Arrested Unrest

As the unprecedented popular uprising in Egypt rages on, and the world waits as pressure mounts against the regime in Cairo to make sweeping reforms, things couldn't be quieter in Saudi.  It seems that the wave of protests which began with the self-immolation of a Tunisian vegetable salesmen, deposed that country's president, and has swept across the Middle East has done little to inspire the Saudis.  It's not that the Arabian Peninsula is immune, or that oppressive regimes propped up by foreign aid are strictly a North African problem. Yemen has seen its largest protests in years, as has Jordan.  Even Libya, whose current regime under Muammar al-Gaddafi is as iron-fisted as any, has seen demonstrations.  But in Saudi, where the absolute monarchy under King Abdullah has left no question as to whose side it's on -- the king has welcomed the deposed president of Tunisia and has made public statements supporting Hosni Mubarak of Egypt -- Saudis don't outwardly appear to have even batted an eye at an opportunity to rally themselves, organize, be heard or affect change.

The 24 -hour news cycle on satellite television here has been saturated with coverage of the events in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez.  While the state provided television service of the Kingdom has undoubtedly deluded these events' significance and walked the party line in its support of President Mubarak, it's not as though people here don't know what's going on with their neighbors just across the Red Sea.  It's all I've seen as I walk past cafes, restaurants, and even when I was in the bank today.  People, including myself, are glued.  I'm not sure if their interest is purely for shock and entertainment or if it's due to some deep longing for their own bottom-up reform.  Also, since a lot of people here are foreigners, including many Egyptians, it's difficult to gauge Saudi interest simply by walking the streets.  What is apparent is that Saudis have not taken to the streets in their own demonstrations to call for regime change.  There has been one protest in Jeddah, Saudi's second largest city, but it was relatively small and in connection with the horrible infrastructure that has led recently to many deaths following the second devastating flood there in as many years.   They were quickly dispelled and received very little coverage.

The first conclusion one could draw from the lack of public demonstrations in the Kingdom while most of the region is coming out en masse against their oppressive regimes is that the institutions in place have made it too difficult and the consequences too horrible for people to oppose them.  The framework has definitely been laid to deter those who might try to organize and even those who might try to participate in anything even closely resembling the demonstrations elsewhere in the Arab world.  Imprisonment or worse seems almost guaranteed.  Foreigners who engage in political movements are immediately deported, a fact iterated to me when applying for my visa and again when signing my contract.  Demonstrations, when they do happen, usually in reference to a lack of jobs or infrastructure, receive zero domestic press and those responsible are dealt with quickly and silently with their demands often left unacknowledged.  For most, the idea of protesting is unthinkable, with little faith being put into the idea that with enough people, like in Egypt, the mechanisms of oppression become powerless.

The second conclusion to be reached is that Saudis are too contented and/or pacified to come out against the King.  This, especially when compared to other resource-rich gulf nations, is not as easy to swallow.  Saudi is not the UAE or even Kuwait, both of whose current inflow of natural gas and petro-dollers is more than enough to be distributed amongst their relatively small populations to keep the public placated for the time being.  Kuwait, whose population is 1/9 that of Saudi, has announced in the last couple days that it will be distributing billions of dollars in cash and food to its citizens to nip any negative feelings in the bud.   Even when considering its enormous wealth due to being the largest oil producing country in the world, the size of the Saudi population doesn't allow for nearly as many social benefits or as much wealth redistribution.  Unemployment is at 10%, an alarmingly high number and social freedoms are much less here than in every other gulf nation.

Still though, there doesn't seem to be the anger coming from the Saudi citizenry that is apparent when seeing interviews with demonstrators in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan and the like.  It's obvious when talking with the Egyptians I've spoken to here that discontent in that country has been growing for sometime.  I don't get that impression from Saudis.  Granted, they might be scared to say anything negative, especially during a time of such widespread regional unrest when the government is most likely taking swift and decisive action to preempt any potential threat.  It's also true that food here is cheap and many things including loans, housing, and education are subsidized so a lot of the problems at the basic level of society that exist elsewhere in the Middle East aren't present in Saudi.  And while they have more of a reason to be enraged than their much smaller and more effectively pacified gulf neighbors, things aren't nearly as bad as they are in a lot of places elsewhere in the region.  It's interesting and raises more questions than it answers about Saudi mentality and the extent to which the monarchy's rule is absolute.  But it is peaceful, and for at least the time being it's not looking at all likely that the region will experience upheaval in both it's most populous nation (Egypt) and it's most wealthy (KSA).

