excited

I was so excited throughout the night that I didn't sleep. At all. I get into a taxi in 45 minutes to head off. Happy, happy ,joy,joy.

hours

not that i am excited but i have just 7 hours until a cab gets me to take me to the airport. i have packed and I am just waiting for the time to pass. no sleep for me tonight. I am ready to go and cant wait to get out of here. It has been a long hard slog to make it this far. But in just a few short hours I will have completed another of the challenges that i set for myself. I deserve a beer for this one.

pissed

a valuable lesson for the day. seems like every time i try not to learn i do. so this morning one of the guys that lives in the same building as me left for the UK. He got off on time and had no problems. When I got back from lunch the front desk asked where he was. I told them and they freaked out. They said he owed one months rent. Now this guy arrived the day before i did and has paid at the same time as me for the last 7 months. I knew he didn't but i wasn't going to start something as he was gone. Then they told me I also owed a months rent. That was preposterous. I had them print a receipt to show me what was paid and when. They didn't have when I arrived nor the second month but insisted I owed them. I have been keeping my receipts and went and found them. I showed them the receipts and they still insisted that I owed. I had to call one of the administrators from the school who spoke arabic to help. This after I had produced more adequate records then they had. I just cant believe that people are so crap. Instead of looking through old ledgers which had the receipts in them or looking at the computer records and seeing that there was something odd about a month where there was no revenue reported they accused me and this other guy of trying to skip out on the money. After they finally accepted that the receipts I had were proof enough they asked me if they could make a copy in order to have records. So I learned that people suck.(Well I knew that already but it was reinforced) And I learned that keeping receipts is well worth the minute it takes to slip them into a folder. Keep your receipts they could be your ticket out of a shithole.

exit stage right

I received my final exit visa today which means i am actually allowed to leave the country. I have never been in a country where workers are forbidden from leaving without the permission of the employer. It is kind of scary actually. What if they had decided that I hadn't completed my contractual obligations? I would not be allowed out. I am sure that this happens to many of the laborers. They get here and have their passports taken they work 12-14 hours a day and sleep stuffed 10+ to a room earn barely enough to live and when they finally have had enough and try to go home their employer refuses to grant an exit visa. No exit visa, no getting out of the country. But of course slavery doesn't happen anymore. That ended a long time ago. Unless your a domestic worker or a laborer here in the kingdom. Glad to be able to go without much hassle. Looking forward to the long flights full of booze. And the sand and the water at the beach.

travels

so i finally get to go outside of the city of Riyadh. I will be taking a plane to Medina(second holy city of Islam no infidels allowed) then going up to madain saleh. I am really excited about it. From what I have read it is supposed to be remarkable, and as KSA only issues 1000 tourist visas per year it is virtually without tourists. I have also learned that aside from working here or going on the pilgrimage to Mecca(first holy city also off limits to non Muslims) it is almost impossible to get into this country. Not that many people would want to come. I will of course take some pictures and get them up. My flight leaves at 5 in the morning so it is going to be a long one. Coffee and the joy of travel will get me through. Mostly the coffee i think.

party

Went to an embassy function last night and had a bit much too drink, but I showed restraint and did not jump in the pool with the rest of the crew I was with. They were escorted from the premises and banned from all future events. I had a gin and tonic. I think if the bar had been closed I would have jumped, but as the sweet siren song of alcohol was still calling I decided to stay. A good time all around, I am looking forward to getting back to the USA. This is without a doubt the worst country I have ever lived in. There are no redeeming qualities. I shall not be returning no matter how much they offer in salary.

crazy

these people are all nuts. That is a picture today from a shopping center that I was walking around in. The "woman" was sharpied out as she might be too tempting for the masses and could cause the morals of the nation to be severely degraded. If one's faith is so weak that it must be imposed from an authority figure is it really a faith at all?

fail... nah not here

So this is the last week of classes before the final exams, so the pressure is up, but I should say it is without warrant. I have heard that from the people that write the test that the upper management has decreed that there should be no way for the student to miss more than 3 of the 10 grammar questions. So 70% of the questions are basically given. I have included a sample question from the exam for you to try and guess. Now these are students that have been "studying" English for the last 8 months 4 hours every day. I would think that the level would be a bit more elevated than this, but then again it is the oil that talks here.

In cities, people are always ____________ a hurry.

A) on
B) in
C) for
D) at

Now if that doesn't make you sad and realize that all the complaining about failing schools and stupid Americans is sadly misplaced then I dont know what to say. Makes me feel a bit like I have been wasting my time. Is it so much to ask that people be held to high yet achievable standards? Is that too much?

that'll do pig that'll do

= 100. no training no schedules no help. just set a goal and do it. sure my knees are killing me, and sure both inner thighs bled at different points and sure I probably was dehydrated for a good portion of the last two weeks and sure there were lots of other things, but at the end of the day I can do anything. all i need is desire. As they say when life gives you lemons, pelt someone with those motherfuckers.

enjoy the rapture. Personally, I plan on being one of the chosen. I can't wait for all the holy rolling do gooders to be whisked away. then we can have a party.

and 5 more

makes it 94 miles. so I have a short 6 more and I finish. it was again a scorcher out this evening on my run. a balmy 97.

Something I noticed here in KSA, well specifically at the university I work at, one would imagine that in a nation that follows islam(no matter how many qualms I have with the interpretation) a fairly simple thing to do would be to make sure all the necessary accouterments were in place for the following of the religion. One aspect of Islam that is fairly simple is the washing before prayer. Now prayer goes 5 times a day every single day. thus thousands of people at the university must wash hands feet and head 5 times every day. Never mind the absolutely mind boggling amount of water this takes, the university during construction didnt bother to make a large hall where this could take place. So every muslim goes into the bathroom and washes. Fine except they put their feet into the sink. I know it aint the end of the world but c'mon really that is the best solution. There is a mosque in the school they builders knew that prayer would happen there are thousands of students they are all muslim. What in the name of their god were they thinking? It makes me want to scream, and hold it til I get home.