Over the course of time living abroad, one gets accustomed to certain things such as, having to boil water to drink, carrying toilet paper around, and just dealing with every day annoyances like people running into you. Well, today was one of those days where you just had to chuck it all up and accept that fact that we all need to go to the doctor to get blood work again, even after getting it done in our own countries......
So, after a sleepless night due to my AC spewing hot air due to my mistake the day before, we were all shuffled into a van and brought about twenty five minutes away to the Ministry of Health at the edge of Hofuf for 'Malaria Testing'. This place, which was actually quite fast copared to the snail pace of the border patrol agents, had us line up, surrender our passport for a bit, and then they shuffled us into another room to prick our fingers for blood which were then smeared onto glass trays that will be tested. Word has it, that in a couple of days we will be brought to another place for extensive blood work just to 'double check' that we really are disease free. Preceeding all of this of course, was getting more passport photos taken at a local photo shop run by people from Sri Lanka, I think. As I've mentioned before, a lot of jobs over here are oursourced to people from other parts of Asia.
There is a silver lining to this story, however. Afterwards, we stopped for about forty-five minutes to go food shopping in a mini-mall complex which housed some decent food. I had a lettuce salad with red beans, double-cream cheese, cheddar cheese, carrots, olive oil, and some other things. It was amazingly good and for only 9 Riyals (about 2.75 USD). The joint was called Tako Hut and I was with two of my 'wives' which who decided to have a quesdilla and sme really bad Chinese noodles. Prior to going inside the restaurant, I was looking for the 'Singles and Family Seating'. Apparently in Tako Hut, all are equal and free since we not only sat in the same place, but also ordered from the same line! Life is good.
Afterwards, I wandered over and bought some cheap Crispy Creme doughnuts from a kind Filipino fellow. You'll be excited to know that basic creme doughnuts are 3 Riyal (3.75 Riyal = 1 USD). They were not only delicious but made for some good comic relief on the bus.
Now that it's after four PM, it's time to hit the streets in search of some Turkish Kebabs that are rumored to be excellent.
Life continues in the Kingdom and the Jesster is wandering.....
So, after a sleepless night due to my AC spewing hot air due to my mistake the day before, we were all shuffled into a van and brought about twenty five minutes away to the Ministry of Health at the edge of Hofuf for 'Malaria Testing'. This place, which was actually quite fast copared to the snail pace of the border patrol agents, had us line up, surrender our passport for a bit, and then they shuffled us into another room to prick our fingers for blood which were then smeared onto glass trays that will be tested. Word has it, that in a couple of days we will be brought to another place for extensive blood work just to 'double check' that we really are disease free. Preceeding all of this of course, was getting more passport photos taken at a local photo shop run by people from Sri Lanka, I think. As I've mentioned before, a lot of jobs over here are oursourced to people from other parts of Asia.
There is a silver lining to this story, however. Afterwards, we stopped for about forty-five minutes to go food shopping in a mini-mall complex which housed some decent food. I had a lettuce salad with red beans, double-cream cheese, cheddar cheese, carrots, olive oil, and some other things. It was amazingly good and for only 9 Riyals (about 2.75 USD). The joint was called Tako Hut and I was with two of my 'wives' which who decided to have a quesdilla and sme really bad Chinese noodles. Prior to going inside the restaurant, I was looking for the 'Singles and Family Seating'. Apparently in Tako Hut, all are equal and free since we not only sat in the same place, but also ordered from the same line! Life is good.
Afterwards, I wandered over and bought some cheap Crispy Creme doughnuts from a kind Filipino fellow. You'll be excited to know that basic creme doughnuts are 3 Riyal (3.75 Riyal = 1 USD). They were not only delicious but made for some good comic relief on the bus.
Now that it's after four PM, it's time to hit the streets in search of some Turkish Kebabs that are rumored to be excellent.
Life continues in the Kingdom and the Jesster is wandering.....
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