I am, at this precise moment, t writing from heaven. Know it is not Jannah because I am not dead yet. Judgment Day has not yet arrived. There must be many things to accomplish on this earth first. Not sure, at this moment, what they are but I am convinced that they shall be revealed. Heaven is the posh five star hotel in Medina (Madinah). Posh is: elegant or stylishly luxurious. It has, so far, managed to retain its poshness despite my presence.
Yesterday’s blog found me in Mecca. The manager of the Park Inn bid me a fond farewell encouraging me to return soon. You heard that right, the Manager. Never did see the Manager of the Riyadh Hilton – not sure anyone else did either. I called him Hans the Hider, behind his back (of course) as I never saw the front (nor the back of him).
I acquired a reputation at the Park Inn. I am the woman that returned the remote. On one stay I accidentally took the room’s television remote. I was mortified. I had it returned, along with the room key identifying its home. Management was most impressed, giving me an reduced room rate upon my next stay. That was nice of them, for sure – to remember the return, not the original (accidental) theft.
If you say that it is nice of someone to say or do something, you are saying that they are being kind and thoughtful. Instead of saying nice, one can say delightful. I shall. It was delightful of you, Park Inn Management to focus on my return not my (accidental ) theft.
AK sped me to the high speed train station. It is typical Saudi Arabian WOW. Enormous, soaring architecture, clean, well organized – populated by polite, gracious staff. The absolute antithesis of Canadian airports (and probably train stations.). It was a long walk, necessitating the summoning of a wheel chair. The funniest high-spirited young black man pushed me, laughing the whole way. AK wisely purchased a business class ticket on my behalf, WhatsApped him
Me: Made it. Having a great time. Business class has no guys in towels. Hahaha
He: I am glad all is good for you. Just hung up from the hotel and made sure all is ready for you there too.
Me: Do I get a parade?
He: No. Hahahahaha
Me: Next time, maybe?
He: If we get a kidney buyer..yes.
Me: Hopefully one will do it. Hahaha
He: Hahahaha
Me: Maybe we could do a special if we need the money. But it cannot be two for the price of one. I am SO funny.
He: You are (with many laughing emojis)
I have no idea how it all started but he is constantly joking about selling off my kidney(s) to the highest bidder. Whenever he turns down a deserted road, this conversation takes place. .
Me: Oops you are kidnapping me – there goes a kidney!
He: Or two!!!
I bring out the crazy in people. I had a Bangladesh Abu Dhabi taxi driver- he drove me around, pushed me in a wheel chair through the Grand Mosque, the Abu Dhabi Louvre and the Yas Mall during my five month stay in Abu Dhabi.
He: I was a little bit crazy before I met you. Now I am totally crazy, one hundred percent crazy..
Me: You are welcome. Any time.
No idea what happened to him. He became most hostile upon learning that I was leaving for Canada. Someone said, somewhat jokingly, that he will remain permanently crazy.
Onward with the high speed train trip. Two incredible Saudi staff women came to converse during the trip. We totally connected. We spoke of our decision not to have children, their mothers’ preference for their brothers, making them cook for and wait on their brothers. This conversation began when one of the women learned of my age.
She: My mother is younger than you but she thinks and acts like her life is over. She had kids and raised them to adulthood – that was her sole purpose in life.
This woman has forged a different life for herself. Not only does she have a high status lucrative job, she also appears in ads and promotions for worthy causes. Her mother is appalled. The other woman had a similar experience with her mother. At the end of the conversation a man appeared.
Me: Oops you are going to get fired for talking to me for so long.
He: No. She is my boss.
Me: Then best you do what she says.
He: I do.
We arrived at the station. I had no idea how I was to get a wheelchair. A young man jumped on the train, coming straight at me – yelling Mama! His Mecca friend has called him, saying I needed assistance. A Pakistani Taxi driver drove me to the hotel – pointing out sights on the way, explaining their significance. One was the Mosque and the Grave of the Martyrs.
Me: I know all about that. I will show you the photo that led to my return to Mecca.
Arrived at the hotel, greeted with great enthusiasm (but no parade). Tens of staff welcoming me back, saying they missed me. A divinely elegant room but one without a view. Texted AK.
Me: I am safely in my room. PHEW
He: Glad to hear it.
Me: Not a view room. But that is okay. Got to save the best for last and this is not the last I guess. Hahaha
He: Hahaha
Back to yesterday’s blog. It contains a YouTube called Portraits Over the Years, somehow supplied by Apple Photos with no input from me. I sent the reel to my Computer Guru for inclusion on some blog.
To say the very least, it is very almost clairvoyant to receive it, and show it to the world. The synonyms of the adjective clairvoyant catch my meaning: with second sight, with a sixth sense, prophetic, visionary, oracular; telepathic, extrasensory, second-sighted.
It is extrasensory, telepathic and visionary: tracing my life through these last eight years, from my return to Vancouver in 2017 when I painted my face like the Canadian flag for Canada Day celebrations, receiving countless “Welcome Backs”. Photos of my San Francisco Days, an Arab man at the Dubai Marriott, a visit to Westminster in the UK, then back to San Francisco. A treasured photo with the chef at the Abu Dhabi Louvre Restaurant. I am pictured often jovially, partying with a glass of wine in hand. One such photo is a birthday, my 78th on the roof of my Corte Madera apartment
I have evolved, have I ever!!! Evolve is develop gradually, especially from a simple to a more complex form.
The climax to the involvement is shown in the recent Saudi Arabian photos. I have truly arrived as they say. (I have arrived is an idiom: to have achieved success and become famous). But it is much more than just becoming successful and famous.
One photo was taken at The Masmak Fort also called the Masmak Fortress or Masmak Palace, a clay and mudbrick fort in the al-Dirah neighborhood of Riyadh. It is not obvious but I am sitting on the throne of ‘Abdulaziz ibn Saud Al Saud, Was invited to do so, did not ask. I was sitting by the exit, minding my own business, when , AK came rushing toward me.
He: You cannot believe this. They said you could sit in his chair, his throne. They allow no one to do so. It is sacred.
AK left to meet the men who would open the door. I sat in the shadows, no one could see me. I wept convulsively – they were teas of joy, not sorrow.
The door was opened, I entered, sat on the gold encrusted chair. AK took the photo you see. I am dressed in a royal blue abaya.
The other treasured photo is of four happy women, all ‘covered’. We were in the second most holy of all Islamic places – the Rawdah, the burial place of the Prophet (PBUH. )
Again, I was invited, did not make an appointment. I was taken to meet a woman of enormous status, unasked. She, unasked, bestowed this privilege upon me.
Listen to the music playing during the Portrait Over the Years. The name of the song: I Say a Little Prayer for You. Go to You Tube to hear a rendition, sang beautifully by Aretha Franklin . I listened to the song and wept convulsively. The words make perfect sense, are totally applicable if she is singing (not of the love of a mere mortal man) but instead the love of Allah (SWT).
The photos that follow are ones of the Prophet’s Mosque taken during my prior visit to this Holy Sight. I must stop writing, leave my hotel room, summon an elevator. walk a few steps and visit there again. I am blessed, absolutely no doubt about that.
