Arrival at Dammam, then Jubail

We arrived at Dammam airport to a tremendous crowd of migrant workers waiting to get passports examined. A few of us bossy teacher-types found the group of 20 new teachers and herded them together, then the school’s travel agent fortunately had contacts that took us to the front of the queue. Our customs check consisted simply of Xraying all the bags (perhaps seeking bottles of liquor?), thus eliminating our worry about search for religious books or immoral DVDs or vitamins.
Although they had told us they would be waiting for us, it was still a pleasant surprise to be greeted at the airport by so many administrators – the superintendent and the principals and counselors of the two schools that we new teachers would join. The heat and humidity outside the airport was expected, but still wilting. The minibus was pleasantly air-conditioned, so we enjoyed a cushioned ride over superhighways for the hour-long ride to our new homes. We finally relaxed in our new home at midnight local time.

Our body clocks weren’t ready to sleep, so we spent a couple of hours roaming through the 3-bedroom 2-story townhouse, checking the furnishings and the nice initial supply of food in the fridge, and then we made the beds (oops…the sheets didn’t quite fit. And there are no pillows.), and crashed.

Comments

Fleeing Trump, Americans go to Portugal

Fleeing Trump, Americans go into exile in Portugal. “I'm afraid to go back” Not only minorities feel threatened by the Trump administration. Three couples, a mother and an academic tell us why they chose to live in Portugal. Some say: the American dream is over. The above is today's headline article in our favorite trusted newspaper in Portugal, O Publico . It's a centrist newspaper, owned by a big supermarket corporation. Let's combine this with the recent news that Portugal's Air Force is now shifting away from its planned purchase of F-35 jets. Even though Trump has not even mentioned Portugal in his various diatribes against former allies, Portugal and the rest of Europe are reeling from the attacks. We hope it has the ironic effect of freeing Europe from American dominance and improving the chances for centrist leadership (against Trump-like parties that have been gaining prominence). The original text follows: Em fuga de Tru...

EUA: tanto estrago em tão pouco tempo

As part of my effort to learn about Portugal, both the country and the language, I'm subscribing to the centrist newspaper, O Publico . There are plenty of newspapers: conservative tabloids, and socialist and communist-sponsored daily papers; I find O Publico to be most sober, with consistently interesting columnists and opinion pieces, in addition to some local (Porto) news, with just enough sporting news to keep me chatting with the taxi driver. Today's opinion piece sums up, I think, European pundits' view of the U.S. government. As the title puts it: so much damage in so little time. I shudder at the rank incompetence and corrupt behavior, demonstrating a cynical attitude toward public service, showing indeed that the cruelty is the point. What scandal, what damage will be the tipping point to collapse this government? And what will it take to recover from the damage? Who will be able to trust the US government again, ever? Only ni...

Captain America dominates the news, in many ways

KoreaTimes newspaper of April 5, 2014: the front page features five items: a photo of the Avengers2 film shoot, with Captain America posed on the set; four stories with these headlines: Japan adopts absurd claims in textbooks ; Obama plays favorites ; Ortiz’s selfie makes White House uneasy ; and ‘US knows japan at fault on row with Korea’ … all about America and Japan! (Obama is said to be favoring Japan -- he even supposedly pressed the Virginia governor to veto the bill requiring Virginia textbooks to add the name “East Sea” to Sea of Japan!). And the Avengers2 filmshoot dominates public talk -- students and teachers alike discuss sightings of the film crew or actors, and the resulting traffic delays at the bridges in use. But it is considered worth the effort, to show the world that Korea is a hip, modern place, worth the effort for Captain America to defend against the villains (from the north, perhaps?).

Thomas journals

Search This Blog