The Curse of Mobily strikes

Saturday 20^th June 2009

Something is going on here to further increase my Stress And Annoyance Level. Here I was, sitting here doing this blog entry in OpenOffice and was also online with Skype and Firefox open as I normally have. Suddenly the sound that comes when my USB modem gets disconnected. Well, it sometimes happens and so I went to reconnect. Nope, no good, and the message I got was that one which I get when I am not allowed to connect due to my 5GB monthly allowance having been exceeded.

But that was impossible. I had been down to the Mobily store on Thursday evening to pay my 200 riyals for the month to come AND had received the SMS to confirm that my account had been recharged to that effect. Didn't make any sense. But then I saw ANOTHER SMS message dated today early in the morning which “kindly” informing me that my, “Mobily data bundle has now expired” !!

What the HELL is going on??

OK there was a Customer Service Number so I thought I would try it. Would it be in English? Well, as they allow me messages and spoken help in English, then I hoped so.

One thing I thought. When I went to pay for my new month of internet, the man did wonder why I was paying early, ie, before the 21^st of the month. Well, I obviously didn't want to make a special journey down there on a weekday spending taxi money for little gain so why NOT do it this way.

Oh dear! Murphy's Law “If anything CAN happen, it WILL” (or is that Sod's law?). Yes, it would seem that, in trying to be efficient and sensible, I have “beaten the system”. According to the helpdesk man, my payment did not show up in their system.

Hmm, so which system sent me the SMS telling me my account had been topped and and renewed then??

So this is RIDICULOUS! Do I HAVE TO go down on the exact 21^st of the month just cos their blasted system can't do more than one thing at a time? WHY should I now have to lose this evening and all the rest of tomorrow (until the evening) just cos of an error on THEIR part??

Well THAT will teach ME to dare to be too efficient in this country!

As of today, Sunday 21^st, there is STILL no internet. My colleague, who phoned the Mobily people after himself having problems apparently says that there is some kind of general computer and/or database problem on a larger scale at Mobily just now and that (inshallah!) it will be cleared in 24 hours (inshallah!). So that will mean tomorrow (Monday) evening.

I am just NOT going to make a SPECIAL TRIP down town just for little reward. It is obvious that MY problem is something different and that I will have to go in AGAIN at the weekend to see what is going on. NO WAY I am going to waste taxi money and time on a solo journey into town for something like THIS.

And that may mean I am without internet every night this week ….

Can you see the storm clouds gathering over the Persian Gulf?? It's ME – don't worry!

UPDATE - Friday 26th June 2009 (evening)

OK, the good news is that i DO have my internet again this evening.

Yes, I did have to make that extra trip into town Friday afternoon/evening. Didn't like it, but there was no other choice. Well, the choice was STILL no internet or go in and get it SORTED.

Phoned the helpdesk Friday afternoon, though didn't think it's do much good since it didn't do ANY good before.

Now, I'll cut down the conversation that was had. But the gist of it was this :-

• I had not waited for the text message to tell me that my internet package was activated before using the net.
• Because of this, and because too I HAD done this "awful thing", the Mobily system interpreted it that my normal internet package was not activated and so what I was doing was using the internet at the 2 riyals per MB used rate.
• Given that we are talking about two and a half days doing this, you can see that my 200 riyals got used up pretty quick. Simple Maths - two and a half days, about 8 hours a day, and even with normal use the 200 riyals was gone quickly.

THAT, folks, is the extent of what was explained to me.

So .... even though I HAD been down the Mobily store and clearly stated that I was paying for my new month of internet, somebody somewhere was being a bit 'slack'. I naturally assumed that, having paid, I could get using the internet straight away. Fair assumption, don't you think? Why would I assume any different.

Also there had been this Mobily system problem of unknown origin or effect which I had been told about before. Perhaps it scrambled the poor computer brains too and kicked me out just for fun.

A special trip into town was needed and that's what I did. It was a pain in the butt, a wassted evening and highly unnecessary.

But .... it got me my internet back AND I managed to get a load of that nice Carrrefour bread which had NOT been there on Thursday evening.

Not QUITE making it worth the trip, but not so bad either.

That WASN'T the Week that was ....

