After my trips to the meat counters at the 2 grocery stores I’ve been to I decided that I was going to try something with an “exotic” meat!  I went to the store that is below my apartment with the intention of getting a rabbit (Easter Bunny) to make a “coney stew”.  Imagine my disappointment when I discovered they were out of rabbits!!  Since I am here alone I decided that a whole goat might be a little over the top so I settled for……(drum roll!)…..Camel!  Yup, that one or two humped furry thing that wonders the deserts here!

Being a typical guy, I refused to look up recipes for camel and decided to “hump” it!!  Hahaha…The term “wing it” just didn’t seem appropriate for camel meat!  I bought the smallest package they had in the case just in case it tasted awful but, you know, I’m here and it’s a local thing so….  I also bought more potatoes, onions, garlic, broccoli and some spices.  I had fresh green beans in the refer already.  So I made a really midwestern version of camel.  Onions, garlic, potatoes and meat.  Really had to cook the daylights out of it to make it tender enough to chew so after maybe 3 hours in the pot I couldn’t wait any longer!  Sat down to my camel stew about 9:30 last night.  Ok, maybe it was the spices or just maybe I’m an awesome cook but it tastes great!!  Whew, success and dinners for 2 more nights!

My track record at the grocery is not very good.  I seem to get to the checkout lane just as they close for afternoon or evening prayer so then I’m stuck wondering around in the store for at least another half hour waiting for them to reopen the checkout.  I even have an app on my iPhone that tells me exactly what time all the prayers are and I still get caught.  Ugh, today I promise myself that I won’t let that happen!

I’m going to checkout a couple of places over by the Corniche.  The Jafir Bookstore, a clothing store and a cafe.  Probably spend too much money again on stuff I really don’t need.  The bookstore is very well known here and has far more than just books.  I think this store is 5 or 6 levels and has just about anything you can imagine.

Other than that for an outing today, I don’t have much planned.  I really do need to get my expenses submitted so I can get all the money back that I’ve had to spend over the past 4 weeks+.  I also have to finish dishes and laundry.  Maybe then I’ll have time to watch another movie tonight…..  I thought about getting a room in Bahrain for Friday night but found out that I’m not currently allowed to take my car across the causeway.  So much for that idea!  I’ve now applied for the paperwork to cross over.  Maybe I’ll get to go over there this coming weekend.  So this has been another weekend pretty much sitting in my apartment reading, eating, drinking WAY too much coffee and web-surfing.  I’m getting tired of all of those things so next weekend if I don’t go to Bahrain I think I’ll go see about renting a Harley and riding around!  Maybe this afternoon I’ll go to the dealership and buy another tee shirt I don’t need!!  Off to explore…..

My camel meat!!  I wonder what the “FRESH” means; or maybe I shouldn’t ask!  So you might think that 22.42 is a lot to spend on a little camel meat….don’t forget, that is Saudi Riyals so divide by 3.75 and you get US dollars.

Success…..it’s camel stew!

I am completing my 4th week in Kingdom tomorrow and have to admit that I’m starting to get used to most of the differences between here and home.

This post will be mostly unrelated thoughts and observations of what I notice from day to day or what has been happening.

