My First Touchdown

by Marivic Tuquiero
(as published 4 years ago in MVP)

Aldiriyah

I worked with at least 4 different companies in the Philippines, hoping to find the best employer, but for almost 11 years of working in our homeland, I was not even able to save 1 peso at all! Maybe I was just unfortunate that I was not hired by the high-paying companies, or maybe my salary was just enough to pay for the room rent, transportation to & from work, food and a little allowance for my parents, after those deductions from SSS or withholding taxes have been made from my salary.  But for whatever reason, when I had my baby – my dearest Tara, I knew then that I will not be able to give my daughter and my parents a good life if I will remain in the Philippines.  It was a hard decision for me but I had to do it.

Naranasan ko ang hirap ng buhay, naranasan ko ang kumain ng kanin na ang ulam ay mantika at asin lamang, o kaya kanin with saging at asin, o kaya  kanin with milkmaid condensada.  I could see the sadness in my mother’s eyes during those times and how she wished that she could give us more but couldn’t afford to. So, with all the sacrifices that my mother had gone through ever since she was a kid and with the hard life that I went through, I promised myself that one day, I will give my mother some pleasures in life and my daughter, a better life.

Saudi Arabia was the country that required the least cash out as there were no agency or recruitment fees to pay. Getting employed was also very simple and easy as there were no interviews or examinations to take. The salary offer was more than double of what I was receiving at the time, free accommodation and of course, the most enticing was – there would be no deductions at all from the salary! Ano pa ba ang hahanapin ko? But the only sad thing was, I’ve to leave my love ones behind.

Red Sand Dunes

So, on 27 December 1991 I wore my best office dress, grabbed my suitcase packed with few personal necessities, made sure that I had my passport, employment contract and the required airport documentations and a 100 dollar bill in my wallet and off I went to the Manila International Airport for my first ever flight outside the Philippine archipelago. Siyempre nagpa-picture pa ako doon sa loob ng airport para may remembrance…. hehehe…

My final destination was King Fahad Hospital in Al Baha (which is in the southwest part of Saudi Arabia) but we disembarked at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. Al Baha is about 50-minutes flight from Jeddah and almost 6 hours when traveling by land. We were picked-up by a hospital representative from the KAIA and we continued our journey to the promised land!

There were 11 of us inside the shuttle bus, all Filipinos, and even if we were tired from the 8-hour flight from Manila plus the 3 hours holding time at the Jeddah airport, all our eyes were wide open, so anxious to see how people survived in this country which we knew was a ‘desert’ land.  Just an hour after we left Jeddah, I started to panic as houses became scarce, 6 miles apart from each other, we would occasionally see tents, camels and herds in the middle of the vast desert. Although the roads were wide and cemented, there were just 1 or 2 vehicles traversing it.  There were gasoline stations along the road but you have to drive another 1 to 2 hours before you see the next one. And just like most of our gasoline stations in the Philippines, they have ‘comfort’ rooms (toilets). But I didn’t find the comfort rooms here, comforting at all! Eh kung sa Pinas nga na medyo abundant ang tubig, sometimes you will find a ‘kubeta’ na walang tubig maski sa gripo, eh how much more sa disierto?  Kaya maski uhaw na uhaw ako, I had to control my fluid intake as I did not want to use the gas stations’  ‘hammams’ (Arabic word for toilet) again.

Abha

We would pass ‘rocken’ mountains from time to time, and I wondered if I will ever see in Saudi Arabia, a mountain with even just a single shrub on it! After 4 – 5 hours traveling and seeing the same sights, parang gusto ko nang bumalik sa Pilipinas! And when we start to ascend a rocken mountain, na ang kalsada ay nasa gilid lang ng bundok, naalala ko tuloy yung ‘Patapat’ (road going to Cagayan Valley) kaya lang sa Patapat, dagat ang nasa baba ng cliff. The rocken mountains seemed to have no end, talagang nagsisisi na ako and I told myself, ‘Dios ko saan kayang lumpalop kami dadalhin? May drinking water kaya doon? May tubig pampaligo kaya ako doon? Meron kayang sari-sari store doon? Meron kayang ibang ulam doon maliban sa lamb? May electricity kaya  o television doon?’  Wala pa kasing internet cafes sa Pilipinas noon (or I was not just aware of them yet at the time) and the computers at work did not have internet connections, kaya I was not able to read anything about Saudi Arabia nor my destination – Al Baha, kaya sari-saring thoughts came to my mind as to what was waiting for me at my soon to be, second home!

Then we started to go down from the rocken mountains only to find out that just after few minutes, we will be ascending another mountain again, but hurray! I could see greens from a distance! By that time, it was almost dusk. As we continued our ascent, I could see lights from the houses scattered all over the mountain and on top of the mountain was a fully-lighted structure – the whole view seemed like a Christmas tree! What a beautiful sight!

Eggplant Farm

Finally we reached our destination – the King Fahad Hospital in Al Baha. We were escorted to our individual housing accommodation – fully furnished and with a welcome dinner pack! Having an air-conditioner/heater in my bedroom for the first time in my life, I slept peacefully. Tomorrow will be a new day…