Saturday 20^th June 2009

So much to write about today – TOO much in fact, and I regret ONCE AGAIN leaving so long between diary entries. But what has happened is that I have had the absolute WORST WEEK in this country with this class so far!!

Ohhh WHERE to begin? And what IS IT that has made it this way? Tiredness? Another ill period coming on? My patience finally getting the better of me? The reality that I have FAR TOO MUCH TIME to go and that prospects for better times here are slim?

Maybe it is YES to all of these. Because when I looked at myself in the mirror a few days ago, it was not a pretty face that looked back at me. The face I saw was VERY tired looking and with nasty great bags under the eyes.

Can't remember when I had that before. Don't, in fact, remember at ALL suffering from this kind of thing although I have, of course, had insomnia a-plenty over the years for this and that reason.

It's what you term a Wake-Up Call.

HOW did I get to look like this? Because it seems to have come on rather suddenly over the last week or so. I didn't notice it coming on before. Does it coincide with my virus infection the week before? I would say YES.

OK, back to the main event(s). As I left it, I had seen my none-too-pretty face in the mirror and was wondering about it. So let me now try to go through what has happened this week.

All started last Saturday. The day started normally, got up normally, went out normally with my colleague out of our block and around it to the gate which takes us through the wall. This wall is the 'marker' between our residential blocks and the military area where we teach our classes.

The gate was locked shut!

Why? Don't know the reason. Just another of those, “Let's annoy those expats in a different way this week!”, kind of things. Ohhh, and it DID too!

What could we do? Well, we had to go up to the college of course. The thing is, you see, there are only two practical ways to get to this place – the gate and the bus from outside the college in the morning. But, being after 7.15am, this bus had gone of course.

Luckily there was another guy who in the predicament with us. Well, and ALL the other people who use this gate to get to work in the mornings too. There is no telling how many people this nonsense has put out. Do they care? Pffff – what do YOU think?

So this guy came with us to the college. The thing we had to do was to phone for the bus to come back, and this he did. But by this time it was about 7.25am and for SURE we were going to be late for our classes.

The bus came in the end and off we went. What did this mean for the days to come? Well, it would mean having to get up much earlier in order to get out earlier to get to the college to get on this regular bus 'service'. WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO PUT OURSELVES OUT just because some idiot couldn't do his job and get that gate open??

Now, this was me back after illness, and I was straight into THIS. Hardly a 'warm welcome' back into the teaching “fold”. Anyway, in I went to class, there they all were sitting. In I went and it actually seemed they were pleased to see me! It couldn't possibly last!

After that stupid start to the day, I was in no mood to do anything meaningful so just proceeded to give out grammar worksheets for the remainder of that morning. That really didn't work out well. As usual they muttered about yet more paper, but I thought nothing of it. But this disturbance at the start had definitely ruined the day and they got more and more restless and noisy the rest of the morning. I didn't mind a certain amount of noise but at the end of the lesson they were completely ignoring me and all were gathered in a circle-group over on one side to talk and yell loudly at each other in the kind of boisterous 'conversation' that these people seem to do a lot. Told them many times they had to keep it down, but I was invisible by that time. Ignored like I didn't exist, no respect and definitely not listening to me. A raucous end to THAT morning after a nightmare start.

That evening my colleague called me. What about tomorrow, he asked. I replied that I was NOT going to put myself out and get up earlier just because SOMEBODY couldn't do their job and get that gate open. He would go over to the college anyway, he said.

In the morning I DID get up at the normal time. But I realised that I should be able to see from the window the gate and whether it was open or not.

And, indeed, it was closed shut and locked again! So it seemed that this was no one-off.

Had to go to the college and get the bus. But one thing I realised was that, in fact, I did NOT have to get up much earlier in order to get to the college for the bus.

Good news since it was the way things were for the rest of the week and, so far, this week's start too.

What IS going on with that? A security problem? Well, since anyone who is able enough can put down something to stand on and CLIMB that wall with ease, then that wall is not secure anyway! Too easy for those who want to to scale it.

I have noticed that, much further down, there are sections of that wall which have barbed wire across the top section. Maybe that would serve them better than inconveniencing so many people who depend on that gate to be open.

I liked that gate. A nice, easy way to get to work on foot without the hassle of a bus ride. But, as with do many things, you can't get settled with anything for long around here. Always SOMETHING ELSE to knock you back into insecurity and unsettlement.

