January 15, 2012
My house mate and I have started an exercise program

It’s pretty simple really. Everyday, after isha, we go to this place, not too far from where we live, at Prince Sultan University and walk laps of the university. Each lap is measured at 4km so we knows exactly what it is we’re getting.

We started walking on Friday evening and since then we’ve kind of got the buzz for it. It takes us around 2 hours to walk 12km/7.5m and it’s really good fun. Neither of us take our phones or any form of electronic equipment with us and we just use the time to talk and ponder things. Today we were discussing the point at which societal evolution becomes mandatory for survival when facing catastrophic disaster. 

After walking yesterday, my house mate turned to me and said “I think this is the first time I’ve talked to someone for two and a half hours straight and not gotten bored for even a minute”. I took it as a great compliment.

Today one of our friends came along and we also changed the walking routine. For each 800m we walked we ran 200m. My house mate, if any of you remember, is one of the ‘laziest’ people I know. He’s… extremely adverse to any kind of physical activity but he managed the run periods very well. I was really impressed. At the end he actually ran 700/800m none stop. I told him that I’ll have him running all 12km by the time I head back home in 6 weeks time and I stick with that belief firmly after watching him today. We’re going to walk 6 days a week.

It should be fun!

January 9, 2012
Hmmm…
Interesting choice.

Hmmm…

Interesting choice.

December 28, 2011

Anonymous asked: That so cool that you teach in the saudi! how did you get the job there? do you speak arabic?

Yeah, it’s pretty cool. The job is great but it’s hard to live in Saudi at times.

I applied through a website in August 2010 and I was out here in October 2010. There are loads of jobs out here doing all sorts if you have the right qualifications.

I started to learn Arabic but I found it too hard to take classes whilst I was working (and I got lazy) so I stopped not too long after I started. It’s one of the things I’m most disappointed about since I got here. I really should have made more of an effort to learn.

October 13, 2011
Thursdays have become a sort of ritual day for me

For the last three weeks (I think?) in a row my Thursdays have followed the same pattern first thing in the morning. The weekend in Saudi Arabia is Thursday and Friday so today is a sort of Saturday for me.

I wake up just before midday and just laze around in bed doing nothing for a while. I catch up on the internet, catch a friend or two on Skype for a bit, listen to some music, and just chill. I spend ages waking up.

The comes my favourite part of the day. I have a shower but it’s not any shower but an hour long shower where I just let the water wash all over and take away so much more than just things that gather on my skin. It cleanses me. It scolds me!

I brush my teeth in the shower, I shave in the shower (wet shave ftw!), I shampoo my hair, I condition my hair, I use a facial scrub that I have. I really go to town on everything.

It’s so therapeutic. I almost feel like Patrick Bateman in American Psycho when he runs the reader through his morning ritual - “I can do a thousand now”. I’m not at those levels because most mornings I’m rushing for work and I hardly ever spend more than five minutes in the shower.

Thursdays are my day, though. Thursdays is when I really sort it out. It’s a great feeling and a good way to start the day.

After my shower today I put some Nirvana on full volume and jumped around my room for a while. I think it’ll be Nine Inch Nails next Thursday.

My hair is getting so long now. I love it. It was so shiny today.

Instead of being lazy before my shower, I really should go for a run. That would be the PERFECT start to a day but I haven’t run in months… time to change that I think. The weather in Riyadh is getting cooler and it’ll be far more tolerable to run soon.

September 25, 2011

Anonymous asked: You look best when you look like you did on eid, the shorter hair with the fringe thing and when you've shaved :P

There’s so much conflicting advice coming through, Anon. I don’t know who to listen to… Thank you for the compliment. It’s really cool of you to say nice things about me.

The problem with my Eid look was that my hair was too short. I want my hair to be longer! I want it to come down to my eyes. I prefer the clean shaved look too so I guess we can agree on that but I’ll keep the scruffy stubble look for a while I think. Shaving is effort and I’m lazy!

