A Season in Saudi Arabia

It might seem like our final deliverance was easy and I'm somehow exaggerating the barriers which lied in our path in the days before exit. But I don't think I'm exaggerating them at all. In reality, we were hit with two completely unexpected blockages: my final exit visa wouldn't issue and Saudi banned all flights (including our flight from Dammam to Dubai, connecting to Cebu) to the UAE. In a country like Saudi Arabia, one challenge might be enough to scupper all your plans, but having two really made it feel like we had a large mountain to move away. As soon as HR confirmed they couldn't issue my final exit visa and had no solutions of their own apart from my wife and son leaving immediately, I felt very, very anxious about the prospect of a lengthy delay to us reaching the Philippines. It's not like I could just fly them to UAE because that would mean being red listed for Philippine entry. Therefore, I suggested they issue me a standard re-entry visa to enab...

After saying two goodbyes in Khafji (one to my polytechnic workplace and the other to the city), ejection came slightly early due Saudi’s unexpected and totally unjustified flight ban . My company transported my family and I to the city of Dammam, where we decided to stay for our final night in order to get a PCR test as a precaution for any unexpected demands during our journey to the Philippines. Alongside the test, we decided to throw caution to the wind and rent a two-bedroom suite at the Ramada Inn and eat at one of Dammam’s finest seafood restaurants.  First stop was at a travellers PCR test centre, where we all got a 6-hour covid test for the princely sum of 320 SAR each. Whatever you think about the pandemic, anyone can see that global pharma struck gold the moment the WHO declared it so. For the first time in human history, healthy asymptomatic people require expensive tests just to move around and narratives have been swiftly changed to ensure the money keeps flowing in....

Sometimes it seems like you’re up against the world itself. Two days ago, from out of nowhere, Saudi Arabia decided to ban all flights to UAE and three other nations. This unexpected flight ban, alongside my company’s indifference towards issuing me a re-entry visa, left my family and I in an extraordinarily precarious position. Our long standing booking on an Emirates flight from Dammam to Dubai to Cebu now looked potentially unviable even if my company decided to relent and issue the visa.  In normal times, a flight ban like this wouldn’t be a major problem. Nor would my final exit visa dilemma, which began 7 days ago. To circumvent the flight ban. we would normally just buy another ticket via Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Singapore, Doha, Hong Kong or Turkey. But Philippine covid policy has slowed down flights into Manila and Cebu to a dribble, pushing up one-way economy prices above £8,000 for the three of us using bucket shop agencies. More reliable bookings direct with airlines li...

As part of a YouTube series my family and I are doing on our YouTube channel, I filmed this short film " A Day in the Life of an ESL Teacher " about one of my last days teaching in Saudi Arabia. Right now, it feels too familiar and somewhat disturbing, but I hope it'll make me smile in the years ahead when I look back upon my time with less emotion and stress.  It's definitely worth watching this film if you want to know more about how it feels to teach in Saudi Arabia. While there isn't too much classroom action, you'll still get a feel of a typical day in a KSA school or polytechnic and learn a few tips about what to expect when you're actually in the class. Comment down below if you like the film and whether it would inspire you to take up an opportunity to work in Arabia or more likely turn it down.  As for me, I’d rather never go back, especially after my complicated and stressful last few days. When the time comes to work again, I'd really like t...