Dear Newsletter Reader,
I know I sent you May´s newsletter last week, but I wanted to share this little story as it is fresh in my mind. A travel tale that you might find interesting?
I arrived home in Galicia Sunday (very gratefully) in the early evening after a very swift trip to the country Kuwait to attend a medical meeting. I will provide editing services on the transcript of the presentation and workshop with 12 Gulf oncologists on the treatment of CML, chronic myeloid leukaemia.
The host hired me in April out of the blue on LinkedIn and this was my first job for them. Another freelancer, Lara an Englishwoman, is responsible for writing the report that will then come to me. There are plans to publish the report in a journal that will have specific editorial criteria. All new work to me, great!
My flight from Madrid´s Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Baraja aIrport left Friday 2.30pm and was direct to Kuwait City on Kuwait Airlines. Plane not full and Kuwaiti Airlines are great. I arrived there about 10.30pm local time, which is an hour ahead of Spain. Heather tactfully told me (today) Kuwait is a police state. That would explain all those men in police uniform at the airport! I had an e-visa but had to present myself to the authorities in Hall 1 to have it stamped. The officer made no eye contact but was kind of friendly. I was the only fair-headed person for miles at the airport! It was about 34 degrees outside, I have been told it reaches 60 in the summers!! Transfer car driver was a friendly Indian who asked for my advice on obtaining an Aussie visa! He has a baby son in India that he only sees on vacation. People have such amazing lives. I replied: desired profession…
The Radisson Blu is a lovely standard international hotel oasis. Little girls from Jordan asked me my name in the lift! I can´t believe I was near Syria and Iraq and Israel!! Places in my imagination all my life! I of course enjoyed a room service burger and alcohol-free beer (as per government/religious policy). Crashed in the soft king bed for eight hours straight because the morning of the journey I woke at 2am anxious about solo travel, so was very glad to hit the sack. I took a deep breath at Madrid airport which was a roiling morass of people and luggage, but got the hang of travelling alone. My darling Heather is usually there. She was in favour of me doing this on my own, and she was right. Doing things on your own is good sometimes.
I could watch King Charles receive his “kinghood” in the hotel room after a breakfast buffet. What a wonderful telecast that was! The music was excellent and the rituals mesmerising”! Charles seems to be humble and gentle and dedicated to (even more) service to others. He also looked every one of his 75 years and a bit overwhelmed. Camilla is serene and seems to have a good sense of humour. What a love affair they share—whatever you think about them, their story is romantic!
I came to the meeting about 3pm. Five Gulf doctors in person and the same number attending virtually. I liaised with the hosting staff, meeting them all for the first time—three Kuwaiti female professionals working for the pharma company. Big hair, high heels and loadsa makeup. I said to Yasmine the coordinator I don´t wear high heels, she laughed and later asked me to the dinner following the meeting, I had to decline. The doctors arrived, all men bar one woman. The meeting was lively, well-chaired, and there was some banter and levity amongst the clearly elite expertise and palpable medical dedication. Lara and I took copious notes to support the report. I left the meeting at 7.30pm the agenda-agreed closing time. Had arranged late checkout so washed and changed before heading back to the airport.
My return flight was 1.30am from Kuwait! It was an Istanbul stopover this time, 5.20am leaving 7am for Madrid. I thought I would read in a café for the four hour wait. I was soon befriended by a 24-year-old Kuwaiti teacher of Arabic language and culture in the coffee queue.
Shaika and her sister May came to the airport for a coffee and cake. We got straight to the point: marriage, family and God. She was gentle and gracious and clearly very proud of her race. She has her own car and was very well travelled and out on a Saturday night without a male chaperone. A rich Kuwaiti Arab Muslim. She asked if I was Christian, I nodded. She named all the Arab nations, quite a list! She said my name Sarah is Arabic as well as Hebrew—she made me feel welcome in her country. A gracious and sophisticated young woman, she offered me food, I declined and we took a photo together instead, she in her head scarf. We did not see eye to eye on Israel, she thought the area was Palestine. After some compelling quiet talk about God and marriage, I shook her and her sister´s hand, and felt so happy to have had suich a personal experience with a member of this exotic culture.
Then—checking in for the flight to Madrid I discover the host had made a mistake with the booking and I had missed the flight, which was for 24 hours earlier! “All flights full tonight” the man at Turkish Airlines said. My heart dropped. “You can fly Business at 1.30am if you pay 500 Kuwaiti Dinar.” I was so thrilled to be able to leave at the same time. The host would pay? Too late to ask permission. I paid. I didn´t care, I was on my way.
Istanbul Airport must be seen to be believed. Stunning. I had access to the Business Lounge. Lovely place. Grand piano playing automatically, keys pressed by magic! Mum was a pianist so I felt close to her for a little while there and so grateful for her love. Bought a revised train ticket from Madrid to Ourense via my phone (with just enough battery power) for the revised time I would be in Madrid. Then my phone charger stopped working in the in-floor charging nook. I was out of touch with home now!
Made the 10am flight, enjoyed more Business class care, a second breakfast, and arrived Madrid about 2pm. We were bussed from the plane into Arrivals and the Spanish passport man said “Muy bien Sara!” as I gave him my Residency card! Home!
Taxi to Madrid-Chamartin train station. Spain feels so familiar now. A bit raw, a bit daggy, a bit relaxed and real, like Australia really! More women in public and people of all shapes and ages! I love it. In the café a guy drops a bottle of wine, the staff clean it up, no problemo, the backpackers drink beer and the middle-aged ladies enjoy a salad.
Train travels at 250km/hr to Ourense our closest city, 30km away. The green province of Galicia whizzes by and I am nearly home. Taxi driver corrects my poor pronunciation on my address! I will never be an accomplished Spanish speaker! Home to my darling Heather and Raffy and Stumpy and Minnie. Bliss.
One of the highlights of this trip was sitting in comfort in the Istanbul Lounge sipping endless fizzy water and reading my book, Spiritual Guidance by Joan Borysenko and her husband Gordon Dveirin and actually understanding with both head and heart some of the content. The idea that each moment (all we really have) is imbued with meaning and God´s love was uplifting and life-affirming for me. I guess I felt close to what they call the “Higher Self” while travelling on my own. Friends would say I am often preoccupied with love in all its forms, abstract and real—well these authors are too! My fear gave way to a feeling of inner security with the sense of a spiritual presence in all our lives. Will meet with the host on Friday to discuss the editing work.
Have a good week!
Hugs
Sarah 😊