Back from holiday to the Desert Kingdom

Saturday 26th September 2009
So here it is ….

My holiday of five nice long weeks is over and back I am at work in my compound home in the north-eastern desert.

Well I say “back at work” but of course I haven't started yet. The current word is that it all begins next week. Sounds far too organised and planned to me and something is sure to turn up. Items that might “upset the apple cart” are :-

- Closing of the college due to “unplanned” swine flu outbreak”. I have heard that the King has decreed that all pre-teenage schools are to be closed for two weeks due to some H1N1 scare or other. So why would that not extend to us grown-ups? Yes, something is likely there.
- Not enough teachers to actually TEACH. Currently we are three teachers short. There is the guy who came and was allowed his 'early leave' a while back plus two more that most likely have gone elsewhere due to job offers not having been got to them by the college
- Some other military balls-up not yet known but very likely!

Yes, that third one is, OK, a bit flippant but I have covered my bases there and applied my art of cynicism to what is, after all, normal life here. Do not expect it for it will never happen but turn your back and BOOM there it goes!

Anyway, as you see nothing much to write about college life. So now you are wondering how I feel now and what it was like to be back after so long ….

I had spent a lot of time dreading my return mainly due to what had happened just before I left at the army boys classes. Ohh I just KNOW I'm going to HAVE TO see some or all of those faces again, and it's sure to be sooner than later. I mean, WHAT would YOU say? “Congratulations you SOB. you slipped through the f***in net and got here to the college even though you failed your exams and messed around for 16 weeks doing NOTHING and making Teacher David's life HELL!”. If ever a bunch of people deserved a medieval stoning to death then I have more than a FEW candidates in mind AND I know in which order I'd present them to the arena. Hmm ooh that sounds a bit …. maybe …. not sure but …. possibly on the side of …. VINDICTIVE??!! Well …. err …. YEAH OF COURSE it is and how would YOU feel to see such people again that YOU had wasted half a year of your life over for nothing?? Exactly!

My holidays? Well, that were good and varied but they are not the topic of this or any blog of mine so DON'T be so NOSY! Time passed very pleasantly but soon the day of Thursday 24th September had to come and it was time for departure from the shores of Europe back here to the desert kingdom of KSA once again.

Rather an early start it was that Thursday morning but I managed to haul myself out of bed rather well and get through all the morning routine with no fuss or inertia. Sometimes I wonder how I am able to do this when the body is crying out to stay in bed but the mind disciplines me first. Strong minded guy I guess I am! So anyway, after packing up my nice new-ish suitcase with all my things ( just how DO those wheelie suitcases not dump all your things down in one heap at the bottom? A MARVEL of design really!), I got it and my shoulder bag into my mother's dying Astra Estate car and off we went to the tube station which is the easiest way to London Heathrow. Maybe not the quickest but when you have 20-plus kilos of luggage the LAST thing you want to do is haul it through the London Underground train system! Oh, some day surely they WILL realise that, in fact, many people DO need to take large bags and cases through the tube train system and will make their lives just a LITTLE bit easier. Just small things will do such as non-tropical heat trains and doing away with stairs-only exits. Not much to ask, is it? But I avoided all that by getting on at one end of the Piccadilly line and off right at the very end at Heathrow Terminal 3. Nice and oh-so easy!

Now I feel a sense of deja-vu coming on. I am wondering if I am going to duplicate myself here and write similar things to when I FIRST made this epic journey. But I doubt it, so on I plod.

HAH! Here's the first thing! Already had my suitcase zip padlocks so no stop there as I did last time. And on the way in I noticed an American Express currency exchange kiosk and did my pounds-riyals swap there assisted, as you would expect, by the inevitable Polish female assistant. No, not all Poles are female and not all of them work at AE exchange kiosks, but their presence is everywhere in London now. And very welcome they are too – they do the early starts that Londoners won't do and the jobs that Londoners hate to do! Good for them!

HAH NUMBER TWO! No trolley needed and so no searching necessary. Just follow the long path sometimes down the moving walkways and sometimes on foot. HSBC bank seems to have a monopoly on moving walkway advertising at Heathrow and it is supposed to appeal to international travelling types (like me?) where it compares various costly aspects of lifestyle between cities and countries where, of course, HSBC have a presence. But HSBC themselves lost my attention some years ago when they decided that all their non-mainland UK accounts would magically be subject to a 20 pound charge every month AND that they were now going to be the first bank to open “HSBC Premier” branches in selected towns on selected streets where you may not pass through the doors unless your wallet is fat enough. Hmm but hold on …. who am I banking with out here in Saudi? Err …. OK OK it's not HSBC as SUCH but the “renamed” Saudi equivalent. Yeah yeah but there's no CHOICE out here. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! So there!

