Bad Week

This week hasn't started to well.  I spoke with Charlotte last night and she informed me she had had a small disagreement with here dad and his partner.  It was fairly trivial but had rubbed Charlotte up the wrong way.  Charlotte believes in things being fair and if they are not, is not afraid to speak up and inform everyone.  I was trying to reason with her in order for her just to get it off her chest and then let it go.  I felt a tinge of sadness that I wasn't at home with her offering her a better solution and telling her to come and stay with Steven and I for a few days till it had all blown over but I was half way across the world and so that wasn't an option.  We seemed to smooth it over and she continued to pack her bags for her forthcoming holiday.  I just hoped she had forgotten it by the time she returned from Turkey otherwise Steve would be having another lodger whilst I was away (Hannah is still staying with him once a week).  I know this might sound strange but at the end of the day he has been in the girls lives for 3 years now and we have been living under the same roof albeit intermittently as they spend the majority of time with my ex husband (too much information, probably but I just want you to get the picture).
Hannah passed her driving theory test and when she sent the text to tell me, I shed a tear!!! as a parent I really should be home to relish and enjoy these moments but when I left for my year long adventure it was with the blessing of both girls.  To be honest my children have always just wanted me to be happy......goodness knows how I ended up with 2 beautiful, intelligent beings.  Anyway, to top things off, Steven has been ill this week with a tooth infection.....He has hardly spoken to me, his texts have consisted of about two words or often, not even a reply.  So hence, I am feeling pretty down in the dumps.  I text him tonight and said I was sad and his reply was "I hope you feel better soon, Night x!!!!! WTF!!!! I would have been straight on the phone checking why, was there anything I could do etc etc.  I asked if he had realised that he didn't really want to be in a relationship and that he had been really cold towards me this week!! Maybe the distance thing and having time to breathe wasn't going to work after all.  I cried myself to sleep....I am praying that this is just hormones and I am just over reacting.
I wake up at 7am (early for me as my body clock has still not adjusted after 4 weeks) and decide no point mopping.  "Get your act together and get on with it".  Steven sends me a text to say he is feeling better....I don't reply.  I need to process for a while before I open my mouth and say the wrong thing......I'm still praying it's hormones!
I had an email from a friend this morning (I have had lots from friends since I've been here, thank you so much for these) by the end I was crying.  I am feeling so alone even though I am surrounded by such lovely caring people.... now is this hormones or am I homesick???? Ok, blow your nose, wipe your tears and get on with it.  I am just going to write this week off as not a good one and hope that next week is emotionally better for me.  Didn't feel like breakfast this morning :(  Maybe I should consider the party in the British Compound that a few of the girls had been talking about.  Mind you I did hang my party t-shirt up years ago when I gave up everything that was bad for me.  "Oh, really, I hear you cry?"  Of course I didn't give up the chocolate, just everything else.  If only I could tell you what's going on in my head right now....."Right, I am going to stay here for ever"...."No you are not, you are going home in August and never coming back" "Steven and I won't make it through the year"  "Of course we will, why are you saying these things" and these positives and negatives go on and on.  Not sure I should be telling you all this but it is about my experience in Saudi Arabia and this is what I am experiencing right now at this very moment.  Maybe I need to read Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars again because I don't think it has sunk in the first two times.  Maybe Steven is reading this?  Maybe he is not?  Ahhh well, he knows how I feel I've sent him an email explaining it (I prefer this as my method of communication as you can write it, read it, check it is definitely how you want to say it and then delete it if you feel it doesn't sound right. The other person then gets time to process it, think about it for a few day, or forget about it when it slips your mind and then hurry quickly to the email two days later with their reply.  When you say it face to face....it comes out totally wrong and you end up falling out over it.  I am going to suggest Steven an I continue to communicate like this when I get home lol! 
Anyway, back to the story.  I walk into work and Mysti asks how I am, I burst into tears......I am praying that this is hormones!!!!! "For goodness sake!!  The girls reassure me crying cleanses the soul and they spoke of how they cry all the time.  It's amazing how the bond between the instructors has grown so quickly, 5 girls from different corners of the world, supporting each other and sharing their sisterly love.  I am very thankful for their hugs this morning and their reassurance that they are going through the same thing, I really needed it.  We all have our own personal reasons for being here but the common one is the need for change and by breaking away from the life we know and travelling half way around the world to a place where you know no-one and is so culturally different from home was certainly one of the biggest changes we could make.
We are summand for a fitness meeting with the spa director....I am not really in the mood to be honest but at least after 5 weeks she has decided to show her face.  Since arriving here at the spa it has been like being dumped on an orienteering competition to see how much you can get and do on your own without any assistance from the company (and they don't even give you a compass or a map).  No help with emergency contact numbers, where to find anything, how to get a sim card (I'm going to dedicate on whole blog for that one!)  how to meet others etc etc .  I am not going to bore you with the meeting but the only thing that I will say is that she went on and on about sales and commissions which we have no chance of ever hitting the targets.  When I took the job she went on about how we could make lots of extra money in commissions but like I said.....NO CHANCE!!!.  When I listen to the other girls she has told lots of things that aren't true just in order to get them to take the job.  That is why the turnover of staff is so high, no one wants to stay when they feel they have been fed a load of bullshit.  I told you I should write this off as a bad week.....