Wednesday at work we had 2 full fire alarms.  Both were “false alarms” but only because there wasn’t actually a fire.  What tripped the alarm were broken sprinkler pipes or heads.  Evidently these are just breaking off rather randomly and once the water starts to flow it triggers the fire alarm.  I know at home we always kind of enjoyed the chance to get out of the building and stand around talking for a while.  Here though….not so much!!  The first alarm happened about 10am.  So remember that I work on the 9th floor which because of parking levels and a mezzanine level I’m actually 13 floors up!  The stair is NOT air-conditioned and there are over 1000 working in the building.  The stair is also at the very minimum width per code (I think it’s less than code but it’s hard to prove) so you can’t really go down the stairs 2 abreast.  I think it took about 10 minutes to actually get to the ground floor.  And if you know much about codes…..the Exit stairs only open INTO the lobby!!!  Not to the “public way”!!  Go figure!  Any way, once I finally got to the ground floor we exit the building and head to our assembly location which is 2 blocks away in a dirt parking lot.  Oh, it’s also about 100 degrees out, humidity is in the 80% range and the sun in blazing.  I’m in my “signature” bow tie and dress shirt and sweating like a race horse at the end of the Kentucky Derby!!  Since I’m a “farm boy” I just happen to have a bandana in my back pocket which I use to mop the sweat from my bald head and then wear like a hat.  Believe it or not….it helps!  So there are about 1000 sweating men standing around in the sun in a dirt parking lot for about 30 minutes!  They finally tell us we can go back so now we all trudge back to the lobby.  There aren’t that many elevators in the building so think about several hundred, hot, sweaty, smelly men trying to get packed into elevators that are no more than 4′ x 6′ to get back to the upper floors!!  I took the stairs back up!!  Yeah, it was hot and I was panting like a dog when I got back to me desk but at least I didn’t have to pack into an elevator with guys oozing garlic and curry from every pore!!  I’m a white guy from the Midwest, I need my personal space!  Besides, taking the stairs is about the extent of my exercise since I’ve been in Kingdom.

Fire Alarm #2 came about 3pm…..now it’s about 111 degrees!  Same story just more sweat this time!

Something else that I’ve noticed here.  More often than not when a building has outlived it’s usefulness it is often just abandoned, not demolished and a new building is built right next to it.  I can sort of understand this as there are hundreds of miles of undeveloped desert out there so the city seems to be “moving” to the West over time.  Oh, and the new buildings…..well, they never seem to actually get completed!  More about that phenomenon in a future post.

It’s Friday morning here, Holy Day, so most businesses are closed if not for the whole day at least until after afternoon prayer.  I woke up bright and early at 5am feeling rested and anxious to do something different today.  So I got up, got ready and drove down to the Corniche (the beach) for a run.  I got there about 6:15am and it’s already 92 degrees and humid again.  But I’m determined.  This will be my first run in over a month and I’m not going to let a little heat and moisture take that away from me!  I’m thinking, it’s Holy Day so I should have the beach to myself.  Wrong!  Not even 6:30 in the morning and there are already families on blankets having picnics!!  The place is really busy.  There are lots of Eastern expats fishing using poles and cast nets.  And apparently they are catching fish!  So I take off on my run.  I get out about a mile or so and decide….enough!  Turn around and head back to the car.  Hey, at least I ran!!  Maybe I’ll try it again tomorrow only earlier!  Say around 5 am.

Here are some photos of misc stuff…..

Fire alarm evacuation #2….heading to the assembly location. Most of us just stood in the shade of the building until they told us we could go back.

On my way to work this week. Looks like I’m taking this selfie in a mirror doesn’t it? It’s the elevator door in the apartment building! They keep things very shinny here! snacks in the plastic bag….

I had to take a picture of this mural. This is in the Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr. across the street from the office where I work. Just a little reminder of home!!

This is the Jacobs ZATE building. We have the entire space except for the car dealership on the street level in front. It’s a very nice building but it was designed for apartments not office space. There is a pool on the roof – empty though and they are going to fill it in and make an outdoor lounge/lunch room. I’d rather they fill the pool with water and let us use it!

First of three photos looking North out of the window on my floor at the office. Kind of a panorama series….
The Gulf is on the far right in this picture.

Looking pretty much due North.

Looking Northeast…. Basically into the desert beyond the city.

My new car! Not the upper end model but hey, who can complain?? It’s paid for and costs me nothing to use for the 2 years that I’m here. I even pay an East Indian guy to wash it 3 times a week. He does this for SAR100/month. That’s $26.67 USD or $2.22/wash! Wouldn’t it be great to get that kind of service in the States?!

