In the Groove

School Life
Wednesday, October 28th will make it 1 month that I have been here.  The week FLIES by with so many daily activities.  I clock in at 6:45 am and end my day at 2:45 pm. There are 8 periods in a day. My first two periods are blocked with language arts. Third period is math and then I get a break during the fourth period.  Fourth period is normally Arabic, Islamic, or PE. Fifth period is science. After science, students have a lunch break/recess. The rest of the day alternates daily between Arabic, Islamic, art, library, social studies (twice a week), and L.I.M/centers (Leader in Me).  Teaching math and science is easy, but I'm struggling with language arts. There is a lot of content to teach during the 80 minutes and I want to make sure that the students have a good understanding before we move on. Every Sunday, we have morning assembly. During the assembly, the students learn about a different them each month.  My class did a song related to friendship (Bruno Mars). Unfortunately, it still plays in my head throughout the day. The students also listen to a verse from the Quran and end with the national anthem. That pretty much sums up my Sunday through Thursday schedule.

Getting Around
The other teachers in the compound are really nice.  They all have been showing me the ropes and giving me good tips on getting things as well as getting around the city. We have a company van that takes us to the local grocery stores twice a week and to one of the many malls on Saturdays.Today, we went to a mall in Al Khobar.  It was okay.  Most of the stores were closed and weren't due to open until 4 pm. During prayers, everything shuts down.  If you are in the store when it closes, then you get locked in until prayer is over.  This can be good if you need some extra time to look around to make more purchases.  It can be bad if you are ready to go because some times you end up with a very long line of people waiting to check out. I have found that Saudi has everything we have in the States. Of course, hair care products are hard to come by. Honestly, that is expected.  I haven't gotten my iqama yet, therefore, I can only visit the surrounding areas.  Many people travel to Bahrain to shop and hang out in a more relaxed environment. You don't have to wear the abayas there. My first trip will probably be to Dubai in November (if I get my iqama).

Compounds
Basically compound living is like living in a hotel. We have a swimming pool, fitness center, laundry room, lounge, and access to little markets in the surrounding area.  Not all compounds are alike, but they do have some of the same basics.  I went to an American compound on Friday in Al Khobar with some friends from my compound.  We met up with some of their friends and went bowling right there at the compound.  Their compound had a arcade, restaurant, and an indoor soccer field.  Soccer is big here. The houses in their compounds look like condos. The second compound that I visited was yesterday and it was at Aramco.  Their compounds were actual houses.  The family we visited were having a BBQ and had just finished decorating their house. It was a very comfortable environment. It felt like the States and not Saudi.

Restaurants
I know many of you wonder about food here.  Well, here is a list of restaurants I have seen so far.
McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Popeye's, Domino's, Pizza Inn, Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, TGIF, Chili's, Fudruckers, Baskin Robbins, etc.  The list goes on and on.

I will leave this post with some pictures from different areas. I will try to update more since I have a routine established.  Until the next post, take care and God bless!

I'm Here!!

Well, I'm finally here.  Going places is always stressful for me because I don't want to forget anything or miss something.  Packing was a chore, but only because I had to do it. Because I have been in the gym teaching and coaching for 8 years, I don't own many "adult" clothing. The first task for me will be to get in touch with my inner shopping side and get some long over do adult clothes. Although I have to wear an abaya out in public, I will be allowed to take it off at the compound AND at school, therefore, I will need to be in professional type clothing while teaching.  As I have quickly learned, it is all about brand names here.  I'm not a brand names type of girl, but we will see what style category I fall into once I learn shopping strategies.

Let me tell you about my airport/flight experiences. First of all, I flew out of Memphis, Tn.   The guy checking me in thought that I was an American spy. He was a cute older man (probably someone's grandpa). After having a little bit of difficulty trying to figure out the cost of my bags and how to print the labels out, I ended up with 3 bags and 2 carry-ons. The first 2 bags were free. The 3rd bag alone cost me $300.  Normally, I wouldn't pay for that, but since I will get the money  back, I felt it was no big deal. Besides, I was running late and didn't want to miss my flight. As I was walking away, he again mentioned something about me being a spy.  I politely laughed and shook my head.  Many people ask me if I'm in the military or assume I'm going overseas for a man (LOL!), but that was the first time I was accused of being an American Spy.  I waited about 20 minutes before it was time to board the plane to fly to Dallas (DFW). I had just enough time to use the restroom and line up for boarding. Of course, I get to the boarding counter to give the lady my boarding pass to scan and the machine beeps to tell her that I didn't have a seat.  Another lady approaches and tells me to wait a second while the first lady just gives me a weird look. There was an older couple waiting to board the same flight and while I was waiting to see if I had a seat, they were being told that they were being put on the next flight. Of course, they were disappointed. The airplane was overbooked prior to boarding and they were offering $500 vouchers for people to take the next flight (7 pm) and it was 4:00 pm. On the flight, I ended up sitting next to a teenager.  He didn't say much, but did say "yes ma'am" when I asked him if he wanted to sit by the window because I noticed him falling asleep. No one likes to do that awkward forward nod that makes you feel like you are either falling or look stupid because you feel asleep. I think the people on the plane thought he was my kid.  They conveniently let him get off when I did. The flight was very short. They had just enough time to give us a snack and pick up the trash before we landed.  Overall, Memphis airport was a breeze.

