Year 5 - British International School Al Khobar: April 5, 2011

As the staff met this morning on the Oasis Gardens compound at 2.00am, topics of conversation were not of the forthcoming trip, possible behavior of the children, excitement of the journey – no, they were of amazement at the size of the suitcase that Ms. Naidoo had brought with her. While the children had been told that whatever they brought, they had to be able to carry it themselves, Ms. Naidoo had obviously misinterpreted this instruction and thought that she had to be able to fit in her case herself. The teachers had hoped to carry on the teasing Ms. Naidoo all the way to the airport, but that wasn’t to be. At the meeting with the children earlier in the week, Mr. Suter had stressed in particular that tour hats were to be worn at all times, and that anyone turning up at the airport without it would be turned away. Well, imagine his surprise – and Ms. Naidoo’s relief – when he discovered that he’d actually left his at home! Consequently, the teachers were slightly late arriving at the airport – Ayra’s mum rather cheekily texting Mr. Suter to ask whether he was actually awake!

Saudi customs at Dammam Airport were efficiently slow, somewhat perplexed by 34 white hatted travelers. Our cause wasn’t helped when Ruben got to the front of the queue only to barf – a disagreeable yoghurt drink, by all accounts. The short first flight to Doha was uneventful, but great excitement was to be had in Doha as the duty free shops took a pounding. Several children had to be reminded that, although it was a lovely idea to buy gifts for family members, that perhaps they might want to wait until they got to Greece before parting with their money!

The second leg from Doha to Athens was equally uneventful, although Ami wasn’t particularly happy with the adjoining passengers: “I have a smelly guy behind me and he keeps pushing my chair.” We didn’t think that was a particularly pleasant way to describe Mr. Gikas! The stewardesses at the start of the flight considered their charges to be “cute” and “delightful” – multiple visits in response to call lights and requests for this, that and the other pushed them to the limit of their tolerance. Airport staff met us off the plane and whisked us through customs where our bright pink coach was waiting for us. The driver wanted to know if Ms. Naidoo’s case had reversing lights on it. Several hundred photographs were taken, and that was just on the way out of the coach park! Not too much to see on the journey to the hotel, but the general consensus was there was lots of greenery and graffiti.

Upon arrival at the hotel, and in the excitement of the discovery of their room facilities, Ahmed dutifully placed all his valuables in the safe, and no sooner had he put in the code and closed the door – had forgotten what the code actually was. Doh!

Once the children had unpacked we had a brief walk down the road to give the kids their first taste of Greek food and culture, how fitting then that we ended up at a burger bar and fed them burgers and chips. Funnily enough the kids didn’t seem to mind however. The weather since we’ve arrived has been great – sunny and warm. Zaid was a little perturbed in the restaurant: “Please can I move tables as the sun is shining in my eyes and I can’t eat my food because it’s giving me a tummy ache.” Later we made our way to the local park. The monkey bars seemed to be a firm favorite, and after a few impromptu games over two hours had passed and it was time to return to the hotel.

We demanded all children have showers, however being in their own rooms this was hard to enforce, Mr. Whitaker was on the look-out for the ‘spray and cover’ technique often employed by the youth of today… One person who needed no persuasion was Matthew, who repeatedly visited his bathroom to perfect his “Cockeral Comb” hairstyle. If gel is needed on this trip, we know where to get it…

We had a late dinner, with the majority choosing to leave early so that they could go to bed. Cue four astounded but grateful teachers. As we type this they are all happily ensconced in their rooms. It’s been a long day, so a good night’s kip and then the Acropolis tomorrow. Can’t wait!