So I thought that I should do a bit on the food here.  When I was staying at the Le Meridien Hotel I always ate in the dining room where they had a buffet for each meal.  I’m not a huge fan of the buffet usually but the food they regularly had out was for the most part pretty amazing.  The breakfast buffet had everything from cook to order omelets and scrambles, there were several types of meats, cold salads, steamed and sauteed vegetables, pastries by the ton, many fresh-like juices, hummus, dates, fresh fruits, cheeses, lunch meats, breads, oatmeal, espresso, etc.  I could always get a quick, fresh and relatively healthy breakfast while I waited for my driver each morning.  The did not have bacon or pork sausage.  There was something they called “sausage” but it was really nothing more than chicken hot dogs!  And there was a warmer with “beef bacon”.  Now neither of these tasted anything like the real thing but I ate it anyway.  My typical breakfast would cost me 110SR which equates to about $30.  Seems steep to me but I was pretty much a captive without choices.

The dinners were themed each night and cost 175SR ($47) plus anything to drink, even water!  Again, the food was really good.  I would always leave a tip which I found out is very rare here.  This would also explain why the waiters were always REALLY friendly and always hovering around my table!  Because of the disparity of wages here it is quite possible that my tips were more than what these guys would actually earn that day!  Compensation is a subject I’ll address in another posting.

Now, I knew this was going to be true but had kind of forgotten just how prevalent American fast food is here in Kingdom.  As we would leave the hotel for the office we would pass the following restaurants within 1 mile!

• Starbucks
• Chili’s
• Red Robin
• Taco Bell
• McDonalds
• Burger King
• Fat Burger
• Domino’s
• Pizza Hut
• Red Lobster
• KFC
• Hardee’s
• Tony Roma’s
• Applebee’s
• TGI Friday’s
• Carl’s Jr
• Subway

What I determined is that I can eat just as poorly here as I could in the States….maybe even worse here!!  I try to not eat fast food but for lunch fast food is about my only option within walking distance.  If I were motivated I would buy stuff and make my lunches…..if I were motivated!  So I typically get as good a lunch as possible across the highway (via a pedestrian bridge) as I can get.  Maybe if I can get a parking space in the garage at work then I’ll drive to lunch somewhere once in a while.

Since I’m living in an apartment over a shopping mall I go to this store called Carrefour.  It’s definitely NOT gourmet but it does have the basics of everyday necessity.  It very much reminds me of a Walmart superstore…..it has about everything.  Convenient for sure, as all I do is get in the elevator on level 3 where my apartment is and get off on 1 and walk right into the mall and Carrefour!  I’ve already spent quite a lot of money there getting food and apartment basics.  It is definitely Middle Eastern!  I was there last night after the 7:49pm prayers and watched the butcher carve up a whole goat starting with removing the head!  By the time he was finished there really didn’t seem to be all that much meat.  There was a lot of fat! There won’t be any pictures of that little episode.

Tang! Haven’t seen this since I was a kid! Apparently it now comes in 2 flavors!

After watching that show I ended up walking by a freezer case and found all kinds of exotic (in my opinion) meats.  Rabbit, Quail, Duck, Pigeon to name a few.  There is also a very good fresh fish selection but all the fish are whole and not gutted.  I’m not an experienced cleaner of fish so I think I’ll not try that out for a while.  Plus the prices are very high.  They do look very good….if you don’t mind having your dinner look back at you!

Tonight I went to Fuddrucker’s for dinner and had a burger and fries with a Diet Pepsi.  The burger was very tasty, the fries lousy and the diet lacking.  I don’t know what it is but the soft drinks here are not at all what you would expect to get in the States.

I love coffee and drink it every day however, coffee here….is instant!!  They also don’t sell, at least that I’ve seen, half and half but instead use condensed milk.  I’ve gotten used to the taste.  I did spoil myself tonight and on the way back to my apartment bought a Nespresso coffee machine!  Now I can make “real” coffee!!  I just couldn’t face instant all the time!!

I’ll try to load some pictures of some of the things I mentioned….we’ll see how that works.  The photo upload hasn’t been working well lately.

