Just Cruis’n

Well what can one say!!! My job at the uni has certainly taken an unexpected turn from what I expected from the title I was given when I started here:

IT Support Officer - Student Affairs: Admissions Office

What does this title conjure in the mind? That I am so savvy with computing, that I have been given an IT tag? That I am actually good enough in my knowledge of technology that I can support the other office staff? That I am in the admissions office?.......Well yes to all of the above although it really WASN'T mentioned in my interview that I did have this knowledge, only that I am very comfortable with applications and also learn new applications very quickly :D - Lucky for me I understated in the interview, as I have been thrown full throttle into a computing support role.

When the lady I work with in admissions asked me to change the sign on the door, all that I did was copy what was already there, spaced it a bit more evenly, brightened the colours slightly, and took the name of the other person that left and put my name on it. Keep in mind that under our names they have what our title is, so I put as one would suppose and expect I would..... IT Support Officer - Student Affairs:

Oh the consternation! Oh the puzzlement! Student Affairs are now so important they need their own IT Support? What type of Support? Why isn't the IT Department handling our support? Do the IT Department know? Am I involved with them? Do I fix the machines? What exactly do I do? They actually had a meeting regarding it :D

Everyone here is very possessive of their position and area of expertise, as well as everyone else's and need to know exactly what role people have, and what is expected from that role, and if you do step out of your area or are asked to, then it is asked  HOW COME?… ISN'T THAT ??'s AREA?… DO THEY KNOW?… WHY ARE YOU ASKED TO DO IT?… WHY WASN'T ?? ASKED TO DO IT?… Well me not knowing exactly what was expected of me, I was at a bit of a loss to explain what exactly IT Support Officer was, so had to do a bit of bluffing re my title.

I was asked to do a map of the female campus ground floor for orientation for the new students starting the spring semester to try to make life a bit easier for them. So away I went, pad in hand and got the locations, room numbers, and titles of the different sections and put them into a very nice lay out complete with a faded picture of university in the background. This went down very well and was accepted with no hesitation as it did look very professional and nice.

Then we were all asked to design a flyer for the different services offered to the students for orientation. As I am the IT person in our department some of the ladies came to me to show me the design they were already using but as there were a few “small problems” and they didn't have the knowledge to correct them. I refused to use what they had shown me so came up with my own design (with some help from my own IT expert at home).

Well this was exclaimed over that I had been able to make our logo round (as it should be) instead of oval, and that the coloured decoration lines of my design actually met in the middle of the outside fold both front and back instead of one at the inner fold front cover, and one on the outside edge back cover. I had also put a faded picture of the very impressive front gates as well as some smaller logos on the inside edges and did some very nice separating lines to demarcate the different text areas.

Needless to say this design was taken up immediately and sent to everyone on both male & female campus as the template to put their work on :)........yes my head is expanding at a great rate. I must admit I was very impressed when they came back from the printer - they looked fantastic :D

What has all this to do with admissions you might ask? Well the departmental heads decided that as all new students have to pass through the admissions office before ever beginning their student life that it would make them feel more comfortable having people from the admissions office joining in the orientation day - so I had to design and present a very short power point presentation with certain important info of where to get ID's, get laptops coded for wireless access, bus timetable etc. I was then asked to do the schedules for both campus's and also organize a tour of the facilities for the new students - so my involvement with orientation day was......... very involved :D

Oh and I also was sent all the finished flyers to correct any grammar or spelling errors before going to the printer as at that time I was the only western female working in the administration area. We now have another that has joined us.

I must say I am enjoying my job very much. I didn't realize just how big an area that student affairs covers and what planning and thought goes into organizing activities to get students involved in campus life. So far I have taken part in developing a new filing system for the students, aerobics, yoga, aromatherapy, orientation, prep orientation, information days, more yoga, and blood donation day and a trip to Riyadh for marketing.

