One of my colleagues from my old job had previously offered to help me find side work as a tutor. While I was in Riyadh dealing with the job change mess, She put me in touch with a Saudi family with 2 daughters who would need tutoring. We agreed to meet at the mall and have an introduction as well as discuss tutoring needs, times, and money.
We had agreed originally to meet at 6:15, which was perfect for me since our weekly shopping trip bus dropped me off around 5 and would pick up again around 8pm. Then, the mother texted me that morning to change the plan. She wanted to meet earlier, at 4pm. This was not a problem, it just meant that instead of heading there for free on the bus, I would have to take a taxi there earlier. I figured it would take a bout a half an hour to get to the mall, then added another 15 min in case of traffic.
At 3:15 I caught a taxi and asked to be taken to gate 4 of Dahran Mall. The malls here are so large, you have to specify meet up locations by gate number. I believe Dahran Mall has 14 gates. Things seemed to be running on schedule until we hit a lot of traffic. Then I started to worry. At 3:45, the mother texted me to ask where I was and let me know they were already there. This was not good. The one time things weren't running on Saudi time was when I was actually going to meet a Saudi family. Is there anything worse than knowing you are late but not being able to do anything about it?
When we finally pulled into gate 4, I was only about 5 min. late for our 4pm meeting, but the family had already been waiting for 20 min, so I was in a hurry to find them. It was only when I started looking around did I realize how crazy it was to try to meet a family you have never met before when every woman and girl over the age of puberty is dressed exactly the same and all you can see is their eyes. I called them, and asked if they were inside or outside, which narrowed it down some, but then we had to play a strange mix of hot or cold to narrow down the location further, until I finally saw a woman on the phone waving at me.
Relieved I walked over to them and apologized for being late. The oldest daughter, who I had been communicating with on the phone and through text since her mother did not speak English, introduced me to her mother and her younger sister. She asked if I wanted to talk here, on a bench in the entryway of the mall, but it was crowded and there were lots of people around so I suggested we go for coffee instead, hoping it would be more quit.
So we began walking through the mall, which was more crowded than I had ever seen it before because school was starting up again the next day so a lot of people were out buying school supplies. We walked for a while, because evidently gate 4 is no where near the food court or any coffee shops. Finally we got to the food court, but all the tables in the family section were really full. Interestingly, the mens seating area was practically empty, but we couldn't sit there. So we looked around for a bench like the one we had left at gate 4, but every time we thought we spotted one, someone sat in it before we could. Part of the problem was that it was nearly prayer time, and when prayer starts, the stores all close down and no one can do any shopping anyway, so everyone just sits down to wait.
We managed to squeeze our way into a Cinnabon cafe just before they closed the doors. We commandeered a chair from another table and the oldest daughter, mother and I sat squeezed into a tiny corner table for two while the youngest daughter half sat half stood on her mother's lap. It was loud in the cafe and hard to hear, but it seemed like it was the best we were going to get. So we settled in to make do.
Through her daughter, the mother explained that she wanted someone to help her daughter with English, Math, and Science, 5 days a week, for 2 hours a day. This seemed like a lot to me, and I clarified in case she meant to say 3 times a week instead, but she wanted someone 5 days a week. She explained that occasionally, she would also need me to help her older daughter, the one translating with some things. She asked me how much I would charge, and I told her 100 SAR an hour (I had been told by others who had tutored before that the going rate was between 100 and 150 an hour). She asked me how much per month, so I did the math. It came out to 4,000 SAR a month. She said it was a lot and she didn't think she could pay that much. When you put it in monthly terms, it did seem like kind of a lot, so I told her I could do it for 3,000 SAR, which I felt was a significant drop. The mother countered and said could she pay me 2,500 since she would take care of a driver for me. Since I knew it would probably cost me around 60 round trip each time I came by taxi, meaning I would really only be earning 40 an hour if I got my own driver, I figured that was fair. I told her we should agree to give it a try for one month, to be sure that her daughters liked me and that I could handle all the extra work with my new job starting and everything. She agreed and it was settled.
So, that finished and decided, we agreed that I would begin tutoring the following Sunday. I wasn't sure yet where I would be living at that point since I hadn't yet moved into the new accommodations, so I told her I would text her with directions, and my GPS location when I settled in. We said our goodbyes, and I told Joury (the youngest daughter) I would see her in a week.
That settled, I now had about three and half hours to kill before the bus arrived. I've never much cared for shopping or malls, so I wasn't really looking forward to it. But I decided that at least I could walk around, and that would be good exercise for me. So I started off heading in the opposite direction of gate 6 where the bus would get me, since the mall is really a giant loop and I would make it back to 6 eventually. On the way, I passed a SACO store, which is kind of like a Home Depot and IKEA rolled into one. I do like a good Hardware store, so I wondered in to admire the tools and gadgets. I noticed a second floor with lawn furniture, and figured it might be nice to try out some of the front porch swings they had just to pass the time. I made my way to the escalator and noticed the warning sign at the bottom when you get on that normally says watch your step or hold on to small children or tie your shoe laces in the states... here the sign showed an abaya trapped in the stairs and \ being violently ripped away from a terrified stick woman with the helpful words: Please be careful of your abaya. That was enough to make me almost not want to get on the escalator. But I braved it anyway for the sake of cushioned indoor swings.
There were a few other families hanging out in the lawn furniture section trying out the swings, or resting their feet. Most stayed 10 or 15 minutes at most. But one set of grandparents with a little girl stayed for at least an hour, so I didn't feel that bad about being a squatter myself. I tried to pick a more individual sized swing far away from everyone and settled in. I took out my kindle to read for a while, but not before I set my phone alarm to remind me to leave in time to catch the bus. Then I just laid back and relaxed. I may have even napped some. (Don't worry, one of the employees was snoring in the swing next to me, so I didn't think it would be a problem). I have to say, that is the best time I have ever had in a mall. Ever. Thank you outdoor furniture section of SACO world.
No comments:
Post a Comment