As the round of KAUST finals approaches, stress levels on campus are noticeably rising. It seems that everyone has 2 assignments, 1 presentation and 4 projects to finish while trying to study for their tests. The library remains crowded well into the night every night now. I have to admit that I’m letting the stress get to me as much as the next person, so this is my break to try to regain a better perspective.
I just received packages in the mail from both my mom and my grandma. I am so thankful for those. I can’t wait to see you guys in less than two weeks.
Events like the flooding in Jeddah should remind me of what is important in life. I do not mean that I shouldn’t work just as hard towards my classes, but I definitely should not stress about them. I had a conversation with a Lebanese woman in Jordan (more detail of my trip to Jordan to come), who helped remind me of this. In her lifetime in the Middle East she has seen more than her share of bloodshed and tragedy. Her home city of Beirut was bombed just a few years ago, during the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Her family survived an attack on a compound, where they lived in Saudi Arabia, but her husband was hospitalized with shrapnel stuck in his body. She is going through stress of her own. She recently left her job to take up a new position, only to find the new position no longer existing. When asked about how she was handling this though, she calmly told us that when you come close to losing what really matters in life, you learn to appreciate it. She said that as long as she has her health and her family, she has more than enough to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is a couple weeks behind us, but I was inspired to make a list of what I am thankful for (though not comprehensive in any sense).
- The opportunity to come to Saudi Arabia
- The opportunity to get an education
- The great friends I have made here
- The great friends I have still have back home
- The ability/technology to stay in contact with my friends and family back home
- The ability/ opportunities to play sports
- My mom
- My dad
- My siblings and the rest of my relatives ( if I listed everyone who deserve individual bullet points this would become too long).
- Leslie Malisa Mey
- Grace, redemption, love, peace, joy, faith
- Life
- Our God who is the author of all these and the Creator of all
I also wanted to share a quick story which ties in a little, though most of you have probably heard it:
So anyone who knows me probably know of my allergies. For those of you who don’t know, I’m allergic to milk, eggs, butter, cheese, and anything with any of these in it. I try to be careful, but inevitably every now and then I end up eating something I shouldn’t have. Fortunately, due to prompting and pleading from my parents I try to always have some benadryl, and inhaler, and an epi-pen on me. I should add this to the list of things I am thankful for. Anyways, about a month ago I had one of those episodes where I accidentally ate something that was poisonous to my body. I had some spaghetti in our cafeteria. I know that you are all probably thinking “that was stupid”, and it was, but I had had the spaghetti there before and been fine, and made it a point of asking and making sure none of it was cooked in butter or had any cheese on it. Anyways, after a couple of bites I was a little skeptical, but I convinced myself I was fine and ate a whole plate of it. I felt a little funny but I felt alright. I proceeded to go to an arabic class my friend was leading, and felt alright there. I walked 10 minutes back to my apartment, realized I left my keys in the library, walked back and got my keys, walked back to my apartment, and still felt pretty good. I decided that I was fine and was up to playing some ultimate frisbee. I walked down another 10-15 minute walk to the field they were playing on, and started playing.
After only a couple times running up and down the field, I could tell that something was wrong. My whole body got ichy and swollen and I suddenly needed to go to the bathroom. Fortunately right at that time my friend suggested that the field was too crowded and we should sub out some people. Though I knew I needed to come out, I still was hesitant to stop playing, but I readily volunteered to be the first sub. I told my friend that I though I was having an allergic reaction, grabbed my stuff, and walked towards the bathroom. By time I got there my hearing and vision were both going, and it was getting harder to breathe. I sat down, took some benadryl and used my inhaler. This helped a little, so I stood up and tried to start walking home, but had only made it a few steps when I couldn’t even stand up anymore, and collapsed to the ground. I lay there on the rocks for about 20 minutes. I was okay during this time, because I was able to breathe, but that was all I was able to do.
After about 20 minutes a few people walked by. Someone asked, “why is he lying like that?”, and then one guy came and asked me if I was alright. I realized I have a real problem with not wanting to accept help, because my initial thought was to say, “yeah, I’m okay”, but fortunately I didn’t have enough strength to even say that, so I just shook my head. He then called an ambulance for me. A couple minutes after he called them he called them back, and said “it’s been 5 minutes already, where are you guys?!”, and a couple minutes later “it’s been 10 minutes, where are you guys???” It turned out the road the ambulance had been trying to take was closed, but they still got there soon enough, and I got my first ride in an ambulance. The one thing I remember about the ride was wondering, “why is my face getting wet?” and then realizing it was because the paramedic was dripping sweat onto me. The took me to the clinic we have on campus, and there they hooked me up to an i.v. and pumped who knows what into my body. Whatever it was it made me sleep really well, and made me feel really good for a day or two. The clinic was freezing, especially for me coming in sweaty shorts and a t-shirt. The guy who had called the ambulance went and got me a dry shirt, and within a few hours my body was settled down and I was given a ride home.
I received lots of love the next few days from people asking me how I was, and telling me how worried they had been for me. I can add that to the list of things I am thankful for too. I bring this story up though, because I learned two valuable things from it. First, it was a good jolt of reality, making me realize how precious and fragile life is. Second, I tried to imagine this Saudi guy going through an airport in the U.S. I tried to imagine the subtle looks he would get, the slightly elevated tension that would surround him. It’s no secret that relations between the U.S. and the arab world are not perfect, and I understand that this is the result of much history, politics, acts of terrorism, etc. I had to wonder, though, how the average American’s perspective of a young Saudi man would change, if they were lying there helpless, and the young Saudi man was calling them an ambulance and bringing them warm clothes. Good Samaritan?
