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….

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.

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.

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.