Life in Saudi - How I Really Feel

I can hardly believe that Connor and I have been in Saudi for 2 months!  Unreal.  We have settled into our temporary villa and although I don't think this country will ever feel like home to us, we have managed to create a pretty homey environment for ourselves.  That being said, I am over the "honeymoon" stage of culture shock and miss a lot about my little life back in the boot.  This post may come across as complaining and I'll probably look back on it and think geez, it wasn't that bad (and it really isn't) but I've had a few bad days and I feel like complaining.  Consider yourself warned.  I used to beat myself up when I felt down because we have a great life here and I don't want to feel like I'm not making the most out of it, but I've realized that it's okay to have bad days.  Living here is a huge adjustment and it's not always easy to deal with everything that comes with it.   

First and foremost I miss driving.  Not necessarily the act of driving, but more so the freedom it gives you.  I honestly did not think that this would be as much of an issue to me as it has been.  It's really annoying to have to figure out where we want to go and how long we will be there ahead of time.  We are truly at their mercy.  We depend on them to pick us up on time, know how to get where we need to go, and know how to drive safely.  There has been some crazy stuff going on with our drivers this last week so it has been even worse.  The Saudi government has been deporting thousands of people whose paperwork and sponsorship isn't exactly right.  Apparently this has caused some issues with almost all of our drivers.  We have a driver assigned to us during the week to bring Connor to school and pick him up every day.  His name is Prajeesh, but he has not been here to drive us all week.  I don't know exactly what the problem is, but there is an issue with his paperwork so Sunday we had Sijo assigned to bring us to school.  This was not a big deal.  Sijo is really nice.  He has driven us before.  He is actually supposed to be on call 24 hours a day right now to bring me to the hospital in the event of an emergency.  He told me that Prajeesh had to go to Bahrain, but he was coming back that evening.  Well Monday morning the car comes...it's not Prajeesh AND it's not Sijo.  Where are they?!?!  Now both of them are having issues.  He tells me Prajessh will be back that evening.  What about Sijo?  He's supposed to be on call to take me to the hospital!  This new guy was late picking me up to go get Connor that afternoon and I was really annoyed.  Then I found out that all the cars that day were cancelled so I felt lucky to have been able to get him to school and go to my doctor's appointment.  We went to the dispatch center when Harry got home to make sure that there was still someone here at all times that could bring us to the hospital in an emergency.  They assured us there is and the issues should be resolved that night.  Tuesday morning the dispatcher called me and said that the security guard at the gate wasn't letting the driver in the compound and that he's trying to figure out what is going on.  I called the front desk and he said that he's tried to call security but they don't answer the phone so he doesn't know what's going on either.  Apparently he got to the gate at 7:30, but the guards didn't come out of the shack.  He waited 5 minutes and then honked the horn to get their attention.  This in itself infuriates me.  What were they doing in there???  They looked at his ID and told him he can't come in and he has to turn around and leave.  Now mind you he was in one of the Limousina cars (that's the company that provides transportation to us), he had his Limousina ID, he had his compound issued ID, he was dressed in his Limousina uniform, and to top it off he's the same guy that brought us to school the day before!  He has driven Harry before...why didn't they want to let him in?  We still don't know, but they eventually let him pass at 8:15.  My opinion is that the guards didn't like the fact that he honked and just wanted to give him a hard time, but they didn't hurt the driver.  What they did was make Connor 30 minutes late for school.  On our way back to our compound I told him that he needs to bring a copy of his iqama with him that afternoon when he picks us up for in case security at the compound where Connor goes to school asks for it.  I also emailed the dispatcher and told him that from now on if we had a driver other than Prajeesh bring us, then they needed to bring a copy of their iqama with them.  He says okay and that Prajeesh would be back that evening.  Yeah, sure.  So the guy picked us up that afternoon...no copy...whatever.  Connor didn't go to school Wednesday and I was glad to not have to deal with all the foolishness.  Thursday morning our car got here.  It's not Prajeesh, it's not Sijo, and it's not Jay (the guy they didn't want to let in).  I've never seen this guy before, he didn't help me get the carseat in the car, and he freaking stinks!  He was really nice, but it quickly became obvious that he was new.  He tried to take the shortcut to school so someone had obviously tried to explain to him how to get there, but when we went around one of the round abouts (big circles in the road) he missed the turn off and went completely around.  Connor leaned over and whispered to me that he tried to take the shortcut, but he went the wrong way haha!  I had to give him directions the rest of the way, he almost ran into the back of a car, and he didn't have a copy of his iqama....grrrrr!  Harry emailed the dispatcher about the iqama issue...he says don't worry, Prajeesh will be back that evening.  I wanted to walk over there and slap him at this point.  When the guy picked me up that afternoon to go get Connor he still stinks.  As we are going down the road, the hood pops open.  Umm, okay.  So we pulled over and he starts to get out, but doesn't put the car in park!!!  Thankfully he notices right away when the car starts rolling and I didn't end up by myself in a runaway car.  At this point I want to cry.  I miss Prajeesh.  Is that weird?  He is from India and speaks very little English so we can't really talk about much during our rides.  I know virtually nothing about him, but even so I trust him.  We have a routine.  He puts the carseat in for me, helps me get Connor in and out of the car, and knows the fastest way to school.  He is a safe driver, but he also doesn't take crap from any of the crazies on the road.  We listen to the radio and laugh at those crazies.  And he doesn't stink!  On the way home the stinky guy tells me that it is his first time here.  No kidding!  I'm thinking, I would've guessed it was your first time driving anywhere...ever!  The poor guy was so nervous, but I was so over it!  If I don't see Prajeesh this Sunday morning, I may just close the door and go back to bed!