OK, after passing through the rabbit warren of walkways I finally ascend the last escalator and there is Terminal 3. Having located my entrance door it's in I go and – well even though I'm early for check-in I go look for the Gulf Air desk. Yes, there it is right at the front! Not tucked/hidden away at the back like Saudi Arabia Airlines are but upfront for all to see! And no security guy wanting to know why I was sniffing around there. Joined the queue. Seemed to be a general check-in set of desks for all Gulf Air flights as no particular timed flight was shown on the board. Got to the front and to my check-in girl. Actually she was a rather grumpy middle-aged woman that “really needed to know now” if I only wanted to check-in to Bahrain or right the way through to Dammam (via the bus ride).

Well, I just did the Bahrain bit as I had confirmed with the taxi guys over here the time and date I was arriving. They are a reliable lot and you know where you stand. And besides, the last thing I wanted to do when arriving in Bahrain is get on a bus, be hassled at customs/passport control, then get off at the hotel stop in Saudi Arabia only to have to phone for a taxi from THERE at what would be 10pm. NO TAXIS likely, and who wants to wait at THAT hour. Ah, AND the likely problem of getting into the compound when, of course, I had no ID card (it had been taken off me before my holiday of course).

So there it was! Not even 7.45am and I had checked in! Had some hours to kill yet, or so I thought until I realised she had said Boarding Time was 8.30am. IS THAT RIGHT?? WHY so early? That would mean sitting in the departure lounge (pffff they make it sound so luxurious!) for more than an hour! AND I might not get to see Dad who was coming to see me off! DEFINITELY not good since he would have had to get up at a similar time to ME! And last time we had a nice meal together before my departure.

Well, I had to wait for him of course. Saw him, and it was 8.10am by that time. Showed him this early boarding time, but anyway we decided to go and sit and have something before I went through. After all, this was not a budget airline and they would not be quite as strict on latecomers. But best keep an eye on the info board anyway.

So there we were eating and chatting. First my flight went to status “BOARDING” for a while, but although I knew I had to get going soon, there was no urgency. Only when it changed to “GATE CLOSING” did it seem like time to go. I hurried through security and through to find the gate which was NOT closing of course and quite a few people were still there. So WHY were they hurrying people up like that to get on? Maybe they like to do that so they can get flight-organised and ready for take-off or maybe it was a big plane.

Well, a Boeing 777 IS a big aircraft for sure. I found myself sitting for the first time in ages in the aisle seats in the middle. Another man was there too but he soon disappeared. Maybe it was the smell of my nice-but-travel-weary jacket (the one that I bought for this travel purpose because it makes me look respectable which always helps, I feel, at tricky customs/arrivals desks in foreign countries). He was replaced by a big bag full of standard issue Gulf Air night blankets which were, actually, just DUMPED on the chair two away from me. OK, so nobody else was sitting in that row with me but dammit what did they think I looked like? “Ah, this guy smells a bit sweaty! He won't mind keeping our blankets company and nobody will want to sit with him anyway!”. Hmm yeah – maybe they had a point there, but I didn't care.

In FACT it worked very much to my advantage! One nice thing about Gulf Air is that you get a little cushion for your head. Well, check THIS out! I was one person in a row of three chairs and …. TWO SPARE CUSHIONS!!

One for my head. One for my lower back. One under my bottom.

AHHHHH!!!!!! Got a good feeling about this flight!

The next 'handout' was the headphones for the in-flight entertainment. Yes, even in Economy Class we all get our own Headrest TV as I had before. Films, short features, games, music and more with it! Just plug headphones in to armrest, wait for take-off and AWAY YOU GO into your multimedia flying experience.

Extravagant? NO! Six hours is a long time to kill and with no “mountain view” and only cloud cover to gaze at (if you're by the window) it can get a bit much after a while and even the most imaginative person can only see so many amusing shapes in the cloud formations below! So such things are essential. However, on a night flight they can become a pain when, if you're like me, you can't sleep but you're too tired to watch another film and too slow to play another game. Ah, but this time I was armed with my Secret Weapon of EARPLUGS. There is NO amount of night time aeroplane torture that can get through THAT!

Well this was an afternoon/early evening flight so in fact I didn't need those earplugs at all. I happily watched “Terminator Salvation”, played many games of pool (winning most of them!) and even taxed my mind at “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” winning a cool $32,000 in the process (sadly the money was only for fun). A little music too, and those hours just slipped away accompanied by a nice airline-sized lamb meal with a little red wine.

