A "normal" day

A routine, of sorts, has settled in.  I awake at 5AM so that, by 5:30AM, I can talk to my family.  (It's 9:30PM the previous evening in Michigan).  We either Skype with video or I simply dial home using a local number with my Vonage internet phone.  My family sees "Walled Lake" on callerid.  This is so cool!  We talk about the day just past (I've had a night to sleep on it).  At 6AM I got to breakfast.  At 6:35AM the bus leaves the hotel for KAUST.  At 7:45AM or so, we arrive at KAUST.  There is an interesting checkpoint on the hightway just north of Jeddah.  Everyone slows down to a crawl as we pass through narrowed lanes where there are Police? Guards? Military.  I'm not sure.  They just watch the vehicles pass and we haven't actually stopped yet.

Once we reach the entrance to KAUST, however, it's a different story.  We go through three checkpoints within about a mile.   Usually at two of the three, a guard boards the bus and walks the aisle looking at ID badges.  The checkpoints are a bit unnerving because of the discreet but visible automatic weapons and, at one stop, truck-mounted machine gun.  I suppose it will just fade into the scenery eventually.  I certainly have not experienced an ounce of fear or trepidation since I have been in Saudi Arabia.  I think it's just a precaution because one never knows who might take exception to our presence.

Once on the KAUST camput, there are visible guards here and there but no visible weapons.  It looks pretty much like any other campus except everyone has an ID badge.  It reminds me of a corporate campus in many respects.  There are just more "throbes" and "abayas" than you typically see at Michigan State or UM.  :-)  Below is a stock image; this is not KAUST.   The men wear throbes and the women wear abayas.   This dress is very common everywhere I've been.

At work there is much to do.  The computing clusters on which I work were ordered by Saudi Aramco (who built KAUST) before there was a "Research Computing" department (which is where I work).  Now there is a single manager and 3 staff members out of 18 projected.  What's installed is not what any of us would have purchased and much of it does not work according to the requirements that had been given to Saudi Aramco.  As a result, not much works at all.  This is resulting in long days which are made even longer by the roughly 3 hours per day I spend on a bus.

Speaking of the bus, moving to the KAUST campus is a dream for many.  Some have been in hotels in Jeddah for up to 6 months.  Last week a note was sent to a number of people currently in hotels telling them to get ready to move!  They have not heard a single thing since then.  Apparently these "false starts" are not uncommon albeit very frustrating for the long term commuters.  As a result, I am planning for a long stay at the "Habitat" hotel.  On the bright side, I've been supplied with a new KAUST-supplied MacBook Pro and, until a new shipment of iPhones arrive, a loaner Nokia mobile phone.  My desk phone has been installed but I can't call off campus yet.  There's a new form that the administrative assistant didn't know about that must be filled out to allow such calls.  This is a fully modern and high-tech University but it is manned by people who are still married to the paper age.  Thus they go through reams and reams of paper creating forms for every requirement.  To exacerbate the problem, they don't use check boxes to indicate options.  Each option seems to have its own form.  This is a small issue in the light of all that has been accomplished here, though.

The Little Things

I'm beginning to see lots of evidence that Toto and I aren't in Kansas anymore.  When shopping one has to be cognizant of prayer times.  That is so because, when a prayer time arrives, everything stops.  If you happen to be in a store they may just turn off the cash registers or, in small stores, have everyone leave and they lock up.  Then 20 or 30 minutes later, everything starts up again.  It can be a bit disconserting for a novice.  Here's an example of prayer times as published daily in the Arab News.

The schedule of activity here seems to be focused after the final prayer with stores opening at 5pm and closing at midnight.  Some of the heaviest traffic occurs late in the evening as everyone goes to do their shopping. 

It's also surprising how many Arabic signs have English translations underneath them and how many local folks seem to have a basic knowledge of English.  Not everyone, of course, but many.  I'm also struck by the presence of many international icons such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and others.  I found a local shop in walking distance from my hotel with the following necessity:

KAUST DAY One

My first day at KAUST was a bit of a blur.  I went to HR and got some paperwork started and was taken to get my ID badge.  That only took 1/2 hour or so.  From there I went to my work location and got reacquainted with my boss whom I worked with when he was at GM and I at IBM.  I was given a desk by his administrative assistant, a small, young Muslim woman wearing a pretty standard burqa and head covering.  She put in a request for my laptop computer, desk phone, and mobile phone.  By the end of the day I had changed desks (it was easier to go to the location of the  new 20" display for my laptop and the desk phone than have them come to me :-) )

I met what co-workers were available.   There are now 4 members on site of 18 projected to be in the department.  Three more are expected to arrive yet this month (February).   Including a services guy from Saudi Business Machines (the local IBM entity), we are a Finn, a Frenchman, an Indian, an American, and a Pole.  It's a great mix of people and cultures.

I went back to HR in late morning to begin the process of getting my iquama which is the Saudi equivalent of a US green card.  It will allow me to get a driver license, open a bank account, and assure any authorities that I am legally in the country.  Unfortunately, though I had been forewarned that I would need passport photos, the ones I brought were too large.  That process will have to continue on Saturday because Thursday and Friday are the weekend.  I did get a cursory health check and some blood drawn in the process, however.  Mobile phones were back-ordered so I received a new SIM for my existing Verizon global phone.  It has not been activated yet so I don't know when it will begin to work.

In speaking to other expats on the bus back to Jeddah, the pace of my processing turns out to be much quicker than most experience.  I was told of having to go back to security for badges multiple times; of hour-long waits; of no desks being available; of office assignments being already occupied.  They are still working out the kinks at KAUST. 