Blood Donation Day: I thought ok, this has been billed as a big event. Our nurse was very excited about this day and I was also keeping in mind and that when I cut my finger on a glass in the sink the nurse very kindly dressed it every day for me and was lovely.
So being part of a team I moseyed down to the nurses office to have a look at what was happening and with the thought to donate.

Imagine my surprise at the amount of people lining up to donate and when I started to fill in the form - the next minute the camera was stuck in my face to record me filling the form, then as I waited to be called it was snapped again. I was called for blood pressure & temperature check and yes snapped one more time complete with thermometer in mouth and blood pressure cuff on.

It was then to the next station to get my blood type mapped and you guessed it, snapped again. So not only did I have to have my finger severely pricked, but had to wait with the blood balancing on the tip for the pic to be taken.

I was then taken into the actual patient area and when I lay down on the table snap again. The tourniquet was placed around my arm with the exclamation from the doctor - oh what big veins you have! and - snapped again. I was then hooked up to the blood bag and asked to squeeze a rubber ball to let the blood come out easier - and yes snapped for the final time :D - but to their consternation the blood poured out of me, so ball was immediately taken away, tourniquet loosened and I was finished in half the time of the other ladies. Oh the joys of having "big veins".

The camera comes out at all these events, but they have to be very careful NOT to get any of the Arab ladies with their hair or face uncovered. The Arab ladies are very sensitive in general about being in any picture at all so it is a real boon for the department having me here so they can snap happily to record the different events :D

After all this I was asked to go to our director's office and was completely taken aback when asked if I would like to go to Riyadh for a High School information presentation. They do high school visits here to present via power point what facilities we have, what we offer etc in the hope that we can get some of the graduating students to our uni.

Of course I jumped at the opportunity and was very pleased and surprised to be asked :D - The only problem was that we (the other lady going with me) prepared the power point presentation and literature and gifts for the expected 40 students and the same for the men for the next day. The reality was.....

When we arrived it was to a full on expo complete with our own booth (the men had been in to set it all up so all we had to do was arrive :D) and about 20 other universities representing themselves. It was very busy with bus loads of high school students coming through. We soon got into the swing of things and became very proficient with our information and what we had to offer. We had to start rationing our flyers etc when we realized there as an afternoon session, as well as for the men the next day.

The Arab lady I was with did most of the talking..... in you guessed it Arabic, whilst I attracted all the girls because I am western. I was the novelty act :D and we really attracted a lot of attention with the girls all coming by to say hello and to try their English out - it was a great day.

What does all this have to do with admissions I hear you ask yet again? Not a lot...hahahahaha although if we get any new students from these visits then they might get to see me in the admissions office.....lol

The lady I went with originates from Riyadh, so I was very privileged to be invited over the lunch break to her parents home. It must have been quite an occasion because not only did I meet her parents, but aunty, uncle, brothers, sister, nieces, and a cousin. Her dad works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was very interesting to talk to and her mum didn't have much English, but with translations we had a lot of laughs and a very nice lunch.

So who would have thought from my job title that all these things would be taking place :D and only in my second month - I am enjoying my job very much.

Looking forward to coming back on the 25th and eagerly awaiting the birth of my granddaughter :D

Warming Up in Al Khobar

Hi once again from Al Khobar :D
The weather is warming up week to week now - you can really feel the difference when you go outside during the day or at night. The temperature has been perfect now (hanging between 19-24 degrees Celsius) for so many months that I was "hoping" that this would be how it is year round. It has jumped into the 30's now.

I first really noticed it warming up when I was in Riyadh last week to do an exhibition promoting the uni. We walked outside at about 12.30pm for our 4 hour lunch break :P and whilst waiting for the driver belonging to the parents of the lady I was there with, we actually had to go under cover as it was too hot to stand outside. It is cooler here in Al Khobar at the moment than in Riyadh, but it gets humid here - so not a great combo - hot weather (about 45-50c they say) and humid with it :( Well we DO have 3 air conditioners in the unit so at least we should be comfy for sleeping & resting!

