"Salaam ali kum, my name is Osama. Welcome to Riyadh"

I made it, and to be honest, it was a lot less stressful than I had imagined. For a start, the plane was barely a quarter full, and I had two seats to myself. Next to me was a Saudi Arabian girl named Zeinab, and behind me, coincidentally, was Jeremy, another gringo being sent to work for Al Khaleej Training & Education. It turns out Jeremy is also going to work in Al Jouf, and it’s also his first time in the Kingdom, so it’s nice to have someone else in the same boat. He’s going to work here for a year or two to pay for his daughter to go through University; a reason far more noble than my greedy plan to get back to Brazil with a fist full of Reais. Zainab is at Uni in Northampton, training to be a doctor. She’s back visiting her family in Damman, and plans to work in Riyadh after she’s graduated. After reading about the role of women in Saudi society, I was surprised at how independent and friendly she seemed, and she also had some reassuring things to say about life in Saudi Arabia. I was becoming less daunted by the prospect of spending a year in the Kingdom.

Half way through the 6 hour flight, for want of a better description, a pissed-up scouse bird (translation for my non-British readers: intoxicated lady of Liverpudlian descent), accosted me as I was walking back to my seat from the bathroom:

“Eh, mate, yer goin’ t’work in Riyadh like?”

“Yes, well, actually I’m going to Al Jouf”

“Where the fook’s tha?!”

“It’s in the des...”

“Nevermind lad, yer gonna fookin’ lov it! Take me fer example, I’m in Riyadh getting off me tits all the time, and getting’ paid 3 grand a month!”

“Isn’t it dangerous getting drunk in Saudi?”

“Aye mate, like I give a fook, ere, give me yer number and if yer in Riyadh I’ll introduce you to me mates”

“Ok, umm, I’m just going back to my seat for a bit, but I’ll bring a pen later and write it down”

I proceeded to avoid her like the Plague, which wasn’t too difficult considering she soon passed out in a drunken stupor, and then staggered off the plane as soon as we landed. Seeing a drunk, white, scouse girl stumble about in a Burka, made me think of the fancy dress parties that used to take place in Leeds. Except her punishment for getting caught wouldn’t be a couple of embarrassing pictures on facebook, it would be 100 lashings and a night in a Saudi prison (a sobering thought, and motivation enough to stay sober).

As we landed on Saudi Arabian soil I was preparing myself mentally for a long wait to get through passport control and customs.  My guidebook had suggested I could be in for an ordeal lasting 2 hours, where the entirety of my luggage would be scrutinised to the smallest detail by some heavily armed Saudi national with a vendetta against the white man. In actual fact, the process couldn’t have been smoother. After queuing for no more than 10 minutes, the guy at the immigration desk seemed very affable as he smiled and said “you teacher, ok teacher, you can pass teacher”. I didn’t have to wait at all to pick up my luggage, and it passed briskly through the x-ray at customs without any questions asked, or any request to see the contents of my laptop. As soon as Jeremy and I walked outside we saw a chubby, happy looking Arab holding a card high above his head with our names, and the name of another teacher, Carlos, written on it. “Salaam ali kum, my name is Osama. Welcome to Riyadh”.

I won’t bore you with every little detail and an in depth description of everything I’ve seen or done since I’ve landed, as this post has already gone on too long. I’ll just add a couple of quick observations and pieces of information. First of all, the people seem welcoming, far less hostile than I’d imagined. Secondly, at night it’s pretty cold, around 8 degrees yesterday, I’m glad I brought my coat. I’m staying in a comfortable hotel surrounded by restaurants and shops. I met Waleed today and he said we’ll be flying to Al Jouf on Monday, to start training on Tuesday, but our pay starts from yesterday, which is excellent news. So I’ve got a few days in Riyadh to acclimatise and get to know the area, whilst still earning money and staying for free in a hotel. It also means, inshallah, I’ll get to watch the Manchester derby on Saturday. I’ll post some pictures soon.

A gente se fala. Ben x