With the school year almost over here in Saudi and the lockdown in the country meaning most of the facilities are closed for the foreseeable future, we had a tough decision to make:
1) Stay here in the relative safety of the compound and hope the facilities open up for our kids, who were going nuts and struggling in the heat which is due to get to 50 degrees soon, or
2) Fly home back to England with the highest death rate in Europe and hunker down in isolation in a granny flat in the in-laws garden.
Decisions, decisions.... but we decided on the latter as the promise of cooler climes, a change of scenery and access to a large garden was too tempting to pass up, especially if the lockdown was to continue for several more weeks.
Our two girls were done with Saudi as they couldn't do anything that they wanted to do, rightly so in the time of a pandemic, but when you are surrounded by beige constantly it gets you a little down. Behaviour and mental health become big factors and they were becoming more prominent as the 8 long weeks had dragged on. Our littlest barely wore clothes, which is no bad thing granted, but she also wasn’t being stimulated or entertained as both Jeannie and I worked on our Distance Learning plans and had limited activities and resources to occupy our children and keep them engaged. We had reached a plateau.
So, we bit the bullet and booked flights home for May 8th 2020 on a Saudia flight to Heathrow. Our plan was to get to London, pick up the rental car and drive down to Devon where we had our home base.
Packing up was interesting as we are hoping to come back to school but are not sure if we'll be allowed to fly back in August or even if we'll have jobs as the international teaching scene is very volatile at the moment with worries about numbers dropping in enrolments due to the worldwide economic slowdown and the oil price crash, which is a big factor here in Saudi. We packed the essentials and valuable but left much of our belongings in Riyadh, hoping to return to finish our second year or failing that, to return our school laptops and collect our personal possessions before deciding what to do next.
A few days before going to the airport we had to fill in an online form to be allowed to break curfew to get to the airport, it was a long process as the website was janky and kicked me out several times. However to travel without the document meant you could be fined up to £200, 000 or face jail time, shizzle just got real indeed! When the King orders a lockdown here, he means business and there's no flip-flopping.
And so, with the travel documents in tow we went to the airport and what struck me was how quiet it all was. Now Riyadh is not a massive hub like Dubai or Kuala Lumpur but it is quite busy generally but today it looked desolate, like a shopping centre on a midweek afternoon. It was so quiet that we were able to park up outside the terminal, a rare situation indeed. So, with masks covering our faces, gloves on and a change of clothes for when we got to the other side we went in and got checked in and through security within 10 minutes, a new record for us.
In Departures what struck me was the sheer sense of desolation. All duty free shops were closed and there was the solitary coffee vendor selling just 3 options of coffee, all with no syrup... This was lean fare indeed.
Markers on the floor demarcate 2 metres.
Walking to the Departures gate the usual suspects of travelers, serious business people, the loved up couples, the weekenders, the solo backpacker and the pilgrims were nowhere to be seen. Instead we simply had families trying to make their way home, carrying a couple of suitcases and car seats. Everyone was wearing masks and many wore gloves. It felt strange as in the compound we had been sheltered from much of this but now here it was, front and centre... This pandemic is changing the world and re-moulding it, into what? We don't know and won't know for a while but hopefully some good will come out of this tragedy which has claimed so many lives.
The queue for the London flight was crazy long and social distancing frequently went out of the window.
When it was time to join the queue for the flight I was surprised by how many people came out of the woodwork, the flight to London was pretty packed after all! People had social distanced but when it was the time to go, boy did they come together, funneling through the security checks (again). The close proximity to others continued for the duration of the journey as the plane is by design narrow and confined so there is no way you have have the designated two or so metres apart. However, to Saudia's credit, they gave everyone a pack of hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes and tissues and sprayed the cabin with some insecticide. The food was packaged cheese and turkey ham sandwiches and a small bottle of orange juice, not great but enough to suffice for the 6 and a half hour journey. With masks constantly on our faces and copious amounts of antibac applied regularly we got closer to home.
The goody bag from Saudia was useful and practical to keep the virus at bay. Photo courtesy of Andy ‘Bowling King’ Thiel.
All in all, it was a good a journey as could be expected but once the plane landed and the seat-belt sign went off, people went feral as always, rushing to get their bags and bunching together, impatient to get off. Bang went the social distancing that had been so rigidly followed...
