickness, not yet anyway. I guess culture shock is the closest. Feeling like I haven't a clue what's going on and fear to step outside my comfort zone. It was strange, to say the least, to hear the call to prayer while listening to Sheryl Crow on the loudspeakers at the same time. And then when Cher came on a couple minutes later... well, you can imagine that blew my mind.
And then coming to Riyadh, worrying about having to wear an abaya, worrying about making it through customs & immigration... Well, surprisingly enough, customs and immigration was actually *easier* than coming back home to the States. The hard part was getting the visa. I guess once you've been approved, they don't worry too much about you. (and just as an aside here... gotta wonder how people can afford to take these flights to Saudi, when 1/3 of the luggage on the carousel was cardboard boxes tied up with rope.) My brother met me with an Abaya (one of sister in law's). If any of you know her, you know she's tall, and thin, and beautiful. Imagine me trying to wrap that thing around my prodigous bosom. ha! They found one that fits me, borrowed from a friend who was pregnant when she wore it. You can imagine how that made me feel! It's official. I've GOTTA go on a diet. Anyway, the problem is, this one has a big hole in it from where she tried to iron it (it's made out of polyester).
So that means, today, while the paretns and the kids are at school, I've decided to take the compound's bus to the mall(they live in a lovely, very large villa in a western compound guarded by M-50 machine guns) to try to find an abaya to fit me. Talk about stepping outside your comfort zone! I'll be (essentially) by myself, in a country that doesn't particularly like independent single women, shopping for an abaya to cover up my "indecent" western clothes. I'm already chafing at the bit. ... or at the abaya as it were. God bless Chris, who gave me her cell phone for the day. Safety net!
I'm nervous, I'm not gonna lie. Theoretically, this shouldn't be any more difficult or scary than shopping in Japan or Sweden, or anywhere else I don't know the language. But it is. Much, much scarier. I'll let you know how it goes later.
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