Quail eggs….now, really, what do you do with these?! These things are tiny! I almost bought them just to try.

Just a portion of the fresh fish…..

Look closely….Quail….tastes like chicken!

No respect for the Easter Bunny here!!

So there really is something pigeons are good for!! Not that I’m too anxious to try them.

I woke up early this morning after a pretty good night’s sleep.  I was told that to get a decent parking space one needs to be at the office by 6:30am.  So in order to snag a good one I pulled out of the garage about 6:15…..promptly made a wrong turn and got lost!  I usually have this great sense of direction maybe from growing up in the country.  But for some reason I get really turned around here.  You should also know that the apartment is so close to work I can see the buildings from the office!  I don’t even think it’s even 2 miles!  Anyway I somehow drove past the office and ended up finding it by accident.  I’ll do better tomorrow!

Work was better today.  I actually have something productive to do now and it feels good to actually be making a contribution.  Tomorrow I have several meetings so it now feels like I’m starting to get into the swing of the office.

Until tomorrow, the building design portion of the office has been located by discipline but tomorrow that changes.  We will be moved into teams by project.  So the architects and engineers will be sitting in the same area.  I think that will be a better way to increase the inter-team communication and ultimately improve projects.  With this coming move I will now have occupied 4 desks in 8 days!  Oh, and there is also a chance that I might be going back over to Jeddah again for about a month!  I just got back from Jeddah!  I’m also completely unpacked and have purchased stuff for the apartment….what am I going to do with all my stuff if I have to go over there again?!

I think it’s time to go to bed now.  Have to get up at 4:45 so I can get a good parking place again tomorrow!

And by-the-way….it was over 100 degrees today with humidity in the 80% range!!  I walked out of the office tonight and it was like hitting a wet wall.  I could even feel it in my lungs when i breathed!

Good night all…..more later.

So I was warned that driving in Saudi was a very risky activity.  I thought,”how bad can it be?”!  Let’s just say that what I was told doesn’t really tell you what it’s really like!  Part of my agreement to be here was that I would be assigned a car for both work and personal use.  The company would pay for all expenses, insurance and maintenance.  All I would need to pay for is my gas when I use the car for personal trips.  Sounded like a pretty good deal to me!  So here is my perspective on driving in Saudi.  There are no actual traffic laws or at least ones that are enforced.  I have witnessed on multiple occasions now where at traffic lights there are 5 lanes; a left turn lane, three that go straight and a right turn lane – an individual in the right turn lane decides to turn LEFT, yes, left across 4 other lanes!  Oh, did I mention that this also occurred while the light was still red?!  Drivers will regularly turn in front of you, cut you off, stop in the middle of the road, you name it!  There is also a common practice of passing on the left shoulder.  The left lane is NOT for the sane or weak of heart.  If you choose to drive in the left lane you are viewed as a “challenger”, so look out!  So far the most important “rule of the road” is – Never, never make eye contact with another driver!!  Another rule; never be the first one to proceed after a red light turns green.  It is most likely one or more will run the light.  The safe thing to do is wait about 3 to 5 seconds before preceding.  You might get drivers behind you honking but at least you’ll more likely avoid getting hit!

In Saudi the statistic is 23 people per day die in traffic accidents.  That might not seem too significant until you consider there are fewer people in this country than there are in Southern California!  Just Tuesday I believe there were 8 killed and 28 hospitalized when a pickup ran a red light and T-boned a bus.  Lots of people are killed while driving at night through the desert.  Once out of the urban areas it is free range and camels will wonder onto the highways and if hit will most like kill all occupants in the car.  They weigh up to a ton and when they are hit by cars they land on the windshield.  Think about 2000lbs hitting your car at 75 or 80 mile per hour!

I was in a “Defensive Driving” class this past week where someone needs to do a better job of putting it together actually based on where we are!  I found it funny there were slides addressing the hazards of driving in snow, a very pretty girl putting on makeup while driving, obvious road signs from the US, etc.  One thing you should remember about Saudi; women are not allowed to drive – period!  So when you think about all the accidents and fatalities remember there are no women driving nor is there any alcohol!  Could you even imagine how bad the roads would be if there was the element of alcohol???!!  Wow.

