The Jet ride here began as a mess. I had to go immediately through customs so I could not give a cool farewell to my wife. I suppose it saved on all the wet mushy crying stuff, but sometimes that stuff is cool. I got on my flight from Canada to JFK and had a four hour wait till my connecting flight to Jeddah. The wait was annoying because I was afraid to spend any money on food, but I was really hungry. I had a can of cashews but I only dared to eat a few because I had no water on my, and I am far too germ-o-phobic to drink from a public water fountain.
The flight on Saudi Arabian Airlines made up for it.
When I got on the plane I was ushered back to coach. I was able to secure a front row seat and that helped greatly because my legs weren't fitting in any other coach seat. I sat next to a couple with an infant, but the flight attendants were so studious that they brought a crib for the kid that attacked to the wall and kept bringing foods and formulas for her, too. I had to wait until we lifted off, praying that food and water would come soon, because the Delta flight that I had gotten off of was cramped, dirty, and didn't offer me more than a cup of soda and a couple of biscotti’s. I was disappointed when all I got on the Saudi plane was a single date (the fruit) and the offering of some coffee. I was just about to complain when the stewardess brought this huge cart and asked if I wanted the chicken, the beef, or the fish. I asked for the beef and got this huge meal filled with beef strips, rolls, salads, vegetables, potatoes and real silverware. Wow.
I got some tea afterwards and another offering of coffee (I don't do coffee). I watched the guy next to me pull out a TV screen from under his seat. "Did you bring that or something?) I asked. He laughed, reached around me and pulled out my screen. Dud, we're in coach and we get our own TV's. Not junk on the TV's either. We have our choice of Arabic movies or TV series, Indian Bollywood movies, or American movies new and old. I watched Avatar, The Adjustment Bureau, Bangkok Dangerous, and something else that I fell asleep during. A flight attendant came up to me and offered me a buffet in the back of the plane where I got a cheese sandwich and a can of Pepsi. I asked if I can and another sandwich and she stuffed two more in my hand trying to make me eat. Wow. I also saw a room in the back of the plane just for people to pray in. I took a little nap and got awoken by a stewardess asking me if I wanted an omelet, scrambled eggs, or a cinnamon bun. Where the heck was I? I asked for the scrambled eggs and got this huge breakfast with a croissant and veggies and potatoes. Man, I need to get back on that flight! Best plane ride ever.
I arrived and had smiling security guards guiding us to customs. Yeah, they smiled. Even the customs agent was cool, laughing at my jokes and what not. I almost smack the American customs guy for being so rude to me the day before but decided not to since he and his friends have guns. No guns on these security guards. I was a little taken aback by what I read on the customs form, "If you illegally transport drugs and are convicted then it is punishable by death." I took a mental step back by that, but later I read my passport and it stated simply that convicted or not, in America, you will do jail-time and be fined for drug possession, even if it was planted on you. How rude.
I walked out of customs and was greeted by a dude who recognized my face from my passport photo. He worked at the school that hired me and came to pick me up. I was disappointed that he was not carrying a sign with my name on it... oh well. We exchanged a little of my currency at the airport and then walked outside. Meh, the heat in early September was nothing too bad. Granted, I know a lot of wussies who would probably cry about it, but I dealt with worse in the Army and in Florida and New Mexico.
I was driven back to my place and I met my new roommate, a guy from Chicago. His accent is similar to the Asbury Park accent; we got along immediately. The two of us and our guide went to a "souk" (a small market) and bought a few essentials and some food for the apartment. We came home and our guide left back to his place. My roomie and I went out and walked around Jeddah for a bit. I was surprised that we could pray anywhere (aside from the middle of the road). I didn't have to worry about people's blood pressure rising just because I was praying. That the biggest difference that I noticed.
We went to an Internet cafe (where I am now, too) and to a place with a bunch of phone booths. I was able to call home for only about 12 cents per minute; really good price. The people, even though my Arabic is horrible, were really patient with me. It was cool because at one point I was talking to a store employee asking about the price for something. We couldn't understand anything the other was saying, but my roomie intervened and helped out (he speaks Arabic way better than me). The guy said to my roomie, "You know, if your friend (me) can get along so well here without knowing Arabic then I can get along well in America without knowing English. When it was translated to my I laughed but I knew that wasn't the case. Here is this kid talking about visiting America and thinking that we would be even a fraction as hospitable to him as they all are to me. Really sad.
--Bill
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