Feelin' Hot Hot Hottttt!!

Sunday 3rd May 2009
Yes, yes, I know. It's NOT a very original title, “Feelin' Hot Hot HOTTT”, and yes I DO know it's much like the previous blog entry title. But the fact DOES remain that as from the beginning of last week it really HAS become VERY hot here in Saudi Arabia.

“And what does 'very hot' mean to YOU?”, you ask. Well, I'm talking days where the mid-day temperature is up to something like 45 celsius as it was on more than one occasion. “And how does that feel?”, you ask again. Well, I could give you a couple of analogies which would help you. Firstly, you know the heat you get when you open the oven door when you're putting something in or checking or whatever? THAT is one way to look at it. Oh, and another way – maybe less realistic - is that it is like standing some distance from a jet engine near take-off. Yes, HEAT is one thing but when there's a wind to go with it THEN you know you're in trouble. And THEN it's time to get indoors.

But on a serious point, I've said it before and I'll repeat it here. It REALLY doesn't take much exposure to the Saudi sun for it to affect you. Yes, maybe I'm developing a nice tan, but I'm not sure I want to. I mean, a tan is one thing but me with my rather white European skin is at a HIGH RISK of some bad sunburn or, even WORSE, at a risk of sunstroke. “So stay indoors!”, you say. Of course I WILL, but I can't avoid being outside always. I have to get from my block to the place I'm teaching in and then, later, from my block to the main college building. Only four journeys a day, and each one only 5 minutes at most, but when the heat is on it can STILL do a lot of damage.

It isn't just the working days. At weekends I will be in town and am likely to be outdoors more (though, again, I try NOT to be). Things like waiting for taxis kind of REQUIRE one person to be standing in a place where the taxi can see you. And that means in the sun, and it doesn't matter if you're in the shade or not.

Another thing is that you can be 'deceived'. You can THINK that it doesn't feel so hot standing there and you may even think how NICE it is. But because of the fact that it is a rather intense heat, you for SURE feel it only a short time later. Yesterday I and another teacher colleague were in town to cash our pay cheques. After having done this, we were waiting for another taxi to take us to our next destination. This place we were going wasn't far, but far enough in the heat. We must have waited 10 minutes or so. Later on in the evening we did the same, and even though it was somewhat cooler, it was still the equivalent of a very warm summer evening back in Europe. I got back home that night with rather a headache – in fact, I'd had this headache even BEFORE we set off into town. And together with this headache, I REALLY didn't feel good in the stomach region.

Last night I went to bed feeling REALLY not good, and at around 2am I woke up ALSO feeling not great with a strange feeling in my stomach. So I went to get a drink of juice and back to bed. This morning I still didn't feel too well and my walk to work was rather slower than normal. But good amounts of water and a class to keep me going worked well enough. There's nothing like a good English lesson to revive!

Hold on! You just used the words, “good”, and “class”, in the same sentence (though not together)! Well, this leads us on to my progress so far with the soldier boys. And it's really not that bad!

I'm now halfway through Week 3 of this 18-week course with these soldier boys. And guess what – it's not going so badly after all! Yes, I DID say that!

In fact, the problems so far have been not so much with THEM as students but with deciding what to do with them so as to keep them busy for those four lesson periods a day. However, I seem to be managing it! I don't know that I'm keeping them entertained and perhaps not all the time intellectually stimulated. But I have been able to pass the time quite satisfactorily and I haven't run out of material yet in any lesson. For sure I haven't felt under pressure to give more than I am doing already. No, it doesn't mean that my lessons are the greatest I've ever done. I think I've been doing too much photocopying for one thing, and I haven't been that original and haven't created much of my own stuff. All the materials I've used have been taken from or adapted from existing stuff in the college or is worksheets and/or handouts which I have found online. Finding online has been easier than normal – all I've put into Google is something like, “describing people worksheets”, and then I either look at the 'Images' or at the websites themselves that come up. I've found really LOTS of good, useful stuff which I WILL be able to use in future. SO that makes it DOUBLY useful! Well, you could criticise and say, “WHY not create your own instead of using other stuff which might not be suitable?”. Ah, but it IS suitable, or if not then I make it so.

Times like this, I feel that my experience in the 'TEFL Game' comes into great effect! So a worthy Pat On The Back is due here :)

Apart from the teaching, there has been some interesting 'class chemistry' going on. Remember the “supervisor” or “monitor” guy I mentioned last time? Well, last Wednesday he asked me if he could go to Riyadh early and this meant he was going to miss the last two lessons. I certainly didn't mind – a class without HIM is always going to be a better one! Later on – some way into Lesson 3 or 4 – one of the military bigwigs came in to ask him a question. Uh-Oh he wasn't there! HAH! He wasn't doing the job he was SUPPOSED to be doing.

And what IS that job? Well, the extend of it is not entirely clear, but it includes taking some kind of attendance register which he gets me to sign for each of the four lessons. Ah HAH – but in fact he doesn't do his job HERE EITHER since he has never done this properly yet and I have only once or twice had to sign for ALL four lessons! So he hands that in incomplete! And I have heard today about another task that was given to him. Yesterday after Lesson 4, one of the officers came in and summoned all the students together and took them off somewhere for a meeting of some kind. TODAY I have found out that it was THIS “MONITOR” GUY'S TASK to lead this meeting. And what was it all about? Well ..... to 'remind' the others about the importance of attendance, punctuality, being a good student and the like!!! HIM telling THEM about THAT?? Couldn't have picked a worse guy. Even this morning he came into class and then went out saying he had to go get his book from his car. And he is pretty much always the last into class after break times!