I decided to go for a drive this morning.  It’s Saturday and the last day of the weekend.  I checked out the roads surrounding the apartment and they appeared almost deserted.  Quick…get out there before all the nuts!!  I ended up finding the gas station we have to use (it’s still full service here, I didn’t even get out of the car!) and guess how much gas is!  About $.50/gal.  Of course it’s sold in litres here so I’m trying to guesstimate on the gallon price.  After filling up I just started driving the streets trying to figure out how to get around in town.  Ended up finding the ONLY IKEA in the Middle East!  So of course I had to go in.  I ended up leaving with about $200 worth of stuff for my apartment.  But before I left the store I went back for a cheap lunch.  I had a cold salmon fillet salad for about $8.  You know, IKEA is the same no matter where in the world you are.  Except they didn’t serve the meatballs!!

So here is a picture of my new car.  Ok, well no pictures again tonight.  For some reason it’s not working again.

I’m going to try to post photos today again. This is Friday, August 15th and it’s the weekend here. Friday is the Holy Day so there is very little for an expat to do and I decided that getting fully unpacked and working on the website would be a good use of my time.

So here are some pictures of the new place….

Looking through my new apartment toward the entry. The bedroom is on the right.

A very modern mini-kitchen

The refer and freezer are in the cabinet! Cool huh?!

My bedroom

Best of all….my own washer/dryer!! This is living! Now I just need to find a dry cleaner so I can get my shirts done.

The courtyard and pool area. This is looking out of my living room and bedroom windows. I even have a small deck but it’s still over 100 degrees every day so too hot to hang out.

My “closet” in the bedroom. Good thing I didn’t bring anything close to all my clothing!!

Today started out really exciting and good.  Got up this morning, called Katie, showered, dressed and packed up all my stuff…again….because I moved into an apartment at the Al Rashid Mall Hotel!!  I get to unpack and put stuff into drawers, on shelves and in a closet!  I never dreamed something that I’ve taken for granted for so many years would become such a thing of joy!  But wait!  It gets even better!  This apartment is a one-bedroom with a full kitchen, Dining, Living, Entry, 2 – 3/4 baths and a half bath.  I have my own washer and dryer too!!  This place is amazing and I’m so happy to be here!  Tonight I’m going shopping at the mall as soon as early evening prayer is over and the stores re-open which is about 7pm.  They will all close again at 7:40 for more prayer but then open again about 8:20 and remain open until 11.  I might even do a load of laundry!  Or I might just unpack and shop.  I’ll need to find some food, preferably not mall food but if that’s all there is tonight I can handle it.
As you may figure out, I did not get back to adding photos the night I began this post.  I have been feeling really bad, physically, and decided that I should forgo the website work and just go to bed.  I had hoped for a good night’s sleep but that was not to happen. I have never experienced pillows more uncomfortable in my life!  I don’t know what these are made out of or who makes them but they are the fattest and hardest objects to be given the name of a “pillow”.  They are about 10″ thick and I think that even if I were to sit on one it would only compress to about 7″.  Think about shoving something under your head that is 7″ thick and trying to sleep!  It doesn’t happen.  I woke up about midnight with a headache so intense I took 3 Naproxen.  The first thing I looked for and purchased the next evening was a new pillow.  Slept much better last night!
So now I’ll show you what my new apartment looks like…..
I thought I was going to post some pictures but the website isn’t cooperating.  I’ll try again in the morning when there might be less internet traffic.  Sorry about that.

After 3 days in Al-Khobar I got direction to fly out to Jeddah and to expect to be there for at least 30 days.  I filled out all the paperwork necessary to arrange for travel, a “SPA” (Safe Plan of Action) and get a hotel reservation at the Red Sea Resort in Jeddah.  My flight was at 1pm Tuesday, August 5th.

