"Hajjis, sit down!"

We went to Germany again (can you believe it?) to spend some of the Christmas season with the Troils (minus Eric who is in Afghanistan). We had an awesome time (more about that later). We left Riyadh at 0200...yawn...early morning. When we checked in we were told that the flight would be stopping in Jeddah...no problem. Our flight from Riyadh to Jeddah was ok. The plane was pretty full but the flight attendants were pleasant. Everything was going well.
We land in Jeddah. All the Saudi’s get off. There are just a handful of us expats left on the plane. We’re thinking this is going to be a great flight to Germany. After about 45 minutes we’re asked to sit down in our seats. One of the expats asked if the flight was going to be full and was told “Yes.” And “Yes” it was full.
On the plane they came...the Turkish horde. The boisterous, big and hygiene deficient Turkish Hajjis. Now I’m not trying to disparage the Hajjis...but wow it was site I’ve never witnessed before up close (I’ve seen stuff like this on TV).
All Muslims, if financially and physically able, are supposed to perform Hajj at least once in their lifetime. There are whole tourist agencies built around the Hajj. It’s incredible. But when you consider that over 3 million attend Hajj this year and the number keeps going up..well that’s a lot of money. I know that most of the Hajjis are just humble people doing something to help build their spirituality and understanding of their faith.
As the Turkish Hajjis entered the airplane it was as if the rest of us didn’t exist. Here we are sitting quietly in our seats and then all this commotion. One man kept telling the flight attendant that he was supposed to get a window seat and was expecting the expat sitting there to get up! The flight attendant told him that his travel agent may have told the traveller he was getting a window seat but he wasn’t. She pointed to his three seats and in a firm voice told him to sit down (she had to repeat this three times before he and his group sat down). The Hajjis would look at their tickets, the number and then just sit wherever. I’m not sure if they couldn’t read the number or if they just saw an empty seat and decided what the heck I’ll sit here. The flight attendants were going crazy trying to get everyone in their assigned seats. Even when the seats were found the Hajjis would wander around the plane chatting with each other. Finally, in exasperation, one male flight attendant, in a loud voice, said “Hajjis, sit down!” Some did and some didn’t. Over the loud speaker came the announcement “Open seating...please find a seat and sit down.” That created even more chaos.
After an hour the Hajjis were finally in their seats and the plane was ready to take off. We’re in the air cruising and the coughing begins. Not just one or two people but half the plane! Cough, cough, cough. I felt like germs were crawling on me and I was contaminated. I wanted to scream, run down the aisle, open the emergency hatch and parachute out and then burn the clothes I was wearing. I could tell Laurie was not enjoying the flight at all. Lucky for Timmy he was sleeping.
The loud talking, the wandering, hygiene deficient and the coughing....sigh...it didn’t make for a good flight for me. BUT I also have to remember that for the Hajjis this was the high point of their life. They were excited. They had done Hajj. They couldn’t wait to tell their experience to family and friends waiting for them in Germany. So I kept repeating “Serenity now,,,serenty now....”
As we landed I told Laurie that we needed to just sit on the plane until the Hajjis had gotten off and she agreed. I did get up to get a suitcase for the female Hajji sitting in front of us. She smiled and thanked me.
The Hajjis had mostly debarked so we got up and got off the plane. We got our luggage and went to passport control. There were the Hajjis...but lined up and being quiet. As we left the area the doors opened and there were hundreds of family and friends waiting for the Hajjis. I knew they couldn’t wait to hear the stories and that the Hajjis couldn’t wait to tell their stories.
It was by far one of my worst flights...but...what’s a little chaos. We got to Germany ok...we survived the Hajjis...we had an awesome time in Germany. The flight back to Riyadh...practically empty and quiet and best of all no coughing.

Holiday Concert

Yesterday was the Holiday Concert at the American International School-Riyadh (AIS-R). I asked my boss if I could take time off to attend and he smiled and said yes. I planned for a 50 minute drive (even though the school isn’t that far from my office…the highways are packed in the afternoon). I used all 50 minutes.