The ride back to Jeddah was about 30 minutes longer than the morning one because of traffic.  Now there is  a life-threatening proposition.  The roads strike me as barely controlled chaos.  Cars race by with inches to spare, cutting in and out.  The lane markers seem be merely suggestions and cars will form 4 lanes where the markings indicate there should be 2.  Defensive driving is critical because it's common for people to drive back in the wrong direction on a divided street, for example, if they missed their turn-off.  Families will drive along with a small 4 or 5-year old in Daddy's lap pretending to steer.  Seatbelts are obviously not a popular accessory.  It reminds me of life in the US when I was a kid climbing over seats and sticking my head out the window while traveling. 

Here are a couple of views from my hotel in Jeddah.

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.

Getting Ready

It's amazing how much stuff you put off knowing you can get to it "next week".  We've gotten all kinds of things done more quickly than usual in preparation for my departure.  That's been finalized, by the way.  I'll be leaving Detroit on Monday, February 1, taking an 8 hour flight to Frankfurt, Germany, a 3 1/2 hour layover, and then a 5 1/2 hour flight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  I'll leave at about 7pm Detroit time on Monday and arrive in Jeddah at 8pm on Tuesday.  The 8 hour time difference will be a challenge.

We've sold one of our three vehicles so my 17 year old daughter and I will be fighting for wheels for the next week and a half.  I'm trying to sort out what to take....not much I can tell you.  I have an air freight shipment being packed up on Friday, 1/22 so I have to get everything I want to ship and everything I want to take with me sorted.....what's going in a suitcase and what's going by air freight.  The air freight should only take a few weeks but who knows.    I will likely be staying in a hotel in Jeddah for a few weeks until on campus housing gets sorted out.  Then I will be moving to the campus compound.  It remains to be seen what I will be able to rent; an apartment? 1 bedroom townhouse? 2 bedroom townhouse?  house?......I just don't know at this point.  I'm taking my bicycle with me for transportation.  I am hoping that between the bus service on campus and the bike I won't need to purchase a vehicle while in Saudi Arabia.

Below is a Google Maps view of KAUST.  If you search for "Thuwal, Saudia Arabia" in Google Maps,  you will see this.  (oddly it won't tell me how to drive to KAUST from Michigan )  The highlighted area below is roughly the campus itself.  I've provided a few pointers for reference.  Jeddah, where I will be staying initially, is about 50 miles south of Thuwal.

Moving Forward

I'm sitting in my home office waiting for the FedEx delivery guy to drop of my newly minted Saudi visa this Saturday morning in January.  For some reason the visa makes everything real.  I guess it's because everyone has told me, "don't do anything until you get the visa".  Don't give notice at your job, don't initiate shipping anything over, don't make travel arrangements.......   Now all that will happen and there is no turning back.  It''s kind of ironic that I found out yesterday at my current job that, in our practically annual reorganization, I have a new manager.  So to whom do I give notice?  I've also been contacted by two different headhunters this week regarding other job opportunities.  I have not heard from anyone in 15 months and now two in one week.  Go figure.  

My soon to be new boss at KAUST has been sending me some info and asking me to weigh in on some decisions being made there.  It's a fascinating transition, having a mental foot on both sides of the world, and not an entirely comfortable one.  I've been looking at issues of electricity this week and sadly discovering that many of my smaller appliances won't work in KSA.  Desktop stereo, radio, wireless router, cordless phone, computer speakers..........one never considers these incompatibilities until faced with their impact.  I guess I'll be buying new in KSA or living without.  I have acquired several plug adapters for those dual voltage items I can take along.  I think the convenience I'll miss the most is my Keurig single cup coffeemaker which is, unfortunately, single voltage.  It's really spoiled me with its practically instant gratification and no waste.   In the greater scheme of things, it's just "stuff" and a reduction of "stuff" in my life has to be good. 

The pace of events necessary to get to Saudi Arabia has been considerably slower than I would like.  I finally seem to have been officially acknowledged by those responsible for getting me to KAUST.  The paperwork has been submitted for my Saudi visa.  Now I must hurry and wait some more.  The current schedule has me traveling to the KSA at the end of January or early February.  I have been reading much about what life may be like at KAUST.  It's difficult to comprehend the nature of the Saudi culture from my U.S.A vantage point.   Having lived with a very "womens rights" kind of wife for 30 years and being a firm believer in the notion of individual rights I am intimidated at the censorship and scrutiny that awaits me.  The longer I am forced to wait, the more nervous I become.  It's silly, of course.  As the old Doris Day song says, "que sera, sera" or "what will be, will be".  (for you kids, Doris Day was very popular actress and singer in the 50s and 60s.)

I have recently returned to reading and listening to Dr. Wayne Dyer, a well-known writer and speaker on self development.  His focus in recent years has assumed a distinctly spiritual flavor which I, as an agnostic, have trouble digesting completely.  Nonetheless, there is a great deal of practical wisdom in his writing.  I'm in the midst of  "Change Your  Thoughts -  Change Your Life", a book which offers a thoughtful analysis of the Tao Te Ching.   Dr. Dyer spent a year writing this book and it offers a lot of useful advice of how the Tao applies to life today.  The 37th verse of the Tao says, in part:

By not wanting, there is calm,

and the world will straighten itself.

When there is silence,

one finds the anchor of the universe within oneself.

I have to keep reminding myself that all will come in its own time; that one should embrace the now because it's the only thing that exists.