The uni has pumped it's aircons up as well and it seems strange that it has gotten warmer outside, but we have to wear shawls, jumpers, scarves, jackets (I think you get the general drift) because it is soooo cool sitting in the office. Most of the ladies in our office section have their own big private heater sitting behind their desk keeping their legs and feet warm.

Oh The Joys of Shobbing :D

Hi - Well I decided I had better get back on track with more updates and news as such to let everyone know what has been happening in our lives:D - we have settled into a sort of routine - if we need groceries or feel like going out then it is onto the compound bus at 5.30 after work to be delivered to whichever shopping centre it is going to that day and then back with a timely tip or box of chocolate goodies for driver - this means he will drop us off at our building instead of having to walk fully laden down with our groceries - read slabs of diet coke for Jesse. "Inshallah" (this is meant to mean God willing.......however in local terms it means maybe one day... perhaps... or NOT) we will have a car soon.......lol :D

One of our favourite locations at the moment while the weather is still cool enough, is to go on the Monday night bus down to the original old shopping streets of Al Khobar. It is a real mixture of Phillipino clothing markets in laneways, cheap eating places, to modern malls where I purchased an "original" (hahahaha - not) Jimmy Choo handbag for the grand price of about $30 and a Luis Vuitton cloth phone holder for my i pod for all of about $3.

We love to get into the many souvenier shops that abound in this area and I am constantly amazed and surprised by the variety there is on offer both good taste and extremely bad taste, and the willingness of the shop keepers to get us in and have a laugh at Jesse's attempts at Arabic and to sell us stuff - some don't speak English, Jesse's Arabic is limited but enough to get by on, so they are talking at us as if we understand, we are talking to them as if they understand - we are all smiling and laughing and using sign language and pointing,then when it comes down to it - we ALL understand HOW MUCH??? HOW MANY RIYALS???

There are many shops that sell the long curved Arabian swords and knives framed behind glass - I have really fallen in love with a pair of daggers with horse heads in one of the shops and will most likely get them at a later date. We got some really cheesey typical Arabian pictures that are almost like a shadow box set up of silver Arabian icons - the first is a silver camel train with 7 camels ranging from about 2cm down to really tiny. The second has 4 squares and different icons in it like the palm tree, coffee pot, shishka etc, and then I decided that for it to look really nice on the wall we then got a larger one with about 9 icons. We put them on the wall directly opposite our front door and have had sooooo many comments when people come in and see them. I also think that it wouldn't be Arabia without getting an Aladdin type lamp which they have in many different varieties down there and which I haven't seen in the shopping malls.

 

It is also a great experience to go into the many carpet shops set amongst the souvenir shops - we have been thoroughly educated on what the many different carpets are and the areas they come from like Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan etc and once you know you can really tell the area they are from. One of the things that is really strange here is that because they are real hand woven carpets and not machine made, they are all folded in the shop rather than rolled up like at home. Then even though we aren't going to buy one (lack of funds) they are opened up and spread out one on top of the other for you the look at and admire. They really are works of art and the ones that they make for wall hangings are just unbelievable with the amount of colour and detail that goes into them. The ones below are for actually walking on.

On one of our first trips down there we thought "oh it's very close to prayer time" so we were on the lookout for somewhere to settle in and eat - it is a very good way of passing the 30 minutes or so of the last prayer as all shops shut during this time and they kick you out. As long as you get into a restaurant before the doors close then all is well, you can order, eat, or sit the whole time during the prayer break.

I noticed a sign down the alleyway - Family Entrance: so down the alley we went. Most restaurants here have a family entrance or a bachelor entrance - even takeaway shops like Macca's or KFC etc - one side for single males, the other for families or women. We weren't 100% sure about this fine eating establishment as at first glance we couldn't find the main front of the shop to have a look, but decided to take the bit between our teeth and plunge in regardless. It turned out to be and Indian Restaurant :D and for the grand sum of $12aus for the both of us we had a most satisfying and enjoyable meal that was very fresh & very tasty.