Racism Abroad

In a lot of countries I've been to, the native language has a word that directly translates into English as "a black man."  It doesn't necessarily have a negative or derogatory connotation.  However it can, so quite often when dictionaries translate it, students learn the word that so many of us have been told from a young age should never be spoken.  A word so steeped in the context of vitriol and prejudice that I've decided not to write it.  But thanks to its practical use and also a familiarity with the word thanks to popular culture, specifically American rap culture, learners of English are never encouraged to break the habit and it can catch the native speaker extremely off guard.  "I went to Africa for holiday.  There are many n------s there."  "Whoa!  Mohammad (or Petra or Milos).  You can't be saying that," is often the initial reaction but doesn't even come close to covering it.  I've spent many a class hour trying to give some context to the word, and my higher level, more worldly students who can understand words like "extremely offensive" (and "context" for that matter) generally grasp it, but on many the concepts are lost.  I've known some teachers who have at this point given lessons on the American civil rights movement to help the students wrap there head around it, but mostly, you just have to stress that it's a word that they should never say.  "But teacher, 50 cent says..."  " I know.  I know.  You're just gonna have to trust me." This of course supposes that the student in question doesn't want to use the term derogatorily.

For some reason when I lived in the states I never really thought about racism outside of the U.S.  It might have been because I assumed it was an American problem.  I thought that it was a product of ignorance and thought that our particular brand of ignorance was the worst anywhere, showing my own sense of "Amero-centrism."  I thought about racism only in the context of slavery and immigration and never considered these or other factors and how they were at work in other countries.  I knew that there were ethnic conflicts.  I was aware of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, ethnic cleansing in Africa, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.  The way I conceptualized them had more to do with violence between nations, between peoples.  I was aware of course of the Holocaust and of international anti-semitism, but again thought that this was for the most part a problem of the past or that it only remained for the extremely bigoted, neo-Nazis and the like. I never thought of racism within a country or society the way we have it in the states.

So naturally, when I was first confronted with racism abroad while in the Czech Republic, I was taken aback. From people who otherwise I found to be sweet, warm, friendly, caring, and highly intelligent I heard things about African and Arab immigrants that made me cringe.  By far though, without question, the worst racism I bore witness to came in reference to Gypsies*.  I heard what the American liberal inside me could only classify as hate-speech and what were at the very least gross negative generalizations.  Things like, "Gypsies are bad people.  They will rob you and beat you up.  I hate all of them."  Being an English teacher specializing in conversation, this of course gave me the opportunity to engage in long talks with my students to explore Czech as well as greater European roots of racism and to discuss their current environment.  But my students were resistant to these discussions.  They dismissed their claims not as racism, not as biased against a group of people based on their skin color or their heritage, but claimed them to be objective fact stated about a group of people, based on every experience they'd ever had with them.  It made me call into question my own resistance to generalize.

"Asian people are good at math."  This is a statement that I personally believe should not be said.  It generalizes.  It plays to a common stereotype.  It, while not stating something negative about the people it generalizes, is negative in spirit because it assumes that everyone it speaks about is the same.  This is what I was taught.  I think that most Americans even if they believe this statement to be fact, know that it's still not something you should say, and at the very least not in public.  Not to a boss, or someone you just met.  We are on a basic level socialized to understand that generalizing is wrong.  A very high percentage of people who I've met on my travels, however, when engaged in this very conversation, have absolutely no problem with this statement or ones like it.  They compare it to their experience, it resonates, and they concur.  A second thought is rarely given.  In fact this exact statement is the measuring post that I've used to gauge someone's resistance to generalization and I've found that contrary to the belief I held before I went abroad, this resistance is decidedly American.

I've found myself forgiving people I've met abroad for not sharing this reluctance.  I've even found myself not holding their more bigoted speech against them.  I guess it's a combination of  "well that's how they were raised", "that's their culture" and just not wanting to have to dislike a large number of the people I meet.  I still have the conversations and explain what we're raised to believe in the States, but like in similar progressivist discussions I've had about gender roles, discrimination and the like, I've had my thoughts dismissed as American, as things that wouldn't work in their country.  "Yea," I'm told, "things are changing.  But this isn't America."  People while being happy that the U.S. elected a man of African descent as it's commander-in-chief could in the same breath explain how that would never happen where they're from.  This again took me aback.   I'd always been exposed to the "America as a Beacon of Light" doctrine but I'd never subscribed to it.  It suddenly started to have some weight behind it, at least in this respect, and even if ideas of equality aren't shared by everybody, which they most certainly are not, we still promote the ideal that they're the right ones, and have publicly made strides as a nation along those lines. And for this, I discovered, I'm quite proud.  Who knew?