Back Crack

I've made an appointment to go and see the Chiropractor whilst I am here in Saudi.  It is something I do regularly at home (because I have the pleasure of living with one) in order for my body to function correctly.  My job puts a huge strain on things so Steven keeps me firing on all cylinders, so to speak, and for this I am truly thankful because trying to teach on a body that is not neurologically switched on and often out of alignment can place a huge demand on you mentally and physically.
On my first week here I did a search for Chiropractors in the area and 4 appeared.  I checked the distance from my accommodation and I found one that was only 2 miles away.  Dr Mohammed Sohl.......I emailed him on the address on his website asking him about his techniques, costs and if he was allowed to treat women.  I'm still not sure about how this men and women thing works.  He sent me a prompt reply with costs, treatment times and his techniques and he assured me that he treated many female patients.  Steven checked for me that he was on the Chiropractic Register and not some bogus quack.  So all was good except they were closed on a Friday my only day off.  Maybe I could get an evening appointment (If it was after 8pm) it's so hard to do anything when you work till 8pm or 9pm every evening and then on Friday when it's your day off, everything except the shopping malls is shut!!!!
I spoke to the Spa Receptionist. who works out the fitness instructor schedules each week, about leaving a little earlier on Saturday Evening (this is the Saudi's Monday) so I could attend an appointment with Dr Sohl.  It was all arranged my appointment at the Specialist Medical Centre, Tower 3 on Saturday at 8.20pm.  I asked if I could use the Spa Driver (we don't get to use him that often as he is mainly for the Saudi girls that work here) as I would feel much safer if the person taking me knew exactly where he was going and could wait for me and bring me back.  Excellent, I would be back in full working order by 9pm.
The end of my shift came and off I went to find the driver.  Now bear in mind there are 2 Filipinos who speak a little English, A few Africans who speak a little better English and Mohammed from Bangladesh who speaks no English "I wonder which one I will get?"  No prizes for guessing that one!!! Ok, so I ask the security guard if Mohammed knew where he was taking me?  "Yes" they had explained to him, he was to take me, wait and then bring me back.  They asked me to give him my Saudi phone number (that's a story for later) to which I informed that I did not have one.  Ok, not to worry it will all be fine, he knows what he is doing but I can't help but feel a little anxious inside. 
I get into the car, a small hatchback and everything is covered in plastic, seats, mirror, visors.....it looks like someone has gone mad with the cling film!!!!!  Off we set, now the roads here are ridiculously busy and usually 4 lanes wide with no road markings, pot holes and to be honest a bit of a "free for all".  The one thing I have noticed is that it is very important to know where the horn and the break is.  Mohammed of course wouldn't be needing his as he never changed out of 2nd gear!!! and my god I was melting in the back!  I remember sleeping on plastic a few times when I was young (when you went on holiday and they had covered the camp bed or child's bed with a plastic mattress cover, just in case of that little accident) and waking  up thinking I had wet myself only to find it was just sweat you could literally ringing out of your pyjamas.  So not only was in my gym gear, an abaya and head scarf, I was also sat on cling film.  Thank goodness I don't smell when I sweat otherwise the chiropractic visit might have been a little embarrassing.
We arrive (eventually) and there was just a sea of cars fighting for parking spaces. It's Saturday for goodness sake at 8.05pm (where do all these people come from?)  After 5 minutes of Mohammed trying to find a parking space, I look at the time to see it is 8.10pm.  I don't want to be late so I decide in my best Bangladeshi accent to tell Mohammed to stay exactly where he was. I was going to my appointment and would come back to where he had left me.  He was nodding so fingers crossed he had understood.
