How Did I Get Here?

Quote of the Day: “To achieve the impossible dream, try going to sleep.”

- Joan Klempner

Here is some information I got about my life in Saudi coming up:

Weather. It is pretty hot here in Jeddah from May – Oct. Average historical temperatures for Jeddah are as follows:

Summer (June – August): 95 – 115
Fall (September – November): 85 – 105
Winter (December – February): 70 – 85
Spring (March – May): 75 – 85

(And let me just adjust that: temperature inside my villa, car, and workspace since A/C is plentiful and paid for: 68 degrees.)

Jeddah is located on the Red Sea so in addition to the high air temperature there is also very high humidity here so it makes it feel even hotter. Basically there are two seasons here, blazing hot (May – Oct) and comfortably warm (Nov – April).

(Isn’t that just a little slice of good news. Excuse me while I kick the dog…..)

I never needed a jacket or winter clothing in Jeddah and never really even felt “chilled” during the evenings this winter. That being said if you leave the coast for higher elevations (Riyadh or Khamis) during the winter it can get very cold and you need some warm weather gear such as a fleece, a pair of gloves and a watch cap. It only rains 2-3 inches per year in Jeddah.

(So what he is saying is that this place gets only two inches more rain per year than HELL!)

Communications. We are presently 8 hours ahead of Eastern Time. That changes to 7 hours when the US goes to Daylight Savings time (when you Spring-forward). Currently, we have a 4-hour per month MORALE (i.e. free) call limit. It goes pretty quick. To prevent going over your dialed calls to the states, your friends/family back home can call you through the Wright-Patterson Switchboard and the call is only billed as long-distance call to Wright-Patt AFB. It is easy to go over your 4-hours and the rate you’ll pay for the overage is 31 cents/minute—expensive. Consider bringing pre-paid AT&T (or other) calling cards with you—1-800 numbers are not counted against your morale call limit.

(I got one word for this: Skype!)

E-mail is the primary means of communicating to friends and family. You now have internet in your villa which is change since we first started communication, your government laptop is getting a little dated and I will try to see what I can do before you get here.

(Oh Thank You Sweet Mother of God and All That is Holy In This Wretched World…)

IT support is hard to come by here in Jeddah, if it can be fixed from the help desk in Riyadh then you are fine but if you need to fix something on site then you are pretty much on your own to figure it out. Usually there is someone in the Det who is computer that can help you out.

(That will probably be…let’s see… yeah, me.)

One lesson learned: Never transfer data with the Saudis at work with thumb drives (aka data sticks), they often don’t use anti-virus software and they can infect your system. We had all our work villa computers infected this way and it trickled down to all our laptops because we were using thumb drives to transfer data.

(I use a thumb drive that has real-time virus protection. Plus, I will have Norton running on all computers. Don’t know how they could let this happen since Norton is free for all DoD members.)

Household goods shipment. I did not execute a goods shipment to Jeddah; I just paid for an extra suitcase and have bought anything I needed as I went along. Make sure you check with your TMO to find out what your weight limit is going in and coming out so you don’t get charged for extra weight. You will want to get your household goods shipped NLT 15 May so you will not be waiting long for your property to arrive.

(What are the chances I will NOT have stuff shipped to me? I got too many books and creature comforts to even consider not shipping. I mean, how else will I get my sleeping sound machine, my iPod speaker system, and my Speedo collection over there?)

Below is a list of recommended things to bring, later on I discuss what is in the villa (household stuff), remember I came here with three suitcases and have been fine.

Recommended Things to Bring.

1. Recreational Equipment. There is limited recreational gear in our Detachment’s gear locker so if you golf (No), play tennis (No), racquetball (No) or do anything that requires gear then you should bring it. I am not a diver (neither am I) but the diving in the Red Sea is supposed to be some of the best in the world so most divers bring their dive gear (the Detachment has tanks to use).

(All I need is my running gear and I think I can pack that.)

2. Uniforms. I only brought Desert Utilities, Charlies and Evening Dress and I have been fine but they always advise to bring all your uniforms just to be safe. During November it is not uncommon to attend multiple Marine Corps Balls (I attended 2, one in Jeddah and another in Riyadh). There is also potential Navy Dinning Ins, or functions held by other services in Riyadh that you may travel TDY to attend.

(I wonder if I’ll need my cape!)

It would also be wise to bring extra buttons and accessories for your evening dress (the most worn uniform outside of your utilities) as they have a tendency to break or become unusable after a particularly festive evening.

(What the hell goes on at these functions that you’re poppin’ buttons at the cyclic rate?)

