Back to Boredom

by

Arrived safely to Riyadh on Tuesday afternoon. We had tons of fun in New York despite the short amount of time we were given there. Of course two days are absolutely not enough to see even a little part of this big city but we tried our best to use all the time we had while there. The highlight was attending The Lion King in Broadway. The show was truly amazing and the way Times Square was buzzing with people and lights is one of a kind. I guess I will be probably writing a longer post about the whole trip shortly, but for now I’m exhausted and I need to get some rest after all the traveling.

It was ironic that we only had 48 hours in New York and it took us almost as much as that to travel from NYC to Saudi Arabia. We were supposed to leave NYC to Frankfurt and then take another plane to Riyadh. The departure from JFK was delayed and we could not catch our connecting flight. The next flight to Riyadh was about 11 hours later and it had to go first to Abu Dhabi where we also had to wait for another six hours. The return trip was really tough and exhausting.

I want to thank those who nominated and selected me. I want to thank all the people I met in the States during these two weeks. You made this trip so worthwhile and unforgettable. I want to thank my friends who accompanied me on the program for making this trip fun and informative. And finally special thanks to someone who made these two weeks far more enjoyable than I was expecting them to be (you know who you are ;-)

21 thoughts on “Back to Boredom”

  2. Welcome back Saudi ambassador Ahmed :)

    Apparently, they succeded in getting you to know more about the states and may be getting you lovin’ it. Now it’s your job to make them know more about your country and try to make them lovin’ it.

    God blees you.

  3. Welcom home,

    If i were in your shoes, I would kill my self rather than going through the return trip! It seems it was awful :) but at least you have visited the states :)

    Good luck with Riyadh awful Ramadan traffic

  6. And finally special thanks to someone who made these two weeks far more enjoyable than I was expecting them to be (you know who you are

    I’m probably way out of line with sticking my nose in, but……..

    is there a chance you’ll return soon (since this remark really suggests a romantic -euhm- inclination) :D

  8. I’m glad you had a good time in America and got to see a good bit of it. It’s especially good that you got a close look at New York City, the epitome of pluralism and openness. I hope you took some of it home with you.

  9. Glad you made it back safe.

    ======================================
    Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring Freedom casualties as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 4227

  10. I love NY its one of my favorite cities there is always something to do and see. Traveling always opens new outlook to different cultures its always a good experience because you learn a lot from it. Glad to see that you had fun.

  12. “And finally special thanks to someone who made these two weeks far more enjoyable than I was expecting them to be (you know who you are”

    It was fun for me too, big boy. Come on back when you need a little more Jezebel.

  14. Glad you had a good time. I’m sorry you didn’t get to meet some of the anti-government, or at least anti-Bush, types. I feel when visitors do that in addition to all the other stops you’ve mentioned and people you’ve met it gives them a better idea of how political dissent in this country works and what the rights of a citizen (not a subject) are all about.

  15. HI there,
    nice to have you back here and we will be waiting for your further mails pleade don’t write long messages as it irritates the reader to read further more.

  16. Salam Ahmed,

    I think it was an nice trip . Really , your return trip was very exhausted if I were I would not go through it. Waiting for the long summary of the trip.

    Hassan

  17. How dare you Ahmed!

    what do you mean with “back to boredom” you should be wisre than using such expression. This is your homeland, i assume you are a saudi! You make it sounds like you’ve just come back from heaven to hell! which some red necks like to hear. I really hoped the title of this essay would be:”Home Sweet Home.” After all this our beloved homeland that we are very thankful for living in such warm, kind, loving, and fun country.
    and learn from the people of Alabama when they sing out: :sweet home Alabama.” even though it has almost nothing!
    Thank You!

  18. Tabuk Knight, I did not mean that. What I meant was coming back to the boredom of the routine of everyday life instead of the fun and surprises of traveling.

  19. you gave a very bad heading “back to boredom” as you speak and write english well and we should not expect any error from you, if you want to specify something kindly elaborate on the subject as the heading grasps the reader and encourages to read more, so it should sound well and being a citizen of such a wonderful and bless country you should not use this kind of words. kindly avoid it in future. Kindly write more on the subjects of day to day as we already know that America is a beautiful country and it has beautiful cities. we need to hear something new from you.
    something interesting as interesting as your previous blogs.

  20. I’m a Jewish person who lives near New York, and I love both Israel and the United States, even though they both do many stupid things (just, as, of course every human being and every group human beings does stupidity).

    Anyhow, I found this blog because of Reuters, and I just want to try to beam back feelings of love and peace and the hope that we’ll all figure out how to get along. When you write a great blog like this in English, maybe just the fact that you’re blogging across languages helps increase understanding and reduce the level of foolishness that separates us all. Or something. Anyhow, I hope everything goes well for you and your family and your country.

  21. if /when u come back to nyc go to these neighborhoods – the east village, lower east side, and williamsburg brooklyn. those are places where young people live and hang out, and aren’t totally touristy.

    ny is cool because there are people from all over the world living together. dubai is a little like nyc in that respect.

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