You only do two days

Today I taught for the first time in about two months. Slave labour. The Al Jouf University summer school has a ridiculously easy workload, but it’s a lot tougher than term time. The combination of the searing heat, combined with the even more oppressive rules inside the Kingdom, make it tricky at the best of times, but the thing that really saps your infidel spirit is the lack of company. During term time we play pool volleyball, have parties, and organise various other activities like the Al Jouf Olympics, open mic night, etc. During summer school, with the bulk of the sociable teachers having left or taken holiday, none of that happens. The positive side of this means I have more time on my hands to get something productive done, but the days certainly move a lot slower. Sitting with Eck the other day in the compound, chatting about the future and what we planned to do when we left Saudi, got me thinking about a piece of wisdom from The Wire’s Avon Barksdale, quoted whilst locked up in a Baltimore penitentiary:

“You only do two days. The day you go in. And the day you come out”

Damn straight. If ever there was a mentality I’d recommend for someone coming to work in Saudi it would be that. Obviously Avon didn’t have the luxury of meeting his girlfriend in Europe for a few weeks half way through his sentence; he probably didn’t have a private swimming pool next to his en-suite jail cell, and he probably didn’t get paid a tax-free salary to be there, but the comparison still stands.

On topic, there was tension at University today as two well-built, heavily bearded, and decidedly angry looking Saudi men marched into the school and asked to see a student. The preface to this was an alleged fight between two of the students, which resulted in one of the aforementioned students calling his brother, who happens to be a member of the religious police. I fear for the student who may incur this bearded stranger’s wrath, he certainly didn’t look like he was there for a cup of tea and a shisha. I don’t want to talk too much about the mutawa (religious police) for fear of being branded an infidel swine and having my hands chopped off, so I’ll leave that for another time.

It may not be the most exciting chapter of my life, but I see things here I wouldn't get the chance to anywhere else in the world, and I can guarantee that when I get out I'll appreciate the freedom more than ever. And after all, like Avon Barksdale, I'm only here for two days..

Finally, my thoughts go out to the people of Norway, and the family of Amy Winehouse. R.I.P