February 2014
Well I'm here - in the land of the Qur'an and Sharia law. I've
been here about a week and here are my initial impressions in the land of the
golden sun. The picture above on the blog is of the Kindom Center which is a
multi-use facility with shopping, apartments, and the Four Seasons Hotel - also
the second largest building in the world with a 'hole' at the top. Locally
referred to as the can opener.
First let me tell you about the "rules" in the Kingdom:
there is no alcohol, no bars, clubs, movie theaters, etc. Women are second
class citizens who cannot drive, or be alone in public (they will get the vote
in 2015 and are ranked 130th of 134 in gender parity). When you go
to a restaurant (of which there are many including many western chains) there
are two sections: one for men (singles), one for families. Even I, a western
expat must respect the rules when in public such as no shorts (above the knee)
despite the sizzling summer temperatures which can exceed 50 degrees Celsius.
In February the temps are very comfortable during the day (21 - 25) and quite
cool at night (12 – 15). Most expats live in compounds - not so much for
security or danger but to keep us segregated from the general public. Some estimates
put the expat community at around 30% of the population. With a city population
of 5 million that puts about 1.5 million of us in Saudi Arabia’s largest city. Don't
be fooled though as a large portion of these people are relegated to menial
jobs (cleaning and service staff, construction workers and the like). They hail
from the Philippines, Bangladesh, India, and Africa struggling to make a better
way for themselves and family. What the percentage of those are higher paid
consultants like myself I cannot comment on - however a quick google search
indicated that population of North Americans and Europeans in Saudi is less than
300,000 in a country of 30 million (or 1%). A recent article in the Arab times
indicates that within the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) expatriates are 30% in
Saudi but an estimated 80% in the UAE (notably Dubai and Abu Dhabi). Most as
noted above are low paying jobs. In these economies the local Saudi's, as those
in the AUE, tend not to do the service jobs. Not unlike the problems in America
with their crackdown on Mexican immigration (legal and otherwise) although it
is only these people willing to do certain menial, service type jobs.
As for the compound I can't complain - as it was described to me:
think of a condo you might rent in Florida: it has a swimming pool, tennis
court, full gym, play structures for kids, and public areas. My 'villa' as they
are called is huge - a two bedroom, three bath, two story place fully furnished
including full kitchen (including dishwasher and washer/dryer). At approximately
2,200 sq ft it is well over twice the size of my home in Winnipeg of some 800
sq ft. The description turns out to be accurate - after getting past the armed
checkpoints and walking down the street you wouldn't know if you were in
Florida or Saudi Arabia.
The office is a cluster of brand new glass towers (some buildings
are not yet complete) some 20kms drive down a busy freeway from the villa's
where we all live. The five or so buildings are the new headquarter of the
Saudi Electric Corporation. It also has a 1/2 built Hilton Hotel well underway
in the same complex.
While the buildings are brand new some things are not; elevators that ding all day long like a Vegas casino with no rhyme or reason as to which elevator might show up as each up and down lights take their turn dinging announcing the arrival (perhaps) to start the journey up or down. We think there is an express elevator (16 to ground) but nothing is marked. They are also very small by modern standards - and many times we will stop for passengers that no longer have capacity.
As for women I still can’t get over seeing women completely
covered in their Abaya's and Niqab (the face cover with only slits for the
eyes). I was standing in line at the grocery store not unlike anywhere at home
- but if I could only get a picture (it is prohibited to photograph women) of
those around me - women covered head to toe, and men in their thobes with head
dress. Only the Saudi's adopt this dress code. Abaya’s are only in black with
jokes going around among us like the model T- you can have any color you
want as long as it's black, or for men – check out
that chick in the black!
Religion is a big part of everyday life in the kingdom. One thing
for sure I would be a lazy Muslim, as adhering to the religion takes a lot of
work. This includes the call to prayer 7 times/day (with the expectation you
observe 5 of these). For example at the foyer into the elevator banks I noted a
Sharpee mark on the carpet: a line and an arrow pointing to Kabba (south-west) -
the centre of Islam's most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram, in Mecca, Saudi
Arabia. Or for people previously ignorant, such as myself - the big black block
that Muslims the world over try to get to at least once in their lives. Carpets
are rolled out and prayer begins for 15 mins. In addition to the call to prayer
over loudspeakers all over the city (yes even the middle of the night) the guys
in the office also chant out load as they proceed with their prayer. We went to the grocery store after work where
the key is to get in before prayer time – while there is no service or check
out you can continue your shop until prayers are done and then go to the check
out. In fact our lives are controlled by two main factors: prayer time and traffic.
This is a big, busy metropolis with modern infrastructure very much like any
big American city - however good the freeways - they cannot handle the rapid
growth. As a result we leave for work abound 6am to beat the traffic: instead
of 20 mins it takes us, leave at 7 and the same commute could take an hour or
more. We also leave early at the end of the day to beat one of the prayer times
at around 3 pm (it changes with the moon phases). Most of us have an
"app" for that (there are many including iPray) to plan what we do and
when we do it (i.e. can we get to the grocery story before prayer time?). These
nifty apps (there are many) informs you the prayer times, a compass to line you
up properly to the Kabba, the nearest mosque, and other helpful info. Mosques
as you can imagine are prominent all over the city - there are an estimated
2,000 mosques in this city alone, including the highest mosque in the world on
the 77th floor of the Kingdom Tower.
As for groceries you can get any product here (and then some) that
you could at home though local culture and tastes make for some local
differences - my impression was that they don't do cheese as we do - with limited
selections of shredded cheese, or cheese slices we use for burgers or grilled
cheese. What they lack in those items they make up with all kinds of other
creamy cheeses made from goat and dairy. Meat is much the same though chicken
is a big favorite and there is no pork in the kingdom. So the bacon double
cheese burger at the local mcdonalds is out as I don’t do turkey bacon. Overall
I would say things are a little cheaper (and no tax) except for some items -
for example only leaf lettuce is widely used. The few heads of iceberg lettuce
I did see were very expensive - about 75 SAR or about $4/head.
So week one is done and 11 more to go with more adventures to
follow. I finally got my drivers permit and car keys so that will enable me to
get out and explore more and get a better orientation to this large city.
Such a strange and faraway city across the world I have flown
A village only yesterday, to a large city that has exponentially grown.
A village only yesterday, to a large city that has exponentially grown.
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