Haram

Haram is a very important word here in the Middle East. Haram can be (we are told) loosely translated as “forbidden”. There are a lot of things that are haram in Saudi Arabia. You have the obvious haram things like alcohol and nudity. But there’s also haram stuff that people don’t usually know about. Like for example, people don’t usually know that Mecca is off limits (haram) to non-Moslems. We heard at one party that a Chinese construction firm had actually asked their construction workers to convert to Islam when the company received a contract in Mecca.

Hubster and I recently visited the “second Petra” of Saudi Arabia. It’s basically the same as Petra in Jordan without any tourists. On our way there, we flew to Madinah. Madinah is the second holy city in Saudi Arabia. The airport itself is not haram for non-Moslems, but it was interesting how there were huge concrete arches on both sides of the road leading away from the airport with haram signs. Our driver/guide decided to take the risk and try to get us through the haram area (safely tucked away in the backseat of the SUV) to save about 100km of driving. As he put it about the checkpoint guards: “Hamdullah, he is busy talking to his friend” and we passed through the checkpoint and haram area without any incident.

Here's a picture of one of the concrete arches that were on both sides of the road in Makkah (picture stolen from the internet)

Compounds

Been meaning to write about compounds for almost a year now...

Most westerners in Saudi live in compounds. We are no exception to that. Inside the compounds life goes on much as it goes on anywhere in the western world. There is no need to wear an abaya, or cover your hair. In some compounds it’s actually forbidden to wear anything but western clothes. That’s the category that our compound also falls into.

Compounds are like mini cities. Most come with their own restaurant, grocery store, video rental store, hair dresser, swimming pool, tennis courts and gym. There’s one compound in Riyadh that even has its own golf course. Some also have small hotels for visiting relatives. The size of a compound varies a lot. We heard that the biggest compound in Riyadh has approx. 3000 houses. Some of the smallest ones have around 15 houses. Our compound has about 300 apartments of all sizes. The smallest units are studio apartments and the biggest are villas with their own private swimming pools.

Compounds that have western residents need to take extra security measures because of a few bombing incidents in 2003 that specifically targeted western compounds. In practice, that means the Saudi National Guard is at the gate 24/7. They have big mean looking guns too. When you enter a compound you first go through a security check at the first gate. This is where they check your car, that you are not carrying anything suspicious in your trunk etc. After the first gate you often have to drive to the second gate, and only then you enter the compound itself. In some cases there is also a third gate. Yes, they take security very seriously around here.

All compounds require you inform the gate of any visitors you are expecting and will not let them in unless they present a valid ID at the gate. Many compounds will also not let you drive your car inside unless you’re a resident. If you have a guy coming to repair your threadmill or whatever, you’ll need to let the security know about it too, or he won’t be allowed to enter.

Oh and in case you were wondering, the muttawa are not allowed to enter compounds.

Kubbar Island Beach Clean-up Drive

Littering is a serious problem all over the Middle East. Too many people just throw their trash on the streets - e.g. you see people opening their car windows / doors at traffic lights and simply emptying everything on the road.

Luckily, more and more people are starting show some initiative towards protecting and conserving the nature. This short video is from Kuwait were the beach of the beautiful Kubbar island was cleaned recently as a part of the Earth Day 2012.

Time to Start Learning Some Arabic?

According to Arabian Business, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior has recently decided to ban the use of "Western calendar" in all official dealings in favor of the Hijri calendar traditionally used in the Arab world.

Hijri has always been the offical calendar for any governmental dealings (e.g. visas) but now they try enforce private companies to follow the same. It will be interesting to see how this works out e.g. for Saudi Airlines and flight bookings.

The more interesting part of the same news is the demand for any front of house staff (e.g. company switchboard operators, hotel reception staff etc.) to stop answering the phone in English.

As I am getting a significant number of business calls to my mobile each day, I guess it is finally time for me to start learning Arabic... Or then, the more likely outcome is that these decisions are forgotten as suddenly as they were announced and the life in the Magic Kingdom just goes on.

