Ever heard of the Entertainer KSA? No? Neither did I, until I met it on a sunny Thursday earlier this month. It came well wrapped in a package, and I couldn't wait to unwrap it. As I was unveiling the still-to-discover Entertainer KSA, I was wondering what was waiting for me inside. The first thing that greeted me was the orange smiley face on the front cover. My next thought was "Oh boy! You are surely going to be interesting!"
Now what is the Entertainer about? For those of you who are hearing about it for the first time, the Entertainer is a book that offers 2 for 1 incentives at many fine dining restaurants, casual dining restaurants, informal dining, cafes, attractions, spas, beauty salons and fitness centres. There are over 500 buy one get one free vouchers in the book, just the perfect bargain for a family to enjoy and save money at the same time.
As I went though the book, I discovered much more than I thought. I was delighted to see that my favourite eateries were listed. More so, there were well-known restaurants (including those at first class hotels and resorts), cafes, take-aways and fitness clubs where you could use the vouchers to gain discount. My next questions were, "So how does this work? How do I benefit from the discounts?" That was when I noticed that in my excitement, I had forgotten to read the Intro and the Rules of Use pages. Aha! First, I had to register the book on the Entertainer website. That was done. I had become an Essential Member, and I was entitled to exclusive member benefits and offers. Now getting ready for the journey with my new 21x15 cm companion. Ready to go down that road with us? Good. See you in a future post.
En 2002, si vous aviez demandé un étudiant de troisième année des études médicales quelles étaient les meilleures conditions pour effectuer une radiographie du thorax, il vous aurait dit que l'une des conditions était de l'exécuter avec le patient torse nu. Dans mon pays, les techniciens demandent toujours aux patients d'enlever leurs vêtements avant de procéder avec l'examen parce qu'ils avaient été formés que les vêtements pouvaient interférer avec les rayons X.
Je me souviens que j'avais 19 ans quand j'ai eu à faire mon premier examen radiologique (ayant atteint une certaine âge mûr). Quand j'étais une gamine, ca m'importais peu parce que je n'avais rien à cacher à cette âge. Le-dit jour quand je suis arrivée à la clinique, je n'étais pas très à l'aise que le technicien était un homme et quand il m'a demandé d'enlever mon haut je n'étais pas du tout contente. Deux choses m'avaient traversé l'esprit. Premièrement, j'avais intérêt à faire cet examen parce que j'avais peur que j'avais une infection pulmonaire grave (tuberculose). Deuxièmement, je n'avais pas à trop m'inquiéter car le technicien ne me connaissait pas et d'autant plus je ne le reverais jamais.
J'ai fait mon deuxième examen radiologique (étant adulte) en Arabie Saoudite. Je venais d'arriver et le phénomène de ségrégation sexuelle n'était pas encore inscrit dans mon cerveau. Lorsque je suis entrée dans la salle d'examen, je pensais que je devais enlever mon foulard et mon abaya. J'étais si impatiente d'en finir avec cet examen que je me suis mis a l'oeuvre. Le pauvre technicien a paniqué et il m'a mis dans le même état aussi. J'étais là, debout, perplexe et je me demandais ce que j'avais fait pour effrayer le pauvre homme de cette façon. Tout ce qu'il pouvait dire c'était "Astaghful Allah! Astagful Allah! Non, madame, pas enlever, pas retirer." Vous pouvez pariez comme j'étais soulagée quand j'ai compris la cause de sa panique. Bien sûr, j'étais aussi soulagée que je n'avais pas besoin de faire cet examen torse nu.
Dans les rares hôpitaux que j'ai visitée, j'ai remarquée que le plus souvent les femmes gardent leurs vêtements pendant l'examen. Apparement, cela ne semblait pas gener qu'elles soient trop habillées. J'ai vu un seul cas où le technicien avait demandé la patiente de se déshabiller et de porter une blouse de malade avant l'examen. La garde malade était restée derrière les rideaux pour aider son patient à porter la blouse. Je n'ai jamais cessé de me demander si la radiographie pulmonaire fait dans les cas où les patients étaient habillés étaient de très bonne qualité. Si ce n'était pas le cas est-ce que l'on fera quelque chose à ce sujet ?
In 2002, if you asked any third year medical student what were the best conditions to perform a chest X-ray he would tell you that one of them was to perform it with the patient bare-chested. In my country, technologists always asked patients to take off their clothes before proceeding with the examination because they had been trained that clothing might interfere with X-ray images.