Ok, Tower 3. My goodness 3 great big sky scrapers.  I stop a man, non Arab, who looks quite friendly and ask which one is Tower 3.  He kindly points me in the direction of the one that has TOWER 3 written on it in letters as big as a house.  Right, my instruction are to check in downstairs, I will be given a file and then let through security to the correct floor, simple.  A man with a red and white tea towel, again, (this is the typical male Saudi dress, it distinguishes them form the Syrians, the Lebonese etc).  I have read that only around 5% of the female population work (the men take care of the women financially here), so most places you go it is a man that serves you and also they say the salaries for lower end jobs is poor and that the Saudi's don't really want to work.  There are around 15,000 claiming unemployment benefits, Riyadh has a population of around 4 million ( I saw on the Saudi news the other night that the government are trying to enforce rules about stopping benefit if you did not find work).
"Passport" "Errr, I don't have it (It was taken from me on my first day of arrival by my employer to avoid escape) "Iqama" "Errr, I don't have one of those either, I am on a visit visa"  Ahhh ok, think.....!!!   I haven't brought the copy of my passport or visa with me as the chiropractor failed to mention it (note to self....don't go anywhere with out paperwork).  "I have a copy of my passport on my phone" I say.  He doesn't need to know that the copy is the one that has expired but it's worth a try now that I am here.  He takes all the details down and fails to spot the date ( he only took the passport number) and then passes me a piece of paper and points me in the direction of the lift. I press the button and as I look around I am forced with a dilemma.  There is me and 3 men queuing for the lift "Now, am I allowed to get in the same lift as them?" once again, this was not in my little hand book.  Maybe I won't risk it, so I let them go and wait for the next one to come.
The clinic is for dentistry, plastic surgery, aesthetics (It's big over here, a lot of the clients at the gym have had liposuction, tummy tucks, gastric bands......they find it easier and quicker than wasting time on healthy eating and exercise.  One client asked me the other day how long it would take to get rid of the excess skin on her legs with exercise and basically if it was longer than a few months she was going to have surgery.  I explained to her that I had been working on mine for years and that 3 months wouldn't even make a dent in it.  She was literally on the phone to the surgeon before I had finished the sentence).  I check myself in with the receptionist pay my 200 riyals (approx £35) and take a seat in the very plush waiting room.  I start to become a little nervous.  I've noticed since I've been here that am very conscious about showing bits of my clothed body.  I check that you cannot see my legs (even though I am wearing clothes under my abaya) by wrapping my abaya tight around them and sit back and wait.
A small Filipino nurse appears, the clinic is full of them.  "Madame Tanya, please come this way"
Dr Mohammed Sohl, a thick set gentleman, probably in his mid 30's and I am guessing and Egyptian, (he seems to polite for an Arab) a slight Canadian accent, (It said on his profile, he trained there) wearing an eye patch!!!! "Hi, I say, Is your eye ok?"  "Just a bout of conjunctivitis" he says.  great, he speaks excellent English.
So 20 minutes later I leave feeling a little bit like I've been jumped on from a great height but know I am fixed.  Thankfully my fears were diminished and I said I would probably see him in a month.  Now to find Mohammed for my ride home in the sweat box!!!

New Arrival

Today we have a new arrival, Mysti Cobb from Chicago in the USA.  My goodness that girl is tall (6ft) I think I'm going to have to change the spinning bike seat height after she has been on it.  Already she is showing concerns about coming to the spa and it's only day one.  I think she has been hearing the horror stories like I did on the first day.  I hope she does the same as me and takes it for what it is and makes her own mind up about the place.  She just looked shell shocked and informed us that she had already contacted our agent to say she thought she had made a mistake.  "Just give yourself time to settle, this is a complete change of life" 
Anyway, Mysti now completed our fitness team.  There are 5 instructors from different corners of the world.  May Ann from the Philippines, Valentina from Romania, Lore from Chile, Kedi from South Africa and myself.  There is a mixture of personalities I can tell you from the party animal, to the one who thanks god everyday for what she has.  It would be unfair for me to describe the girls personalities as how I describe them may be totally different to how they portray themselves, so they are who they are and they do what they do and they are all lovely people in their own right.

