We checked in, got our seat assignments, and uneventfully went through customs and security. Still insecure about current events, I kept a careful watch over each person and made sure that, even with my back to the terminal, I could watch everyone via a reflection in the large windows over the tarmac. I was not going to be a headline in tomorrow’s Al Jazeera.
Despite my consternation, our shopping in the terminal and boarding on the plane to Kuwait City was uneventful. The flight was pleasant, as they served my new favorite coffee with cardamom.
Kuwait, used to having Americans, has a fairly easy visa process for us in the airport. To pay the 3 dinar fee for the visa, I had to go to an ATM since they didn’t accept credit. At the ATM, I asked for 100 dinars, never thinking that our American Greenback was less valuable than the Kuwaiti currency. I gave the money to Wissam to pay for the visa, wondering why he asked me why I got so much cash for our short stay. I figured the value would be like $30, not the $350 that the bank charged me. How could the dollar be that meaningless against the Kuwaiti currency? Wissam, showing a tremendous amount of restraint despite his ignorant new friend, never said a thing, though I know he caught on to my mistake.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Visiting Surgeon in the Middle East: Part 8
We checked in, got our seat assignments, and uneventfully went through customs and security. Still insecure about current events, I kept a careful watch over each person and made sure that, even with my back to the terminal, I could watch everyone via a reflection in the large windows over the tarmac. I was not going to be a headline in tomorrow’s Al Jazeera.
Despite my consternation, our shopping in the terminal and boarding on the plane to Kuwait City was uneventful. The flight was pleasant, as they served my new favorite coffee with cardamom.
Kuwait, used to having Americans, has a fairly easy visa process for us in the airport. To pay the 3 dinar fee for the visa, I had to go to an ATM since they didn’t accept credit. At the ATM, I asked for 100 dinars, never thinking that our American Greenback was less valuable than the Kuwaiti currency. I gave the money to Wissam to pay for the visa, wondering why he asked me why I got so much cash for our short stay. I figured the value would be like $30, not the $350 that the bank charged me. How could the dollar be that meaningless against the Kuwaiti currency? Wissam, showing a tremendous amount of restraint despite his ignorant new friend, never said a thing, though I know he caught on to my mistake.
Despite my consternation, our shopping in the terminal and boarding on the plane to Kuwait City was uneventful. The flight was pleasant, as they served my new favorite coffee with cardamom.
Kuwait, used to having Americans, has a fairly easy visa process for us in the airport. To pay the 3 dinar fee for the visa, I had to go to an ATM since they didn’t accept credit. At the ATM, I asked for 100 dinars, never thinking that our American Greenback was less valuable than the Kuwaiti currency. I gave the money to Wissam to pay for the visa, wondering why he asked me why I got so much cash for our short stay. I figured the value would be like $30, not the $350 that the bank charged me. How could the dollar be that meaningless against the Kuwaiti currency? Wissam, showing a tremendous amount of restraint despite his ignorant new friend, never said a thing, though I know he caught on to my mistake.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Visiting Surgeon in the Middle East: Part 7
Our patient continued to do well and, with my pride barely in tact, I left the hospital. With several hours until my flight to Kuwait, my local host, another Palestinian pharmacist, took me on a drive around Riyadh to see the sights. Architecturally, Riyadh has many world-class building. The only problem is that one can rarely see them due to the orange dust from the desert that continually shrouds the city. As a westerner, I saw many familiar chain restaurants and stores. But there was nobody in them…or anywhere. The streets are deserted. Sporadically, one might see a man walking on the street to a store, but you’d never see a woman. Never. I wondered where all the women were hiding.
We stopped in the corporate office to pick Wissam up before he and I were to go to the airport and onto Kuwait. The office was in a nondescript building in central Riyadh near several restaurants and clothing stores. Upon exiting the elevator, we encountered several men, none Saudi, smoking cigarettes in the corridor. They were very friendly and we exchanged pleasantries. I don’t think they were used to seeing Americans there, as their protracted gazes, though friendly, betrayed their confusion in seeing a Westerner at their work place. They all invited me in and were anxious to tell me about what corporate division they worked for.
On the way to the airport, we stopped and got a coffee. Strong and aromatic…delicious.
We stopped in the corporate office to pick Wissam up before he and I were to go to the airport and onto Kuwait. The office was in a nondescript building in central Riyadh near several restaurants and clothing stores. Upon exiting the elevator, we encountered several men, none Saudi, smoking cigarettes in the corridor. They were very friendly and we exchanged pleasantries. I don’t think they were used to seeing Americans there, as their protracted gazes, though friendly, betrayed their confusion in seeing a Westerner at their work place. They all invited me in and were anxious to tell me about what corporate division they worked for.
On the way to the airport, we stopped and got a coffee. Strong and aromatic…delicious.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Visiting Surgeon in the Middle East: Part 6
We were to do a laparoscopic low anterior resection for an older man with colorectal cancer. The OR was large, but sparse. There were no booms descending from the ceiling like OR’s in the US. A single tower of German laparoscopic equipment greeted me like an old friend from high school. This was not the operating room that I expected from a country where most of my dollars were going. Driving around Saudi Arabia, one is struck by the size and opulence of the shopping malls. This was not on par with those malls.
Despite the shortcomings of the facilities, the technical skills of the surgeons and staff more than made up for it. I operated with a female surgeon who was very gifted. Together, we excised a very difficult, large cancer with little blood loss and a lot of fun. It WAS fun. Technically, we had synergy and, as surgeons, that is very hard to come by. After making short work of a tough tumor, we went back to the Chief’s office where the familiar sign was hanging. I went in anyway without knocking. Everyone was in their familiar places. A traditional Saudi lunch was ordered.
This consisted of grilled, lean chicken and rice served in the center of the table. Each person uses his hands to roll the rice into a ball and eat the chicken. Though I like to think of myself as manually deft, I felt uncoordinated as my rice fell apart before getting to my mouth and my chicken fell to the floor. My colleagues smiled graciously, but I felt they were wondering how I could operate on people yet drop my rice all over the floor. Actually, I was thinking the same thing.
Despite the shortcomings of the facilities, the technical skills of the surgeons and staff more than made up for it. I operated with a female surgeon who was very gifted. Together, we excised a very difficult, large cancer with little blood loss and a lot of fun. It WAS fun. Technically, we had synergy and, as surgeons, that is very hard to come by. After making short work of a tough tumor, we went back to the Chief’s office where the familiar sign was hanging. I went in anyway without knocking. Everyone was in their familiar places. A traditional Saudi lunch was ordered.
This consisted of grilled, lean chicken and rice served in the center of the table. Each person uses his hands to roll the rice into a ball and eat the chicken. Though I like to think of myself as manually deft, I felt uncoordinated as my rice fell apart before getting to my mouth and my chicken fell to the floor. My colleagues smiled graciously, but I felt they were wondering how I could operate on people yet drop my rice all over the floor. Actually, I was thinking the same thing.
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