Next up, DFW!  This airport is pretty big!  I had to take the Skylink to get to the gate for my next departure. This would be the airplane that would take us to Abu Dhabi. I have never heard of nor flown with Eithad Airways.  The travel agent created the flight itinerary.  This airline was the reason my 3rd bag was $300.  I finally got a chance to look at their website in detail and it states that extra baggage is $300 per bag the day of the flight.  If you pay for baggage prior to the day of your flight either through their website or just online at the initial airport, then it would be slightly cheaper. Here is where the craziness starts.  The 2 carryon bags that are free HAVE to be a certain weight.  They can't be more than 5 kg and more than 7 kg. Did you get that?  Yes, they weigh your bags BEFORE you can line up to board.  One bag has to be 7 kg or less and the other bag has to be 5 kg or less.  So now you have people having to rearranged their belongings or throwing things away because they did not know about this rule.  I ended up putting my laptop inside of my backpack and throwing away a catalog.  One of my bags was still overweight, but the lady let me go. I was beyond happy!  The flight was not booked so I was allowed to sit next to another teacher that was going to the same place and school.  We chatted for some of the flight and slept/watched movies during the rest of the flight.  For our first meal, we chose lamb, mashed potatoes, cucumber salad, bread, and a strawberry mousse dessert topped with granola.  It was pretty good! We washed it down with a glass of red wine. Our snack on the flight was a cold chicken sandwich that had some kind of ingredient that made it flavorful. Our last meal was some kind of veggie dish with curry in it.  I didn't like it or the salad that came with it.  I had a few bites and ate the bread and kit kat bar that came with the meal. This flight was 14 1/2 hours long. Overall, it was a decent flight.  The service was good and we had no issues with takeoff or landing.

As we began to descend into Abu Dhabi, we looked out the window and saw lots of pretty lights similar to Christmas decorations. We had to walk down some stairs as we left the airplane in order to take a shuttle bus to the airport.  It was hot outside and it quickly reminded me of Taiwan.  Earlier on the airplane, we were able to see the connecting gate from the seat monitor.  We were to connect at terminal 3 and gate 55.  We set out to find the correct area.  We walked for about 15 min before arriving at the correct gate. Or so we thought.  I checked the monitor in the area and noticed it said Kuwait.  I had to use the restroom and decided I would check airport monitor on my way to the restroom.  I found the monitor around the corner from gate 55 and quickly noticed that our departure gate had changed to gate 30. :-(  No restroom for me!  I quickly walk back to the other teacher, tell her we needed to go to the other gate, and we set off walking in the direction we JUST came from and then some.  We made it there and happen to be one of the first sets of people travelling to Dammam. I found the restroom and got a chance to go before the next flight.  Next to the restrooms were prayer rooms.  There was one for men and one for women.  It was cool to see people in abayas as well as Indian women in their colorful attire.This flight was our last flight and boy was I ready to get it over with.