Feeding the 5000

Today there was unrest in the camp.  The government were having a clamp down on people living in Riyadh who didn't have the correct information on their Iqama (pronounced ecarma).  This is a card that proves you are sponsored and can have residency in the Country whilst ever you have that sponsor or are working for them. http://www.arabnews.com/news/446806 . Around 49 arrests were made including one of our drivers from the Philippines.  He spent the night in Jail but was released the following day.  The manager of the spa didn't want anything to do with it, (told you I didn't like the sound of her right in the beginning) that gives you more of a feel of what sort of person we are working for.
Two of the instructors have just received their Iqama after being here for 7 months and their occupations on their cards is laughable.  One is a nanny and the other a teacher (well I guess the teacher is a little closer to what we do, mind you we could say we were looking after the ladies here so may get away with the nanny bit too).  I suppose they have to lie because they are occupations which they need foreigners in the country to do, where as fitness instructors they don't (the few Saudi women that work could do this).  We do have a Saudi girl that comes in twice a week to teach a few classes but I am sure this is to make it look like they employ a Saudi and no one else is working here.  It is a joke really when they have so many religious rules but they are breaking so many others.  Lots of illegal things go on here, the same as any other country.  Obviously the Koran did not say "Thou shall not lie about your occupation on your Iqama"  Anyway, the girls had to pay 3000 riyals ( just over £500) for this which the company said they will pay them back when they finish their contract (this is so they don't try to run away, and if they do, they are £500 down and the company is no worse off).  Me on the other hand I don't have an Iqama, I have a 3 month visit visa which states clearly "NOT PERMITTED TO WORK" (again, another lie) which they renew after 3 months and then after 6 months they apply for my Iqama.  I think I'm going to tell them not to bother getting me one as I am only staying for one year and I am not particularly bothered about a bank account, I'll keeping hiding my riyals under the mattress. 
So Robert (the driver who was arrested) is fine but a few of the cleaners have gone into hiding for a while till the Iqama business blows over but on the whole things are back on track.
Ok so 2pm lunchtime my usual routine is to go to the apartment, make lunch, eat lunch, play candy crush (damn you level 65), check emails, text Steven and the girls and sleep for a while if I can but today we had a lovely surprise, one of the clients ordered us all food so we could taste what Saudi Arabian cuisine.  OMG!!!! there was enough food for all of us for the week. She must have ordered everything off the menu twice over but what a beautiful and generous thought.  The ladies that come to the spa are very generous in many ways to us.  They bring us cakes, food, books to read.  I had one client ask if I wanted to go to the Annual Saudi Festival with her and her family but unfortunately I didn't finish work early enough to go.  So we all ate and that included the Reception Staff and all the Cleaners and then there was still enough left for everyone to take some home.

Trip to the Mall

I now have my own abaya, two in fact.  We took a trip to Taybar Market (just Saudis go there) and I brought one like a dress and one like a coat that fastens up the front. The abaya is worn to prevent women's figures from being shown, reducing the chance of men ogling them and lessening the chance of immoral behaviour between the sexes.  Maybe the people who go on Jeremy Kyle should be wearing them, and probably half of Mansfield.  Often the Quranic quote, "O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters, and the believing women, to cover themselves with a loose garment. They will thus be recognised and no harm will come to them" Qur'an 33:59^[2] This is given as the argument for wearing the abaya.  Anyway we are off to the Shopping Mall so out comes the abaya.  I am quite getting used to it, it saves worrying about what to wear to be honest......Riyadh Gallery is where we are heading tonight, I am in desperate need of a cup of coffee at home I religiously have one a day, cappuccino and unless you go to the Malls here you will struggle to get one.  I have tried the Arabic coffee and it is very weak and tastes very scented, more like herbal tea if you ask me. The Arabs like to drink their coffee and smoke shisha (apparently it comes in some really nice flavours but I've not had the pleasure of trying yet, I am still on the look out). So back to the Shopping Mall. Riyadh is full to bursting with Malls all the size of Meadowhall.  It is the favourite pastime of the people that live here, that and eating and they are open till at least midnight.  On a Thursday evening they are full with families shopping and eating, as I said there is nothing else to do here.  Now I know why 95% of women that come to the spa are obese.  Anyway, let's get back to the shopping trip, well it was more of a coffee trip really.  The Crepe Café "thank you Lore for showing me".  A perfect cup of coffee plus pancakes with chocolate, strawberries, ice cream and cream, and there was me thinking I would go home to England a few pounds lighter.

