Into the Kingdom: #8 Where am I and Why?

As noted in the last blog I am pretty much half way through my assignment here in Riyahd, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I signed up for 3 months starting mid-February culminating with my departure back to Winnipeg early (1:00 am) on May 14th.

As I have tried to elucidate in these blogs from my previous adventures (Timor and Nigeria - I didn't understand blogs in 2001 when I spent six weeks in India) there are many benefits and pitfalls of doing international work. The first thing you realize, and for me similar to the feeling your the only person in the world that has to get up when the alarm rings before the dawn, is that you are not alone as there are many people/families that find themselves in some far away land many miles from home. For example my neighbor here in the Villa where we live, is a Canadian school teacher from BC, with her French (France French) husband and there 3 year old son Sebastian who have been doing international work for approximately 11 years in various location throughout the world. While not exactly sure of their motivation compared to mine (the longest stint I have done away from home is only nine months) one thing is abundantly clear; in almost all cases: you wouldn't do it unless there was some incentive for doing so. In the case of most educated people in the western world that motivation is money. I'm not sure about career diplomats such as ambassadors, but for everyone else it seems money is at the very least the initial draw.The exception being that in this part of the world as noted before, there are many immigrants here from India, Pakistan, and the Philippines (among other nationalities), and some of their motivation is as simple as finding work when there is no opportunity for work in their respective homeland. The hairdresser that does business in our Compound is a woman in her late 50's from the Philippines, as she mentioned to me when I went to have work done, she is here, and has been from some 20 years, because she wants to work and there is no work for here back home.

The first question I have to ask is when you have been away from your original home so long - where is home now? I met a Filipino man the other day that has been in the Kingdom for 21 years! Unlike friends or family back home that may move elsewhere in Canada or even the United States, it becomes fairly clear with these people after time, kids, houses etc that there home is now there. Internationally I don't know if the same general rule applies. While I'm sure there are many instances that home is that new place when, for example, you find a local spouse, is it ever really home versus the place where you live? I like cliché’s and what fits here is: home is where the heart is. An interesting question certainly, that I have no answer for.

That said, lets make that assumption that for my circumlocution, most people like myself are initially motivated by the extra money they will earn. I will not deny that the extra money you earn is a nice bonus, and as I found out in Timor especially, sometimes it isn't the extra money you make compared to the money you don't spend. For me though I have found that while I will never refuse the extra money I am more cognizant of what you give up.

As with most things in life there is a cost - benefit to every choice we make. Most of these costs in this instance are intangible - while I don't have to pay my $100+ cable/Internet bill every month, what is the cost of not being with family and friends I miss, the convenience of knowing your local environment, having a Costco to go to, or having no language barriers? Unlike previous international work I have been fortunate enough to do, this one is different in that I miss the responsibility and time with my dog (Norm), as I don't have a wife or children to miss (though some argue convincingly otherwise in that the family dog is sometimes the only one that is always happy to see you)! I miss the normality that being at home affords you. The other cost that I am finding more poignant now versus the past as I get closer and closer to retirement: it is time off that has as much or more value in relation to the extra dollars in the bank. Here we work five day week with no holidays (we get neither Saudi or Canadian stat holidays) whereas back at home I enjoyed Statutory Holidays and every second Monday off (a Hydro perk non hydro people will not have any sympathy for).

As everyone is different and place different values on things, sometimes these decisions can be agonizingly hard or relatively easy. For example this can be a perfect avenue to escape something at home you chose to run away from (a messy separation, losing a job, ex-partners, etc), or just take a break from the daily grind at home. Thankfully, or not, that doesn't apply in my case and so I question, other than money, what my motivation is? Rationalization or not some of those things are; visiting places you may not otherwise ever want, or dream, of visiting. Saudi Arabia is a prime example of this as there is virtually no tourism in this country - there are no Visa's issued unless your purpose is explicit as to the reason for your visit (the exception being non-Saudi Muslims that converge here during religious events to see the Kaaba). Good or bad I won't argue either way about the Visa’s - but another example of how the Saudi government has the flexibility thanks to vast oil wealth to not be concerned about tourist dollars that are, in some cases a large part of some countries GNP.

The other bonus of this type of work, if you appreciate such things, is that you live as a local and not as a tourist. You meet real people, living real lives, not just hotel staff and others that know you are a tourist. Personally that is very important to me, and as a result I have met some wonderful people in my travels.

Another little extra bonuses, for me, are the realization of what your doing, and more importantly where you are doing it. Sometimes I have this sudden realization in my head, for example driving home at the end of the day cruising at 120kms/hr (everyone drives horrendously fast here and you quickly accustom to the local way) that here I am driving myself home in a foreign country some 12,000 kilometers from home. Or shopping for groceries - the things you do all the time at home but don't give a second thought. Like last evening after work I went out on my own to get another thawb for myself and trying (successfully in the end I am proud to report) to negotiate and barter with the shopkeeper despite my lack of Arabic, and his of English, in the local Souq (rhymes with tuque) where I'm sure I was the only white guy. A Souq is a traditional Middle Eastern open air market that began historically outside of towns to greet the caravans of travellers arriving to the region). No doubt on those wonderful camels!

In a similar vain let me just highlight some of the little things that I like and don’t this country/city:

What I like:

That in the grocery stores you will never see ground beef on the shelf, instead you pick something off the shelf of various meat cuts and have it ground, or similarly say to the butcher I want some lean ground beef and he does it for you then;
Seeing or experiencing something new everyday;
Doing the ordinary in an out of the ordinary location;
Paying for something that you think is expensive but after conversion isn’t at all (a bottle of water anywhere is 1SR or about $0.30, to have my thawb washed and pressed at the local laundry is $1.50);
Experiencing the culture and a different way of life (though in the end life is pretty much the same anywhere – people getting up before they want to, the daily grind of life);
Reaffirming the luck of the genetic draw and realizing how lucky we are to live where we do. While we complain about many things (taxes for one) in reality there is really nothing to complain about;
Paying for a litre of gas that was the same price as what we paid in the mid-seventies (approx $0.17/litre);
Services like the laundry, is inexpensive (no doubt because of the exploited non-skilled immigrants from India, Pakistan and the like).

What I don't like:

Because the city is growing/changing so fast GPS units only get you so close to your destination (which can be a problem in itself if the sign is in Arabic). For example if you familiar with using a GPS in the car it will chirp at you to turn in 400 meters. Well here (especially left turns) there is no where to turn in 400 meters;
Not being to communicate effectively (my fault but learning Arabic or their character set is beyond me in the limited time I have);
Seeing women always covered up;
Driving protocol – there is no point to lane paint, speed limits, or turn signals (even at stop lights some guys get impatient and just go through the red);
Not being able to have a beer poolside on a hot day;
Certain everyday protocols of courtesy that are not the same here, like a proper queue for your turn, a simple kindness of opening a door open for someone, letting someone ahead at the grocery store when your have two items and they have a cart full (very few express lines here);
Prayer time and the city wide chanting broadcast everywhere, and the inconvenience it causes.