Sunday, April 11, 2004 The End of the Road.... King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh has a wonderful immigration hall. Palm trees, fountains, marble; you really want to linger there. And if you don't have a Saudi passport, you will. For up to 3 hours, if you're unlucky. It's our bureacracy at work. You'll get checked thru the computer, which is slow. And if the immigration guard takes a call on his mobile from a friend, you'll have to wait until he finishes. A consultant came to our company from Norway; he said he was held for 20 miinutes at the desk because the guy had never heard of his country, couldn't find it in the database. Anyway, a common sight there is a 747-load of newly-arrived Indonesian housemaids, all sitting patiently on the floor, and being herded by a Saudi "agent". They've just arrived from some small village on some island, where they were dirt-poor and no doubt a burden on their family, to seek a new l...
life, from my point of view :)