These past nine days are somewhat similar to our school start up in Canada. Everyday is extremely full. If you are a teacher, consider that we are a brand new school which has been in operation since September 2008. Given you have just started your school year, you know the push required to get past the opening weeks. While some things are similar, understandably, we have some differences here. We have a multitude of supplies arriving every day which need to be placed. Daily, we conduct interviews for new hires, we have people assembling our furniture and toys, and, we are moving furniture to new classrooms because our population is exploding! On top of opening an elite new school, we as new teachers to Saudi must attend to personnel and personal issues.
Here is a typical day! No kidding! I was up at 5:30, caught the bus at 7:00, and returned home from a jam-packed day of adventures at 7:40. At school, we met with our HR man, Mr. Fahad and received our medical cards and coverage. I worked with the IT man, sat in on three meetings, went to the hospital twice (just blood work), stopped to get my photos taken, and finally shopped for groceries.
My belly laugh comes from my second trip to the hospital. First, let me explain that our group of new teachers went to two hospitals yesterday trying to get the necessary blood work done. Although we all had extensive medicals in Canada, additional tests are conducted in Saudi prior to receiving our igama. (Like a passport you carry at all times.) We were unable to get the work done yesterday because the hospitals said there were too many of us. After the second rejection, one of our teachers had a perfect attitude as we boarded the bus yet again. She smiled, pumped her fist and said, “Yahoo, another road trip!” This is often the case here. When one thing doesn’t seem to work, you try another and another, and another . . . . . . .
Our hospital adventures were smoother today. Mr. Fahad came with us on the bus and while Adiroos (our bus driver) drove us to the hospital, Mr. Fahad was our personal tour guide. Along with mentioning the sites, he was delighted to explain some of the Saudi life and culture to us. He also showed us some photos and recordings of a wedding he attended, his yacht, and his cute little son. We appreciated him being with us and our hospital visit went fairly smooth. Unfortunately, I didn’t have extra photographs for my paper work so I needed to bring additional photos on a return trip.
Following the first hospital trip we went back to the primary building and dropped off some teachers. I was then driven over to the KG (Kindergarten) building. Thankfully I had an hour to do some work; rearranging furniture to get ready for opening day, bring a fridge into our administration area, request the desks and chairs they were moving in be reloaded into the truck and delivered to the other school, meet with potential parents of children who want to attend and possibly a few other jobs! J
At 3:25 we are picked up from our school and driven to the other school to pick up the other teachers. We dropped off teachers and staff along the way as we make our way back to Saudi City Compound. Once there, we dropped off those teachers who were not going to the hospital with us.
While at the hospital, Adiroos and I are sitting and waiting for the other teachers. Along comes a cleaning woman with a caged rat. The funny part was she looked like she had a pet! This rat was in this funky little blue cage and she carried it like a child would carry a loving pet gerbil. She proceeded to the bathroom which happened to be right where we were sitting. She popped the caged rat into the garbage can and we naturally we started asking questions. With the sweetest smile she said, “I have to kill it, but I don’t want to.” Out comes the hose and she fills the can up with water. When we finally get our jaws off the floor, we start laughing and joking with her. She asked me if we have rats in Australia. I told her we have rats in Canada, just not usually in the waiting room in the hospital. At that point we all were rolling on the floor because of the bizarre nature of the whole incident. Meanwhile, a doctor and X-ray technician come to watch the show too. Together we are laughing (not because the rat is being drowned) just at the craziness of the situation. Brings a whole new meaning to the saying ‘drowned rat’.
When we have finished in one building, we then move to another building in the hospital for further tests. Finally we are finished. On the way home we stop for groceries and return to our humble abodes just before 8:00. Yep, just another day at the office!!
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