Couldn't ask for more really! The last flight of a busy summer and the best of the lot! Oh, and no censored bits and no amusing blur-outs in the films too!

One more thing I noticed compared to Saudi Arabian airlines. There was no rush to 'veil up' and 'cover up' or 'fade to black' by the women on the flight. Yes, many around me had heads covered and a very small number had mouths and noses covered but not in the “Hide Me Hide Me!” style of Saudi Arabia. It was nice to see and they must have felt much more relaxed about it too.

Although I doubt that I'll see any more than the airport, Bahrain looks and feels like a nice, modern and pretty exciting place to live. It is becoming a bit more conservative with rumours of an alcohol ban on the way, but compared to Saudi Arabia it is an OASIS of tolerance.

So here it came, and in we came to the runway in Bahrain. It was night time! I was rather amazed to see this as it was only about 6.30pm local time and it was getting dark at about 7pm last time I was in KSA. Still, that was 5 weeks ago so no surprise I guess. Began to feel a little apprehensive of the fact I was here and, looking at my watch, hoped the taxi driver WOULD be there waiting but feared he might not be (despite my reminder the night before via SMS). Landed, jacket on, neck wallet back on and shuffled off looking back at the “triumph” of the THREE cushions left on MY SEAT and what a difference they had made (despite the fact that my TV had packed up about an hour before landing!). Were quite a few expats aboard and I wondered where they were going, and noted a family with a young girl of about 7 or 8 years old getting off. Reminded me of seeing a similar family getting off at Dammam Airport in KSA where I wondered WHY ON EARTH anyone would bring their family to a place like that. Bahrain, unlike Saudi Arabia, allows us Brits to arrive and no visa is required for, I think, a two-week stay. You see! Just a bit of positive thinking can make all the difference in a welcome! It was a place I could see being a holiday destination for those in the know in the region. A small island but manageable and would be a nice experience I think.

Down I went on the rather wobbly steps from plane to the ground. Was it me? No – I noticed them wobbling as others went down before me. The air temperature was immediately up, though not to the insane levels as I'd been in last time in KSA. But it WAS very humid, though being an island surrounded by warm sea you might expect that in summer times. On to the transfer bus and on to the terminal building and up to the arrivals queue. Nervously looking at my watch again I noted the time was getting on for 6.45pm – nearly a whole half-hour after I'd said I would be there. Not much prospect of getting out of here till 7pm then since I had to get through passports AND get my luggage.

Passport check was OK. Yes, I WAS going on to Saudi Arabia tonight and that would be 2 dinars please. Well, 20 Saudi riyals was good enough and I was on my way again to Baggage Reclaim.

When I got there, there were various piles and collections of suitcases around the place near the baggage carousel that mine would be coming onto. Had mine already been fetched off as in Dammam Airport? Was there a skivvy in green to “assist me” when I didn't want it again and would he want money for that “privilege”? I hoped not. Looked around for my case realising that I didn't know it so well as I'd only bought it two days previously in London. Yes, I could identify it by the padlock and the dented corner. Looked around the piles of cases. Mine not there. Had it been taken somewhere? Well it seemed the other people were waiting for theirs the same and many of them looked like they'd just come from my plan though I hadn't noted any of their faces back then. Baggage carousel turned around emptily, a few came out, ….. and then THERE it was! Ahh, relief!!

While I was waiting for my case, 7 o'clock arrived and the sounds of Prayer Time filled the baggage reclaim area. Ahh yes, I thought, I am surely back now …. though Prayer Time is something I have surely NOT missed.

Hmm it felt a bit lighter than when I had put it on the scales in London. But all was OK and again no trolley needed and off towards the green channel and the hopeful sight of Mr Cab Driver.

The arrivals lounge was one of those places where people line the exit barrier with their various signs containing the names of whoever they are here to pick up. Was my name out there? Or would the taxi guy have given up and gone by now? Well, THAT was unlikely since he would not wish to drive all the way to Bahrain for nothing. So he had to be here …. and indeed THERE almost at the end of the line was my name on a signboard. I recognised the face of one of that taxi firm's drivers, went over to shake his hand and he took my case and we both went out to the car park.

Was still rather overly humid and sticky out in the open air. And a LOT of cars there! WOW what a LOT of cars really! The taxi driver noted that today there were so many expats coming back after their holidays that this was bound to be the case. He had had to park quite a way back. Well, I wasn't really looking at the cars but just wanted to be IN the car and on my way to the end of the journey. I wasn't particularly tired but this was the last bit of long travelling of my holiday and I simply wanted to get it over and done with.

So there I was pulling out of Bahrain car park and I was on my way back to the sands of Saudi. And the strangest thing happened ….. I felt HAPPY!

