Culture shock USA

Some of you might be aware that our team of two was split up for a short time this summer. That is, I (K) was in the USA for a month and a half working on my studies while hubster was holding the fort in Riyadh. Now we are both safely back in the Middle East region but I thought it might be interesting to list some of the mini culture shocks that I had when I flew over to the free world. Coming from Riyadh, it really felt like I’d stepped into a space shuttle. Yes, that’s how different America felt compared to Saudi, That is not to say that it’s a negative or positive thing. It simply is. So the shocks in chronological order:

1.    It’s so green. (This one started on the plane already)
2.    Colors. People don’t wear either white or black, they wear all colors and some show a lot of skin.
3.    I can read again!
4.    Women drive. Took me a few split seconds to realize that yes, it’s ok there in the free world.
5.    Americans are super polite… haven’t seen that happening in Riyadh yet.
6.    You can go jogging on the streets and the freedom tastes sweet!

Saudi Driving License

As it seems to be with everything government related in Saudi Arabia, the wonderful endless source of information called Internet has also plenty of stories, facts and "facts" available about when and how to get a Saudi Arabian driving license. In the end getting a local license proved to be a relatively simply and painless procedure. Again it probably helped that my origins are not in Southeast Asia or Africa.

If you are only visiting Saudi Arabia with a business visa, you are allowed to drive here with an International Driving License. But as soon as you get your residency permit, it is mandatory to obtain a local license. As my iqama (Saudi term for the residency permit) was issued already some time ago, I thought it is probably better stop pushing my luck and finally get a locally acknowledged certificate for lane surfing and speeding. (Depending on the source you need to get a Saudi driving license immediately or within three days or within three months of issuing your iqama... Go figure.)

I had mentally prepared for spending a whole day running from place A to place B to place C back to place A to collect all the needed paperwork, stamps and so forth (very typical in case you need to get some official business done). Eventually the process was nothing like that. Yes, there were plenty of steps, stamps and bureaucracy involved in getting the local driving license but the whole procedure took less than 1.5 hours. I must admit that I was really amazed - positively.

The process involved two specific steps that I want to describe in more detail:

First, as is with all government related payments (e.g. fees for visas, traffic fines etc.), you can pay all those through any branch or ATM (!) of Riyadh Bank or Al Rajhi Bank (major Saudi Arabian banks). Actually with ATMs anybody can do it on your behalf which is really handy for persons like me who don't have a local bank account. Whatever bad things are said about Saudi Arabian bureaucracy, at least their government's payment system works well and kills a lot of unnecessary hassle.

So, instead of maneuvering my way to queue at some nearby bank branch, I just had to find a helpful local soul to pay the fee on my behalf. I handed him an equal amount of cash + a small "service fee". I also right away started to wonder whether I should consider doing some significant career moves: I bet the guy doing making the payments at the ATM next to the driving school's entrance is earning some serious money: He was asking for a fee of 50 SAR per payment and within few minutes I saw him making payments at least for 3-4 persons.

Second, a part of the process of getting a local Saudi driving license included a "driving test": I had to hop in a car, buckle up, put first gear in, drive forward, put second gear in and halas, I had passed the test. The instructor sitting next to me stamped some papers and I was free to run to the next counter to continue the application process.

I sincerely hope that the driving school is enforcing more strict rules for persons who are getting their initial driving licenses and not converting their existing licenses to Saudi Arabian driving licenses (as I was doing). Although I wouldn't be too surprised if that is not the case - at least based on the lack of driving skills and discipline that you witness first hand everyday in Riyadh's traffic.

Abayas – to Love or to Hate

For a lot of western people the abaya is a symbol of oppression, especially in light of the recent media attention given to the face veil ban put in place in France. Whether or not it's a symbol of oppression, it seems that a lot of ladies decide to dislike it from the start. Personally I believe that it's all inside your head. If you choose to hate wearing an abaya, you will. If you choose not to mind it you'll soon stop noticing it altogether. The first time you wear it (which for me was about 15min before getting off the plane in Riyadh) you feel a bit weird. You think that the people around you are looking at you like you're a freak. But in fact no one is looking because all women are wearing one. Gradually, the more times you wear it the less weird it feels and indeed, after a while you'd probably feel more weird not wearing it than wearing it. Not to mention that you would get into trouble with the muttawa if you decided not to wear it.

Westerner do not need to cover their hair here in Saudi. That is, unless they are specifically asked to do so by the muttawa. During the time I've spent in Saudi I've been asked to cover my hair once so far. The guy spoke very good English and was very polite about it. At the same time, I hear stories about Asian women being shouted for not covering their hair. I believe there is a bit of racial profiling going on in this society. Hubster and I are as white as people get so it's clear to any muttawa that we are not locals. And therefore not Moslem either so we probably get off easy. It's harder for those who look like they could be local.

Shopping – How Does it Work?

Ok, so let’s talk about shopping in a bit more detail. Compounds inhabited by western expats usually have plenty of women with not that much to do during daytime when husbands are at work and children at school, so most compounds arrange shopping buses. Shopping buses are minibuses that depart compounds in the morning, drop the ladies (and occasional men + children) to a shopping mall and then pick them up a few hours later and bring the ladies back to the compound. Shopping buses also get women around the problem of not being able to drive themselves. Yes, you read that right. Women are not allowed to drive in Saud Arabia. The reason? Well, because they are not men.

But anyways, back to the shopping arrangements. In the compound that we live in there are 3-4 shopping buses every day. Usually two in the morning, one in the afternoon and one late in the evening. Bus schedules are such that you don’t run into any prayer time closings. Shopping buses are also a bit of a social gathering place. Indeed, it’s the perfect place to start talking to fellow expats since you have about 20min each way to spare.

