Christmas in Saudi Arabia (or My Daily Routine)

Christmas in Saudi Arabia just another day. In fact, had I not been sent a Merry Christmas message from my parents, I just may have forgotten it completely. It's still hot and dry. There are still five prayers, and everyone is going to work. Except for me of, course--I'm still enjoying my extended holiday. Anyway, it's just a normal day, like any other, bearing no special significance here, whatsoever.

But how does one spend one's day, when he is stuck in Saudi Arabia, with nothing to do all day? Well, listen, one must make a schedule, if one hopes not to fall into the abyss of madness. So I wrote myself one on a page from a small notepad and fixed to my wall with duct tape, so I don't forget.

My schedule suggests that I wake up at ten AM. This, as it turns out was being optimistic. In reality, most days, like today, I'm up by the crack of noon, after enjoying a healthy ten hours of sleep. File under: finally I get to relive my teenage years, or now I know what it's like to be an Arabian.

Next comes tea time. I make my self a cup of green tea and slowly sip it, while sitting on my little couch. I don't do anything else during this time--no TV, or reading, or whatever. Just listening to my thoughts...which usually whisk me off to somewhere in the civilized world.

After tea time, I do my morning yoga routine. I contort my body into all sorts of weird positions, all the while wondering how in the hell I gained so much weight. I do both of these things for half and hour to forty-five minutes. And then usually make breakfast.

Breakfast usually consists of a gigantic salad made from whatever vegetables I bought the day before. I'm trying to repair some of the havok wreaked on my system from eating cafeteria food at the institute for a year. It's a slow process, but I think in time, I'll begin to feel like a human being again.

Then it's time for chores. I must finally be an adult--I've scheduled clean-up time for myself. This usually means cleaning up in the kitchen first. I have to do it, because no one else will. To be fair, I don't think anyone else ever goes into the kitchen, so I guess that's fair. Then I clean up my room and do laundry or whatever. I know. It's a thrilling life.

Next it's meditation time. I sit on a cushion for half an hour an focus on breathing. You would be amazed at the kinds of crap the mind starts spewing out when you're meditating. It's a fascinating phenomenon--it's like the mind doesn't want to be quiet, and if you ask it too, it throws a temper tantrum, making even more noise!

But by the time the thirty minutes are up, my mind is usually nice and clear for study time. I usually crack open my Learning Arabic textbook, and slog my way trough a couple of pages over the following forty five minutes to an hour, and maybe watch some incomprehensible Egyptian television.

Then it's off to the Arabian Palm hotel, where I am now. I've scheduled two hours for writing, but as it turns out, like my wake-up time, two hours was a bit ambitious. So, I just write until I get bored. That's what I'm doing now, by the way! I go to the Palm for two reasons: first to get out of the house, and second, because it has the best internet in Rabigh...so when I'm done writing I can download movies, or play online games.

At which point, I've entered the free time portion of my day, which extends to about nine o'clock, when I put in the headphones and walk for two hours, in a desperate attempt to lose some of the extra twenty pounds I've gained here before returning to Canada, and ultimately arriving in Japan.

The rest of the day, you can usually find me playing video games or having tea with my colleagues. I expect tonight we will be eating mindi in lieu of turkey dinner.

Merry Christmas from the Kingdom!