I also miss little things like my favorite candles, wine, the sprayer in the sink, wine, Raising Cane's, Zen, Goal Post, wine, and Hobby Lobby.  Did I mention that I miss wine?  Haha!  I'm not a big drinker and I couldn't drink right now anyway, but just knowing that I can't makes me miss it!  I never thought I'd say this, but I really miss Wal-Mart!  I know that I can always go to Wal-Mart for just about anything.  Over here I don't know where to go for certain things and even if it was at a particular store the day before, it may not be there now.  That's why we have a stock pile of cream of mushroom soup and baking soda.  When you see it, you have to buy more than one!  I miss normal store hours.  Everything here closes down during prayer time which happens five times a day.  Some stores are only closed during prayer, some close after the morning prayer and don't open again until 4:00.  Some have different hours on different days.  This is why I hate to shop here!  Most of the time I'd rather just go without.  I really miss the rain and the cool, fall weather.  It hasn't rained once in the four months that Harry has been here.  I really, really miss our hunting camp and all the fun we have there!  I even miss watching Lee fall asleep at night around the bonfire!  I could go on and on...

Even though I have had a few sour puss days, the fact that I am so blessed is not lost on me.  I have learned a lot about myself in these two short months.  I am a lot stronger of a person than I thought I was.  I have learned many lessons about tolerance and patience (not that you'd know from reading my frustration with the transportation)!  I'm sure you've all heard people talk about immigrants in the US and how if they are going to live there then they need to learn to speak English.  I'm guilty of it myself.  You'll never hear me say it again.  Listen up folks...it's not that easy.  There are lots of people living in the US legitimately, trying to make a better life for their family just as we are here in Saudi but they don't speak English.  Well we definitely don't speak Arabic and we live in an Arabic speaking country!  I have gained a whole new perspective because now I'm the one that doesn't know the language.  I am in the shoes of the people I once talked about.  It is hard, really hard sometimes.  I've had people hang up on me because I couldn't understand them and they couldn't understand me.  I guess they thought this lady is a lost cause and they won't be able to help me so they just hang up lol!

Anyway...when I'm not being driven around by stinky drivers ed students or getting hung up on, I'm busy planning our vacations for next year.  We have London, Greece, and Paris and at least two trips back home on our list!  Having that to look forward to makes living in Saudi a little easier :)