I must admit we were a bit worried by the fine plates that the waiter set at our table - polystyrene meat type trays and plastic forks. Then he brought some very nice  melamine plates (matching) which was very a pleasant surprise after the polystyrene, but he then proceeded to wipe the aforementioned plates with a tissue and phhhht - tissue was slung straight onto the floor......lol. The look on Jesse's face was worth taking a photo of for posterity. We both went into gales of laughter after he went away.

The meal was very enjoyable and we have been back two more times since. The funny thing is that each time we go we are not really sure what we are going to get when it comes. We asked for Roti as we had it the given to us the 1st time we went. The blank look we got when we asked and the shoulder shrug, and the total incomprehension on his face, then the guy called the older waiter over and the discussion that ensured after - we ended up with chapati....lol. The Indian waiters here are the archetypal Indian dudes with the head wobbling from side to side (almost touching their shoulders)as they speak. I think I am the only white female that has ever set foot inside this establishment and they do try with the niceties of wrapping the ends of the plastic forks in tissues.

Then if you stroll a few blocks down you get the the main shopping street (Sarkat? St) and that has literally 100's of abayer shops interspersed with mens shoe shops, thobe(Saudi mens caftan) & guttra (the red checked head scarf) shops,  homeware shops, evening dresses that are so over-done they they become grotesque and they even have a few 2 riyal (60c) shops.

They also have the Arabian "oud" shops which sell all the incense and incense burners as well as all the different types of Arabian perfumes and lovely bottles. When you walk past these shops the vendors are all out with their bottles and either spray or rub u with oil. They also have the accessories that go with them such as drink carts – see below :D

We were given as a gift, from one of Jesse's work colleagues who owns a date plantation, some really nice smelling incense balls (a lot of these balls are made from dates) and a burner, so we then had to go to one of these oud shops to find out how to use them. We were shown that you get a charcoal and light it and put the incense on once lit - so we purchased the charcoal rounds and the lighters they use are really awesome - it's like a mini blow torch and really flames the charcoal up till it is well and truly alight and will be coming home with us.

I ripped the side and front of my first abayer, and being in the fore-front of students coming in at work decided I had better get another one that didn't look so tatty. So now being in the "know" of where to go to buy one, I ordered a really nice "trendy" abayer with brightly coloured satin sleeves, overlaid with black chiffon type fabric that is split right down the middle of the sleeve so that is falls open and you can see the nice fabric under it. there are lots of brightly coloured crystals along both sides of the opening and around the sleeve edge and satin chanel trim down the front. The abayers on this road are around 1/3 of the price that you would pay in any of the malls and it becomes almost hard to choose as there are so many different colourful designs added to the basic black abayer now.

We found by accident an Indian shop that sells push bikes, so.......Jesse has decided he needs a push bike to get him around the compound when the weather warms up as it is now starting to do...... the weekend was quite warm and I had the aircon on most of it. He has really fallen for the Indian made very retro looking gearless...... to get from the unit up to the swimming pool and gym once it is ready - this way he will avoid the blisters popping up on his feet and with the compound being flat he won't need the gears and with the width of the seat he won’t get a sore rear end. We are able to get a brand new one for the grand price of about $70aus  so thought it would be a great idea for him to get one to avoid the blisters and it will make a nice Birthday pressie for him :P

 

Well after this marathon effort will settle in to do some work......hahahaha and will post some other commentaries soon.

Back to Work (again)

I know, I know, I have been a bit remiss in posting a blog since before Christmas, but I am back :D albeit only a short entry and no pics to go into this post. I will go back to the first week in the New Year of 2010.

I was still in bed, resting my eyes soundly when my phone rings at the ungodly hour of 9.30am (rudely awakening me) and it was the husband, calling to say he was on his way home to collect me for a surprise interview scheduled in 1 hour time with the Rector of the university.