August 27, 2011
I love those lazy mornings/afternoons after a night of travel

when you’re in the most comfortable hotel bed ever and are being totally lazy at 3 in the afternoon.

Dammit! It’s 3?! I have to be up and out of here and doing cool things with awesome people.

Catch you guys later!

Leave me more ask messages. I loved the questions I got!

August 26, 2011
So, I’m trying to pack for Dubai…

but I’m too lazy and I’m on tumblr instead. Story of my life; forever the procrastinator.

Anyway, I went to get my laundry and my cash and I have to make a decision… I’m seriously considering leaving my laptop and iPhone (it only works on wifi) behind… I don’t want to be accessible when I’m there but the problem is that I’ll have to be accessible because I’ll be meeting friends and also my brother and sister-in-law out there.

Eugh… Can I not just go to sleep and wake up in Dubai?

July 14, 2011
Speaking other languages

I’ve been thinking today about how I’m lucky that I know how to speak more than just English. As a language teacher I understand that importance of being able to speak more than just your mother tongue and I’ve really appreciated the fact that I learnt a second language the easy way. It was taught to me at the same time I learned English.

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June 17, 2011
One of *those* days…

It was the weekend in Saudi Arabia (Thursday and Friday) but it’s all dead here. There isn’t all that much to do. I was supposed to be in Dubai this weekend but that plan fell through because there was a problem with my house mate’s car. My secondary plan was to go to Mecca but that fell through too. It just hasn’t been my weekend. For that reason today was a duvet day.

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June 9, 2011
Breakfast of champions!
I’m back on my diet because I feel like I’ve gained a couple of kilos over the last few months and want to shed them again. To that end I’m getting back on my calorie restricted diet. I’m going to have four meals a day. Two fruit meals, like the one you see above; one sandwich type meal without cheese and with lean meats; and one regular meal but with very little fat and at a smaller portion size. I think I’ll be eating around 1800 calories a day.
I really should be exercising but I’m too lazy.

Breakfast of champions!

I’m back on my diet because I feel like I’ve gained a couple of kilos over the last few months and want to shed them again. To that end I’m getting back on my calorie restricted diet. I’m going to have four meals a day. Two fruit meals, like the one you see above; one sandwich type meal without cheese and with lean meats; and one regular meal but with very little fat and at a smaller portion size. I think I’ll be eating around 1800 calories a day.

I really should be exercising but I’m too lazy.

May 1, 2011
Stupid diet…

These last few weeks have thrown my diet totally out of sync. Before I was disciplined and had a strict routine that I stuck to. That has kind of gone out of the window these last few weeks and I’ve actually gained a few kilos because of it. It’s actually really bad what I’m doing at the moment but I’ve figured out two reasons why I’m doing what I am…

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March 28, 2011
Today I almost missed my first prayer in six months…

So, since I’ve been in Saudi Arabia, coming up to six months, I haven’t missed a single prayer. That’s five a day for nearly 180 days. I have never, ever, been this diligent with my prayers my whole life. Actually, I think I might have prayed more in the time since I got to Saudi Arabia than in a whole bunch of years of my life combined.

Today, that streak almost ended.

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March 9, 2011
That feeling after you’ve eaten too much…

I had a really crap day with my diet today. It wasn’t because I ate too much, not at all, it was because I ate too little during the day. I didn’t get much time to schedule my meals like I normally do and I was feeling really, really hungry by the time I got home from work.

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January 22, 2011
Arabic classes…

Finally! I’m starting formal Arabic classes tomorrow. I’ve been so lazy with learning the language and I’ve found motivation impossible to come by. When I first got the job I was told that Arabic classes would be thrown in and it was part of the package and stuff but my employers were really slow in getting anything organised. Well… they’ve got it together now and I start tomorrow.

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January 2, 2011
One of those days.

Do you know those days you just want to write off? The ones where, for some reason, you just feel like a zombie going through the motions? Well, today is one of those days for me.

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