I remember I was 19 when I had my first chest X-ray as a grown up. When I was a kid, it didn't matter because I had nothing to hide at that time. On that day when I arrived at the clinic, I wasn't very comfortable that the technologist was male, and when he asked me to take off my top, I wasn't very happy about it. I had two things in my mind. First, I had to get that exam done because I was scared to hell that I had picked up a serious chest infection (tuberculosis). Second, I convinced myself that I didn't have to worry because he didn't know me and more so he would never see me again.
I had my second X-ray (as an adult) in Saudi Arabia. I had just arrived and the sexual segregation thing had not yet registered in my mind. When I got into the examination room, I thought I had to take off my scarf and abaya. I was so anxious to get over with the examination that I immediately started to do just that. The poor technologist panicked and he got me in the same state too. There I was, standing perplexed and wondering what I had done to scare the poor man this way. All he could say was "Astaghful Allah! Astagful Allah! No madam, no remove, no remove." You bet how relieved I was when I understood the cause of his panic. Of course, I was also relieved that I didn't have to do that exam bare-chested.
At the few hospitals that I have been to, I noticed that most often women were asked to keep their clothes on when performing a chest X-ray. It didn't matter whether they had too many clothes on or not. I have seen only one case where the patient was asked to take off her clothes and wear a hospital gown before the exam. However, her relative stayed behind the curtains to help her get into a hospital gown. I have never stopped asking myself whether chest X-rays done in cases where the patients were overdressed were of really good quality. Would something be done about this if it really was the case?
Have you ever had a little argument with your kid over the pronunciation of a word? Imagine telling your kid that "fantasy" is pronounced /fæn.tə.si/ and he/she says, "Noooooooo, my teacher says it is /fa:nta.zi/." And so goes on the argument until you give up because kids hardly get tired. Maybe this is just my opinion, but I noticed that kids believe so much that their teachers know better.
What happens when your child attends an international school that has teachers from every corner of the globe? You got Americans, Canadians, Britons, Indians, Filipinos, Egyptians, Nigerians, Ghanians, Cameroonians, etc. It is not surprising when some non-native English speaking parents worry when their kid(s) speak(s) English like another non-native whose country of origin is different from theirs. Not that being a non-native English speaker is bad (I'm one, by the way), but the general tendency is for parents to want their kids to express themselves like native English speakers. In Jeddah, for example, I have seen little clubs spring up with the main objective of teaching kids to speak like native English speakers (particularly with an American accent). The latest one is the American International Reading Club for Kids that accepts boys and girls aged 8-11 years for a monthly fee of 150 SAR, books not included.
The reading club administrator, Taqwah Summers, opened this club (which will effectively begin its activities on February 2, 2012) after the multiple requests of some parents. The club is located in Rawdah District 6 and opening times for girls are Thursdays from 10.00 am -11:30 am, and for boys Thursdays from 2.00 pm-3.30 pm. For more information, parents can contact the club administrator on 0501027905 or via e-mail: Taqwahsummers@gmail.com
Il faisait frais. Nous n'avons pas toujours les températures de ce genre à Jeddah- en tout cas pas avant 17 heures. Je suis sortie faire une promenade avec mon fils. Après une marche de 5 minutes, j'ai sentie une mauvaise odeur. Juste là à travers la rue, il y avait un petit ruisseau riche en excréments. J'ai dû porter mon fils pour traverser ce petit ruisseau. Après 5 minutes encore nous sommes tombés sur les eaux d'égout. Et hop ! Encore une fois ! Je le porte et je saute. Lorsque nous avons rencontré le quatrième ruisseau, j'en avais marre. Je me suis décidé de rentrer à la maison. C'était horrible. On ne pouvait pas marcher pendant 10 minutes sans traverser un ruisseau d'excréments. Je pensais que cela n'arrivait que dans mon quartier jusqu'au jour où je suis allée rendre visite à quelques amis à Bawadi. Scénario identique.
C'est dommage que dans un quartier avec des bâtiments et les routes bien construits, vous allez souvent tomber sur de la "merde" qui coule dans les rues. Ce n'est pas seulement un problème pour les piétons, même les conducteurs essaient d'éviter ces ruisseaux malsains qui coulent dans les rues. Je me souvient quand mon beau-frère essayait d'éviter un ruisseau d'excréments. J'étais perplexe et je cria, "Bon sang! Est ce que c'est necessaire de faire ca? La voiture reste dehors de toutes les façons." Il dit : "Jamais. Je ne peux pas laisser mes pneus nager dans la merde des gens."
