jeddah airport

I landed in Jeddah late Sunday afternoon, came down the stairs of the airplane and waited for the buses which would take us from the plane to the arrivals building.

It was hot and humid, although it was late afternoon, and I was tired after my long trek across several time zones. I was anxious to get home and get out of this heat. Apparently, that was also the thought of most of the passengers. People rushed to join the line for passport control. By the time, I reached there, 4 lines had formed, each a block long. I joined the end, slowly inching my way closer as the line moved every 10 minutes.

There were people from all over the world. Women in saris, men in dashikis, the pilgrims for Ummrah wrapped up in their white cloths. The conversations in different languages were intermittently drowned out by the cacophony of children yelling and running around. The entire ordeal made me wanted to sit down on the floor and cry in self-pity.  

About 40 minutes in, 2 other agents opened up their desks and people rushed to form new lines there. There was pushing and jostling as people scampered to make it to the desks first. Such niceties as ‘excuse me’ or ‘sorry’ were quickly forgotten. Instead of an apology, you would get an insult. People felt justified for barreling you over since you were in THEIR way.

After being momentarily horrified at the chaos and frankly weary of being a target, as if I was wearing a “please push me” sign on my forehead, I too began to rush, burdened by the cumbersome abaya, in hopes of securing a closer position to the front of the line. I found myself halfway down the queue, with a clear view of the agent. Shortly after, an Arab man with the white cultural dress (condora) came out of one of the offices, with a placard with my name and my employers' name printed on it with block letters. I raised my arm to get his attention. He, Sami, immediately took me to another agent processed everything right away. I was fingerprinted and retinal scanned while my bags were fetched. In other words, I was given the VIP treatment as I found out later on from the other teachers. Why? I don’t know.  Either way, I am glad it happened as I was reaching my breaking point.