Since we had some time before our flight to Riyadh. I, not wanting to spend much time in an airport given the day’s current events, suggested we get a Turkish coffee on the way. We went to a very stylish coffee bar that would not be out of place in New York, LA, or London and ordered. We had to order and pay immediately because the call to prayer (one of five daily) was about to sound and all businesses had to close. Our coffee and snacks came just as the call to prayer went out and we ate. We finished before the prayer was over and tried to leave quietly. But the doors were locked. All the employees had left to pray and we were alone and locked in the café. We went into the kitchen and found the cooks, interrupted their prayers, and were let out the back (where the nonmuslim employees were smoking cigarettes).
We got to the airport, checked in, and waited for our flight to Riyadh (my paranoia again surfacing and seeing conspiracies in my fellow travellers). After an uneventful flight, we landed in the middle of the Saudi desert in Riyadh. The terminal was beautiful, floor to ceiling marble and waterfalls. The first thing you notice when leaving the terminal, however, is that everything…I mean EVERYTHING, is covered with orange dust. The air tastes like dust. It’s everywhere.
I checked into the hotel and went to my room to get a few hours rest before going to work. Every TV station had news of bin Laden, and that made me nervous. I looked out my window to plot my escape and realized that, even though it was the second floor, my room was next to the roof of another building where people could easily get into my room. I did not sleep well that night, as I kept peering out the window to make sure no paramilitary terrorists were coming for me.
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