Exciting!

Elisabeth here. Posting from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

I had to wait a day to post this because I was too tired to infuse a post with all of the enthusiasm it deserved. I have arrived! Let me repeat that:

I HAVE ARRIVED!

I'm also hungry. One moment while I fetch myself some leftover chicken...

...

Yum. Anyway, so, I arrived in Jeddah last night, at the airport. I was exhausted, because my BMI flight over was less than fantastic. So those blankets that they wrap in plastic and give to you? Yeah, not actually clean. In fact, my pillow was disgusting also. Both my blanket and my pillow were covered in crustiness and... well, it was totally gross. They gave me new blankets and pillows when I complained, but it's not like I trusted the plastic wrapping to guarantee cleanliness any more. And I didn't have any free seats next to me, so I had to sit up the whole time. You can tell I'm getting spoiled when I complain about having to sit up the whole time.

I did, however, finish a fantastic fantastic book. Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire. Who happens to have been my professor for Reformation Europe last year. He is a great lecturer, extremely entertaining, and his writing is FANTASTIC. Highly recommended. Very, very interesting.

I just opened the curtain on my window and guess what? NO BARS! And not even fogged out! I have a giant window that looks right out onto the fabulousness of Effat's back yard! Now I can REALLY tell I'm staff rather than student!

I am so easily distracted. I wanted to tell you about my chicken but it would ruin the surprise.

SO, I get off the mostly-uncomfortable BMI flight (and my neck is killing me, by the way. Whiplash! Yay!) and into the Jeddah airport, where everything goes fine until the guy at passport control asks me "You have baber?"

Huh? I mean, I get that he's asking for a paper. But... well, I'm carrying many papers, and none of them were specifically designated as "papers for the passport guy". So I say no, I don't have the baber, and he sends me over somewhere else. I start to panic, but in a quiet way.

Luckily, after giving another guy my passport and him staring at it for a "buttock-clenching" fifteen minutes (I got this phrase off of BBC's Planet Earth, and I am now very fond of it) he stamped it and waved me through. And then there I was, in the baggage claim area, waiting for some random Samir to identify himself to me and take me away. Now, I can probably get in a cab and be okay on my own, thank God, but it's much easier to go through customs if you have a man there with you, because the security guards hardly ever stop somebody with an official-looking helper-person. And this was particularly important for me, since I had a load of DVDs and a couple of books that I would really rather not have taken away from me...

As luck would have it, my British SIM card would let me make calls in Saudi, for some exhorbitant price, so I called Samir. And, in the 15 seconds of air time that my three quid bought me, we established that he was standing right next to me. Phew.

So, we find my bag, blah blah blah, boringness, and I am totally zoned out, thanking God it was this easy, as we walk out of customs. And then I hear a loud cough. And another one. And I look around, and I have just walked past a giant sign that says

LIZ

And next to it another one which says "Alizabet Bosley. Efat Tugz". And behind it, Penny and Melvi and Dima! Team Fabulous came to meet me at the airport! Well, everything was happy after that. Of course, I had my own EC car to take me here, so I came here, and they followed me, stopping off for Al-Beik on the way! So now you know the secret of how I come to have chicken in my fridge! I had Team Fabulous and Al-Beik my first day here! It was like a dream come true! I think somebody took a picture of me, looking rapturous, as I bit into my chicken sandwich for the first time in a year and that sweet taste of garlic filled my mouth.

And then, of course, they stayed much too late in my new residence and poor Dima got locked in, which meant we had to wake up Mrs. Inaam to let her out. Yes! Mrs. Inaam! I bet she loves me already!

Woohaha. Causing trouble in the big city already. I am such a rebel.

Speaking of residences, the room is really sweet. Two levels - bed on top, bathroom, kitchenette, and seating area downstairs. And an air conditioner with a remote control. I am so high tech!

Aaaaaand... yeah, that's about it. The most exciting thing to happen post- al-Beik was the discovery that my phones DO have a number, and now I know what it is, so anybody who wants to call my land line, let me know and I will give you the numero. Of course, with luck, I will never be in my room. Not that it isn't lovely. And! Free internet! Ah, how things have advanced while I was away!

This afternoon will involve my first foray into Jeddah proper, as we go find a Panda of some sort so that I can buy shampoo, and toothpaste, and some food, and some laundry detergent. All of the essentials.

So, now that you are all up-to-date, I am going to get back to unpacking my tiny 20kg suitcase which has to last me the three weeks until I get my iqama and can claim my shipment of everything I own. And maybe write down a list of things I have to do. I love lists!

The end.