Then there is “The Sleeper”. A guy who seems to be in another time zone to the rest of the class and who always says how he dislikes studying and how the three years of medical college is a VERY long time and will make him an old man. More likely it will make his future TEACHERS old men – old and angry with frustration at having HIM in their class. I mean, he sits there doing almost NOTHING. And for SURE NOTHING in Lessons 3 and 4. He is the kind of guy who, after giving the other students something to do is STILL THERE staring into space and has no idea where we are. He is 10 or 15 minutes behind the others. And yet he always says he wants to learn and that he wants to be a nurse. But he clearly is anti-study and is the sort of guy who is either gonna do all he can to avoid it or expect it all to come to him on a silver platter. Well, I hope he's not going to be MY DOCTOR!

But I really must say this. Apart from the fact that is a long morning for the students AND for me, I have to say that the MAJORITY of them ARE motivated to learn and are keen to do the things that we do. I would say that 4 or maybe 5 of them really ARE at a low level – though nothing so low as to demotivate them. I try not to go at too fast a pace though it can be hard if you just look at the more able students. And, like always, I go willingly around to help any individuals who need it. They all get involved and I think they feel they are not left out. I hope so anyway.

So what else have I been doing? Well, perhaps some observations and comments are due from the weekends out and other trips into town ....

I spend much time now in shopping malls around town (unfortunately) now. They have never been my favourite places to spend time. However, here they are nicely air conditioned and cool from the heat of the day. And, as I've said before, they are pretty much all there is to do with the exception of a few scattered cafes in town – one of which (called 'Mondo' – it's a short way behind “Tamimi's” down in Khobar) has become one of my very favourites. But only because of their excellent frappuccino. And the nice big-screen TV :D Oh, no I'm not quite sure what a frappuccino is, but I think it involves milk, ice cream, cream, sugar, chocolate/cocoa and other good, good things. And lots of ice.

So now, to some “Arab Ways” and the things that they wear. Here is your Arabic vocabulary mini-lesson of the day ....

MEN – (not sure of the spelling of these) the THOBE is the long, white Muslim 'gown' made of (I think) cotton that most of them wear almost everywhere. This goes with the GUTRA, which is what we would refer to as the red checked 'tea towel' on their heads. There is a name for the black 'band' they have on their heads to secure it from falling off or blowing away, but I don't remember its name.

WOMEN – I've mentioned these many times already. The ABBAYA is the long, black (sometimes with patterns) 'gown' that, in fact, ALL women (foreign or native Arab) are required to wear when outside the home. Hmmm, well I say ALL, but many western women do not wear it. And with the ABBAYA for the Saudi women goes the HEJAB which is what they put over their heads and faces to hide everything except the eyes (and sometimes even the eyes are hidden!).

ARAB GREETINGS – according to what I was told and read about, Saudis greet other with a handshake and/or nod and the standard greeting is “Salaam alikam” to which you reply “Alikam salaam”.

BUT there's more, and THIS is a weird one to watch. The times where, presumable, friends greet each other is a much more 'intimate' greeting. It seems to be a kiss on the right cheek followed by some kind of softly spoken words in the ear, and then maybe another kiss on the right cheek. Not sure if the left cheek gets a kiss. But to me as a western man it looks like something not comfortable. Well, a greeting between friends should be warm and friendly, yes, but the kiss and “secret message” just looks strange.

MORE ON THE GUTRA – there are different ways to arrange your gutra on or around your head. Many men just wear it loose and hanging, but I suppose sometimes it must get hot around the summer season. SO what many ALSO do is fold it, arrange it in some other way, pile it up on top of the head or try to wrap it around their head in some other way. You sometimes see them looking in mirrors in the gent's toilet arranging it and checking how it looks. It becomes like long hair for many. I bet there are experts in Gutra Arrangement around who maybe have a Gutra Of The Week column in some tabloid newspaper or magazine somewhere. And I can just see it being a daytime TV hit!

Ohh, and I HAVE TO MENTION the gutra of the week that I saw yesterday in the Rashid Mall in Khobar. I mean, I've NEVER seen anything like THIS before. This guy actually had two black TASSLES coming out of the back of his gutra and danging down way down his back. A kind of Turkish influence? Quite extraordinary!

ARAB MEN OUT SHOPPING – also raising eyebrows sometimes is when you see Arab men walking around the shopping mall with one of those .... well, it's what you might call a fashion shopping bag. I mean, the kind of thing you get if you shop at some kind of boutique – the kind of rather stiff rectangular bag with the string handles. Sometimes people use them as an alternative to wrapping paper for presents in Europe. They look very nice under the Xmas tree.

FRIENDS LEADING FRIENDS – something you would NEVER see in the west is friends leading other friends by the hand somewhere. Well, in fact, one friend takes the wrist of another if he wants him to go with him somewhere. So I guess he's taking him somewhere, and I'm sure it's a good, honest friendly gesture. But to my western eyes it looks like ..... well, rather like 'holding hands'. Except that it isn't. So don't confuse it as such!

OK, that's that. Last week was a nice and more laid back week than normal due to it being the mid-term break for most of the college. I say “most” because it didn't include my class of soldier boys or my colleague's. But it was nice! Almost NOBODY was about the staffroom or college. So a nice LOOOOOOONG lunchtime was had every working day at home followed by going back to the college, doing the photocopies that were needed and then going BACK HOME!

Well, I think we deserved that! We wanted a holiday too, and it was almost the same!