The next day we got the bus. But the lessons were a NIGHTMARE again and the students were even MORE raucous and wild at the end in their 'group huddle'. I could do absolutely NOTHING with them, nothing at all. They didn't do what I gave them, and in the end I was so worked up that I was going round almost THROWING the next worksheet at them. TOTALLY useless they were and for once they really were treating me as if I was not there at all, just totally ignoring me, not doing any work and being obnoxious.

The next day was slightly less mad but by then I was sooo wound up by these first two days that there was no way I was going to do anything else except keep giving out grammar revision worksheet to be done. After all, the test was due Wednesday so it was justified in my eyes.

As far as I could see, they were moaning at yet more paper for two reasons – firstly, because it something more to carry around, and secondly, because they would have to work and use their little brains. The poor, tired little dears!

One guy's bag is a joke. Instead of having a proper ring binder folder for all this paper I have given them, he keeps all the papers loose in his bag – a PLASTIC CARRIER BAG - and when he needs to find something he has to go through this pile and everything gets thrown around and out of order.

Speaking of this guy, on Monday he became only the second person I have asked to leave the classroom. Why? Well, he had been irritating me the whole morning as they all had. In HIS case, he was just being damn rude. It might have been a language problem at first, but I and others did correct him. But he insisted in keeping on with saying “Give me paper” on and on and I kept telling him to ask me properly which he would not do. On and on he went with this. I asked him to leave when he would not stop. “Bye Bye”, I said to him and waved him towards the door,m but he was still saying No. Well, I said, we can take this up with the military guy who deals with Student Affairs. I had used him before to deal with the Key Thrower. So there I was and I stood my ground. He did then leave repeating over and over, “Bye Bye London! Bye Bye London!”. What a twit!

I will stand many things but blatant rudeness and disrespect like THAT goes beyond what I will tolerate.

I told his friend that I would only let him back in with an apology. So when I was sitting there drinking my coffee at break time, he and that friend came over. Yes, he DID have an apology. At first I told them to go away as it was break time and this was NOT the time. But he was sorry. He also made a very good point which was WHY send HIM out, a normally good student, and let other turds like Leg Man and Monitor Man get away with a LOT MORE?

I agreed with him that they were a bad pair. But I had no proper answer for why. I did tell him of Leg Man and his problems he had faced due to his key throwing. I also told them there was little I could do about Monitor Man because of his apparent immunity from reprimand.

So this was yet another bad day but it seemed not as bad as the first two. But I was pretty well wound up by the end of the day and it seemed this would be a week that would never end in a rational way.

But it was Tuesday when all this finally came to a head. Again it was a worksheet day in the continuing revision for the test that I was doing. I thought I was doing them a FAVOUR in helping them for their test. But NO!!

OK, now it's difficult to summarise what went on next. Before the main break between the two lesson blocks I had given them, I think, a grammar exercise which was Present Simple/Continuous gap-fill where they had three options for each gap. Now, as I was wandering around I noticed few of them were doing it but most had done nothing. “Do this on the board!”, they wanted. But I would NOT until they had used THEIR brains to do it themselves. Yeah, I could see that what they wanted was that I do the work and they do nothing while I was at the board explaining.

In the end I thought, “What the heck!” and went to the board to go through it with them. There were about 15 minutes to break time. I was so wound up YET AGAIN that they had spent most of the two lessons doing nothing. I started putting the numbers 1 to 18 on the board which were the numbers of the questions. STILL they were talking away behind me and for SURE not listening. THEY had asked me to do this and yet almost NOBODY was listening to or watching what I was doing.

I did maybe the first two with the standard two students actually listening to me while the others were laughing and carrying on as if I was not there.

THAT WAS IT!! I REALLY flipped. In a fit of anger I stopped writing, grabbed the whiteboard eraser and FLUNG IT against the whiteboard violently! It did not go anywhere far. With this, they DID stop chatting and I sat down yelling aimlessly at them that they were a complete waste of space and I was NOT going to waste my time or my breath when NOBODY was listening to a word I was saying. I said they could just do what the hell they wanted now as I had had ENOUGH!!

What I SHOULD have done was to storm out of the class and slam the door. But teachers aren't supposed to do stuff like that.