No Sleep

Well, I am a week into my stay and have still not managed more than a few hours sleep per night.  You would have thought after a 48 hour week I would be tired but Halas......I was still listening to the prayer at 4.30am in fact I may as well have got up, took the megaphone and done it myself.  Did I mention that there are four small mosques literally one on each corner of the spa and they all start the first prayer when the milkman is just delivering the milk in England.  Some of the clients at the spa set their alarms to get and pray at this time.  Talking of prayer times, when they occur during the day if our classes are in progress most ladies like the music turned down so they can hear and quite often if it falls at the start of the class the ladies will arrive late as they pray first.  They have to cover themselves from head to toe, take their prayer mat and face East towards Mecca (mats often come with a compass in to show them the direction, well that's understandable because as women we all know that we are not good with the maps and the N,S,E ,W thing.  Mecca, the Prophet Mohammed's birth place and Islam's spiritual centre, it is strictly off limits to non-muslims and a pilgrimage to it known as the  Hajj is obligatory for all able Muslims at least once in their lifetime. I am not sure what they pray for or about, I have not asked that yet, but they are very strict in their routines and get down anywhere to pray, at the back of the gym reception, in changing room, in studios, in the corners of the gym.  I have not yet seen anyone drop to their knees in the street though, I guess they must wait till they get home.

Settling In

We pull up outside the spa and wait for the 10ft high metal gate to be opened by the security guard.  You wouldn't even know this was a spa because all you can see is metal gates and 10ft high walls.  I am greeted by a lady by the name of Amera ( I believe she is from the Lebanon, one of the countries that surround Saudi Arabia) who has worked at the spa as a hairdresser for 11 years!!!  11 years in what already looked no better than prison.  I was shown to my room (looks pretty much like a 2* Hotel, if you've ever had the pleasure of staying one.  You know the kind, leaking toilet, cracked tiles, drawers broke, no shower curtain) and then left.  This was it, the start of the next year of my life.  Time to sleep.
3am and I am still wide awake, my body clock telling me that it was still 3 hours behind.  I close my eyes and must drift off for a while but then am woken by the sound of a man chanting over what sounds like a megaphone, in fact he almost sounds like he is in my room!!!  I best have a word!!! I guess this must be one of the 5 daily prayers that I have read about.  Everything apparently comes to a stand still for the 5 daily prayers, even shops and restaurants pull down their shutters at the first call.

Wednesday 20th March

A Little knock at the door. I open it to find a beautiful looking Chilean lady named Lore.  "You hungry".  "Yes", I reply  I had not eaten since yesterday.  She made me tea and toast  and then began to tell me what I had signed up for and what I was actually going to get.  Threats of pay cuts if you do anything wrong, long working hours, no medical insurance, 7 months to get a residency card (you need this to open a bank account and even to buy a sim card for a phone) and it was also your protection against deportation should the muttawa (religious police) or the ordinary police decide to arrest you for any reason.  She also said the spa director was not a nice lady (I had already gathered that though from my telephone interview with her).  I was beginning to wonder what I had let myself in for and what the hell I was doing here but for anyone that knows me will know that I am very easy going, keep out of trouble and like to experience things so I can form my own opinion.  So I decided to just take each day as it comes and enjoy my experience for what it was.

