December 2010
64 posts
6 tags
New Year in Saudi Arabia
There are partied going on in the world right now. In Australia it’s already 2011 and each passing hour is ushering in the new year in a different time zone. In 6 hours and 45 minutes it’ll be Saudi Arabia’s turn for the clock to strike 12 and the calender to change to 1/1/11.
In Saudi it doesn’t feel like new year at all. There’s nothing big happening in Riyadh to...
4 tags
4 tags
The last decade and the next decade
I think these posts always start with people saying the last 10 years have been crucial in getting them where they are now. Being pedantic, that is always the case, isn’t it? I mean, if you didn’t live through those last 10 years you’d be dead. I remember thinking back in 2000 about where I might be in 10 years time. I don’t think, in my wildest dreams I would have thought...
6 tags
I don't care what you think...
…about my choice of film to watch tonight but it can’t be beat. Tonight I’m watching my favourite film (or one of them at least).
It’s so good.
19 tags
New years resolutions
I’ve been thinking about resolutions for the new year a lot over the last few days. There are at least a couple of things I really want to improve but there are more than a few things that have been amazing for me and I need to maintain.
New years resolutions and I don’t normally get along too well but I list one of my greatest ever achievements as a new years resolution. Last year I...
11 tags
Censorship in Saudi
Censorship is a weird issue in Saudi Arabia. You feel it fairly regularly but there’s nothing like the internet to really make you feel like you’re being stopped. There are whole websites that are blocked, specific pages, even some YouTube videos are restricted. Then there’s the more subtle form of censorship - self-censorship.
Some of my students are fairly bright, and maybe...
6 tags
6 tags
beauitfullybroken asked: I just saw that it's your birthday. I don't have much to give you, but I do have words and so I have penned a rather lame poem, it's only lame becuase im attempting to add humour to it.
From what I recall,
We crossed on the twitter train,
You were travelling to dissertation road,
And I was travelling to dissertation station,
From Hugo...
From what I recall,
We crossed on the twitter train,
You were travelling to dissertation road,
And I was travelling to dissertation station,
From Hugo...
kapplak asked: hi, I saw your tumblr, and I saw many pictures of mecca.
when you are in mecca?
when you are in mecca?
Anonymous asked: So ,do you live in makkah ??
11 tags
9 tags
It's my birthday!
It’s a really strange day for me. I love all the people who take their time out to get in touch with me and wish me a happy birthday but it’s sometimes tinged with me thinking about my mortality. Still, there are far more smiles than moments of introspection.
The thing that’s weirdest about this year is that I’m so far away from home. It’s all good, though. My...
9 tags
8 tags
I know where to talk to women in Saudi Arabia!
It’s finally happened. I found a place where I can talk to women in Saudi Arabia! A place where you can go and they talk to you and ask you questions and it’s not actually looked down on and you won’t get beheaded. There’s only one slight problem with it, though…
It’s when you visit a medical centre. Most of the people who work in medical centres are women....
6 tags
13 tags
The state of my union...
Around this time every year, without fail, I start to think about my life and the path I’m on. This isn’t because it’s Christmas or because the New Year is around the corner but because it’s my birthday in a couple of days time. Yes, that annual ritual that signifies another lap around the sun, another year closer to death, a few more grey hair.
2010 has been kind to me in...
7 tags
10 tags
6 tags
nsybt asked: Will be heading to Makkah myself on Thursday for Umrah insyaAllah. How's the weather there?
6 tags
Christmas: Saudi style
Well Christmas is around the corner in the UK and it looks like it’s going to be a white one in the UK. All the radio stations have been playing Christmas songs and all the advertisements on TV have a Christmas feel to them. However, that couldn’t be further from what’s happening in Saudi Arabia right now…
Nothing is happening in Saudi Arabia. There are no decorations on...
8 tags
10 tags
The carrot and the stick...
There are two ways to do things… You can use a carrot, a reward system, to motive people to do what you want them to or a stick, a punishment system, to get them to do what you want. I wrote here last week about how my students were frustrating me so I was using a stick to try to beat them in to submission and reign supreme over my classroom. What’s happened in reality is a little bit...
7 tags
6 tags
There are so many things I want to blog about...
I’ve been thinking about a lot of things over the last few weeks about Saudi Arabia and life in general that I really want to write here and share with you all. Over the last few days I’ve mostly been writing about my Mecca trip but I think that subside soon. I’ll still post pictures from it but I want to get back to blogging about what I was before.
Expect some...
8 tags
4 tags
Making light of it...
Guy at work: Since you got back from Mecca there is so much noor (a kind of spiritual radiance) on you face. It's beautiful.
Me: Nah, it's just the lights bouncing off my bald head.
5 tags
8 tags
Guess where I'm going this weekend...
Isn’t it amazing when life gives you amazing opportunities again and again? I seriously feel like I’m blessed, right now. It’s as though the main purpose for me being in Saudi Arabia is being fulfilled. Everything is seriously amazing right now.
