Yes I'm still fascinated

You all probably think that nothing adventurous has been happening lately. Every day here is an adventure. Right now the adventure is the downstairs a/c in my villa. It’s been working ok. But lately it seems warmer downstairs than upstairs—they’re on separate systems. This morning when I came downstairs the a/c showed 77 and when I came home from work it said 81—and that’s just too hot. So I called maintenance and now I’m waiting. Hopefully they’ll be here soon because I don’t want to wait all day for them. I’ve been waiting for almost 30 minutes now and no phone call back.
Driving here is always an adventure. You’re never sure what’s going to happen next—will they stay in their lane, drift to the left (that seems to be most common), use their signals, etc.. I’m always happy when I arrive at my destinations with no incident. But when there is an incident it creates all sorts of problems.
Here when there’s an accident you don’t pull over—you just stay in that lane blocking everyone until the police arrive and authorizes you to move. I find that interesting. In the States we’re so used to moving our cars so we’re out of the way.
I’m still fascinated with this country—the people and culture. The men still fascinate me with what they wear. This is 2008 so why don’t more of them wear jeans? I understand the thobe has been around for centuries—but so were powdered wigs and we men gave those up in the US. The thobe looks comfortable but I noticed that there are limitations to it such as running. You can’t run in it unless you hike it up over your knees. But I know it’s hard to break tradition and culture.
The women wearing the abayaa’s fascinate me. I often wonder what they’re wearing under all that black. Sometimes you catch a glimpse of jeans, tennis shoes or high heels. When I walk behind them it reminds me of Darth Vader’s cape billowing in the breeze. And the escalators have warning signs reminding women not to let their abayaa’s get caught—that’s fascinating.
I’m still fascinated that there is so much modern technology here. They’re comfortable using thumb drives and all the features on their mobiles. I’m still getting used to carrying a mobile. I got brave and used the calendar and the schedule feature—now let’s see what happens on Saturday.
I love my job. Lately I’m been training two guys for 7-level—Gazi and Khalid. Gazi is very business-he does the pleasantry like he’s been taught—but really he just wants to get down to business. Khalid on the other hand likes to talk, smile and joke. He always seems genuinely happy to see me. Shakes my hand and then holds if for just a little longer—a sign of friendship. Khalid is getting married in about 9 days. His sister found his wife for him. That fascinates me.
Here the mother or sister finds the wife for the son or brother. I’m not sure what happens if you have no mother of sister—maybe an aunt or cousin finds the wife. Khalid’s sister is a teacher and his wife to be is a teacher. I’m not sure if he’s even seen her. That fascinates me too. I’d want to know what the woman I was marrying looked like. Instead of hearing “She has a sweet spirit” or “She has a nice personality”—we all know what both of those statements mean.
I am fascinated, and irritated, about how long some of the paperwork takes. Are US government agencies like this when dealing with foreigners? I hope not. It took 5 weeks for my work permit. And now I’ve been waiting two weeks for Laurie and Timmie’s paperwork to get approved for a visa—all the paperwork is still in this country. They don’t even do the visa here. That paperwork has to be sent to the US to a visa company that contacts the Saudi Embassy and they stamp and give the visa. When I call my company the guys are very nice but I need the paperwork—maybe tomorrow or the end of this week—inshallah. I know things are in God’s hands but here on Earth God doesn’t come down and stamp the paperwork—that’s been delegated to some man.
I’m fascinated by prayer 5 times a day. Mandatory prayer—not that everyone goes (and that’s interesting to me). 5 times a day you hear the call to prayer no matter where you are. And if people don’t go into the mosque they can pray wherever they are as long as they face Mekkah. I want to watch when they’re praying but then I feel like I’m intruding. The ceremony is touching—throwing away your sins and Earthly cares and then kneeling and praying.
There are so many things that are fascinating to me. If you’re a people watcher this place is awesome. If you’re trying to understand the Middle East then you need to live in it. I think I’m beginning to understand them. A Saudi told me—“Tim I love you guys but I can’t be seen as a Western puppet.” That really said it all to me. The Saudi government has the same issue—they love the US but can’t be seen as its puppet (which is maybe why they just signed some deal with Russia for military equipment. Now they’ll have Russian, French, British and US military equipment.).
I’m sure there’s more I could write. But right now I’m a little depressed—a little down. I’m still waiting for that visa paperwork for my family. The General gets back on Monday and he said that if something doesn’t happen soon then I need to tell him. Inshallah something will happen before he gets back--but if not he might have to use his wasta--and that's another one of the reasons this place fascinates me.