So far, things have been pretty chilled out. My arrival date in Saudi Arabia was good timing, as it’s still a holiday here until Monday (normally the working week would begin on Saturday). So until Monday, all I can do is wait and relax at the hotel.
I have already bumped into some of the other teachers working for Al-Khaleej, who are also staying at the hotel. There’s one guy from England, two from Canada, and one Syrian who just arrived a few hours ago. Several other teachers will be arriving over the next week, including four from Sudan, who are arriving later today. So it turns out not all of the English teachers working for Al-Khaleej are native English speakers; some are (near) bilingual in Arabic and English.
I’ve heard that the new academic year begins sometime around the 15th of September, so the company is bringing in as many new teachers as possible before then. There’s still no news as to where I will be going, but I should find out soon, perhaps Monday.
I discovered yesterday that the hotel has a pool, so I’ve been taking full advantage of that! The weather is so hot over here (42° C/108° F today!) that it’s really refreshing to take a swim. It’s interesting to see how there is a giant wall surrounding the pool area, so as to block the view from any surrounding buildings. Also, apparently the hotel tries not to put anyone in the rooms that overlook the pool, especially any female guests. The segregation here is very obvious. At the shawerma place, for example, which is a pretty big restaurant, it was packed full of customers, but there was not a single woman to be found anywhere.
For dinner last night, two of the other teachers and I went out to an Indian restaurant, just a five minute walk down the main road. The food was delicious and they had an open kitchen, so you could watch as your order was being prepared.
In fact, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the huge variety of foods available here – everything from the West to the East that you can think of. They’ve got McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Subway and every kind of national food, from Mexican to Chinese! I even spotted a Krispy Kreme shop!
Today I had dinner with Osama and the new teacher from Syria. This time it was Jordanian, which Osama wanted to introduce to us as he is originally from Amman, Jordan. We ate something called “Al-Mansaf”, which was lamb on yellow rice and bread, over which you poured a watery yoghurt sauce, called “leban”. Along with soup and salad, the portion sizes were immense and none of us could finish all of it!
The hotel where I’m staying has Wi-Fi, so you might be able to catch me online at somepoint. The time difference here is two hours ahead of London. I’ll try to write some more over the next few days. In the meantime, I think I’m off to the pool again…
…Oh and here are a few photos from the hotel – 10 points for spotting the Mountain Dew!
Nigel of Arabia 