Trying to look on the Bright Side of Saudi Life! ....

Friday 17th April 2009
I suppose this counts as my last night of freedom .... before I'm fed to the lions that is.

No, no. Now, I've been told that this blog is far too pessimistic (thanks BB!). So I'm going to make this entry as positive as it is possible to do so. And in fact, I CAN make it fairly positive because the weekend trip to town was quite a good one and there are some interesting observations to relate to you all.

You may not know it (and it is not obvious from where I'm living) but I am quite near the sea. The Arabian Gulf to be precise, and if I look across it then there is Iran on the other side .... but not THAT close. Bahrain too is 'in the way' across the causeway. And a little further down is Qatar where they have held the recent Formula 1 grand prix (which, I'm led to believe, was washed out by a rain storm!). Much further down too is the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which includes Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Decided, together with my teaching colleague friend that it would be good to go down to the area of town which is called The Corniche. Well I don't actually think we made it that far. But anyway, taxi ride over with it was just a short stroll across a green area to the coastal part.
“The coastal part”, I say. Well, no, it certainly isn't Bournemouth Promenade, there are no ice cream stalls, definitely no pier, and for SURE no amusement arcades or popcorn stands. In fact, in the part we were in there was no beach at all. There IS a beach area around called 'Half Moon Beach', which is not used so much even by locals. Well, to be fair, it is a taboo thing for Saudis to go on the beach. You might find them NEAR the beach sitting on the green area, but they won't be in shorts and swimming costumes. Just sitting there, and there were a few there under trees just letting the day go by.

But it WAS the sea, and I can at least say I have seen sight of the Arabian Gulf. No ships of any description around. It was actually quite a dusty day and there was a noticeable dust cloud in the distance in a northerly direction. This did start to come in later and dust and sand started blowing around which is always unpleasant.

That 'pleasure' over with, in we went to Starbucks for the obligatory (in my case) ice latte. And a nice piece of chocolate marble cake. We found a table inside (as it was not so pleasant outside) and had a seat. Drinks out, cake on plate, basically everything was at it should always be. “Oh, how I wish I could have more of this sort of thing!”, I said.

However, those were short-lived words. Because, as so often happens in Saudi Arabia, you are never far away from the next Prayer Time. And so it was, and so we had to go out of Starbucks and sit outside in the less pleasant warm conditions. Not hot, but rather uncomfortable. “This is the expat life”, my friend said. Well .... so it is “Life Between Prayer Times” then!

Sat there, finished drinks and cake and across the road to the next place to check out – the row(s) of shops which go behind Tamimi's to the town behind. It seemed an area worth exploring which is, after all, what being in a foreign country is all about! The Joy Of Travel! Well .... isn't it?? And so off we went.

As I said, it wasn't a hot day but one which just saps all the energy out of you with heat combined with some humidity and a fair amount of dust and sand in the air. So wander around we did. Our first 'port of call' was an interesting-looking large shop which is, I suppose, the Saudi equivalent of 'Poundstretcher' that we have in the UK. In other words, a shop full of all sorts of goods at nice, low prices and things that are most likely cheap imports from China and the like. Not necessarily quality, but a good range with prices to match.

I'm not normally a shopper as you know. But I got quite caught up in this. After some time browsing, I came out with some spray cans of Adidas deoderant, an optical mouse for my laptop and some laptop speakers which were cheap (and maybe good, maybe not). Upstairs too were various clothing items – shirts, trousers, some jackets and t-shirts. Basically this was a good shop with a good selection of things and is well worth visiting again. But I don't remember its name though it is a pretty big shop round the back of Tamimi's in Khobar.

So a good start to the browsing wander. On we went to see what else was available. But the rest wasn't nearly so promising. There was a row of fishmonger's, some travel agents, barbers every now and then and LOTS AND LOTS of hardware stores with everything for the DIY enthusiast – well, screws, door handles, drills and the like. Ah, and a mosque of course. At first I thought we'd be yelled at for even being on the same side of the road as the place or for looking at it as we passed. But all that happened was that an Arab man came up behind us giving out booklets in English on Islam. Well, I took one just for the fun of it. Don't think I'll read it. Probably I'll put it with my other souvenirs.

On we went and then came back when all that was to be seen was seen. Back to another nice-looking cafe. And after that hot, humid and dusty walk we sure needed a sit-down and something to drink. So in we went. A nice air-conditioned welcome as always! Yes, they do get THAT right here! Sat down, BBC World on the TV and ordered our coffees – this time I had a Frappuccino. And very nice it was too.

