Back to the land of Camels and Palm trees

Al7amdulilla 3alassalama, I returned to the Middle East safely after a month long vacation. I must compliment Saudi airlines for the excellent service rendered to me during my entire flight.I was given a free upgrade on all my tickets and I also had the opportunity of meeting some really interesting crew members.I love the whole airport experience being able to observe different peoples behaviours and mannerisms. During the flight I met a man who has a standard booking with Saudi airlines during the last week of each month. He performs two Umras during his one week stay..A really humble individual that is so focused on his religion.I enjoyed his company thoroughly. He engaged in a deep and meaningful conversation with me.He was full of wisdom and intellect.Then I witnessed two Saudi brothers from a VIP family treating their paralyzed mother like gold. They carried her and assisted in bringing her into the plane. They had so much of patience and showered their mother with kindness and love. It is actions like these that inspire others to do good.That is why the prophet (saw) emphasized on all of us exhibiting good character...On the flip side of things I witnessed two Saudi women with pride and arrogance. The one woman refused to stand next to two Indian woman in the bus that transported us to the plane.. She had to hold onto the same pole as them in order to prevent her from falling. She was mumbling and grumbling and displayed an attitude of I am superior than them...Whilst in the plane during my domestic flight,a Saudi woman refused to be seated next to a Sudanese Black woman . I couldn't believe that I was witnessing discrimination right in front of my eyes. To avoid conflict and issues,I stood up and swapped seats with her. To add insult to injury, I read a shocking article in the Saudi Gazette whereby a grooms family asked their son to divorce his wife on the wedding day after guests were served a five course meal, simply because they found out that the brides great grand mother was of a dark skin complexion with a more African look.I guess in this part of the world, the Prophet (saw)'s last sermon is taken for granted...I was quite pleased to witness that the porters at Jeddah airport are now being supervised quite efficiently and passengers are told not to pay them more than SR10 for their services. In the past, the airport porters would demand ridiculous amounts of money to assist passengers in transferring luggage despite earning a standard basic salary. I did mention this fiasco to a close friend of mine working at the airport and I am sooo glad that after numerous complaints by many individuals action has finally been taken...That's all for now folks...I'm completely exhausted...jet lagged....Need to jump straight into bed and cuddle up under the covers....Jumu3a Mubarak to all of you. I humbly request all of you to please remember my family and I in your prayers!!!!!

One eyed Jack

 The last 24 hours have actually been quite a roller coaster ride.We left Makkatul Mukarrama around 3pm yesterday afternoon only to arrive at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah to find out that our flight has been delayed indefinitely on account of bad weather across the gulf. There was a huge sandstorm accompanied by rain and heavy winds.
To add insult to injury we were not overweight and allowed a total of 60kg between us. When we got to the check inn counter the inexperienced staff member insisted that he will only allow one piece of luggage to go through which was only 20kg and said that I should pay him a certain amount of money should I wish for the rest of the luggage to go through. It's obvious to me that he was looking to take the money for himself as all excess luggage at the airport has to be paid at a specific counter,
not directly to  the check inn staff. So then we started exchanging words and I called up his manager. The manager was quite a bold man with good etiquette and fantastic interpersonal skills.He reprimanded his junior and apologized on his behalf for his incompetent behaviour and said that this will not occur in the future.
We then made our way to the waiting area which was full and chaotic as many flights were grounded and unable to take off. Eventually after a good three hours wait we boarded the flight.We got home past midnight and we dashed straight off to bed. When I woke up this morning I couldn't open my left eye and the first thought that came to mind was conjunctivitis that I probably contracted from the lady I assisted to embark the plane as she had loads of hand luggage but as the day progressed I realized that I had developed a cellulitis (an infection that spreads under the skin, affecting soft tissues such as the skin itself and the fat underneath it) that spread around the eye area. I cut myself with my ring a few days ago just above my eye brow and never really thought much about it. It looked like just a small scratch. However, the skin was broken and hence germs and bacteria were allowed to enter. My colleagues have placed me on high doses of antibiotics and I hope God Willing the infection will disappear within the next few days although they made lots of fun of me.I was told that the reason my eye is swollen is either due to the fact that I have been watching many gorgeous, handsome looking Arab men or on the flip side of things my boyfriend gave me a blue eye LOL The moral of the story is this...Don't take the smallest things in life for granted, for its the smallest things that could land up causing major issues..If you have any small ailment like a cough or a headache that persists, rather get yourself checked up by the physician instead of developing major complications later on.Don’t take your health for granted, that flighty thing. Anyone who’s battled with their own knows how temperamental a body can be. That humans are imperfect machines, short-circuiting beneath our skin a tiny bit each day. Once the health goes, it leaves the door open so that many other things can go with it.!!!!May God Almighty protect us all from sicknesses and calamities and provide complete cure to those who are afflicted with ailments and diseases. Ameen!!