In the late afternoon I went with my Egyptian and a Bengali colleague to the city centre. For the last prayer of the day we went to one of the bigger mosques. I stayed as usual in the parking lot and waited for my colleagues to finish. As I was listening to the voice of the Imam I was looking at the evening sky. In a few days we'll be out of here. Crazy how time flies by! What remains is a pile of memories. Good ones and not so good ones. Anyway, for me this is / was a great experience. An experience that has changed me.
I'm still lost in my thoughts while looking into the night sky and don't notice how my colleagues are suddenly beside me. "Tea?" Asks one of the two. Sure! We drive to the centre and park in front of the restaurant Safa. That's the place where I can watch the tea master over his shoulder. I order for all three of us a cup, take three bottles of water and we sit down. At the table next to us is a father with his four little kids sitting. The kids look, even stare at me and fix me with their eyes. The father asks them not to stare, but they do not listen to him. I smile at them and say something in English. The kiddies look at me confused and start to laugh.
When we want to go, I go to the checkout. But I had to wait, because many people are there ordering or paying. Suddenly an Arab comes along and asks me what I want. I tell him that I would like to pay. Since he does not understand, he asks again. I tell him the same thing and wave with the Riyal notes in my hand. Then he gets it and asks what we have had. He tells me the teas are on him. How cool is that! Thank you!
When I get out to my colleagues, the Bengali says, "That was fast" "Yes," I reply, and best of all, we were invited!. "Shit! "He says. "Too bad that we did not eat!"
Then we walk for a while. Since I need a hand cream we go to the area with the women and children stores. Eventually, says the Egyptians: "Look at how women look at you! White and tall has one to be! "I did not realize that I'm stared at. When I turn around and look in the direction of a group of women, they look furtively away and giggle.
For today Wednesday, a school celebration is planed. Some students have prepared something for a month and today is their big day. Graduation ceremony in the auditorium. I'm in a particularly good mood and appear in an Arab costume. Early in the morning I come down the stairs dressed as Arab. The security men are delighted to see me dressed like this and want to have pictures taken with me. Then we wait outside in the morning sun for the bus driver. When he comes and sees me he greets me warmly. As the project manager comes, he shakes his head and says something derogatory. I do not care. In three days we will be out of here and we will never see him again. I am in a good mood today and I won't let anybody change it.
When we arrive at the Polytechnic, the fun continues. The security people come to me and take out their mobiles to take photographs. Everyone wants a photo of and with me. Then I go over to the classroom building. When the students see me, they freak out. Then we go through all the rooms and make many of photos. Then I go to the management. I go from office to office and all are very warm, amazed and delighted. Only our project manager is raging. Since my thobe is somewhat creased, a few students ask me to take it off and they bring it somewhere to be ironed. Just in time for the graduation ceremony they're back and help me to put it on.
One of the Bengali colleagues is the host of the show. He goes on stage, says a few words, asks the first act to come on stage and comes down to me and asks me to take over and continue, because he has stage fright. This comes out of nowhere and quite suddenly. He hands me the programme and says I should call all of them successively onto the stage, that's all. I am pleased. Today I am in a particularly good mood. After the first act, I get up on stage and jazz up the show. Eventually, our project manager appears in the audience. I wonder what he's doing here. He was against this ceremony and now he's sitting at the back next to his bootlickers and sweet-talkers. He looks at me with disgust. Since I realise that, I think to myself: "Now it's payback time!"
Sometime in the middle of the show, I say a few words about my experience here at SMP, in Ar'ar and in the country. Then the following sentence falls: "You can not change the country as a foreigner, Saudi changes you! So this wonderful country has changed me and broadened my horizons. Thank you, thank you all!"
My gaze sweeps over the audience and lands on the project manager. He shakes his head in disgust and revulsion. Oh, how I love it, oh how fun this is and I continue with the show. The best and most touching moment of the show is when a few students sing a song a-capella. The whole room is touched and then there are standing ovations. A big bravo to my Egyptian colleague who put a lot of effort and energy into this. Bravo!
When the ceremony is over, it is time to say goodbye. We won't see the students again and our Egyptian colleague is already flying this evening. A beautiful and joyful day takes a sad turn. But this is life! It's a coming and going. You come together, tie and bind to each other and some time later you say farewell. It is a strange feeling. We embrace with the students, make more pictures and then they are gone. We stay for lunch and have to wait for the bus driver. The ride home is very sad. Everybody is quiet, only our project manager is raging. What about? He heard that the management has planed a farewell party for us tomorrow and he doesn't want us to attend. The management wants to thank us with a small celebration for the good cooperation. Our project manager is against it and does not want to go and doesn't want us to go. He has several conspiracy theories in his mind and he threatens, warns and demands from us not to go. Otherwise, he'll stop talking to us and won't help us in future if we needed his help. But we have already discussed it and decided to go. I listen to my music on full blast in order not to have to listen to him and his screams.
When we arrive home, we disappear very quickly in our flats and at once there is peace. An hour or so later we dare slowly and silently out of our flats. We want to go downstairs to the ground floor to the Egyptian and must pass the open door of the project manager. As I scurry past, I see how he sleeps. Thank God!
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