My 24 Hour Exile to the Kingdom - PART 2

                  After that hearty dinner, I decided to take some nap. I deserved it after all that I've been through. So armed with my Itouch and easy listening tracks, I was off to dreamland in no time. Six hours on the flight, I woke up from my slumberness due to a really bad turbulence. The aircraft was shaking so bad, I thought it might break into two and crash down (just like what I see in the movies). Bad thoughts. The turbulence lasted for a long 20 minutes before the aircraft eventually calmed down. I lost my sleepiness after that. I played some games on my Itouch just to keep myself entertained for the rest of the flight while the others were able to continue their disturbed sleep just like nothing happened. I envy them pretty much.

                 Three hours after, another meal was served. I could never be any happier. It meant more glucose for my near- starving cells. Again, I was asked to choose between a chicken, beef and pasta meal. Guess what I chose? It was the chicken meal again. You might wonder why. I'll tell you. The beef meal according to my seatmate wasn't any better than the chicken meal I had for dinner. The pasta meal on the other hand seemed a pretty good choice but then eliminated it out on my options because I haven't had the chance to eat any Mediterranean pasta meals yet. I might not like the taste or anything of that sort. So I went the safer side. 

My chicken meal for breakfast. It consisted of a bread, corn and carrot salad, and a chocolate cake for dessert.

A closer look of my meal.

The bread given this time is really tasty even without the butter on it. I would've asked for more if I wasn't too shy enough to approach one of the attendants.

The chicken slices paired with rice. Our staple food! I was just too glad to have chosen this meal over the two.

                            After the meal, I was able to catch some sleep again. By the time I woke up, we were already approaching King Khalid International Airport. Everybody was already busy collecting their stored luggages at the overhead bin while others were already queuing in front of the aircraft door. Excited much eh!? I, on the other hand, was just calmly seated and oblivious to everyone's commotion. 
                          Time was 30 minutes past the hour of 1 a.m. That would be 6:00 a.m Philippine time. Countdown of 15 hours spent on my exile. Still, there was more long hours of travel. Riyadh temperature as what we were told was 13 degrees Celsius. I safely disembarked from the aircraft, took a deep breath, sighed and I can't believe the fact that I've already set foot at the Kingdom. So this is it! I'm here now and there's no more turning back. It dawned on me that I'm thousands of miles away from my beloved, love ones, friends and a million of miles apart from my parents. We're literally at the opposite sides of the world! Suddenly, I felt empty, odd and a whole lot awful. How I wish I can turn back the hands of the time in just one click of my finger. The thought that I'll be on my own (no friends, no nothing to  count and cling on) in this huge desert for 2 years is making me sick to my stomach. The years seemed like an eternity.

                        My instincts told me to follow the stream of people heading to one direction. What else but the immigration booth! I fished out my passport and other documents out of my bag and joined in the long line. It was my first time to see a group of Arabs in my whole freakin' life so I felt a little agitated and jittery. We waited for almost 5 minutes before an officer came to his booth and started admitting in OFW's, tourists and locals. I finally had my turn and after verifying my papers, I was told to "kalas!", meaning 'to go' or 'you're done in English. Good thing, this word was taught to us during the PDOS (Pre-departure Orientation Seminar). If it wasn't, I would've just stared at the officer and did nothing.
                      While I was on my way out, an Arab wearing a white thobe (a dress flowing from the shoulders to the ankles, and later on I found out that this is an everyday Arab man's costume) approached me and asked for my name. I was hesitant to tell him at first but was obliged to do so thinking that he might be my authorized "sundo" for the travel to my accommodation. Indeed, my hunch was right. He then introduced himself as our hospital representative, took my passport, told me to collect my luggage and to come back to him when I'm all done. I couldn't quite understand his English because he talk so fast and sounded so nasal so I asked him to repeat his instructions again for me. He did, this time he was much more understandable. I just gave him a quick nod and hurriedly went to the conveyor belt to claim my stuffs.  
                     I waited at the conveyor belt patiently with eyes all focused and muscles attentive for my luggage. After a while, a lot had been unloaded and taken by their respective owners. To my horror, mine were nowhere to be found. I felt like crying. Almost all passengers had already left the airport and only a few were still waiting. No more bags were dispensed. At the back of my mind, my luggage were already lost and someone might have mistakenly taken it. They all seemed to look alike so it's never a small probability. I didn't give up searching for it. They were still a lot of scattered luggage around so I checked each one. After seemed like searching for an eternity, I found my small Johnny Walker trolley. Good heavens, how i felt relieved! I got one more problem, I haven't found my super big trolley just yet. Again, I felt worried, agitated and tensed. I refused to believe that it was lost, wasn't in transit or was checked in to some other plane. It couldn't and shouldn't be. My whole life was in that luggage! Literally.
                 I intently kept searching and looking around for it, but to no avail. I was already feeling desperate! Suddenly, I saw this one big black bag lying front down on the floor near the xray machine. I kept praying and hoping that it was mine while I was on my way to check for it. God is indeed good, He answered my fervent plea. It was my bag after all. But how come it was already there lying just beside the xray machine? One careless passenger might have taken it and dumped it right there and then after realizing that it wasn't his. Too bad...tsk tsk!
              After securing all my stuffs, I went back to our hospital representative and was instructed that we wait for the others outside. Wheee! I couldn't be more pleased upon hearing this. I have companions traveling to Hafar Al Batin after all. After a few minutes, 3 of my companions, all females, who just had a vacation from the Phils started loading their luggages at the back seat. They helped me with mine too. After a while, 2 more arrived. We were 6 passengers plus the Arab driver and one Filipino representative.                    