Bring all uniform accouterments—the PX on Eskan is AF and Army-centric. There is no need for the cold weather boots or more than one set of WoodPAT Cammie uniform (I didn’t bring any WoodPAT, the RSNFMF only wear desert cammies).

(OK, two sets of desert cammies should do)

3. Civilian Clothes. You won’t dress-up in civilian clothes too often. Shorts on the compound only (don’t wear them out in town), sandals are worn anywhere. Long pants always in town amongst the Saudis. DO NOT FLY INTO THE KINGDOM IN SHORTS!

(Damn, there goes the thong idea.)

Bring as many clothes as make you feel comfortable. Think of this billet as a garrison billet. Except you go to the field sparingly and for short durations. You wear your utilities only during the workday and civilian attire the rest of the time.

(Sweet!)

There are few opportunities to attend formal events in Jeddah and when they occur you will probably be in a uniform. Probably not a bad idea to bring a sport coat and a pair of slacks, I didn’t but had some nicer clothes made by Filipino tailors that work here in town (there are many Asian tailors that make handmade clothing here in Jeddah).

(OK, now I know where I’m going to get my job-hunting wardrobe!)

If you plan to travel to a colder climate from here it would be wise to bring warmer clothes as you see necessary.

(And leave the villa? I don’t think I’ll get THAT desperate!)

Storing your wardrobe should not be a problem as your villas has plenty of closet space and all our villas have a spare bedroom for extra closet storage.

4. IPod or MP3 Player. You may want to bring a CD/MP3/ITunes player.

(Hmmmm, I don’t know. Never really thought about it….)

5. Gifts for Saudis. Marine Corps cuff links, pen sets, stuff like that will save you shipping if buy and ship w/ your TMO goods. The Saudis like patches, rank insignia and any type of plaque or memento that they can display in their office. Assume at a minimum you will give gifts to those key leaders you had regular engagement with throughout the year, right now there are probably 5 officers that I will give a small gift to as I head out the door.

(Talk about future planning! A nice case of wine should do the trick. Oh, wait….)

6. Cards. Thank you cards, Marine Corps Stationary, Marine Corps cards are handy. Hallmark occasion cards are pretty pathetic selection on Sierra Village and are impossible (so far) to find in town…I would mentally plan out the year’s events and buy a variety and ship with you. You have enough time to pen a quick card and postage is free for flat mail through the APO.

(Great idea. Or maybe I’ll just plan on using someecards.com.)

7. Tools. You may need a small set of tools to do miscellaneous repairs around your villa, I didn’t have anything except a Gerber Tool, the maintenance folks who work on the compound are very responsive and if you call they are there in about an hour.

(I think I have one of those 1001-function utility knives somewhere around here. I’m sure TSA would LOVE me to bring it on the plane.)

8. Arts / Crafts / Hobbies. If you are into any hobbies like these then bring your gear/kit, chances are you won’t be able to find it here in Jeddah though with our APO at the Consulate you can get just about anything shipped here from the internet.

(Like my wife?)

9. CDs/DVDs. You may want to bring some CDs for the CD player in your SUV. When you are in town you can receive AFN radio stations (4 music channels and NPR) that are broadcast by us (USMTM) here at Sierra Village and by the Consulate but these are broadcast on low power and you lose reception as soon as you head out of town (you will regularly drive to Qadimah which is 45 minutes outside of town).

(Little does he know I have an old iPod with a transmitter/adaptor that plugs into the cigarette lighter. 1000 songs!)

10. Books. You have plenty of free time here in Jeddah, one of the benefits of being away from ESKAN (USMTM HQ) is we miss out on all the nightly meetings and working groups so you have plenty of time to read. Part of our MWR program here is we get a regular supply of books (various types) and magazines (Newsweek, Time, and Sports Illustrated) sent free of charge so there is always a well stocked bookshelf in the USMTM Office Villa on our compound but if there are specific titles you want to read you can bring them in your TMO or order them on-line once you get here.

(Su…………….Weet!)

11. XBOX / Video Games. I have killed many a boring weekend with my XBOX but it a hobby of mine that is not shared by everyone.

(Too bad I’d rather clip my toenails with pruning shears than play video games. This will be replaced by naps, blogging, reading blogs, programming, reading, running, and watching whatever DVDs I can get my hands on. I could even get back into Flash Cartooning. Let’s not get crazy, now.)

So there you have it. That is how I see staying somewhat sane in Saudi for a year. Along with Wilson, a volleyball I plan to bring, we should be juuuuuust fine.

Free Advice for Today: “When you are away from home and hear church bells, think of someone who loves you.”

- H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 6:42 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.