Naturellement, les gens étaient inquiets lorsque les rues de Djeddah était inondées par les eaux de pluies en 2009. Ils étaient très inquiets que le lac d'égout géant qui était proche de Jeddah pouvait inonder la ville. Mais qu'en est-il des eaux d'égout devant nos portes un jour normal sans incident ? On pourrait se demander pourquoi les eaux d'égout s'échappent et coulent devant certains bâtiments pendant environ une semaine et personne ne fait rien. Pendant les dernières vacances au mois d'août, j'avais remarquée qu'il y avait des nombreux ruisseaux d'excréments dans mon quartier. Était-ce parce que tout le monde était occupé avec les festivités ? Ou était-ce parce que l'odeur ne genait plus les gens ? En passant, comment est-ce qu'une personne peut-elle supporter la puanteur des eaux
d'égout ... Pouvez-vous le faire ? Je ne peux pas.
It was a cool day. We didn't always get temperatures like this in Jeddah; at least not before 5 p.m. I felt like taking a walk with my son. After walking for 5 minutes, I got a bad smell. Right there across the street, there was a small stream rich in sewage. I had to carry my son to cross this little stream. Another 5 minutes and we came across another "poop-rich" stream. There we went again! Carrying and skipping. When we came across the fourth stream, that was it. I decided to go back home. It was horrible. You couldn't walk for 10 minutes without having to come across an over-flooded sewage tank. I thought this only happened in my neighbourhood until when I went to visit some folks in Bawadi District. Oh my! Same case scenario.
It is a pity that in a neighbourhood with well-constructed buildings and roads, you frequently come across sewage flowing in the streets. It is not only a problem for pedestrians; even drivers do try to avoid getting into sewage running across the street. Once my in-law was trying to avoid a pool of sewage, and I was like, "Oh come on! Does it really matter? The car stays outside anyway." He said, "No way. I can't let my tires get into people's poop."
Naturally, people were worried when Jeddah was flooded by the rains in 2009. They were very worried that the giant sewage lake that was close to Jeddah may flood the city. But what about sewage seeping out at our doorsteps on normal uneventful days? One would wonder why some buildings have sewage seeping out of their tanks onto the street for about one week and nobody is doing anything. This was what I noticed during the last holidays in the month of August. There were so many sewage streams in my neighbourhood and people were just going about their normal activities. Was it because everybody was busy with the festivities? Or was it because the stench didn't bother people so much anymore? Come to think of it, how could anyone stand the stench from sewage?...Can you? I can't.
Hello Dear Readers,
It has been nearly 4 months since I last posted on this blog. Al hamdulillah! I am back and ready to start posting again.
We went through a hard time trying to look for another kafeel (sponsor). The point is that we had 2 weeks to get a new sponsor or get an exit visa. Phew! I remember when my husband got that sms. We were having one of those conversations and wondering whether his sponsor would call him soon to give him a deadline. We stopped laughing about the whole thing when his phone beeped. And lo! It was written in black and white. He had 2 weeks to get another sponsor and start the transfer process or his sponsor would issue him an exit visa.
Our greatest ordeal was finding another sponsor who would accept an emergency transfer. The second was to pay 12,000 SAR (this is not the usual fee for transfers). We had a few disappointments from a few people who accepted to become his (my husband's) sponsor. Along the line they disappeared leaving us in the middle of our despair. Finally, we found someone who was willing to go ahead with the transfer. Al hamdulillah, he wanted to do everything on his own. That meant going through the normal and lengthy procedure of transfers. The guy who asked us to pay 12,000 SAR would have sapped us of our funds because the usual fee was 2,000 SAR for first-time transfers. Apparently, he was the type who did things under the table and behind closed doors. We accepted to work with the new sponsor, who took his time in doing everything. Going through the normal channel meant that we risked not meeting the deadline set up by the former sponsor, but we had to do it if we wanted to go the legal way. As the days passed, we kept praying that his former sponsor would not call to remind him of the deadline. Every time there was a development during the transfer process, my husband always made sure that he informed his former sponsor. Two weeks became 4 months, and today we have a new sponsor. Needless to say that his former sponsor exercised great patience because he was willing to give us more time and in doing so he was putting himself in a situation that did not suit really him.
Finally, we can start making plans to leave Saudi Arabia in a smooth way and not like we are being shooed out of the country. I am thankful that this whole thing is over, and we do not live with the worry that at one moment or the other someone might call us to tell us that they were going to issue us an exit visa.