At moments like this I always recall the story of one teacher colleague years ago who had a headache in a lesson. He actually DID throw the whiteboard eraser at the board and storm out and I believe that things worked out better for him after that with his class.

Anyway, back to me. I had an EXTREMELY fraught 15-minute break period where I was hating everything and everyone. I didn't talk to anyone as I remember. Or perhaps I did and yelled. Don't quite remember now. But anyway after break time back in the classroom my “war” was to continue.

Let's just cut down what was said. Basically they were saying things like, “Why so much paper? We don't learn anything! Some people in this class are 2 months and not learnt a thing!!”, to blatant challenges to my authority as the teacher as a whole. Ohh I don't recall, again, all of what was yelled about but things were going about as badly as you can imagine with a class. I hated them and them me too!

However …. in the end some good did seem to come out of it. It was agreed (somehow!) that we needed a better coursebook since the kids' book, “Up And Away”, was clearly useless for them. THAT in itself was a useful step to take as they did at LEAST show a need and an interest in their learning. A positive step. “Headway Elementary” seemed to be a good way to go. But, I said, the college does not have the newest edition. Well, they said, we will go to Jarir Bookshop near Tamimi's and buy copies for everyone and one for you.

OK OK, no I did NOT believe THAT as any kind of promise. Especially when, following it, comes the word 'inshallah'. This word is, as far as I'm concerned, as good as saying, “I'm not going to do a damn thing”, or, “I don't give a damn what happens”. It is an excuse for inactivity and inertia because this is what has been willed to happen or not happen.

However, I thought, “We shall see ….”. But I knew well that we would NOT 'see' anything new at all. Cynical me. And rightly so in most cases.

Looking back on this class 'fight' there was, as I said, some good come out of it. And that was them showing that they DID seem concerned about their learning. And THIS is what it is all about in the end.

Now, today is Sunday. And I can report to you that yes, as expected, all we have in the class are three bad photocopies of the old Headway Elementary which ….. yes, they already have the answers filled in since they were taken from one of the student's old copies of Headway that he had used in a previous course.

“Not much use!”, you might think. Well, I would say that it is time to improvise …. which is a teacher's 'code word' for “to make things up as I go along”. With some guidance of COURSE!

Ah, I haven't mentioned the Test that they did on Wednesday. Not much to say except that the majority of them failed badly and they said, yet AGAIN, that a good test would be of the “Box Ticking True/False” kind. Yeah right, WHO needs a brain for THAT? NO WAY they're gonna get that from ME for SURE! Oh, and once again I had to deduct a heft amount of marks from two of them who insisted on talking to each other and would not stop despite being warned and told a-plenty. One guy was even blatantly turning around to look at the guy's paper behind him. So I kept on deducting marks from him. Suits me! During break the two of them came to me to ask me not to take these marks off but there was NO WAY I was moving.

WHAT IS IT with these clowns?? Don't they GET IT YET?? This is a friggin TEST and if you do this in the COLLEGE then you will lose more than just 15 or 20 marks from your paper!! Ahh, but you see this is the way they do it in this country. So WHAT THE HELL do the Saudi teachers DO here?? Do they LET THEM CHEAT? Do they turn a blind eye? And with WHAT AIM in mind??

It just makes me SO ANGRY!! Yes, of course I've encountered cheaters before in Poland but they are rather more subtle in their methods and don't repeat in front of my face!

When WILL THESE PEOPLE learn what it is to BE A STUDENT???

Well …. in the end I suppose I have the last laugh when I mark the tests and record the results. And …. watch them CRASH 'N' BURN!!! Ahh the satisfaction.

Except there IS no satisfaction because WHATEVER happens on this military course makes NO DIFFERENCE and even the WORST of them will magically get into the college from the new academic year!!

A thankless task!! And one with little point I think sometimes ….. except to earn some nice money.

I FINALLY got to the end of this week.

You can imagine what I felt like. Seven more weeks of THIS to go. HOW the HELL was I going to survive in one mental piece?

Yesterday and today were OK. Yes, the stupid gate is still locked and yes, we are still riding the bus to this place. But I do still come home for lunch. I need to. It may not be much but it IS at least some kind of sanctuary and an escape (albeit temporary) from the shit outside in the baking sun.