Upon arriving at Heathrow terminal what stood out was how almost everyone was wearing a mask, but once we left the airport and stated our long journey to Devon, I saw few people wearing them. We picked up our rental car and Jeannie drove the whole way, we did the journey in just under 3 hours, it usually takes about 4 and a half hours, the traffic was non-existent!
Once we entered Devon it felt wonderful to be back, the fresh air, the verdant green grass and gorgeous vespertine river; it was good to be home! We got out of our clothes, had a shower and donned our masks to greet the family from afar and enter quarantine fo two weeks.
Shaldon really is stunning… the colours children, the colours!
This is where I would probably end my story usually but a comedy of errors occurred the next day as we sought to return our rental car to Exeter and I feel the need to share it with you all as it was a comedy of errors.
Jeannie was going to drive the rental car and I would take my mother-in-laws cool Honda Jazz to pick Jeannie up after the drop-off. The Jazz hadn't been run in a while, due to my mother-in-law being quarantined as she is considered highly vulnerable, but the journey wasn't long so what could go wrong, right?
"It's not been run in a while so turn off the radio and other electronics" my mother-in-law warned me before I set off and I duly heeded her warning, making sure that just the essentials were running.
I put the location into Google Maps on my phone, which was freshly charged and showed 100%. Now I've had my Huawei P10 Lite for about 3 years, and over the past couple of weeks it's cut off randomly, saying it was out of power but the journey was only 20 mins or so, surely it could survive that… right?
So off we went, following each other when a giant delivery van came between us and I lost sight of Jeannie’s rental. No worries as I had my Huawei showing Google Maps, but then my mobile did the whole 'battery low' and shut down. Luckily, I caught sight of Jeannie's silver Kia and followed. "What luck" I thought as I got closer. We approached a roundabout and I followed the Kia to the 3rd exit, only for a car to beep me from behind as I exited the A road to gosh knows where. It was Jeannie… I had followed the wrong silver Kia and Jeannie had got off an exit earlier. I was on the adjacent road to where I wanted to be!
So, I was driving down an A road, going in the wrong direction with no idea where I was going apart from the general direction of Exeter.
I drove for about 15 mins until there was a suitable place to park and gather my thoughts. I turned off the engine to look through the glove compartment to see if there was an actual sat nav and there was! Oh mercy of mercies, thank you Jeebers I thought! However, when I turned the ignition nothing happened. The words my mother-in-laws had uttered echoed in my ears.
The car had packed up.
Bugger!
So there I was, stuck in the car park of a roadside diner which was closed, with a car that wouldn't work but the electrics would, and a phone that was dead. I surveyed my surrounding and saw a Texaco on the other side of a dual carriageway and knew that they'd have phone chargers. Maybe my phone would work if plugged in, retro style?
So, feeling like a right scally, I crossed the dual carriageways and bought a micro USB-C cable, a cable of which I have about 10 at home. Wire in tow I went back to the car, plugged it in, phoned an exasperated Jeannie and told her what had happened.
Then, just to chance it I tried the engine once more and it sprung to life. It seemed like my luck was turning around and boy was I thankful. After that it all went smoothly and I picked up Jeannie from the rental place. So all’s well that ends well.
On the way back to our beachside cottage I got to a thinking; I've had the privilege and opportunity to travel by air many times but I wonder how much longer the jet set lifestyle, budget weekend fares to Europe and summer holidays to the Med. will continue. When the world does start up again things are going to change and they should do as life as it stood wasn’t sustainable for us or for the planet.
To quote something I read once but can't for the life of me attribute or credit:
Humanity thrives on forward momentum, on the sense that we are improving: becoming better, smarter, deeper and more understanding and knowledgeable as a species. We must look forward and walk the path of hope, trusting that it sustains us when the darkness comes... As it inevitably will. It may have been a difficult year for many but let's walk forward in hope...
And at least 2 metres apart… Avoiding the flat earthers and MAGA diehards….
LINK- One Month on From Social Distancing in Saudi
LINK- Life in Coronavirus Lockdown Saudi
LINK- Life in the Times of the Coronavirus
LINK- The Further Adventures of Anjum of Arabia in Saudi
LINK- High Tea and High Times in the Riyadh Globe
LINK- Reflecting on Life in Saudi Arabia After 5 Months
LINK- Life in Saudi Arabia 3 Month On