For our final flight, we had to get on another shuttle bus that took us to the airplane.  The new teacher and I were both worried that we would have to weigh our bags again, but luckily it was just that once. This flight was full and they had an issue with a couple on board before takeoff.  The wife had to be brought on board via wheelchair. The couple had purchased the exit row. If anyone knows about those seats, then you know they cost extra because of the leg room.  Well, if you are in those seats, then you must be able and willing to help passengers off of the airplane in case of an emergency.  The husband was physically able, but not the wife.  The problem occurred when the airline changed their seats and did not tell them. So they flight attendant with all of her patience did a little switch-a-roo with some of the passengers and everyone wasn't happy, but they consented to the changes. I hope they gave the guy a refund. So, now we are all buckled up and ready to go!  Not sure what took so long for us to leave, but we were waiting for about 30-45 min before we even began to taxi to the runway.  I was in and out of it at this time because my body is exhausted and I could tell my legs were swelling.  Getting to the runway took another 10 minutes which means we were way behind schedule.  Our flight was supposed to land at 9:50 pm in Dammam and we were still at the airport in Abu Dhabi at that time. Thank God the flight was very short. They gave us an express snack bag.  Inside of it was a small bottle of water and a sandwich.  The sandwich was a piece of cheese and tomatoes on  pizza tasting hoagie bread.  It was actually pretty good to have so little on it.  I might have to add that to my quick lunch idea if I can find that bread. This flight felt like 30 minutes long. Overall, it wasn't a bad flight outside of the long wait for departure.

After landing, the last part of the trip is to go through customs. This part can take a VERY long time depending on the airport. I guess we had good timing because our wait was next to none.  They had an area for "Foreign Citizens/First Timers." I was standing in the multiple entry line until I noticed the other line.  I ended up back tracking through the line to get to the correct one. While at the counter, the guy scanned my hand 3 times and took 3 pictures before he stamped my passport.  The only words I heard him say were "Right" "Left" and "Again."  He didn't say "ok, you are done" or "thank you" or even give me a nod.  He just stood up and called the next person in line to come over.  I thought that was pretty rude, but I was tired and what was I going to do about it anyway. Lol!  This is his world. Besides, I'm not the confronting type. Next, I had to get my bags. Some man with a trolley started following me and asked if I wanted his help. I really did need it, but I thought it would make it go faster with his assistance.  I pointed to the baggage carrier and he quickly rolled the trolley in that direction.  Within 10 minutes, I had my bags and was headed to scan them so that I could leave the airport. That part didn't take long.  He put my bags on a conveyor belt, they rolled through the scanner/camera, and he put them back on the trolley.  I noticed on the back of his shirt it stated that the service fee was 10 riyals. I asked him where I could exchange money and he showed me where to go. The exchange rate here is 1 US = 3.75 SAR. I gave him 10 riyals and he asked for change.  Not sure what change he was talking about nor did he get it.  He kind of walked in a huff, but he will be alright.  I'm sure if I owed him more money, then he would have found someone to explain that to me.

Lastly, we met up with the one of the administrators.  She gave us an abaya to borrow and took us to the school's van.  The driver loaded AND unloaded our bags (my 5 bags and her 7 bags). She told us to sit in the van because he was going to take care of it all.  Here the women are treated like a princess or queen.  You don't drive or carry things unless you have to do it by yourself.  Many of the married women have maids and love to shop.  Again, it's all about brand names.

Reality still hasn't set in so I'm in the honeymoon phase.  I have met a few of the teachers as well as my bosses. Myself, the other new teacher, a veteran teacher, and a couple all went to Carrefour inside of a mall.  It was cool to see so many people and shops there.  It will be hard to feel homesick for foods or clothes because they have it all here. Technology has made it way easy to stay in touch with family members as well.  I use the apps LINE, What'sapp, Google Hangout, and Facebook to stay in touch.

That's it for now!  My next post will include some pictures of my room.

Let the Countdown Begin!!

So I thought the visa process was going to take longer than it did. Much to my surprise, it only took a week.  I will be in Saudi Arabia by Sept. 28th.  I'm looking forward to my new adventure, but I'm not looking forward to the 15 hour flight. There will be another teacher from Colorado accompanying me so it shouldn't be that bad. Other than jet lag and the 8 hour time difference, there are some things that I need to mentally prepare myself for as far as lifestyles and laws.