This was my first domestic flight in Saudi.  Not bad.  Security is not as strict as in the States.  The flight was really nice.  The plane was mostly empty.  I find it very odd that airlines do this but there were about 30 of us in the Economy section that seats at least 150 and they assigned us seats in 4 rows!  We are sitting shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the plane empty!  I ended up with a nice bulkhead seat and room to stretch out….slept for most of the flight.

Arrived in Jeddah and was taken to the hospital by a very good driver, Aktar, in a Lexus.  He’s a very good driver, speaks English that I can understand!  I feel so inadequate since I’m the only one here that speaks just one language.

Not a lot to write about my time in Jeddah.  The Jacobs guys there are doing an amazing job with little to work with.  Jacobs has been asked to design, plan and lead construction on 104 isolation rooms for the containment and treatment of the MERS family of viruses all within approximately 90 days.  They got the “go ahead” on May 8th and are expected to be operational with phase 1 by September 1st!  That is an amazing accomplishment.  I still don’t understand how they have been able to do it but it’s getting done.

We are staying at a “resort” that’s only a couple of miles from the hospital.  It isn’t as nice as the hotel in Khobar but it did grow on me pretty quickly.  The beach is amazing and the water so beautiful.  I thought I was going to be there for at least 30 days so was thinking about taking the certification classes for scuba.  The course is 2000SAR which is about $533US.  Seems like a pretty good deal to me.  Everyone also says that diving in the Red Sea is some of the best in the world.  I would believe that having stood on the sea wall and watched the water teaming with brightly colored fish everywhere.  However, on my third day there, after I’d unpacked, I was informed that I was heading back to Khobar.  Time to fill out paperwork again to go back.

This is the office that Mike and I shared in Jeddah. He is on the left, I’m on the right. Space is at a premium!

My “room” in Jeddah

The pathway through the resort.

Area where the restaurant is located.

The beach! Pretty nice huh?!

Just another beach photo….I’ll bet you never thought this is what you can find in Saudi!

Typical breakfast.

After a restless 4 hours of sleep it’s time to get up, shower, eat and head for my first day of work at JacobsZATE (JZ).  The first photo I take is of my first sunrise on morning 1 in Saudi.  It’s really quite beautiful and promises to be a great day.

Went down to the main lobby restaurant for a buffet breakfast which is stunning.  The food at this hotel is amazing, fresh and healthy.  Soooo, yup, I eat way too much.  I’m reading my book on the iPad while I eat and feel very relaxed.  My last correspondence with work stated there would be a driver for me at 7:30am.  I finish breakfast at 7:30 and walk out of the restaurant only to find the driver was told to be there at 7am and he’s not a happy camper….neither is the other passenger in the car!  Ok, so now it’s not looking like such a great start to my first day.  It’s in the mid-90s already and rapidly getting hotter.

JacobsZATE is now located in a new 12 story building and is still under construction.  I get to the lobby and am assigned to Sebastian from HR.  The day is spent in a conference room with 22 other new employees as we do orientation.  By the way, in case you aren’t aware of it, there are no females in our group.  Due to Saudi laws it is very difficult for women in the workplace.  I think I happened to see 3 women in the building and believe they may have been JZ employees but I’m not sure.  Women in the workplace is very rare for many reasons but a few are:  women cannot drive, cannot travel without a male companion and must be segregated in the workplace.  This means that if those 3 ladies are employees they work in a part of the building that men are not allowed in, have separate toilets, dining, entry, etc.  JacobsZATE currently has about 1600 in Kingdom employees of which 24 are women!  Don’t think this is a reflection of the firm, it is NOT, this is a reality of the country.

Pretty much all day through orientation we all struggle with sleep.  Apparently most of us arrived in Kingdom in the middle of the night.  It was a long day!