I flew out of bed and raced into action with the prayer that please please don't have water turned off, or electricty down (they had been doing random maintenance days in the compound around this time and sometimes you would get up at 8 am and have no water or power for hours) - Lucky me, all was good so I showered, make-upped, and hairdress'd, and threw the abayer on just as Jesse walked through the door. The good thing about wearing the abayer here is that it hides a multitude of things - including rumpled clothes, trakkies, or even pj's if you so desire :D but I did dress very nicely under it (just in case).

No time for pre-job interview jitters for me, no time even for brekkie :( and 50 minutes later we arrived in the middle of the desert (slight exaggeration - it is really on the coast but surrounded by sand) for my job interview. The Rector greeted me very pleasantly in his huge marble lined, massive office and introduced me to the Director of HR who was to sit in on the interview. Lucky for me I didn't know that these 2 men hold the most senior positions in the Eastern Region of Saudi so I wasn't really nervous at all.

The interview started out as all interviews do, but soon got to the nitty gritty :D - There was one sticky moment when asked what my university qualifications were but we sailed past that with flying colours and a job offer was in my inbox that afternoon. Oh the size of my head - it took days to come back to normal .....hahahaha

My job title is......IT Support Officer - Student Affairs :) and I work in the admissions department so have full contact with new students wishing to enter our fine institution. I am even having business cards printed for me - English one side and Arabic on the other side. I have been readily accepted by the ladies into the admin section and must admit that I was a bit worried on that front as I am the only western female working in this area.

Jesse is still most surprised at the speed with which the offer was made and how quickly I was introduced to university life thereafter :P and in the 4 weeks I have been here have done some very interesting things like web surfing to make a report on how other universities post their student application sites, and visiting a high school for recruitment purposes, student "Stress Free" days the week before finals which included aerobics, yoga, exercise, diet, sleep and study habits, and I did aromatherapy for relaxation. All the admin staff joined in the activities so you can imagine how sore I was from all this uplifting exercise after 2 days........oh the joys of having anti inflammatory’s available without a prescription :D but it was a very fun few days.

Well I will post more in days to come with pics as there is a very big chunk of time that has been missed out on.

High maintenance ladies and their fashions…

If you are a lady around these parts your jewellery is not only worn on yourself, it also extends to some other objects in daily use. Let’s say you have a fully optioned BMW to take you around. Well why not match it to your ring or earrings. Perhaps like this:

Of course with a matching diamond studded rear badge:

But where does one find such lovely pieces of jewellery? Several fine establishments such as this one may be able to help in selecting just the right piece that says “You” like no other.

 

Now that you have that sorted out why not get some haute couture fashion advice. You do not want to be “fashion tragic” now do you? So listen up and follow the wise words below:

There you go. No need to be ever found wanting now.

Lost in translation III…..

Back to our favourite subject, the use, misuse, mangling, damaging, contorting, distorting, perverting, twisting, injuring, misusing and generally abusing of the beloved English language.

So how do you tell when an Arabic speaker works for a marketing department of the food company? Easy. When you see food labels like this:

On the other hand if your kids don’t like the healthy taste of “abricots” why not just give them some of this ghetto favoured delicious snack:

Ideal snack for busy families with not much time on their hands. Speaking of no “time on your hands” could it be that your watch is simply out of order. No problems, trusted Swiss trained master watchmakers such as this one will take care of it for you:

And if you not happy with quality of work performed there you may simply take it to his mate:

Of course you will need that watch to be in tip=top shape in order not to be late for work, especially with these working hours:

Ahhhh… The marvels of English.

A Hard rain ‘s gonna fall…

Saudi Arabia, a land where global warming had arrived probably 20,000 years ago, a land so dry that it has the greatest expanse of completely lifeless desert in the world. The “Rub Al Khali” or better known as the “empty quarter”. There is so little rain here that everyone forgets to build any kind of infrastructure associated with drainage.