My 24 Hour Exile to the Kingdom - PART 1

                       It's been quite a long while (2 1/2 months actually) since my last post and I feel really apologetic for that. For the past months, I got busy with everything under the sun....I got depressed for a couple or more reasons that I didn't have the passion to continue blogging. I actually have a lot of cosmetic product photos stashed in my memory card that needs reviewing but still it didn't give me enough reason to commence writing.  I guess my brain cells just froze to death. During the long lag, a lot had transpired but each and every minute details of it had been recorded on my journal and of course in my memory chest. But today is one whole different story. This time, I'll be writing about a remarkable event that has happened in my life a few days ago. I just felt the urge and the soaring energy to write and share this so everybody back home will also know what I had been through. By the way, I'm cutting this entry into parts since this might be long. Read further if you got intrigued. =)

              November 9, 2010 --- The day that I would never ever forget in my lifetime. It was this day that my journey as a health care provider has again came to a start after a very long hiatus. This time, it wont be Pinoys that I'll be serving but ARABS. Yes, you read it right. ARABS. Talk about really serving the HUMANITY. The very essence of the nursing profession. Whatever race, nationality, gender and societal status of the patient is, nurses are willing to care, serve and still feel courageous enough to face the great challenges that lies ahead. This day is the beginning of a career shift for me. From previously being a clinical instructor that supervises students in the clinical area, who teaches concepts and theories about the nursing profession to now just being a plain staff nurse. But don't get me wrong here, I don't detest being a staff nurse but for me to be in the academe as a teacher/clinical instructor is much more enjoyable, fulfilling and enriching. Just my two cents.

                   Now here's my story: I arrived at the Terminal 1 (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) around 2:30 pm to check-in for my scheduled flight to Riyadh at 6.45pm. I didn't immediately went inside the main lobby but instead stayed at the OFW lounge to wait for the agency personnel to hand me back my passport and my other important documents needed for my travel. I was with the other 5 nurses recruits of the same agency but they're bound to a different hospital. Nevertheless, the 6 of us stuck together the entire journey to Riyadh. I was just glad to have some company.

                  We were able to receive our documents nearing 5 pm already. We hurriedly went to the check-in counter (Saudi Airlines) and had our baggages weighed and checked. We received our tickets and the plane seat numbers were given. I was to seat at 52J. Queuing in  front of the immigration booth followed. Damn, the line was really long! It took me 10-15 minutes of waiting before I finally got my turn to face the immigration officer. I thought he was just gonna check my papers if are all legitimate and just admit me in but he bombarded with me an awful lot of questions first. He asked me about my working condition, my salary, the reason why I had to leave Pinas for a meager pay etc etc. He was so discriminatory! I think commenting is not a part of his job description anymore. The nerve! But then I answered his queries with all pride.

                 

                After that interrogation encounter with the officer, we proceeded to Gate 12 to wait for our scheduled boarding time. There were already a lot of passengers at the lounge area so seats were full. We didn't have much choice but to stand in one corner with all our heavy handcarry luggages and wait for the boarding time. Later did we know that our flight got delayed, we were supposedly to leave at 6:45pm. Boarding announcement was already given around 7:30pm. Around this time, I already felt hungry, thirsty and dead tired but I have nothing much to do but wait for the dinner to be served at the plane in a few more hours. I got into the plane, looked for my assigned seat and settled down comfortably. Good thing, the middle seat was vacant, I was able to put in all my hand carry luggages. 52J is located at the aisle, near the flight attendants working station and beside the emergency exit. How cool is that huh? So, I and my seatmate who occupies the seat next to the window were instructed of the measures that we'll have to do in case of an emergency landing or a plane crash.

This is where I was seated. See that little compartment covered by the blue curtains at the left? That's the work station of the flight attendants. It's where they store all the food they serve to the passengers.

The aircraft's EMERGENCY EXIT.

                   Thirty minutes after the boarding announcement, Saudi Airlines started taxing the runway. All passengers are already preparing for take off. But then the aircraft suddenly came to a halt. An announcement was made by the pilot in Arabic. Of course, I couldn't understand what he was saying. There was no translation whatsoever. So I asked my seatmate about it. He was gracious enough to tell me that the aircraft is having some technical problems and we are going back to the gate. By the way, let me tell you about my seatmate. I can't give you the name because I forgot to ask him about it. He's nearing his 50's and he's an expatriate. He has been working in the Kingdom for 20 years or more but wasn't shy enough to tell me that he hasn't saved money or invested in anything. Or maybe he was just bluffing, that I don't know. He left a wife and a 5 year old daughter back home and told me that this is his last trip to the Kingdom then he's  coming back for good. Well, I just wished him lots of luck.

                            The passengers were already clamoring of hunger and of the growing heat inside the aircraft. It was unbearable. Everybody was worried and terribly uneasy. We waited for almost an hour and a half before the captain decided that it was safe to leave the airport. Time was 9:30 pm. The attendants distributed refreshing wipes to us. I just stashed it inside my bag. No use. Then they started giving out beverages. Good thing, because I was already feeling hypoglycemic. I requested for a mango juice. I was able to consume it in one gulp. I was that thirsty! 

My life saver.

                            An hour after take off, they gave out dinner. The one thing I've been patiently waiting for. I need a good food terribly. I was asked to choose from a beef or chicken menu. I chose the latter since it's much safer for my gallbladder. Not much fats on it I presume. This is what was served for dinner:  Palatable eh?!

My dinner consisted of a chicken meal, lettuce salad, bread and a cake for dessert. Believe it or not, I was able to consume everything but the stone-hard and tasteless bread. I just bit a fraction of it then ditched it right away.

The food was nothing remarkable. It didn't satisfy my taste buds at all but who cares, I was already starving to death. I could definitely eat a horse if there's one! =)