Thursday 21st March

Super Market Trip.... We are given a food Allowance of 500 riyals (£83), yes I thought the same....no way will that last me a month but the girls seem to manage to pretty much make it last.  A Trolley full of sensible shopping costs around £35 and will last almost 2 weeks.  Ok, black abaya on, check, (kindly lent to me by Lore till I get paid and can buy one) scarf around my neck just in case my head needs to be covered, double check, is any part of my body showing? No, good, let's go.
A short taxi ride to the nearest supermarket is 10 riyals (£1.70).  Petrol is so cheap here it cost approximately £5.00 to fill the tank, almost hard to believe that in Saudi Arabia petrol is cheaper than water.  No wonder why the roads are 4 lanes wide in Riyadh and full of big cars.  Gosh, it's very dusty here but I guess we are close to the Desert and from what I understand Spring is the season of sandstorms and occasional rain!!! and it's still between 30 and 40 degrees.
A trolley full of shopping for 234 riyals (£35) and I am on my way back with the beautiful Lore to fill my one shelf in the fridge (We all have one shelf and one cupboard).

Friday 22nd March

Day off and I've not even done a days work yet (I have been informed they won't be paying me for them!) but all the same I will see what there is to do around here.....Through 2 locked steel gates and I'm into the pool area and it appears to be just me, the other girls must still be in bed even though it is 12pm.  I just sit my bottom down on the sun lounger and notice that the building next to the pool has workmen in it (not Saudi's, maybe Indians, they make up a large part of the workforce here alongside the Filipinos).  Now am I allowed to strip down to my biking with men being so close?  I decide not to risk it and keep my shorts and t-shirt on.  At 4pm I am joined by Kedi (a beautiful, smiley South African lady who speaks like she has been to a very expensive English School) and Lore.  We decide to risk the swim but soon covered back up after it. 

Saturday 23rd March

11am....First day of work.  I pick up my schedule for the week.  Today, 7 classes, 1 hour supervising in the gym, 2 hours for lunch ( I think I'm going to need it so I can have a lie down)
Let me explain a little about the Spa.  Yibreen Spa is one of five fitness establishments for women in Riyadh.  It was only around 9 years ago these places for women were opened.  It is owned by a princess (quite an important one) and is the most expensive in Riyadh, 12,500 Riyals for a years membership.  It has a dedicated Pilates/Reformer room, a small studio that holds about 6 people, a large dance/aerobics studio, Spinning room with 12 bikes and a Cardio Suite with the usual treadmills (we have just had new ones delivered this week), cross trainers, free weights in.  It has a beautiful outdoor pool, café area and in the spa area there are beauty rooms, massage rooms and a hairdressers.  There are also 2 new studios being built (hence the workmen on Friday's) are you getting the picture?  it feels like you are in a 5* place.  The Clients are mostly princess's, wives/children of wealthy Arab men or single women with either rich parents or good jobs (most that come here employ their own drivers, maids and a few bring their own adult nanny..... seriously they bring women that carry their water, tissues and help them dress after they have showered)  I asked one lady if she looked after the princess's children also and she said, "No", just the princess.  Talking of princess's it must be pretty easy to get the title here as there are loads of them.  Close your eyes and imagine a princess, elegant, petite, slender, beautiful, enigmatic smile, now open them......You've never been to Saudi Arabia!!!! I've met a butch lesbian one (no offence to my lesbian friends) and lots of big round not so pleasant looking ones.  If I am honest, they come in all shapes and sizes but mainly the big one.

Heathrow to Riyadh

Ok, so let's recap..... I need a change so I decide to travel over 4,000 miles away to Saudi Arabia, a country where women are treated as second class citizens, they have to be covered from head to toe when they leave the house (the abaya, a black dress), they cannot marry unless they have the permission of the family, they cannot drive, they cannot eat in restaurants unless it has a family section (screened area), they have separate entrances in banks and McDonalds and the death penalty (decapitating) and hand chopping off is law!!! mmmmm, was this a good idea.
The BA flight to Riyadh landed at 9pm and as I looked around the plane I noticed only 5 women on it, was this how the next 12 months were going to be "A Man's World"?
I step into the airport with my passport and visa stating I was not permitted to work (this is the norm so I am told due to the cost of getting a work visa and most workers giving up in the first three months because of the working conditions) and start to sweat, "What if they stop me?", "What if know one shows up to collect me?", "What if I can't answer any of their questions?".  Ok, just get in the queue (of only men) breathe and smile! (Is smiling allowed, I never checked! It didn't say it wasn't in my little handbook.)
A guard tapped me on the shoulder "OMG, they know about my visa!" He ushered me to the front of the queue.  Every man's eyes in that queue were on me.  Now I was really panicking, electronic finger scanning, check passport, check visa. "Ahhhh you're British. Enjoy your stay"...... phew I was in!!!  Or was I?  I stood waiting for my bag when a man in a long white dress and a red and white tea towel on his head approached me.  "Maybe I'm not safe just yet", stay calm.  "Hi Tanya" he said looking at my picture on a piece of paper that he had in his hand.  "I'm Faisal and I'm here to drive you to your accommodation"....... And breathe..........