All shopping buses are unmarked for security reasons. So that means that there is no big text on the side of the bus saying “Compound X”. Rather, all buses are white and have darkened windows. The thing is, you need to be very careful about which shopping bus you get onto when done with shopping. There is one lady in our compound who wasn’t so careful and ended up in the wrong bus and as a result to the wrong compound. Not to worry, it wasn't the end of the world and she is fine. It's just annoying because then you need to arrange a taxi to take you back to your own compound, which might be far away and the driver might not know where it is. If you're new to Riyadh and the taxi driver doesn't speak English that well then it might turn into a bigger problem.

Abayas and Niqabs – Summer and da easy livin’

Ok, so let’s talk about abayas. As mentioned in an earlier post I (K) have not found an abaya unpleasant at all to wear. Now that it’s summer and the heat is on it is starting to get a bit unpleasantly warm to wear an abaya outside. Then on the other hand, you feel unpleasantly warm wearing a bikini outside in these temperatures. When it’s 40C+ outside it doesn’t really matter anymore what you wear or do not wear – you feel hot unless you happen to be submerged in an outdoor pool.

One of the questions that seem to baffle a lot of people is why abayas in Saudi are always black.  There’s actually no rule stating that it has to be black. It’s simply a cultural issue. A few weeks ago I saw some blue abayas on sale here in Riyadh. Quite liberal yes…. Here’s a picture:

I’ve once seen a red abaya in a shop as well, but I’ve never seen anyone using any another color than black, other than at the airport. Also, at the FourSeasons Friday brunch we saw a lady wearing an abaya with big colorful patterns all over the back. It didn’t really look black to us because it was so colorful. In any case, sleeves of a different color are acceptable, as are all types of glittery decorations on the back, sleeves or hem.

Now that it’s summer time I’ve noticed that fewer women cover their face with a niqab. One day at the supermarket we were doing our groceries as usual when I noticed something was different - I could see people’s faces. I don’t know if it has something to do with the summer or not, but I have a feeling that less women cover their faces now than during the spring.

Western Clothes in Riyadh

Most foreigners are surprised to hear that there is no lack of western clothes in Saudi Arabia. Indeed, you can buy just about anything you want here. It seems that Mango, Benetton, Zara, Desigual, TopShop, Etam, Lindex etc. have shops in just about every shopping mall. Debenhams department stores are all over the place and if in need, you will be able to buy Gucci, Prada and LV bags and shoes here as well. A lot of westerners have difficulties imagining why Saudi ladies would want to buy western clothes since in public they need to wear abayas to cover them anyways. Yes, true that in public they need to cover but at home they don’t need to. Among relatives they are free to dress as they please.

Although most things are available in Saudi, a lot of expats prefer to go to Dubai or back to their home countries for shopping because let’s face it, it’s just easier when you can try the things on in the shop without buying them first. As mentioned before in an earlier post, here you need to buy the things first, then go to the ladies bathroom to try them on, then return the items if you want to get another size, take it to the bathroom again and so and so forth.

But lo and behold, one day we went shopping in the evening and what did we see in the department store?

Yes, a fitting room for men. We were left wondering what would happen if a woman just went in and started trying on clothes. The world would probably not come to an end?

Crème de la Crème

As any large international city also Riyadh offers a wide range of restaurants and cuisines for everyone's tastes. Still, what comes to fine dining and real gourmet, there are not that many options available.

One of the experiences that we had decided to try out already quite some time ago is the famous Friday brunch (i.e. Sunday brunch in the other parts of the world) at Four Seasons hotel in Kingdom Centre. Everyone who has been there has highly recommended the brunch. And oh boy, it truly was a mouthwatering experience!

Except for a small mixup with our reservation everything worked as clockwork and you really felt pampered afterwards. Getting good service in Riyadh is more an exception than a norm so we really enjoyed every moment of our visit.

Although the brunch is a bit pricey it definitively is worth it. The selection and quality of food is just amazing. The only limiting factor is the capacity of one's stomach. This time we focused our efforts more on enjoying the food, next time we try to remember to take some photos, too. :-)

Privacy

One thing that constantly baffles us here in Saudi Arabia is how much the locals value privacy. Wherever you go, you will see walls. Families mostly live in one family houses surrounded by high walls and beautiful gates. It seems that most government buildings are also enclosed by walls. University campuses are no exception. Indeed, even our compound has a double wall. More about our compound later, but what we wanted to share with you today is a picture taken in Jeddah. You see, there was this guy who built a house and the house had the usual walls. But then someone decided to build an apartment building right next to his house. The apartment building was naturally a lot higher than this guy’s one family house, so the people in the apartment building could see over his walls right into his yard. This guy decided that something must be done in order to protect his family’s privacy. Check out the solution he came up with.

The apartment building on the left side. And behind the trees...

...you find this structure:

Localizations Saudi Style

I (K) have worked in marketing for the past few years. When you work for a corporation that produces marketing materials for countries around the world you are bound to bump into localization issues. For example, something that might work in France might not work as such in the USA. So you need to create a US version of the materials. Quite often localizing simply means translating material into another language and possibly changing a few words, tweaking the content a bit etc.  In Saudi they take it a bit further. Have a look at the pictures below and see if you can see how the product wrappings have been localized Saudi style.

Thinking of buying yourself a pair of push-up bars?

Nothing weird? Take a closer look.

Yes, now you see it. Fancy a pool perhaps?

Skipping rope Saudi style.

And our absolute winner of the day... the Disco Twister!!

Underwater Saudi Arabia

Below a few pictures from our recent dive trip to Jeddah. The reefs were amazingly healthy considering the proximity of the city.

Photos courtesy of I.T.