Day 1 ended with darkness descending on my view of the Atlantic Ocean. I strained to see the landscape and the cloudscape out of the airplane window until there was nothing to see. My thoughts headed inwards. I was traveling east and felt like I’m stretching a uniformly charged long tread between Buffalo and Arabia. Saudia Airlines provided the introduction by starting off the flight with warm clothes to clean our hands and the traditional offering of cardamom tea and dates. The flight attendant passed out ear plugs and eye masks packaged with designs by indigenous women artists from the Lanununa region in Southern KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). I try to be compliant and put on the mask, the message the flight attendants are sending is “go to sleep” and as I am restless I decide to browse the provided in-flight digital entertainment to learn more about the Saudi Vision 2030 plan. A digital slide titled “Women’s Empowerment” naturally caught my eye as it championed the importance of women as entrepreneurs, leaders, and employees in the new KSA. The slide reads; “From the rights to drive, travel and divorce, to unimpeded access to official documents, the status of women has been profoundly altered for the better, sowing the seeds for a united and inclusive future.” The text is accompanied by a photograph of a woman in a hijab smiling and walking through the historic Al Balad neighborhood of Jeddah. Other works such as NEOM, “a megacity that seeks to reimagine how we live'', and The Red Sea Project for ecotourism promote a different image of Saudi Arabia than the one I grew up with. As I read on, I learn about the eight UNESCO intangible assets of Saudi Arabia and mark them as things I would like to learn more about. The include falconry, the art of Sadu weaving, Almezmar traditional drumming, Alardah Alnajdiyah a combination of poetry, dancing and drumming, Ached (oral tradition of calling camel flocks), the cultivation of Khawlani coffee beans, date palm planting practices, Arabic calligraphy, Majlis,and Al-Qatt Al Asiri female traditional interior wall decoration in Asir KSA. I drift to sleep imagining the place I am traveling to , excited and worried about my choice to leave my family for this interlude. I earnestly hope that this opportunity puts me in the change as it is happening, and instill some change in me too. I think about my life in San Francisco at the dawn of the digital revolution when the internet and home personal computers became part of the fabric of life. In graduate school at the San Francisco Art Institute I took a coding course with a founder of Apple who reminded us to set up our computers in the middle of the room so that we could shift our perspective from the close up screen to the long distance room…I wonder if that was an analogy for perspective… Anyway I watched as my friends lost their houses and apartments as silicon valley took over that city. All of this change in San Francisco happened almost concurrently with the AIDS epidemic and the misinformation campaign that spread distrust and pigeonholing on a population. It also simultaneously denied them of some basic human rights and it would take a decade to somewhat normalize care. I can trace my deep fascination with change, learning and viruses to this period of my life. Heading East I wonder what I will find and feel in the sunlight of the Red Sea region.
I peek out my window in time to see the brightly lit coast of Amalfi coast of Italy, passing over I drift to daydreaming about future travels and swimming in the Mediterranean sea. I was attracted to Saudi Arabia for a variety of reasons. In addition to my curiosity about its culture I noted its location, in Asia but close to Europe and Africa. A basecamp for potential travel to see the mountains of the Himalaya, East Africa, Europe, India and maybe even Australia, Japan, and Indochina. Areas of the world that as an artist and teacher I have struggled to find my way to. I work on balancing the shock of leaving my loved ones with the thought of providing a bridge for us all to view new lands in the next two years.
`A sliver of light shines beneath the window shade and I lift it in time to see the sun just to break the horizon. A thin blue line outlines the edge of our earth as the sun light bends over its crest. Long shadows are cast from dunes and desert mountain. The pilot mentions the pyramids and I see my first view of the Middle East in the deep shadows of the Sahara desert and Egypt. I lift my shade, and red light spills into the airplane, projecting a kaleidoscope of light throughout the cabin. Startled, I shut it quickly, hoping not to disturb the sleeping passengers. I am transfixed by this sunrise and connect it to seeing the first light on the summit of Cadillac mountain, the point in the USA to see first light as the sun rises. I recall the memory of waking up at 4 in the morning to get to the summit with my family while we were on a hiking vacation in Acadia Maine. We approach the Red Sea and will soon enter the Saudi air space. Passengers start to move around the cabin, unpack abayas and and change into their traditional clothing. Women switch from sweat suits into elegant Abayas older men and a large group of young men that look like college students wrap themselves in Ihram towels as they prepare for their pilgrimage to Mecca. I too feel like a type of pilgram, not in a religious way but at the start of a spiritual journey to an unknown place that will make me explore myself and connect the world and me to my family and friends at home.
I can’t say that I remember much about the first few days in Saudi Arabia. I know that I ate well and felt taken care of by my school KAUST and my tribe TKS newbies. The week-long orientation was overwhelming but also helpful as I worked to get my Igama - working visa, open a bank account, get some supplies for my townhouse, and try to manage the oppressive heat and humidity. Along the way I was introduced to the generous and warm characteristics of Saudi culture and religion.
Best idea ever was packing a folding bike that immediately became my most prized possession as it freed me up to make my way around campus and limit the time that I needed to spend outside. This time was wild and weird. The amount of necessary information that I was fed and then promptly forgot was baffling… still is. I am forever thankful to everyone that took the time to help me thought this time (which I am very much still working my way through).