24 Hours

24 hours was all it took to receive a call from the recruitment agency about my CV.  They had already sent it to the employer in Riyadh and the employer had asked to interview me by phone the following day.......I felt sick to the pit of my stomach.  I had almost talked myself out of the prospect of anyone even reading my email and now 24 hours later I was going to have an interview, I was either what they were looking for our there were no other applicants.  I decided to think of the former rather than the latter but it did cross my mind that it may be because it was a job in a very strict Muslim country that applicants for the post were few and far between.
Hanan, the Spa Director called me at 11am as arranged and asked me question after question......I'm not sure I like the sound of this women, her tone is very aggressive and see seems to want to know how much work I can do in a day before I fall to the ground physically exhausted!!!!.....Now how do I feel about the job? Let's not think about it, she won't offer it me anyway!
Anyway without going into anymore detail I was called a few days later and offered the job, an offer letter was emailed to me and I was given a 14 day acceptance period.
I pondered over that letter day in day out, could I leave my family, Steven, home, Costa Coffee, the life I had known for 45 years?  The answer was NO, I didn't think I was ready.
I called Hanan and thanked her for the offer but said I didn't feel the time was right and maybe if Steven could secure a job out there and we could travel together then maybe I would reconsider.  She asked me to think about it and call her if I changed my mind. No!!! my mind was set, I was not going, so draw a line under it and move on.....
Then a week before Christmas my rocky relationship hit a real low (Steven won't mind me telling you this as it as he would totally agree) and I decided that I had to change things.....ahhhh Saudia Arabia I thought, the perfect answer.  I could maybe continue our relationship, give it a bit of space to breathe (a few thousand miles!!) and address how I truly felt about it and also get myself financially back on my feet, embrace a different culture, meet new people and get the travel bug out of my system that had been simmering away for the past 3 years.
So on the 19th March after passports, visa, flights etc were all prepared I was Riyadh bound......

Decisions Decisions!!!!

October 2012, Steven and I were going through a rocky period in our relationship and one of the gyms where I taught the majority of my classes had closed.  I needed to rethink where my life was going and how I was financially going to keep my head above water as it was sinking faster than I could paddle.
The search for the next chapter in my life began with me typing into the search box on Google "Fitness Instructor Jobs in Saudi Arabia"  I didn't have to search far, the number of recruitment agencies that came up was ridiculous but one caught my eye "Fitness Instructor required in female only elite spa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  1 year contract, accommodation, food allowance, flights and transfers to and from home, driver, visas, medical insurance all included.....sounded just perfect!  10 minutes later my CV was uploaded and then I sat back with my heart pounding like I was going on a first date, but thinking I probably wouldn't even get a reply......How wrong could I be?

How it all began

Let me take you back to September 2012.  Steven and I were on a cycling trip in the Yorkshire Dales and were staying at the local pub in a quaint little village called Kettlewell.  After a long day cycling we went to the bar to eat.  We sat next to an elderly couple who introduced themselves as John and Edna and spoke about what they were doing in the Dales and also about the 22 years they had spent in Saudi Arabia, John working for a company called Saudi Aramco and Edna working in a nursing school teaching student nurses from all over the world.  Steven and I listened intently to their story about their wonderful 22 years living in a British Compound in Dhahran.
My mind was full of this wonderful idea.  When we left this idea of living and working in another country (tax free) stayed with Steven and I even after our holiday had ended
I began researching the company but the only jobs that were available were for graduates which I fell far short of and even though Steven did not there were no jobs available in his field, so Saudi Arabia seemed to vanish into the ether.......or had it just hidden itself for a little while?