So there we are with drinks and chat when I see a strange sight outside the windowed door. A woman in traditional full black dress with abbaya on came up to one Saudi guy who was sitting outside. At first I thought, “Well, she must be his wife who he'd been waiting for”. But of course that couldn't be since women here can't go out alone. I mean, NEVER! So that was impossible. She asked him something and then came to our cafe where we were. In she came just like that and went to each table to ask the Saudi guys there for ... something. Now, sitting to our right were three Saudi guys in full white smock and red checked headgear. When that woman came through the door, they all stopped talking and turned around REAL QUICK to look at her. It was as if they'd seen a ghost – I don't mean a look of fear but a look at something that was a kind of, “What the HELL is THIS??”.Anyway, she visited each table but didn't come to ours. Even if she HAD, we would not have been able to talk to her. Men and women simply can NOT mix in public and CERTAINLY not foreigners!

So what we witnessed was something that DOES NOT HAPPEN in Saudi Arabia. It cannot and it is prohibited. If this had been Riyadh then who knows WHAT the consequences would have been for that woman. Any religious police around would have dealt with her quite severely! I've never seen those guys yet, and I hope not to.

VERY strange it was! WHAT a thing to see happen!! I suppose she was begging or was desperate in some other way for something she had been deprived of. It is hard to know what she could have wanted or what would have made her try such a risky thing as she did. No, I do not over-dramatise it – this is how it is here.

I went to the toilet. When I came back, I was told that ANOTHER woman had come to the cafe and had done almost the same thing. THIS time though, the table of three Saudi men were much more firm with her and she did not risk coming through the door further.

Drama Drama!!

Into Tamimi's then for the weekly shopping. Was much the same as it always is. I got loads of grapefruit this time as it was so good last week and I ran out too soon. Noticed that there was a Russian couple with two young children in the store. I suppose they were from Aramco as just about all foreigners are in this area. Wondered how the Russian woman felt having to wear the traditional all-over black “dress” that it seems foreign women are expected to wear. Was nice to hear a relatively familiar foreign 'tongue' instead of English and Arabic for a change. So we Brits and the Americans are not the only nationalities here!

Well, back to the compound, and it was after 9pm when we got back. Called it a day. Must say that when we come up to the gates in the taxi, I always get this kind of sinking feeling like we're back in the 'prison'.

Well, that's about all that happened at the weekend. Tomorrow starts the first day of the long run up to August with the military class that I'm NOW going to have. Four x 50minute lessons a day, five days a week. REALLY too much for them and for me!

OK, the optimism is over. So I'll end on a much more familiar pessimistic note. Go on, let me do it! Well the drama HERE is actually WHEN the soldier boys course is going to end.

After lots of time sitting about on my behind doing nothing, it is good to get started I suppose. But I am looking forward to the summer time which I will spend partly in England, partly in Poland with my son and partly on some kind of holiday of my own. I have no wish to be here in Saudi during Ramadan.

But here's the problem which has now come up. Ramadan starts on 22nd August, and therefore that SHOULD mean that the last day with this class should be Wednesday 19th August. And so, on this day, the thing to do would to be flying back to England.

HOWEVER, they have now “kindly” informed us that the military boys course will now go ONE WEEK INTO RAMADAN! This would mean ending something like 26th August.

You know what this will mean? Well, for starters it will mean I get almost NO TIME in August to take my son to Poland. In fact, it wouldn't be worth it as we would have less than a week. So, having kept me waiting FIVE WEEKS doing nothing and with NO INFORMATION, these people now expect that I should lose my valuable and much-needed holiday time with family. That is REALLY NOT GOOD!

I have already told the Head of Department that I am really not happy with this. “Well,” he said, “if we can find a replacement for you during that week then fine but this is unlikely since everyone will be away by this time.”

“And if you insist on taking that time as holiday when you should be working, then I'll be happy to drive you to the airport because that's the way they work around here!”

So, as you see, it seems I have to choose between work/money and family/holiday. What would YOU do??

Not sure about myself. I have had a bad enough time here as it is waiting for things that never happen. And now THIS?? Is this going to happen EVERY HOLIDAY TIME?? It's alright for those guys who have no family back home and nobody waiting for them who is missing them and who they can't wait to see. And it's OK for those guys for who this in Saudi Arabia IS LIFE as opposed to anywhere else. I NEED to have that time away!

However .... after talking to some online friends, I have been persuaded that I need to sit tight. After all, they don't know me yet and if I play this game of 'brinkmanship' too early on then they would have no option but to fire me. Also, I have no means of bargaining with them in a work society which is operated by the military. What they say pretty much GOES .... even though it takes them ages to get it organised.

However, we will see how it goes. If this class is a total nightmare then I might feel in August that enough is enough. I don't want to do that since it is a throw-away of good money. But what IS good money if it doesn't make me happy? Anyone got an answer to that?

I know I have to think once again of the reasons why I am here and that being here is all about 'recovery' and 'growth'. Just like the world economic crisis, I can't let things just fall away. HOWEVER, there is only so much space inside my poor, tired little brain and the Trouble Count is rising all the time.

“It's a hard knock life!”