The roads here have no drains at all and when it does rain it floods within minutes. The roads turn into rivers that run deep and fast.

We have just a few days of rain here which is a bit unusual for this time of year. It was simply amazing to watch the entire place turn into a lake in a matter of hours.

Some watery scenes:

It is such a contradiction here that you have the extremes of dryness followed by the floody water abundances. The water usually hangs around for about 2 weeks afterwards in pools. Surrealisam at its best.

My Green City…

Green City compound in Riyadh was our home for about 2 years back in 1990’s. We all have so many fond memories there. It was a brand new compound with large spacious villas and best of equipment. In a lot of ways it was a bit of a resort. It was situated near the Sheraton hotel and had a lot of empty blocks right around it.

On our recent visit to Riyadh I made it a first priority to go and revisit the place and its environs. Some of the old food shops which were around the corner were still there like Mama Noura’s. That place has some mighty mixed grilles, shwarmas and freshly squeezed juices.

 

Another view:

 

Everything else was there, the chemist, opticians, kepsa shop, and of course the mosque right on the corner.

However it was a bit heartbreaking to see the compound entrance. It has been turned into a fortress. There were substantial barriers and machine gun nests everywhere. I guess it did remind me of the realities of life here in the middle East. We take things like vehicle checks, compound barriers and security everywhere as pretty normal. Our compound here is guarded by the National Guard corps. You always know when there is something going on as they turn out in their full combat gear, bullet-proof vests, helmets and guns in hand. The vehicles have to stop and are checked with underside mirrors, boots open etc. When things are normal they just wave us through.

This is the entrance to the green city now:

 

 

This is the back:

 

I guess that it is a reality and it must be done. I am just glad that we were here at a more innocent time and that we were able to enjoy the city of Riyadh pretty much unfettered.

My big sports day…

When leaving for Saudi one of the big attractions was the activity rich compound life that I remember so well from our time in the Green City in Riyadh. There was a gym, sauna, Turkish steam bath, spas, pool and the recreation facilities. Expectations were that our compound will offer just as much if not a lot more. I have been trying to motivate myself for a little while to get on with the fitness side of my life.

We have had some boomerang throwing lessons here from another Aussie guy (Dr. Bruce Wills) as well as some volleyball games. I have been nicknamed “Cannonball” for my powerful overhead serves which I specifically aim at the 8 year old compound kids who join us in the games J. Their hands are so tiny and fragile. They also cry J. Our first game was played in the kids playground where large concrete chunks are hidden by 3 cm of sand. It was fun diving for the ball. The “net” was the rusty swing frame. Made it all a lot more fun in an “avoid the serious injury” kind of way.
.

So at any rate I put on my best lycra shorts and went off in search of sporting activities. I’ll have a game of billiards I thought (my kind of heavy exertion sport). When I got to the billiards room this is what I found:

Oh well, a bit hard to execute cue tricks here I thought. Never mind. What next I thought. I know!! A spot of ten-pin bowling was just the ticket. Yes that was it! Power, precision, grace, control it’s all there perfectly combined and highly suited to my talents. Excitedly I rushed off to our 4 lane bowling alley. My excitement was greeted by this:

So ended my sports day. Never mind. I think I’ll do some yoga instead J

BTW I must admit that the compound rec-center is undergoing substantial renovations and that hopefully in a few months we will have the best of everything.

Back to blogging…

There has obviously been a hiatus in our blogging activities of recent. There was the Christmas and New Year’s so that took some ti4me away.However we are back on track now so there will be more content coming. There is a quite few topics to cover with some interesting things happening down here. So stay tuned and enjoy your readings.

I am listening right now to some really cool JJ Cale, the master of the understated as well as Jean Michel Jarre Geometry of love album. And just to spice up things I have some Dream Theatre stuff from last year. A very nice set .