Update #7 – Distractions

We are counting down the days until we will be in our Roanoke home again – it’s 13! I think buying a new house and then leaving is like putting a bookmark in the middle of the most exciting part of a novel you are reading and closing the book – it makes it easy to return but it sure does distract you from concentrating on other things.

We do find our life here offers more than enough distractions though. I have observed that the school here does everything to the max. Every Thursday (which is like our Saturday) when I go up to school to get some work done, the parking lot is packed with cars and the campus is alive with activity. Thursdays are when the school hosts the Riyadh sports league where ex-pats from all over the city (and there are many!) come and compete in a kind of intramural basketball tournament broken down into many age divisions. The logistics of such an event are staggering, and I am not sure TCIS could have supported such a program every weekend like AISR does. The school is blessed with an extensive network of support staff who man the gates checking people in (everyone has to have prior approval before entering campus), working as parking attendants, referring games, overseeing concessions and corporate sponsorships – it is amazing and the sports league isn’t the only place I have seen it.

I got my own taste of it when I agreed to be the PR coordinator for our production of Macbeth. I knew we were in a country where theater is relatively unknown, so any PR is appreciated. I had to work with so many different people to coordinate the poster design, the playbill design and printing, the ushers, the clubs serving refreshments, the post-production cast party. At the last minute, Jennie and I decided to get some t-shirts made to promote the play the way TCIS always did. It was a new thing at this school and students and faculty were all jealous of production people who got to wear “those cool shirts.” Everything went very well. It was a tiring but extremely satisfying experience. I had a student committee working with me, and they are now begging me to do PR for the spring musical which will be The Lion King. I also agreed to help direct and sponsor the student-run one act plays in February, so I am not sure I will do Lion King as well. Below are some pictures from the cast party where we had witch-themed snacks based on lines from Macbeth.

The punch was “baboon’s blood” and the snacks were all “eye of newt, tongue of dog” type stuff. Jennie made some cookies that resembled eyeballs and another staffer made some cookies that looked like fingers. It was fun, and Nathan was such a hit in the show. Although his scenes were small, he did get to be stabbed and die on stage. He was wonderful in the part and managed to speak his Shakespearian lines with understanding and clarity.

Other “distractions” we have experienced lately have been a holiday party thrown on Thanksgiving by our superintendent. She had it at her villa, but because of the number of guests, we ended up having to eat outside. Her entire lawn, driveway, and backyard were covered with Arabian carpets and we enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast together in the pleasant Saudi evening. As we get into winter, the days are very enjoyable and the nights just have a little nip in the air. We are told it may get a bit colder in the evening, but it feels like spring weather to me.

We were also “distracted” with a dinner party at one of Jennie’s co-workers villas in a compound across town. It was our first time to visit another compound, and we discovered first-hand why some of the compounds are considered Club Meds. This compound is the one that was attacked a few years ago and is the one discussed in the film The Kingdom. Her villa was gorgeous and filled with all kinds of fascinating pieces of furniture and artifacts from all her travels. There is a sense when you visit the homes of other ex-pats that its design sense owes more to museums than to decorator magazines. Pieces from India, Africa, and Sri Lanka just coexist in a kind of eclectic celebration in these homes. We again ate outside with much of the work being done by servants. Walking back to the gate and where our cars were parked after the meal, we passed some sumptuous mansions within the compound. These villas were owned by some prominent businessmen and all featured private swimming pools. The entire compound was beautifully landscaped and I kicked myself that I failed to take my camera.

Our next “distraction” happened last weekend when the school hosted a Family Fun Day. There were many booths set up for kids as well as rides that had been set up on the soccer field. It was all hosted by the PTSA (parent teacher student association) as a fund-raiser. It was well attended and had some good food as well – most notable was Krispy Kreme donuts, which has only just arrived in the Kingdom. The boy scouts sold those out quickly. We were told that this event was a shadow of what we could expect from the International Festival in the spring. Jennie and I were already impressed with the high level of volunteer support to pull off such a major event. There was even a raffle and Jennie won TWICE. She received a gift certificate to a home supply store as well as a gift certificate to a local up-scale pastry shop.

We were also “distracted” from school for two days when the OPEC conferences came through. The Saudi government closed all schools to help the traffic clear for the officials to get around town. The driving is ALWAYS crowded and extremely dangerous here, so I think this may have been the only way to ensure safe passage. It was like a snow day for all of us, but we will have to make up the days missed in the spring.

Nathan got to go on his first desert camp out with his Boy Scout troop here, which may be one of the most active and organized troops I have seen anywhere. At one point before the bombings, they had an average attendance of well over 70 boys. That dropped off as ex-pats left Saudi following the attacks and has been experiencing a steady rise. There were 13 on the camp out. I helped drive them out to the wadi (a semi-dry river bed that sports some wonderful palm trees and old abandoned homesteads). The boys camped inside a walled homestead, so it was entirely safe, and Nathan had a great time. He is eagerly pursuing his advancement in scouts.

This past week, myself and eight other men were taken across town to get our Saudi driver’s licenses. There is no test, no questions asked. You just provide a blood test, a vision test, and some photos along with paperwork and you get it. This explains why many of the drivers I see around me on the street are so unqualified to be behind the wheel. Saudi Arabia allows 12-year-old boys to drive as well, just not women. Can you imagine how frightening it is to have a giant Hummer tailgating you driven by a pre-pubescent?! The license is merely a formality as all rules of the road as we know them do not matter here. It is not uncommon to have someone make a left turn from the far right lane four lanes over. I am constantly being honked at and having drivers race right up to my bumper and flash their brights at me to get me to speed up (well past the unposted speed limit I am sure) or get out of their dad-gum way. Everyone is in a hurry, and I always seem to be the reason they are late! But, after sitting and waiting through noon-time prayers (when we lost our place at the front of the line because we must wait while everyone takes a glorified coffee break in the name of religion) for four hours, I have my license. Maybe now I can join the rest of the Saudis and hit my horn the minute a light turns green even though I am ten cars away from the intersection because, baby, I have a license!

Despite all the distractions here, we are most distracted by our trip home that is coming up. It will be our first Christmas in the States in seven years. Although we miss hosting the Munson Christmas Eve open house that we had for so many years in Korea, we will still get a chance to have a gag gift exchange this week at a friend’s villa. I grade at home and at school while tuning in to www.accuholiday.com so we can listen to holiday music to get us in the mood. We fly out on the 20^th and arrive in Roanoke the 21^st, and we can’t wait.