As I write this, it is difficult to convey as mere words on the page how all this has made me feel.

The summer edges very slowly near. Seven weeks will, I suppose, not pass too quickly as this is about the same amount of time as has gone to now. There is this one-week break coming soon which will be a welcome relief from those animals.

I don't know if I am preparing too much or too little. Why too much? Well because I am doing too good for them maybe. And why too little? Maybe I need to better fill the class time and keep them from getting bored.

But I don't KNOW what to give them every day! ANYTHING I try to do is only going to go the same way. So why SHOULD I waste my effort and time.

On one hand I don't want to waste my breath and board marker ink on people who, mostly, don't listen and are in the lesson to chat to their friends and distract. But on the other, maybe if I DO talk more to them this might at least KEEP their interest for a bit longer and may help to get ideas for what to do “the next day”.

This is a big “maybe”. Yesterday I managed it but today, looking around the classroom were SLEEPING students, students singing, students talking loudly to each other. There are two of them who seemed to think it was so funny talking what, to most people, would be childish, teenage talk about …. well about the things teenagers who are newly discovering hormones they never had before LIKE to talk about. Know what I mean?

Remember when YOU were 13 or 14 years old? What did YOU find funny then? That's them NOW!! Teens in soldier's uniform!!

I will try it this way from now. Use the Headway Elem book and improvise off the top of my head from what is on the pages …. as SLOWWWWWLY as possible. And then have tests on whatever we do in class. Or use the Headway Progress Tests. HeHe!! Devious AND resourceful!! That's ME!!

We will SEE how long THIS strategy lasts ….

New Teacher - Whippin Up a (Sand) Storm!!

Friday 12th June 2009 (again)

There's a new guy in town! Yes, we have been joined by a new teacher who has now been here about three weeks now. And BOY OH BOY is HE raisin' hell or WHAT!!

OK, we'd heard his name being bandied around by the HoD for months as a Will-He-Won't-He arrival. He had been kept waiting for ages and ages because the block visas had run out and he had to wait for a new lot. Like many countries, Saudi Arabia only lets in a certain number of foreign workers at a time and has a block visa application quotas system. Myself and the other guy I arrived with were the last two in the list. This new guy had to wait. But finally he has got his and is here.

We'd heard that his wife was in Miami and he had been waiting and waiting in London to see what was happening. Hmm .... sounds familiar eh? Yeah, all the same stuff as I'd had only MUCH longer. During this time he'd had to spend a lot of money and wasted time in London and had even flown back to Miami to his wife. So that seemed to be the end of him. But it wasn't, and he is now here. Yup, he TOO had to go through the up-all-night airport thing making him the fourth guy to have to do so. And THAT is a total disgrace!!

Now then, I met him on his first day. Once again, a guy in his 50's, rather overweight and for SURE feeling pretty damn unhappy about his ordeal at the airport in Dammam. Who wouldn't be! So his mood was not good.

Tried to be friendly. After all, we had suffered the same. Seemed kind of OK. But there was something about him I couldn't get to like. Again he was one of those people who had come here unprepared and did not know much, if anything, about what it is to be in this country. For a country like this, you simply DO have to be prepared and DO have to know what to expect BEFORE arrival. Well .... to SOME extend anyway because, as I know, even when you're HERE it STILL doesn't make sense.

So that was irritating rather. Towards the end of the day, he started moaning about the fact that he had not been told about either the three-month probation period OR the five-month no-holiday time. Well, this IS true that these two things are a bit of a pain. But they are clearly stated in the contract and anyone who knows anything about such things will have read and noted such information BEFORE signing up. For him to complain now was way too late. But he's had a hard night so all was so much worse than it should be. Again, understandable.

Came in the next morning to my regular soldier boy class lesson. Met my colleague there who teaches that lot with me. "Have you heard the latest?", he inquired. Intriguing, I thought. "The new teacher is saying he wants to go in July and is refusing to sign the contract!".

What the hell ???

Didn't know what to make of it. I was glad to see a new guy so I could sell him my STC Al Jawal simcard which I didn't need (but now I realise I DO need it). But what WAS going on here?

Now .... THIS is what comes of not blogging regularly. But, to be fair, I DID spend the last week ill with flu so there's my excuse! The details of this new teacher and what has gone on are not altogether clear now.

