Working in the Middle East (LONG) (was RE: Pay Rates relative to Cost of Living in a Town)

[John Renish <John_F_Renish -at- NOTES -dot- SEAGATE -dot- COM>]

George Mena wrote:

<snip>
John, the rates for the Gulf States are indeed good, having nearly
accepted a contract outside Dhahran once.  But also keep in mind that
Saudi Arabia is the most reactionary of the Arab states and is very much
a closed society in terms of limiting its contact with us decadent
Westerners.  Additionally, under both Islamic law and royal decree
(Saudi Arabia is a kingdom, as King Fahd will be happy to tell you
directly), it's also the driest and unenlightened place on the planet in
terms of prohibition and erotica.  That's why a great many firms doing
business in-kingdom *require* their employees, both contract and staff,
to go out-of-kingdom if they want to have a drink or, to put it
politely, to enjoy the intimate company of unmarried women in a bar.
During Operation Desert Shield/Storm, some of our women troops caused a
real social ruckus in places like Dhahran.  The most memorable was when
female MPs wearing loaded 45s on their hips -- standard fare in a combat
zone -- started getting hassled by the locals for (a) driving jeeps and
Hummers by themselves; (b) failing to have their faces covered with
chadors (veils); and (c) walking around with loaded guns *and* with
using them to defend themselves against chauvinistic Arab males!  The
Islamic fundamentalists, to put it mildly, had a *major* problem with
that.
Fair warning for working in the Middle East:  know the local customs
before you go and ask yourself "Is this trip *really* necessary?"  If it
is and you want to go, have a good time. :D
</snip>

I don't quite understand the point. My wife and I _lived_ in Riyadh and
Al-Khobar (cheek-by-jowl with Dhahran) and I am thoroughly familiar with
the cultural and political situation there, the most conservative of the
Gulf States. Concerning prohibition and erotica, I don't drink, my wife
didn't miss alcohol, and erotica we can take or leave--I'd hate to be so
bound to a particular pleasure as to have it control my career decisions.
Enlightenment is in the eye of the beholder--Saudis consider that exposing
people to harm is an unenlightened approach indeed.

There are no bars in Saudi Arabia, unless they are operated secretly by
expatriates (I know several people who made their own beer and wine, and
you can buy a kind of bathtub gin known as siddiqi [my friend], just as you
can buy heroin here). BTW, the government (technically a monarchy,
practically an oligarchy) permits alcohol and pork to be imported by
Arab-American Oil Company (ARAMCO) employees for use on their compound, and
of course nearly all foreign embassies have alcohol--the US embassy throws
an annual party all Americans can attend.

Sexual congress outside marriage is defined by Islamic law as adultery and
is punishable by death. Fortunately for those who so indulge themselves,
proving the offense absent confession is virtually impossible--the law
requires four male or eight female witnesses to the actual penetration--so,
the miscreants are usually merely deported. AFAIK, _no_ foreigner has ever
been executed for adultery in Saudi Arabia.

Concerning the specific points, which I consider sensationalist:

a) Saudi Bedu women drive by themselves out in the desert, often unveiled.
Nobody hassles them. It's the very _public_ behavior of American women that
the Saudis of both sexes found scandalous, even offensive.

b) Sheer nonsense. The word chador is not used in Saudi Arabia--it's an
Iranian word that refers to a cloak. The Arabic equivalent is abaya, a
lighter cloak than the Iranian model, which when I was there all women wore
in public. Foreign women who are not Muslims _are_ required to cover their
hair but are _not_ required to wear the veil.

c) Self-defense is among the highest moral duties in Islam--those who die
defending themselves or their families are considered martyrs who go
directly to heaven. During my stay in Riyadh, the Muttawaeen (religious or
morals police) broke into the wrong house to catch adulterers. The Saudi
army captain who lived there with his wife took exception to their behavior
and shot one of them dead--with no repercussions. As for chauvinism, Arabs
of both sexes consider that women have the more important function in
society--inculcating religious and moral values in children.

Crime is extremely rare (you don't know how much attention you pay to your
personal security until you live someplace where it's _never_ an
issue--everybody carries hundreds or thousands of dollars in cash in Saudi
Arabia), public drunkenness and drunk driving are almost unknown, people
stop to help strangers, and everybody strives to prevent confrontation.
Yes, there are extreme elements in Saudi Arabia; foreigners most commonly
encounter them among the Muttawaeen, but circumspect behavior never
attracts their attention.

Travel, as they say,  is broadening: I highly recommend it to anybody who
can open his or her eyes and discourage it for those whose lives are ruled
by prejudice. There is no one right way to live or to be; human beings face
human challenges and develop human responses--our  Arab friends were
generally disbelieving that anybody could tolerate living the way we do in
America. Both my wife and I would love to go back--in fact we and several
other Western friends suffered far worse culture shock coming back to the
West than we did going to Saudi Arabia. This is my last public post on this
subject--private questions or comments are welcome.

John_F_Renish -at- notes -dot- seagate -dot- com, San Jose, California, USA
My comments represent my personal views and not those of my employer.
"Had you known what I was saying, you would have excused me, and had you
known what you said, I should have blamed you. But you did not understand
me, so you blamed me, and I knew that you were ignorant, so I pardoned
you."
--Al-Khalil