Paramedic

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Paramedic to the Prince

I just finished reading Paramedic to the Prince: An American Paramedic's Account of Life Inside the Mysterious World of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable read.  I didn't know a whole lot about Saudi Arabia before reading the book.  I knew that the Saudi royal family was rich, but just how rich I had no idea.  Had the author just given me monetary figures, I think I still wouldn't have a clue.  Since he was the paramedic to Crown Prince Abdullah, he saw things and knew of things the average person doesn't see.  For example, the prince has three palaces in Saudi Arabia.  He has more other places, but three in Saudi.  However, each palace is actually a compound.  Within each of those are five palaces, one for each of his four wives and her children, and one for him.  There are other buildings, too, as well as grounds with ample greenery, etc.  This in and of itself didn't surprise me much.  However, when he said that each of those many palaces are updated yearly - all new furnishing, new everything - the cost of it was staggering.  The same goes for palaces outside Saudi.  Some of those palaces have never been used, or only used for a few days or weeks, yet they are immaculately maintained.  He told one story of a palace in Spain that was built, never used, but maintained for 5 or 10 years.  Then they decided they needed it for some reason (I think because some VIP was having surgery in Spain and was going to recover there).  So the entire immaculate and well kept palace was stripped and redone.  Furthermore, the fleet of about 50 Mercedes with zero miles on them, but that were 5-10 years old, were discarded and replaced by a new fleet of 50.  This sort of thing is totally common place.  At first, I was absolutely floored by the wastefulness.  And it is so very wasteful.  However, after reading about the culture and how things work, I'm quite sure none of the furnishing were thrown into a land fill.  They were just sold by those fortunate enough to be in positions where these things trickle down. 

I was talking to D about this story and he told me one of his own.  He had a friend in London whose roommate worked in a shoe store.  One day a Saudi prince came into the store with his wives.  The retailer helped the prince and his wives and apparently provided good service.  The next day he shows up to work and the keys to a brand new Porsche are handed to him; that was his tip.

Another fun fact: the Guiness Book of World Records is a book banned there (at least at one time) because the record for the most money lost in one day gambling in Vegas goes (went?) to a Saudi prince who lost $40 million in one day in Vegas.  The money is absolutely staggering.

I think the thing I enjoyed most about this book was its lack of pretentiousness and it's lack of social commentary.  The author doesn't shy away from his frustrations with the Saudi culture, but in his complaining about it, it's the same tone one would use when talking about a less-than-stellar former company.  He flatly says he has a love-hate relationship with the country and both aspects are easily evident in the writing.  The hate relationship, though, comes not from looking down on a culture or saying Western ways are better, but rather simply from logic, so absent from the writing is any sort of malice even if the author and almost all Western readers find some cultural norms of Saudi abhorrent.

Of course, now that Greg Mortenson's book has been shown to be less than truthful, and James Frey's before that, I'm always suspicious of non-fiction accounts.  However, I'm more inclined to believe the accounts in this book to be true simply for their lack of portraying the author in any sort of heroic or extraordinary light.  Yes, he was in a position to meet world leaders, but it's clear he was just doing it for the adventure and the salary. 

Anyway, I highly recommend this book if anyone is looking for a quick read about another culture.  There are a few rough things about the culture - their treatment of animals, their treatment of women - but it's limited to several sentences at most and is not difficult to read simply due to the lack of detail and lack of emotional connection. 

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IVs may be working

I'm feeling really good today.  Last week was really rough.  I was emotionally down and not feeling great physically.  I started to feel better on Friday, had a good weekend with the three kids, a good amount of patience, and no overwhelming need to nap (i.e. I could nap, but wasn't dying to take a nap).  Today I went in for my third IV.  He asked how my mood was and I realized it had been up and fairly even for several days.  He said that's good and that's typical.  I wasn't aware that the vitamins and minerals would/could have an impact on my mood, so it was an interesting connection.

The difference in me is subtle, so I cannot say for sure that this process has done anything.  Maybe I was due for an upswing anyway.  Who knows.  Regardless, I'm happy to be in an upswing.

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Head Fore

Avery has been calling her forehead her headfore for the past several weeks.  It's cute, but it's also weird because I am pretty sure that prior to that she knew it was a forehead.

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Goggles

The swim goggles worked to get Avery a bit more into swimming class.  She still needs to be able to do it without them.  She's not at all scared of the water or hesitant to get in, but she doesn't particularly like having her head underwater.  At least not during swim lessons.  In Mexico she never seems to have any problem whatsoever with it.  I can't wait for Mexico in October, which is when we next plan to go, so I can how her swimming has progressed.