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Jeddah, Sunday, 1995-04-30 16:00 local (Z+3)
Hello, all....
This won't get sent until I get back to Jakarta, but I thought I'd get something written while cooling down from a run in 37° Celsius weather. The heat I like, but I could do without the 90% humidity.
Saudi's weekend is Thursday and Friday, thus today is the 2nd day of the work week, i.e. Saudi Tuesday. C.J. will remember that kind of reference.
Saudi Arabia changed their weekend to Friday and Saturday in 2013.
We got in late last night. It was my fourth landing, so that completes the minimum IOE landings requirement. Touchdown was smooth, but the check pilot didn't particularly like the way I handled the crosswind—they do things differently here. Just when I think I'm getting back into the swing of things, I do something that raises the check captain's eyebrows. Oh, well, he hasn't busted me yet...and I caught him in a couple of errors last night. He was really tired (for that matter so was I), and we had to dodge thunderstorms for most of the 10 hours from Jakarta.
I went in to downtown Jeddah this morning just to see what it looked like. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised. It's not great, and all it really is is just a glorified Al Khobar (C.J. will remember that), but I saw some things that pleased me ... like a Saudi Arab with his wife alongside him and HOLDING HANDS WITH HIM rather than walking behind him. We would never have seen that in the Eastern Province. Also, I'd say the women were almost evenly split between those who were veiled and those who weren't.
Also, there are large works of sculpture (term loosely used) throughout the city. It seems the previous mayor had a rule that if a western company came to town to make money, they had also to donate a suitable, large, public work of art. Not a bad requirement, really. Some are rather bizarre (a giant whistle, a suitcase a car could go into, hanging pots that must be 20 feet tall), but others are quite pleasing to the eye. Unfortunately it appears the Saudis are letting them run down, but the place is better for them being there.
The hotel van driver pointed out the main mosque, where seven Pakistanis lost their heads two days ago for marijuana possession. He then got irked with me a few minutes later when I took a picture of the King's palace—told me that was illegal. I just grinned and pocketed the camera.
We leave at midnight for Jakarta. The inbound portion of the Hajj ends on May 3, so I doubt I'll get another trip here, which is fine with me. The only good thing about coming to Saudi is that you get to leave. It is a society for which I have little but contempt.
I almost removed that last sentence when I formatted this journal entry. But I thought, no, I will put up precisely what I said back then because that's how I felt back then. To do otherwise would be disingenuous. But I was 55 then, I'm 78 now, and contempt is no longer a response that I can have. Sadness, disappointment, frustration, incredulity, even anger, but not contempt. My own failings, those of Western culture, and those of my own country—and especially my country with our 45th President—render me unable to be contemptuous of anyone. June 2018
Well, off to bed to the soothing cry of the afternoon prayer call. I've got a 10:30 p.m. wakeup call.
Have fun (doing anything you can't do in Saudi Arabia) ... Terry
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