This weekend I’m going to Mecca again. I’m going to perform an Umrah, again. On Christmas eve I’ll be praying Friday...
14 tags
My Mecca trip...
I said yesterday that I’d have written something by last night but I didn’t so here I am writing it now. It’s only around 12 hours late but I really want to write down what I went through and try to explain how I felt.
Those of you who follow the blog closely would have seen that I was in a place where I thought the trip wouldn’t happen on Thursday morning. The guy I went...
7 tags
7 tags
The last 24 hours...
Well, 23 hours really… They’ve been totally crazy. Most of the time has been spent driving (8 hours there from Riyadh and 9 hours back because we stopped for an hour to sleep) but the most important time was spent in the home of Islam. I can’t believe it’s actually happened! Mecca is…
I don’t know. I seriously don’t know how to even begin describing it....
6 tags
I'm leaving...
I don’t know how to describe my feelings right now. They’re all over the place. I’m so excited and happy that I’m going but there’s this other feeling. One that I can’t really describe.
It feels a little bit like I’m going home but so much more than that. It’s like I’m going where I belong. Where I’m destined to go. Where I’ve...
7 tags
Woooohhhooooo!!!!!
I’m leaving Riyadh for Mecca at 11am!! It’s happening!!!!
6 tags
Sad man is sad
I’m seriously getting the feeling that I’m not going to Mecca today… I was expecting a phone call 30 minutes ago and I’ve heard nothing and the guy I’m supposed to be going with isn’t answering his phone…
Not good times!
I’ll update you if an update is due…
6 tags
I found the perfect way to relax after a long week...
I blogged yesterday about how I was frustrated at work because of my students acting like children. Well… today I discovered the perfect way to just chill out and it was right under my nose the whole time. (don’t hate me!)
I got in my jacuzzi and turned some music on. The bubbles were so calming. I loved it. It was the best way to clear my mind for 45 minutes. I don’t even care...
4 tags
6 tags
Oh dammit...
These last few days I’ve been really, really excited about going to Mecca and have been writing about it here with some great enthusiasm. Well… today it’s looking like my going tomorrow is hanging in the balance…
That’s because the guy who was actually going to be driving (and who owns the car we were going in) is sick. We have no idea if he’s going to be well...
10 tags
A rant
I don’t like ranting. I don’t see the point in getting stressed about anything. You either fix it, or you get over it - that’s pretty much my philosophy. Still, there are events that you sometimes encounter that you can’t fix but you can’t get over it either because the consequences are too far reaching. I’m facing one of those situations right now…
I...
7 tags
Rituals of Umrah
I told you all yesterday about my plan on going to Mecca this weekend to perform an Umrah. It’ll be my first time visiting the holy city and I’ve been reading up on the actions required of me to complete the mini-pilgrimage and the rituals I’ll have to partake in. I figure I can share some of them with you all here.
As you know I’ll be leaving on Thursday. We’ll be...
5 tags
Happy man is happy!
I’m so happy right now. It’s amazing how football has the ability to make my mood lift and fall but this weekend has been all about happy heights. There were moments in that Arsenal game where it was pretty tense but we relented to come through victorious. Chelsea drew = massive bonus. We play them on Sunday and I can’t wait!
9 tags
8 tags
So much for wanting variable weather...
I’ve been complaining about the relentlessness of the summer/heat here in Riyadh and how I wanted it to change. It’s been getting slightly cooler as the days and weeks have gone on but there haven’t been many clouds around. Well, I got my wish today and I regret it now…
I experienced my first sandstorm. Watching some of those dust clouds from work was really amazing but...
10 tags
This is a life defining week for me...
This is a big one. This is one of those weeks that people dream about their whole lives. They save for them, they look forward to them, and they contemplate them for their whole lives so they can make it a reality. This week, that dream should be made in to a reality for me.
I’m going to Mecca for an Umrah. I’m going to the home of Islam on a mini-pilgrimage on Thursday morning and...
8 tags
Blast from the past
Do you know when you start to think about days and years gone by without even realising why? Well, I’ve had one of those days. When it comes to remembering years gone by I seem to find it frames by the music I was listening to at the time. Well, there’s one particular band I’ve had stuck in my head.
Do you remember The Cardigans? They were a Swedish band who had a string of hits...
8 tags
5 tags
I can't be bothered to write anything today...
So I’m not going to.
(maybe I’ll write something later)
10 tags
The day I had yesterday...
I had a pretty cool day yesterday. It was actually one of the busiest days I’ve had since I got to Saudi Arabia and I did a whole load of touristy things that I hadn’t before. I know I’ve been complaining about Riyadh and the lack of things to do here but I think I’ve actually done it all now.
Well, not really but it sure feels like that.
I’ve been craving pizza....
12 tags
4 tags
I'm so vain I think Bret Easton Ellis visited my...
Haha! Someone from Beverly Hills, California searched for Imperial Bedrooms on Tumblr and came across my post this morning. I’d like to imagine it was BEE!