Saudization Has Claimed Us

We haven’t updated this blog much lately. K has a hypothesis that this is mainly due to two reasons:
1) An insane amount of university work on K’s table (which as now let up, hence this post).
2) Because we have become Saudiaized.

Saudiazation is a program run by the government that tries to tackle unemployment and other problems in Saudi Arabia by employing Saudis, granting cheap mortgages etc. Basically it’s a let’s-try-to-keep-our-citizens-happy-by-giving-them-cheap-loans-nice-jobs-and-benefits. Expats usually refer to it with humor by saying someone has become Saudiaized when he’s picked up Saudi habits. An example of a Saudi habit is driving on reverse on a three-lane highway when realizing the you’ve just missed your exit by a kilometer.

You know you’ve become Saudiaized when you:

…have been boxed in and think nothing of it. “Boxed in” means you’ve parked your car in a legal spot and while you were gone for 5 min cars has been parked illegally in front, left, right and behind your car so that you can’t move.

…start boxing cars in yourself.

…automatically search for a parking spot where it would be hard for other cars to box you in.

…think it’s daring to reveal your shoulders in public.

…think of schwarma as a proper meal.

…the sight of driving females shocks you for a split second when your outside of the kingdom. 

…don’t wake up at 3.30AM when the closest mosque starts the morning prayers and they are LOUD.

…stop hearing the prayer calls altogether and attribute them to background noise.

…always pack a scarf with you no matter where you go.

…don’t even think of going out without checking the prayer schedule first.

…start disregarding the “Men Only” signs. Someone will come and tell you if they really don’t want you in there.

…think that the biggest car has right of way no matter the situation. Especially in a roundabout.

…you completely understand when a fellow non-Moslem expat says “hamdullah” (thanks to Allah) to you and nod in agreement before realizing he was being sarcastic.

…don’t think twice about being the only female in sight whose face is uncovered.

…don’t bat an eyelash when you see a car reversing or driving against traffic on a 120km/h highway in the dark without lights on. The only thing that comes to you mind is “It’s ok”.

…automatically think of the muttawa first when you see a white SUV with an official looking logo on the side.

…think it's completely normal for there to be three different spellings for a road or city name.


What we mean is, when you start taking all these things for granted there just don’t seem to be that many things to write about in Saudi Arabia.

Slightly Sinful

Last weekend (remember in Saudi it’s Wed-Thu) we had the opportunity to attend a social gathering at a certain European country’s embassy in Riyadh. It felt a bit strange to be walking to the embassy on the street in DQ (Diplomatic Quarter = where all the embassies are) in nothing but a spaghetti strap dress… Strangeness turned into a feeling of doing something outright sinful when we rounded the corner and there were three Saudi soldiers in the middle of evening prayers on the ground.

What a strange moment with them taking care of their daily religious responsibilities on the ground and us going to a social gathering where let’s admit it, we didn’t drink lemon juice all night. These are the very soldiers who man the guns if someone decides to attack the embassy with us inside. It really felt like there was some kind of an unspoken conflict of interest there.

Staying Healthy in the Kingdom

A few more words about Saudi hospitals.

Luckily we have been able to steer clear of Saudi hospitals mostly. Prior to the ear infection episode we had only really visited the hospital for iqama (residence permit) routine check-ups and some minor throat aches. Overall the experiences have been pretty positive. Usually the doctors speak English well enough and there is plenty of staff around to guide you from one room to the next.

A few curiosities… 

1. The other hospital we’ve been to has a separate waiting area for men and women.

2. The Saudi staff (female) is covered in black from head to toe. They work behind the counter, not as nurses.

3. Doctors seem to be non-Saudi, but from Arabic speaking countries. All male so far.

4. They will prescribe a lot of pills… antibiotics seem to be the magical cure for everything. It’s up to you if you actually take any of the prescribed pills.

5. As for the abaya… it stays on in the hospital. K almost caused a heart attack in one Philipina nurse when trying to take it off when the doctor wanted to listen to her lungs for the routine iqama check-up. He just listened through all the clothes... wonder what he heard, if anything.

6. Blood pressure is also taken through the abaya.