Vaughn’s Blog

June 2^nd.  Flew from JFK to Dubai and Dubai to Riyadh on Emirates Airlines.  A pleasant experience overall: good service, good entertainment choices, relatively spacious cabin.  Upon landing in Dubai, I had a 10-hour layover so I did the first thing you would think to do in the situation.  Eat the McArabia.

Mcfeast

Dubai international airport

Getting onto the flight to Saudi Arabia (KSA) was an eye-opening experience.  Not only was I one of the only white males, I was also one of the only ones not wearing a thobe (male) or abaya (female).

Thobe (or Thawb)

Abaya

Glimmer of Dubai skyline as I take off for Riyadh.  Burj Dubai in the center.

After a relatively fast trip through immigration on the other side and finding my bag to be completely destroyed, I was finally in KSA on the way to the Marriott which is to be my home for a month or more.  By western standards, this would probably be a 3-4 star hotel and was very similar to a similar hotel in the US.

View of Riyadh from the hotel room.  Two major towers are Al-Faisaliyah on left and Kingdom Center on right.  Good example of security can be seen directly across the road – double walls, concrete barriers, and security checkpoints.

My first few days I locked myself in my room and crammed for the CFA exam which was scheduled for the first Saturday after my arrival (June 6).  Note to self for the future, get the street directions first, and make sure your directions include landmarks!  Even knowing the exact name of the intersection of the test center, somehow my driver got lost and almost caused me to miss the exam on Saturday morning.  It does not help that the majority of road signs have no mention of English at all.

After the exam I had some time to focus on the reason I’m here.

I wanted to write something that summarizes my experience but I found it’s a lot more difficult to fit all my observations into anything readable.  What I’ve decided to do to make this easier is grouping my observations by categories (sorted generally by the most drastic differences from what I’m used to).

1.  Heat

There is no better way to describe the weather here than ‘baking’.  The thermometer on the car today said outside temperature was 48 Celsius (about 118 Fahrenheit).  Don’t get me wrong, it’s possible to go outside for extended periods and not pass out, but that would be limited to nights or early morning.  On the plus side, it makes taking a swim much more refreshing!

Coming hand in hand with the heat is the cost of water.  The best way to describe it is to compare fuel pricing.  Gas (petrol) here costs around $0.50 – $0.65 per gallon depending on the grade – price fixed by the government.  That makes fuel cheaper than water, which runs at least $1 per gallon if it is healthy to drink.  Plumbing is cheaper, however, as desalinated water flows through all the pipes under Riyadh.  Ironically, I have seen plenty of wasted water – almost every day I will come across a worker watering plants in the morning or afternoon at the peak of heat (everyone knows it’s better to water at night, right?)

2.  Burka

Since Saudi is a country governed strictly by the rules of Islam, it is generally forbidden for women to show any part of their body.  Downstairs from where I work there is a mall which is full of teenagers on summer holiday at this time of year.  While every woman does wear a robe to cover the body, there are various interpretations about whether she needs to cover the head/hair (hijab) and the face (niqab).  However, there is a group called the hai’a or Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice whose officers (muttawa) patrol public areas and generally have the authority to correct the behavior of those who are not conforming to the rules.  If any woman is not wearing the head covering, they will point it out and the woman will quickly obey so as to avoid further trouble.

It is also very strictly prohibited for unrelated women and men to engage in any sort of conversation.  However, it is obvious that the younger generation is not fully behind this specific rule.

In fact, there are only two places where I have noticed women are not forced to wear burkas:

-          Hospitals (nurses wear traditional scrubs)

-          Residential compounds (in fact most compounds prohibit wearing “traditional dress”)

3.  Housing

The housing is generally sorted into two major categories: on-compound or off-compound.  Many expats believe they need to be on a compound due to security concerns (in 2003 there were some attacks on compounds, the most significant being a carbombing).  However, the Saudi government has made great strides in improving security (sample shown in pic above) and has cracked down on extremist activities.  So much so that I don’t feel a bachelor living here needs to be on a compound.  Rather, he can easily make friends on compounds and use their pool/courts when needed.  However, couples generally do find it much easier to live on a compound due to the increased freedom and social activities available on compound.  In fact, the security measures can become rather tedious.

For my living situation, I had visited almost every large compound in Riyadh.  After a number of weeks on waiting lists for 4-5 of the more affordable compounds, I finally got called in and just moved in yesterday.  The standard practice here is to pay the full year of rent upfront.  Fortunately, most companies employing expats have ways of assisting, usually by providing an advance against one’s annual housing allowance.

Before a new tenant moves in, landlords will repaint, repair damages, replace carpets, and usually cooperate with minor requests from the tenant.  Additionally most compounds are furnished.  Of course, “Furnished” means different things in different places.  Seder Village provides all furniture and all appliances except a dishwasher and microwave.  Unfortunately if you don’t want the furniture, it is no cheaper to rent the unit unfurnished.  Some complexes provide all utilities including TV and internet, and some provide none.  Seder provides phone and basic TV service and the tenants pay water/power/other charges.

4. Driving

About 3 weeks ago I got my driver’s license.  Without help from somebody who knows the system, I’m confident it would take all day to get through the process.  There are no instructions and no guidance posted, especially for non-Arabic speakers.  Fortunately I went with one of the company drivers who took me up to Dallah driving school north of the city, where driving licenses are issued.  Outside the school is a “translator” office, where any non-Arab must have his documents inspected and put into a green folder.  Without the green folder, he can’t proceed although it adds no real value.  Funny enough, the whole process took about an hour including an eye test and a driving test, and this was longer than normal.

New visitors to the Kingdom (as Saudi is affectionately called) are always astounded at the driving standards here.  With no exaggeration I’ve seen the following first hand:

-                      Person in right hand lane of a 5-lane highway turn left at an intersection.

-                      Small sedan practicing their drifting between traffic.

-                      Remains of demolished cars sitting on the side of the road.

-                      Fistfight in the middle of a highway over some minor issue (maybe tailgating).

And many other capers as well as others people have told me about.  I’ve heard these are some of the most dangerous roads in the world.  Just look up “arab drifting” on Youtube for a sample.

I will post a separate blog describing the process for buying a car.

Helpful links

Joyce and I have come across some great links while researching for our stay here.  Funny enough, most of the really helpful websites are blogs by former or current expats who chose to tell about their stay.  Most companies and agencies here are completely devoid of a web presence so the below end up being very helpful for the random facts you need to get through life.

Workinginsaudiarabia.blogspot.com

americanbedu.com

Of course, searching google for “Saudi blog” returns some other good results.

I’m happy to write about specific topics should anybody ask.

Misc pictures below

Where I work

North-facing view of Riyadh from my office.  Four Seasons’ tennis courts.

Typical retail strip on King Fahd street.

Typical retail strip view

Street view at Fal Compound – the biggest by number of units and best social scene.

One of the shoddier compounds I viewed – looks like pre-fab building.

I wonder why rent here is so low.

Newly renovated villa off a compound – more bang for the buck, but no security.

One of the nicer pools – arab investment compound.

Watch out for these cars on the road.