At first I was happy to help him out. I went with him to the shop to show him where it was and so he could get a few things. But there was something very loud and obnoxious about his voice I could NOT get to like or get used to. He is, supposedly, a Brit. But he has a strong South African accent. He speaks in that loud and overbearing way that people from that country do. And how much time does he spend in the UK? Not a lot I guess if his dear wifey is in Miami. So what does he do? Well, according to the man himself, he does a bit of this and that, a bit of travel writing and keeps himself busy. Yes, when I asked him what on earth he had done all this time waiting to get here, he seemed to take offence to such a question. To me, it was a good one due to MY experience. But if it had been OK for HIM to wait all that time then so be it. But his answer was of the type, "HUH you cheeky man! Do you think I've been idle all this time?". Not his words at all, but it WAS the tone of his voice and attitude conveyed.

I wasn't sure, but you need to give a guy a chance and that's what I did. Was quite prepared to have a chat with him in school. But was a little mystified that still he was around with that untidy, not tucked-in shirt. Why was he not teaching?

Soon found THAT out too. Apparently, until he signs the contract that they give him HERE, he cannot step inside a classroom and teach.

Yes, this is the bizarre world of dual-and-the-same contracts that we operate under. OK, when we sign the contract in London, it is that SAME contract that is presented to us on arrival on Day One in Saudi Arabia at the college. Yes, indeed, it DOES mean we sign the same contract TWICE over. And yes, as you remember, we also do the medical again when we arrive here though more thoroughly. This new guy would have to also go through all these admin processes. Surely then In London he would have read the contract and SEEN the items about the probation and no-holiday periods. Who comes out to a new place like THIS without being VERY SURE of what they're getting into? I remember, back then, looking at a job in Kuwait. I received the so-called "sample contract" and read through it all. Only THEN did I notice lots of petty things they would dock you some salary for - for example, sleeping at work, reading newspapers at work and more such things. You simply HAVE TO read before signing unless you know well the market you're in. In Poland I would know this well by now all the time I've been there.

Now, what I have understood is this. The new guy claims he was promised things which have not materialised. Also he claims he did NOT KNOW about the 3-month and 5-month items.

Why is this important? Because there is something important he "has to do" in July and he needs to be out of the country then.

OUT OF THE COUNTRY?? But this is not possible under the contract we work with for two reasons - both already stated. Probation period and five-month no-holiday period. So someone has made a mistake.

Or have they?

Some of us feel that this guy is playing some kind of game.

My instincts tell me this. His wife is, I think, Columbian. A dodgy place if ever there was one and a place where you could get yourself into much bother. Perhaps something has happened and he needs cash fast. Ah hah, he thinks, Saudi Arabia. He reads the sample contract and thinks to himself, "I can get around this! I can go there, invent some kind of emergency I need to be out for and depart after under two months with some fast cash for doing very little".

Could work. Of course, I may well be exaggerating and fantasising rather a lot but I may have something in it too. Because a decision has now been made I hear. After his meeting with the Dean of the College and the Head of Personnel, he HAS BEEN GRANTED his wish.

He IS being allowed to go in July, do what he has t do and then come back. In fuller detail, he will not be starting his probationary period UNTIL HE RETURNS. And, I amuse, the five-month no-holiday period will also start on his return in July or is being waived completely.

He is sticking two fingers FIRMLY UP at the college system and the contract. He is not, it seems, bound by the contract he signed and is being allowed to go his own way.

Whatever his emergency is, is it really worth treating him with such preference?

Now, you see, a precedent has been created here. He has shown that the contract CAN be circumvented. He does not, I assume, work under its terms fully until his return in July. Oh, so he now has his VERY OWN CONTRACT DOES HE??

If I want to go on holiday or, indeed, if any OTHER new teacher wants to go on holiday, we have to wait our five months as we are required to. It is stated, and we need to stick to that.

BOLLOCKS!! THIS guy is new too!! If HE can ignore what is in his contract and take his "break" when HE says he must, then what is there to stop me taking my holiday when I WANT TO. And THAT means 19th August!!

Yes, all this crap about that we can't know when we are to be 'released' from our course is BULLSHIT! This bastard did it!! WHY THE HELL can't we do the same??

