VideoBlog #3

Driving in Riyadh

Ive now had 4 return journeys in and around Riyadh and seen 12 cars crunched in accidents. Nothing too serious luckily. They want to take away my driver and give me a car instead. I dont think so!

Videoblog #2

Apartment Pictures

Ive now moved into the compound. These are a few pics of where Im living at the moment...

Video Blog #1

First Weekend In Saudi

Thursday and Friday are the weekend. Technically Friday is the religious day – like our Sunday – and the other weekend day could be a Thursday or a Saturday. However to allign with school weekends, many places take Thursday as the second weekend day. This causes some problems with communications with the west of course as effectively there is only Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday where one or other party is not on a weekend!!

Patience

Finally getting somewhere. I have a gate pass – which is basically a bit of paper that have to get rubber stamped by security. The place is a hotbed of beuracracy. My internet connection is ok – with some restrictions on what I can access at what time., For example the systems prevent me from accessing the BBC website until 3pm. Who know why. Getting access to the databases that I need to look at is ludicrously difficult. I am flown 3000 miles to work on a system for which I do not have access. Whats the sense in that? But many things here don’t make much sense to me and patience is a virtue.

Frustrations

Things that you would expect to have to be done time and again and for which there should be a slick process fall short of the mark, basic things like having an internet connection, a landline, a gate pass, even a desk. Its very much make do and mend at the moment. An Irish guy called Niall turned up today. He has got the right idea. He flys in for about 10 days a month does the job then flys out again. We have complimentary skills so I think I’ll be working with him for a while.
Im taken to get my car. There seems some surprise that I do not have my driving licence in spite of me telling them on Sunday that it was at home! I can see the car, but they cant release it to me. I shall continue to have a driver for the time being which suits me just fine. They drive like lunatics here and I cant read the arabian roadsigns!

Slept Well

Up nice and early after having slept almost 12 hours. Downstairs for breakfast. Scrambled Eggs or as the signage says - Scrambled (Eggs). Im not sure what else they might scramble! Toast in the dodgiest toaster you have ever seen. I swear the lights dim and it makes a fizzing sound when the bread is put in. To call it toast is to use artistic licence. It is bread that is warmed up a bit with a slight crunch on the outside. Not really browned at all. Apparently when my appartment is finally refurbished I will get a "soft pack" which includes bedding, pots and pans, kettle, toaster etc. I can have real toast then! But there is lurpak butter which is unexpected, and I think kellogs honey nut loops and chocolate flakes together with what is described as tea but I would call it water with a hint of tea it is so weak and some lovely freshly squeezed orange juice. That sets me up for the day nicely. Out of the hotel into the car, out of the car into the office. Aircon all the way. Just as well. When I left the building to have a wander around the compound where I am working initially (which is huge) the heat was so intense it burnt the back of your throat when you breathed the air. Im still struggling to get the necessary access to the systems I need, and the guy to whom I report, a huge 7ft Norweigian called Jarl (I think there may be 2 dots above the "a" but I cant see how to do it on my keyboard!) thought he was getting sent some sort of project manager rather than a technical specialist. I did briefly get excited when I thought it might be my fast track ticket home but regretably not as he says he will need my skills in a few weeks. Which rather begs the question, what do I do until then!

Passport Worries

Slept well. My driver arrived at 9am to take me to complete some formalities and collect some kit. My passport was taken off me and a receipt of some description was issued in case I was stopped and my documents requested. This wasnt a suprise as I had checked before I left the UK whether this would happen. Usually when I travel overseas I dont give up my passport. It is my guarantee of safe passage (or so it says!) and required for repatriation back to the UK. Saudi Arabia is different to most countries in that you require permission to leave the country as well as enter it. I did ask what happened if my visa expired but I was not granted permission to leave. Noone knows! Hopefully thats a good sign as it wont happen but I must remember to get the address and phone number of the british embassy just in case. I havent brought my driving licence. I'll have to have it shipped over by DHL at some point. No tea and coffee making facilities in my hotel room. It reminds me of Kathmandu.

D-Day

D-Day. I wasnt convinced this would actually have to happen, but it has and after a brief stop in the departure lounge to pick up some last minute things Im onto the aircraft and on my way. I am trying to keep focussed on the reasons I must go else I would stay on the plane and it would bring me back again! My best strategy is to just go, get the job done as quickly as possible and get back home. The queues to get to through immigration were horrendous. They have started fingerprinting everyone coming in and the machines failled. After initially being put in a fast track queue we were sent to the back of one of the normal queues and only let Saudi Residents fast track. It took 3 hours. My fellow passengers told me that was a record, but my driver said he sometimes had to wait for 6 or 7 hours for people to get through passport control. My appartment in one of the fortified compounds was not ready for me so I was to stay in a Hotel for a few nights. Although classed as a 4* it is basic but comfortable. It would struggle to get a UK star rating although I can see that when new it would have been pretty nice. It just needs a bit of TLC.

Trauma

The last 24 hours have been traumatic to say the least. I had decided that in spite of the consequences, I would not travel to the Middle East. I got very little sleep last night and had after having my mind changed had a very emotional farewell at the airport. But after flying to Scotland very briefly I am now at the Heathrow Hilton close to Terminal 5 where I shall spend the night before flying out to Riyadh in the morning. I am not terribly fond of Hilton Hotels. I have found them expensive and the rooms quite small in the past. However this one was is great. After flying into Terminal 5 on a wonderful BA flight with great service, nice meal and free bar. My baggage was available to me almost immediately I arrived at baggage reclaim. The teething problems at launch seem to have been resolved. A Hilton coach picked me up and took me the short distance to the Hotel where a package I had to have delivered there was waiting for me, the room spacious and comfortable and a much better nights sleep.

Wii

Finally got the girls a Wii that they have been wanting for a long time before I left.

Lincoln Canoe Club

Megan and her friend, Lily (crouching down in this picture), are joining Lincoln Canoe Club and went on their taster session yesterday which was great fun. See a slideshow of the morning's paddling here:
http://www.stumm.me.uk/photos/canoe