I'm Here!!!! Hello from Riyadh!!

The trip from Lawton was very very long.  It took me just over 24 hours to get here.  It rained in Oklahoma City just as we were leaving and it was snowing in Denver!  The flight from Denver was delayed because they had to de-ice the wings! I hadn't met anyone else going with me on to Riyadh but I met a nice nurse who was half Croatian and half Arab who was on her way home to visit family.  The flight from Denver was 10 hours to Frankfurt.  They had a screen you could watch that showed you the progress of your flight.  It was a little sad and bittersweet to watch as the plane moved from the US out over the ocean.  It was night so you couldn't really see anything out of the window but still...it was a closing of one chapter and opening another.  Of course the plane was late to Frankfurt because of the delay and as things always seem to work where I landed was exactly opposite from where I needed to be!  I had to go through two security  checkpoints to get there (weather in Frankfurt was sunny and clear)!!  At Frankfurt I met three other nurses from the same agency and we have become fast friends.  I was a little concerned when they took us to the cargo plane area to catch the plane to Riyadh.  It was not as nice a plane as the one I crossed the ocean in but it was OK.  I sat next to a stinky Algerian (smelled like he hadn't bathed in days) who was also drunk!  AND...he continued to drink the entire 6 hour flight!! (On Lufthansa flights the alcohol flows for those of you who need to know this)  I began to wonder how he would get off the plane as in Saudi Arabia you could be arrested if you even smell like you have been  drinking!  I didn't see what happened to him but I guess he made it OK.

At the airport we found the people there very warm and welcoming.  We were standing in line to get through customs when all of a sudden we were being moved very hurriedly from one area to another and then another!  Then I saw him..a Mutawa.  He had his cane and he had walked into the airport while we were standing there.  No one besides me had an abaya but we were instructed to keep a long scarf handy in case we needed to put it on.  Everyone at the airport was working really hard to keep us out of sight!  They never even opened our bags!  Seemed like we were out of there in 15 or so minutes!   It was around ( at night when we got there.  As we drove through the city toward the hospital it reminded my of Las Vegas with all the brightly colored lights!  We drove past the Kingdom Tower which is quite impressive even in the dark!  It was nice to finally collapse into a nice clean (queen sized) bed!  No time for jet lag as we started orientation the very next day!

My apartment is very nice!  The complex has a Moorish design and I can see the beautiful swimming pool just outside my bedroom window!  There is a gym in the complex with treadmills and ellipticals and weights.  My complex (Complex D) is the farthest from the hospital and walking back and forth has been a great work out as well!  The bedrooms are large and we each have a large nice bathroom with a deep tub!  I share my apartment with a woman from Los Angeles who is a neurophysiology technician (EEG tech).

This hospital is HUGE!  There are 8 ICU's with two more planned!  The main corridor through the hospital is one kilometer long!  There are lots of metabolic disorders and genetic issues.  It is very beautiful and there is a lot of construction going on!  We are 100 new nurses, the most they have ever had at one time!  The nurses are British, Scots, Irish, Kiwi, South African, Phillipino, Swedish, Canadian, French Canadian and of course..American!  It is fun to listen to all of the different accents..sort of tickles the ears!  I don't mind at all wearing the abaya..it is not hot or uncomfortable to do so  though I do sort of trip over it sometimes.  I have learned how to wear the scarf (thank you Hayat) and it is starting to look nice now instead of mangled on my head.

We have managed to make it all the way downtown.  It is a beautiful city with very modern glass and metal buildings (sort of reminds me of Dallas) with beautiful old mosques in between.  The Saudi people I have met have been very warm and welcoming!  There are a few things that get lost in translation sometimes but I am learning to take it in stride and find the humor in it rather than get frustrated as some of my companions do.  For example:  tomorrow tomorrow actually means day after tomorrow..not emphatically telling you to come back tomorrow.  My brother shared some good advice when he said do not act upset or the process will take longer...as some have found out!

I LOVE it here!  The men are very handsome and the women are very beautiful and very graceful.  Life is a slower pace which I hope to embrace as well.  I have decided it is a good thing to be reminded to pray 5 times a day.

Pictures will be forthcoming.  We have to be careful taking pictures here and I haven't learnd all of the rules yet.

Take care!

Christine xx