WHAT?? WHY?? Well yeah it was strange. More than strange in fact. But it was the feeling of returning to something familiar AND, after all, it is the only place where I don't live out of a suitcase. My laptop is there, my room-space too and good or bad my daily non-work routine is there too. My improved diet also lies inside this country.

And almost as long as it took me to type those two paragraphs the good feeling was gone. Replaced very quickly by a feeling of sadness, of depression. A feeling that here I was back to this strange old land and was ONCE AGAIN far too far away from everywhere and everyone I wanted to be with and who would now be equally distant from me. All the old problems came back to me, the feelings of being on this “desert” island. I passed billboards which advertised various different mobile phone packages available in Bahrain and it only reminded me of how rubbish such things are here in Saudi Arabia where my internet connection is as temperamental as the camels that roam the sands here.

WHAT on earth WAS I coming back to? And why? Well, of course I know the “WHY” part and it lasts another six months yet to my final release.

Yes, that last word is key here – RELEASE. THAT is what I felt like most of all – a prisoner who had been on parole this last five weeks and who was NOW coming back to the establishment and eventually back to his prison cell having to give up his “passport of freedom” in the process. Is this what being a criminal feels like? Because I did NOTHING wrong to get HERE!

The lights of the highly impressive Bahrain city of Manama lit the way to the Causeway. What a very impressive city and country this is! So well thought out and designed and, as cities go, very attractive to look at and pass through. Well, I can only compare it to Khobar city but, in fact, there IS no comparison. Everything there is so much more spaced out and there is so much sandy space between one part and the next. If only my year of Middle East teaching was on THIS side of the Causeway!

Nothing much else to say about the journey for the most part. The border crossing was simple if a little slow (as such things often are). Customs checking only involved the taxi parking, the car boot being opened and a guy in Saudi “thobe” and “gutra” taking a glance at what was inside and all of that was five or ten minutes max. I noted too the black-clothed women who, of course, had to get out of the cars and go round to the “Women's Customs House” only then to return a few yards on to their cars again. Yes, here we are back in segregation land!

On we went and then, much sooner than I expected the familiar entrance to the compound appeared some way up the road. NOW the feeling was one of “OOOOOHHHHH NOOOOO!!!”, as I braced myself for the final and inevitable entry to this place I jointly call Home and Work.

The closer I saw the gates of the compound up ahead, the more I wanted them to go further away. But they didn't. NOW the problem was going to be the fact that I had no ID card on me as it was in the Security building.

No problem there! The soldier security guy was almost asleep inside his little cabin and did not react at all as the taxi drove slowly through. OK, so maybe the next one would require me to get out and prove who I was and stuff …. Nope! No need to get out or show anything, no need to verify who I was and why I was there.

Nice and easy. So the thing that had been at the back of my mind nagging me all summer was negotiated without any drama whatsoever.

FINALLY here I was back at my accommodation block. And let's just pause for a moment to remember what condition I was in LAST time I made this airport journey and what time it finally was.

What a difference!

OK, so was I going to find my room soaked to the floor from the dripping aircon? Nope! Was everything going to be overheated cos the aircon I left on had gone wrong? Nope again! Would my bed be full of bedbugs and my fridge full of cockroaches? Well, there was one small bedbug on the pillow but one flick and he was gone. I looked at the contents of my glass-fronted book case/cabinet. WOW! I was SO FAR AWAY from all my things for FIVE WEEKS NOW! Well, it seemed an amazing thought at the time.

Nothing to eat. Ah, but there was a little water in the water bottle for some tea so I made that. Oh, and I DID have some tins of tuna fish so I opened one of those. My two lots of Cadbury's chocolate were in need of urgent refrigeration so in they went. There was no bread in the freezer, there were various packets of cheese spread, my boxes of teabags and a little coffee. Well, I wasn't that hungry so no problem there. A little food, a little TV then off to bed after a quick bedbug search.

So here I was back in town. Next day I had to remain inside the compound as I had no ID card and couldn't very well go out into town. Needed some internet so went to buy some Mobily prepaid phone cards and did a little that way. Bought some food at the shop too and noted how EMPTY it was. Maybe I was one of the few who had returned today and the masses would be back later this day.

Was nothing much else I could do that Friday. Kind of regretted the fact that I had not come back ON this Friday. I felt pretty good after a nice plane journey and didn't actually need this day as a Recovery Day after all. So next time I'll remember that.

Seemed odd that the next day, Saturday, I'd be back into ….. WORK!!?? But that was indeed the reality.

However ….. THAT will be another blog entry on another day!