5 Minutes

(My jeans peeking out from under my abaya)

As I began setting the clocks in my villa, and as I also started checking both my Saudi cell phone and my American smart phone for the time, at first I thought it was me. Then, I thought maybe the battery in my watch had died...but I just replaced it, so that couldn't be. Finally, I checked my two phones at the same time, and noticed that they were a little less than 5 minutes different. I was a little shocked, but again, I thought it was just my phone.

It wasn't.

The clocks here actually are 5 minutes behind the time that it says on smart phones and computers. At the school where I teach, every hall clock says something different. That means that on my computer I have one time, on my watch I have another, and walking down the hall to my class, I see yet another time.

There isn't anything I can do about it - and I've noticed that conveniently, the students expect me to go by the US clocks (5 minutes earlier) in the mornings, and by the Saudi clocks (5 minutes later) in the afternoons. That way, we can all be 5 minutes late to class in the morning, and leave 5 minutes early at the end of the day. I'm not even sure if this was ever a conscious decision - although it does make me wonder if a Saudi prince somewhere changed the clocks just for kicks - but it really does reflect a completely different attitude towards time.

In five minutes, a lot can happen.

In five minutes, I can pack a lunch for the day.

In five minutes, I can put my hair up into a ponytail and brush my teeth.

In five minutes, I can gather class materials and take them to my classroom.

In five minutes, we can recap the day's lesson.

In five minutes, I can take a deep breath, put in my headphones, and listen to a song to refresh.

In five minutes, I can make a cup of coffee.

In five minutes, I can copy handouts for class.

...and the list goes on.

In the American mindset, five minutes difference represents lost time, and therefore lost productivity. But here, it doesn't seem to matter. No one really seems to care about it. At first it was driving me crazy, and just for my own sanity I had to choose which clock I was going to go with... now, I'm working on a balance.

Honestly, it reminds me that "time" is something people came up with...even Ancient Egyptians had time telling devices and sun-based calendars. Then in our times came GPS and atomic clocks. My experiences here so far have made me re-think many things, including my perception of time and the priority it has in my life.




- Courtney