I have been here almost three months now and during this time I was kept sitting around doing nothing FIVE WEEKS. Why? Cos THEY couldn't get it together to organise THEIR course!!

WHY the hell should HE be different? And HOW can they now refuse me MY holiday on the dates that I WANT??

I've got a good mind now to go get a Leave Request form and request holiday from 19th August. HOW can they refuse me?? THIS GUY had HIS way and now I WANT MINE too. I have worked here much longer than him. He had not even stepped into a classroom before all his fondest wishes were granted without question!! And NOW do they think other people should be different. NO WAY!!!

Some might say, Well It's Tough But There's Nothing You Can Do About It And No Point In Getting All Stressed About It. THAT is about as good as saying Let's Turn A Blind Eye And Pretend We Didn't See This Injustice Happening. And then just about ANYONE can do the SAME in future - come here, say they need to go out early and be granted their wish.

I know contracts are not always honoured on both sides. But they do serve a purpose. And if ONE person is allowed something, then EVERYONE should get the same. WHY is HE BETTER??

I am SO ANGRY about this. The summer holiday is a contentious-enough issue as I have blogged about before. But THIS just adds more fuel to that fire. I am NOT prepared to just let this go. But .... as the other guys are happy to turn a blind eye, any action I take will have to be unilateral in nature.

And this brings back the question of risk and if it should be taken. And .... I guess the answer is No. I am bound here until March next year and cannot put that in jeopardy. As SHIT as the situation is, and as MUCH as I hate what that guy has been given, I cannot throw away this money-machine I have here.

Said it before and I'll say it again: More Money More Problems.

Not gonna speak to THAT bastard again THAT'S FOR SURE!!!

In Sickness And In Saudi Arabian Un-Health

Friday 12th June 2009

Lots to write about today. Have I left it so long between diary entries? Seems so. So I will start with what the title of today's blog refers to - namely me going down with flu this week.

Well, I suppose it was flu. But not the usual symptoms. No runny nose or sore throat. No coughs or sneezes either. And it seemed to start quickly. It wasn't something I felt coming on one day and next day was hit by it. Started, it seemed, Saturday early afternoon and probably during my classes. I felt that it was due to my extra-strong coffee that I had prepared that morning which really affected me.

Yes, that was one strange thing. Normally I buy and drink the brown water that poses for coffee at the place we teach in. But then I decided NO and went and bought a thermos flask and some Nescafe with the intention of making it myself every morning .... which I DID on that Saturday early morning in my room. Didn't know how many spoons to put it but remembered that my usual method to make coffee had been to make a 'spout' hole in the paper at the top of the coffee jar and then simply pour it into the cup. Applied the same principle to my flask. But how many shakes or pours to put in? And what is this Nescafe Red Cup coffee? Same as normal Nescafe? I supposed it was and shook ..... oh, I suppose about four or five or maybe even six 'portions' of coffee into the thermos, added milk, some sugar and boiled my kettle. Now, I actually DID think that the water would only take up about half the thermos flask so wondered if it would hot enough and, indeed, strong enough when it was drinking time.

OHH .... it certainly WAS strong enough. Came out a dark brown colour .... VERY dark brown! Id rank it and it seemed good though was certainly strong. Didn't matter - that's what I needed. Had some before class and then during the long break at 9.15am between classes.

When I went back to class, something was happening. Felt sleepy, tired and was hard to do things and my brain was having trouble. Tiredness and tired eyes were on me. Really was a strange feeling. Got to the end of the teaching day. Felt OK but there was an urgent need to go lie down. Stomach wasn't feeling so good. Did start to worry that I had over-caffeinated myself. In the past, on occasions, when I have drunk too much coffee in a day then it makes me feel quite sick. Was this what was happening now?

Lunchtime at home was awful and I felt pretty bad. Was it due to this coffee? Or was I getting this flu anyway? Anyway, whatever it was, I was feeling ROUGH AS HELL and when it was time to go back I did not know how I was going to get through the afternoon. My stomach felt bad - not painful I'd say but certainly uncomfortable. And my HEAD was hurting too. Was VERY hard to move around - a great feeling of fatigue and some dizziness had come over me.