I figured parking at AIS-R wouldn't bad since I have a pass that allows me to park closer to the school but the line was packed so I ended parking in the main parking lot and walking the “blue mile.” By the time I got to the concert hall…yes hall and it is very very nice…the concert had started. I was looking for Laurie and her assistant pointed to where Laurie was sitting and saving me a seat.

The 1st and 2nd graders were singing funny songs about playing outside in the snow and how they were bored with no school. They were dressed very festive in red shirts and had green and red scarves. It was very nice.

Then the “older” elementary children came out. They were dressed in dark pants and white shirts. They looked so clean and fresh…even angelic. I scanned the stage looking for Timmy. There he was in the back. I was barely able to see him. I mentioned something about sizing the children to Laurie. Laurie pooh poohed that. Then I remaindered her that in military careers hang in the balance on whether or not a person can size a squadron. All the parents started waving to their children…including me. Everybody was excited to see their child / children on stage.

As I sat watching and listening it was amazing. Here are all these children with different social, ethnic and religious backgrounds getting along. I loved seeing the all the dark hair, a smatterings of blonde and then the only red-head (our Timmy). There was brown skin, black, white, Asian, Arab, European, African and American, Christian and Muslim all standing and singing together. It was like looking a little UN. I hope that as these children get older and go through life they’ll remember they are friends.

The songs for the older group were more serious focusing on joy and peace. They sang a song holding candles (the ones with the light bulbs) all the lights were turned out and all you saw were the candles shining and heard their angelic voices singing. I got teary eyed. Even though Christ was not mentioned the song was about all the virtues that both Christians and Muslims are supposed to live up to (love one another and peace).

I was fascinated with a Saudi father. He was sitting two rows in front of Laurie and me and wearing traditional Saudi dress. He wasn’t reclining in the seat but instead was sitting forward with a huge smile on his face and clapping after each number. I don’t know which child was his but he was obviously proud of them and wasn’t afraid to show it.

When the concert was over I realized that it really had touched me. The message was peace, joy and love to all. Isn’t that what all of us want and hope for?

MERRY CHRISTMAS to ALL!!! May all of us have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!

Experiments

Here in Riyadh we live in a huge villa. At times it seems overwhelming to live in a villa this big. Our houses in the States were more manageable. The two houses we’ve owned were both 3 BR with 2 baths (one bath in the Master BR and the other bath in the hallway). Since we only had two bathrooms they were used every day. Here we have 4 BR each with their own bathroom. So we rarely look at Timmy’s bathroom. Even more rare is going into the guest bathroom.
About six weeks ago I had had enough of Timmy’s clutter and decided that he and I needed to clean it up. We picked things up off the floor. Put stuff away that was piled on his dresser, bed and desk. The room looked better…still not “perfect” but better. Then I decided to look at this bathroom. I thought the most I would find would be some towels on the floor and maybe a set of dirty clothes (Timmy normally takes a bath in the master bathroom if we’re in there or in Laurie’s bathroom if she’s in the Queen room…he rarely takes a bath in his own bathroom). I was a little shocked at what I found.
On the sink were various sizes of bottles, cups and vials filled with some sort of liquid. Some of the liquid was clear while others were green or blue. There was even a 9-volt battery sitting on the sink (it had gotten wet and didn’t look good). I called Timmy and asked him what all this was.
Timmy: “It’s my experiments.”
Me: “Really.” What are you mixing.”
Timmy: “Soap and water and sometimes food coloring.”
Me: “Uh huh. And what are you hoping for?”
Timmy (in a very excited voice): “I’m trying to mix stuff together and have it explode!”

Wow. My son the mad scientist. I explained that mixing soap, water and food coloring wasn’t going to cause an explosion. Timmy seemed a little disappointed. He told me that he mixes the experiments together, leaves them for a few days and then adds stuff to the glasses, bottles and vials. I told him I was impressed with him determination and imagination but that the experiments had to be cleaned up and in the future we needed to discuss his experiments.

I looked in the bathroom today. It’s mostly clean except for some toothpaste in his sink (we’ve been working on that for a while now…and….).