So It Begins.....

On February 1, 2010 I began my journey to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and KAUST.  Leaving  my family in Michigan was one of the hardest things I have ever done.  I will also chronicle here, my rookie international traveler mistakes.  Going to the airport, I knew my bags were overweight.  What I did not realize was just how expensive overweight bags are to fly.  I wanted to check 3 bags which is one more than is allowed.  Two of the three were overweight.  That added up to 2 @ $150 and 1 @ $250 for a total of $550……..for my luggage!  Fortunately my wife, Cindi, spoke up and said “could he upgrade to business class and get the bags for free?”.  Brilliant!  So for $600 my bags flew free and I got business class to Germany.  It’s economy from Germany to KSA but the bags go all the way on the first ticket.  You might wonder why I would  spend that money when you could just leave stuff behind?  Because I have home in those bags and it was going with me.

The Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt was great….multi-adjustable power seats that lay almost flat; personal video; delicious food….I just wish I could have slept.  Landing in Frankfurt brought another surprise.  They don’t have those nice heated jetways we are so used to in the States.  You park on the tarmac and bus to the terminal.  It’s winter in Germany now, too, so it was a cold ride.  Security at the airport doesn’t seem to care if you are actually boarding a plane.  They don’t check your boarding pass/id at the security line.  They just screen your bags and you. I found out later when they cleared everyone out of the waiting area and made us queue up to get back in that they do check id and boarding passes.  Just at a different time than I am used to.

I also find it a bit intimidating being the foreign person in someone else’s country.  Lot’s of languages are being spoken and English is far from the most common.  It’s a good thing to get out of the cocoon, though.  I’ve always “known” the world was bigger than the USA but never really “knew” it.
 

The flight to Jeddah was uneventful.  The seats were smaller and less luxurious than Business Class but I had a row to myself so I was comfortable enough.  The food in economy cannot be compared to that in business class and there were no free drinks.  Just a way to prepare myself for alcohol-free Saudi Arabia.  When we arrived in Jeddah at King Abdulaziz International Airport, it took about 15 minutes to taxi to our parking spot (again on the tarmac).  Another 10 minute bus ride got us to the terminal.  To my relief, the KAUST desk was clearly visible when I entered the terminal.  

I was greeted by a very cordial young man in Arabic dress whose English was flawless.  Turns out he was born in Chicago, moved to Saudi Arabia when he was 4, and spent the next 17 years living on an English-speaking compound.  His Arabic was just fine, too.  He escorted me and two other KAUST folks to the head of the customs line where I was fingerprinted and photographed.  Then we got our luggage and it was put through an xray machine.  The staff at the machine barely glanced at the screen and we were out of the airport in about 15 minutes.  KAUST definitely gets special treatment!  I spoke to a fellow who arrived when noone was at the KAUST desk and it took him 1 1/2 hours to get through the airport.  After a brief ride to my hotel, the "Habitat", I unpacked just enough to get to bed and sleep.  

At 5:30AM (9:30pm the night before in Detroit), I was back up getting ready for my first day at KAUST.  The breakfast room  was full of expats and consisted of about a 40 foot long spread of everything from scrambled eggs and pancakes to mozarella tomatoes and numerous unidentifiable Saudi dishes.  There was fruit, coffee, and juice so I was happy.

The bus (or motor coach) was about 1/2 full so everyone had their own seats.  We departed from the hotel about 6:35AM and arrived at KAUST 1 hr and 15 minutes later.  The scenery on Medina Highway to KAUST was certainly different.  There was plenty of traffic....trucks and cars alike.  The cars covered the gamut of makes including Toyota, GM, Ford, Mercedes, BMW, Chery Motors, Dihatsu.....they had it all.  The terrain was very flat and, surprise, surprise, "tan".  Not much green stuff in sight except for the occasional stand of trees.  The memorable features of the landscape included incomplete construction, (seemingly abandoned), low concrete walls by the hundreds whose purpose was a mystery, tons of  abandoned tires laying morosely by the road in ones and in small groups along with litter, litter, and more litter.  KAUST appeared at the end of this ride like an oasis.