Went into the college anyway as I had to. But BOY OH BOY - did I feel rough?Needed to lie down and not do anything at all VERY SOON. Anyway, I tried to concentrate but just couldn't. Needed the toilet a few times, but nothing out of the ordinary. No diarrhoea and wasn't sick. But when I was sitting there, I felt that I had to stay there.

Last I saw of the day at college. I walked back from the toilet and felt bad in the stomach and head. Back in the staffroom I was asked if I felt OK to which the answer was, No Not At All. So I told the HoD I wasn't feeling good at all and I had to go home. And so I did .... VERY slowly. NOT well at all!!

Wasn't sure about the next day. What were the rules and regulations here? Who did I phone if I was unable to go into work sick? I did not know. All I could do, I felt, was go into work the next day as normal. Although it wouldn't be normal since I wouldn't be able to function properly.

Well, THAT is what I did. That Sunday I went into the classroom feeling ill. Told the class that, quite simply, I was NOT feeling well that day and that I didn't mind what they did so long as they kept the noise down. And this they mostly did. They were quite good about it actually. Wouldn't exactly say they looked after me but there was concern over my well-being.

And I sat there drinking and drinking water all that morning. Must have drunk maybe two and a half litres which equates to one large bottle plus nearly two small ones. A LOT of water really. I think I had quite a temperature. Though I must say that drinking all this water did help me and I did feel a bit better at the end of those four lessons.

But after the lessons I told my colleague that I would not be in later and that he should excuse me. Had to go home and that was IT for that day.

Later on that evening at about 8pm I called my colleague and told him I would not be in the next day. He said he would collect from me any stuff that could be used for the class the next day and so fished out various grammar exercises from my bag which would keep them going and gave him them.

The next day he phoned me to tell me that cover had been arranged for my classes. Thank goodness for THAT! But, he said, I WOULD need to get over to the Medical Center for a Sick Note later. Hmm, I thought, why is it always this way? You're off work, you feel ill and yet you have to get your ill body up and out just for the sake of procedures and rules! Anyway, that was what I had to do, and in the afternoon I called the Medical Center, and off I went after lunchtime.

The usual doctor was on holiday. I explained what was wrong with me to the nurses there, and after the statutory waiting around period, I was called in. WELL! It was a female doctor who did not look pleased to see a MAN in her surgery. there she was sitting there, Qu'ran beside her on her desk and she listened. Then she wanted to test my blood sugar for diabetes. Reasonable, I suppose, since it IS in my family - though I didn't feel it was THAT. The result was OK I think after the fingerprick blood test. Nothing much was tested on me, and I was swiftly despatched with a simple prescription for paracetamol and vitamins.

I wasn't quite sure what sick note she had written. "One day", was all she said, which was not a pleasant thought if it meant I had to go in to work AGAIN ill. Maybe she meant that the NEXT day was the one day. I do not know what the sick note says. Anyway ... I am not going to worry about it since if I am to be penalised for being ill, then so be it.

And this is another thing about workplaces. WHY should we be made to feel so guilty because we are not well? NO person should be irreplaceable. In any case, cover was available and all was done without fuss (I guess!) Nobody made any fuss over it.

Flu in Saudi Arabia. Not the place you associate with such things, is it? But, you know, one student of mine DID have a nasty sore throat the day before I was struck down with my stuff. So I suppose it came from him.

Speaking of flu, I KNOW the associations it has these days. Swine flu. There have been only TWO confirmed cases of it here in Saudi Arabia. Was I worried about it being me? Naturally yes I WAS. My illness was not all the classic flu symptoms as I said before. And when I woke up Monday morning with a SPLITTING headache like no other, I DID wonder what the HELL was going on with me.

Fresh air. In rather short supply here. I go between air-conditioned air to sandy outdoor air - NEITHER of which is that good for me. And I DO wonder about that - the air that I breathe is NOT too good in many ways. Certainly no chance of good, fresh forest or mountain air here. What effect will THAT have? Being ill makes you think of such things.

Anyway, all is fine today. I did not lose my appetite at any time during this sick week. Although I desperately needed to lie down, things did not get worse.

Was stress part of the cause of this? Tiredness too? Who knows, but it may well have been as I have been susceptible to that in the past. This is no easy place to live as you will know if you're a regular reader of my blog entries. Will this happen again? Yes, it could WELL do.

And I do NOT look forward to THAT!