Now I’ll tell you about traffic and the driving here in Saudi.  It’s BAD!  On the way back to the hotel we pass no less than 4 accidents in about as many blocks.  There are apparently no enforced traffic laws so driving is a daily risk.  I’m thankful that I have a driver and can sit in the back and not freak out.  At some point in my stay here I will get a car and be doing my own driving.  Lane markings and stop signs are really only suggestions.  The first rule of driving here is to NEVER, ever make eye contact with another driver!  The second rule is to spend as much time looking in your rear view mirrors as through the windshield.  There are 3 basic types of drivers here; local Saudi’s, Western Expats (US, Canada, UK, etc.) and Eastern Expats (India, Pakistan, Asia, etc.).  The Saudi’s drive crazy fast with the attitude that if they die it is God’s will.  The Eastern expats drive really slow and excessively cautious which actually causes more trouble than the fast drivers.  Then there is the the rest of us somewhere in the middle trying to avoid both the others.

Dinner at the hotel.  Call Katie on the Magic Jack and go to bed.

End of first full day in Saudi.

Hotel room is very nice

Male gym at the hotel

Hotel lobby

No one ever spells my name right!

Best bathroom I’ve ever used!

My flight was scheduled for a 4:45pm departure from LAX on Emirates Airline direct to Dubai, UAE on August 1st, 2014 to begin a 2 year stint working in the Middle East. There was a point in time that I was convinced that I could never be paid enough to go to the Middle East…..guess I was wrong!  Katie and I headed for the airport about 2pm.  I had been working on the LA County Rancho Los Amigos project up to the day before I flew out.  So my packing actually only took about half a day.  I had 2 duffle style bags and my “geek” bag for the laptop, passport, etc.  I know that there is a limit of 50lbs per bag with a limit of 2 bags per person.

The check in line for Emirates (Economy) was really long.  Fortunately I had checked in on line so I got to move to a line that only had 2 people instead of the 100+ in the regular line!  My bags weighed in at almost exactly 50lbs each…perfect!  Now came the hard part, saying goodbye to Katie.  No matter how you look at that one it was never going to be easy.  Goodbyes said and I’m off to the TSA line where the “Randomizer” selected me for International PreCheck…yay!  So far this adventure is going pretty good!  Didn’t even have to take off my shoes!

First stop after security is to buy a neck pillow; $40!  Katie thinks I’m crazy, maybe but I did sleep reasonably well on the plane while using it!  You should know that I’ve done this flight before in 2012 but unlike this trip I was ticketed in Business class…this trip – Economy.  I’m thinking that this is Emirates so even the cheap seats won’t be too bad.  Wrong!  I’m now convinced that the cheap seats on every airline are the same, narrow and uncomfortable!  Because my ticket was purchased 2 days before my departure the only ones left were in the back of the plane and in the middle.

The plane was the A380-800.  That’s the double decker jumbo manufactured by Airbus.  I got a brief look up the stairs into Business/First Class and at the bar….wow, what a difference!  Ok, this just means that I’m going to have to save up miles and upgrade on my next flight!

The flight went pretty well and faster than I thought, only 16 1/2 hours.  Changed planes in Dubai for the hour flight into Dammam, Saudi Arabia.  Got to Customs about 10:15pm local time.  I’m standing in line with lots of Expats but at least I get to go through the “re-entry” line.  Standing there I see that everyone ahead of me is holding not only their passport but a letter of sponsorship so now I’m thinking….where’s mine??  I had one for my first trip to Saudi but nothing for this one.  I’ve been determined to not let anything on this trip make me nervous or get anxious…this is my first big test of remaining calm.  Of course thoughts of spending the night on the floor in a country where I don’t speak the language, know the customs or have any way to contact anyone if I’m not allowed into the country are running through my head.  Finally with a deep breath and a confident stride to the customs officer I hand him my passport and declaration form, hold my breath and pray for the best.  He scanned my passport, went to the visa page, typed in the number, stamped my passport and handed it back!  I’m in!!  No sleeping on the floor this trip!!

Picked up my bags and headed out to where a driver was waiting to take me to the hotel.  Arrived at the Le Meridian in Al-Khobar about 1am…..off to bed.