Here are some of the changes that I have read about or heard about from others

• People (men) like to drive fast. I've heard about high fatalities due to aggressive driving. Women aren't allowed to drive and often use a personal driver or a taxi. 
• There is prayer 3 times a day and everything shuts down at those times. This is no big deal to me since I'm use to things shutting down around lunch time in Taiwan. It's all a matter of planning in my eyes. Maybe I can use that time for personal reflection and meditation.
• It's against the law to import, manufacture, possess, or consume alcohol or illegal drugs. The consequences can be long jail sentences, heavy fines, public floggings, and/or deportation.  The penalty for drug trafficking is death and it doesn't matter if you are an American or any other foreigner.
• Here's a HARD one for me.  Photography. You have to have permission to take a person's photo and you should NEVER take a picture of a woman or a place where women congregate. You can't take pictures of anything that may portray the country in an unfavorable light.
• Saudi customs and officials broadly define what is contrary to Islam and therefore prohibited. Christmas decorations, fashion magazines, and "suggestive" videos may be confiscated and the owner subject to penalties  and fines.
• Public displays of non-Islamic religious articles, such as crosses and Bibles, is not permitted.
• Women must wear an abaya and men should dress conservatively. Men can't wear shorts in public or go without a shirt.
• Many places have segregation or gender specific areas. Men and women are not allowed to socialize in public. Women who are arrested for socializing with a man who is not a relative  may be charged with prostitution. If you are in a restaurant and you are a single man/female, then you must sit in the single seating area specific to your gender. You can not sit in the family area nor in the area of the opposite sex. 
• You can't drink the water there. I'm used to this as well because we couldn't drink the water in Taiwan.
• Here is one that I learned at a consultation. If you get married to a Saudi Arabian, then you must obtain his permission to leave the country.  If you get a divorce, then you must still obtain his permission to leave the country.  If you have children with him, you will need his permission to leave the country with your children. If you get a divorce, then he gets the children. If you get a divorce and get awarded custody of the children, then you still need to get permission to leave the country with them.

Although I've gotten pretty good at adjusting to different lifestyles, I'm pretty sure some of these changes will take some getting used to in the beginning.  I will be living in a compound so things will be pretty normal for me there because most of those laws don't apply.  The compound has a swimming pool. I will definitely spend the first few weeks getting my MTS and Lymphedema under control.   I was told to put my legs in the water for 20 minutes and then put my compression garments on immediately afterwards.  The pressure of the water and the compression hoses are supposed to increase circulation and decrease swelling.  I hope it works! For those of you concerned about passports, I WILL be able to keep my passport with me.  I will not have to hand it over.

My next few posts will be about my packing skills (LOL!), the flight, and my apartment/room at the compound. I hope you come along for the ride! Feel free to hit me up with questions about what I am doing or the area.

Documents, Documents, Documents!!!

My time in Taiwan has come to an end.  I look forward to visiting my friends in the future, but for now I need to get prepared for my next journey in Saudi Arabia.  There are many things and documents that need to be prepared before I can receive a visa for SA (Saudi Arabia). For my first post, I am going to give you an idea of what will be expected if you plan on traveling there to work.


First, you will need to do some job searching to see where you would like to work as well as do some research on the area, culture, and laws. SA laws are quite different from the US and I plan on discussing that in my next post.


Next, you will need to get the following documents prepared:
1.  Passport
2.  4 passport photos
3.  Completed application for your job
4.  Original and a copy of the employment contract
5.  Original letter from the company in SA
6.  Copies of your university/college degrees
7.  A final exit statement if you worked in the Kingdom prior to your new job
8.  Medical reports
9.  Police reports


I know it doesn't seem like a lot to do, but it is.  Trust me! The passport must be valid for 6 months with at least 2 blank adjacent visa pages. The photos must be recent, in color with a white background, and can't exceed a 6 month period. Details of how to complete the application will be given to you by your person of contact for the job.  Your degrees need to be notarized and include an official copy of your transcripts in a sealed envelope.  If your degree was completed online, then it will not be accepted.  You will need to complete a distance learning and a consent form.  These forms will be given to you by your person of contact. You will also need to verify your degree on the degreeverify website. The medical reports are the hardest part. You must obtain 3 original copies of the medical report and they must be filled out by hand by the physician. You need to include 3 copies of the physician's practicing license along with diagnostics and lab work. All tests must be done in the United States. The police report should have details about your criminal record (if any).  It should include a seal, signature, or stamp along with being notarized.  They will not accept a printout from a website.


With all of the documentation needed, I quickly learned the best place to get these documents prepared was at the public library.  I used the public library in Jonesboro. Each black/white copy costs $0.10 and a color copy costs $0.30. Using the computer was free of charge and getting itemized notarized was also free of charge. Once you have ALL of your documents, then you send them to the next person of contact that will start the process of getting your visa. When your paperwork is completed and you have been cleared to work, your employer/company will send you everything you need to get to SA (documents, visa, tickets). Of course, every company is different.  I'm just giving you an idea of what I had to complete for my job as a teacher. 


I hope this information has been helpful. I plan on blogging about this new journey as much as I can. There are a lot of things that I can not do there that I am used to doing in other places, but I will talk about those things in my next post. 


Thanks for reading and take care!