So now we've come to the discussion of racism in Saudi, which in itself can be difficult to nail down.  It's hard to separate from a class system that seems so ingrained not only in mindset, but in the day-to-day activities of it's citizens and the foreigners who've come here for work.  Slavery in the Kingdom wasn't abolished until 1962 and there is literally a social hierarchy that basically lines up step-for-step with with skin color.  Saudis are of course at the top, followed by white Americans and then Brits.  Next come other white Europeans.  Following that I would say come non-white Westerners although coming from them it wouldn't surprise me if they feel like they're somewhat less respected.  Next are other Arabs, with distinctive preferences and dislikes between nationalities that I have yet to fully grasp.  After Arabs, again skin color can be seen coinciding with social status all the way--  Asians, then people of the Indian subcontinent, then Africans.  Even for Saudis themselves, you're seen as being classier and more attractive the lighter your skin tone.  Muslims are of course held in higher regard before God but in day to day dealings and interactions, your social status is much more important than your religion.  All you have to do is be slow to move forward in the check-out line at the grocery store and see who steps in front of you.  As a white Westerner, only Saudis step in front of me.  Filipinos and Bangladeshis don't. Some people will even ask you to step in front of them.

So what part of racism can be attributed to culture, or to objective experience for that matter?  If someone is raised to believe that a certain group of people are below them and their only interactions with those people are ones in which the second group assumes a subordinate role or in more extreme cases are criminals and drug addicts, can we blame the first group for feeling that way?  Can we fault people in other countries for not holding themselves to the standards that we are socialized to promote?  Conversely, can we forgive them for it? Is generalization along racial lines the same as racism? Is it wrong to generalize?  Is it natural?  What part of our condition tells us that on a basic level we are all human and have certain rights that should be respected as such?  What tells some people that we aren't the same?  These are the questions I find myself asking when confronting these issues abroad.  It calls into question my own beliefs especially in the context of my own "Americanness".  I know what I believe though, and I take a great deal of comfort in the fact that if I do err, it is at least on the side of humanity, on what I believe to be goodness.  If I happen to be naive, then so be it, but I've seen what erring the other way can do, how it rears its ugly head.  And while I don't expect the rest of the world to be on the same page as me, and I make no claims to a righteousness that should be forced on others, I do hope that with increased access to ideas will come increased understanding and with that, compassion.


* "Gypsy", while often being used pejoratively as a name to describe a group of people with a transient lifestyle who live outside of society, is in fact an ethnic group who refer to themselves as Roma or Romani.  Originally believed to be from the Indian subcontinent they do have discernible ethnic characteristics and while being widely dispersed can be found primarily in Eastern and Central Europe.

Disorientation

It took me a lot longer than normal to get my bearings in Riyadh.  Usually, after only a few days or maximum a couple weeks I can pretty well find my way around in a new place, and it's a given that if I've been somewhere before, I can get back.  It was a different story here.  Unlike in a city with any public transportation to speak of -- there is none in Riyadh-- where you just need to become familiar with individual stops and parts of town and then the specific lines that connect them, here everyone drives everywhere and everything basically looks the same.  The whole city is a series of highways and intersecting divided roads laid out in a grid and looped by a ring road which is simple enough in theory but in practice takes some getting used to.  There are few discernible land marks, and since there is zero topographical diversity, the only ones you can use are buildings.   This was drastically compounded by my being cramped into the company provided minibus to and from work without the chance to check much out, including the street signs and exit numbers which are, in fact, for the most part bilingual. But now, after almost two months, I'm finally able to direct cabdrivers to take efficient routes, I'm becoming familiar with street, neighborhood and exit names, and things are going much more smoothly.

It also took me a lot longer to figure out my cardinal directions.  I couldn't understand why the grid of roads laid out at right angles didn't seem to line up north, south, east and west when I tried to use the sun to orient myself.  I never knew which direction I was going because I never seemed to be heading strait in any direction.  Everything was slightly skewed.  I came to realize after finally sitting down with a map that the entire street grid is rotated about 20 degrees counterclockwise.  It took me another little while to figure out why.  You see, the loop highway that circles the city is actually more of a square and the horizontal road at the bottom of the square instead of running strait from east to west and vice versa, heads from the northeast to the southwest.  It heads out of town to the southwest to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam.  The rest of the roads on the grid then have been oriented with that one and run either parallel or perpendicular to it.  All the buildings are understandably oriented the same way.  I'm not sure which came first, the orientation of the buildings or the roads, but regardless everything lines up on these axes.  There's never any question as to the direction of Mecca.  It's also convenient for Muslims who must face Mecca five times a day for prayer as they get to face the wall instead of a corner.  It seems in fact, that the direction of Mecca is much more important than north, south, east or west, but for the most part people will still say something is "north" of something else even though it's actually northwest of it.  

Things to do in Saudi when you're....

... me

It's easy to lose motivation in Saudi.  Something about it makes you lazy.  Not wanting to fight the traffic, plan your day around prayer times, or deal with people who may or may not assume they're better than you all have something to do with it.  Once the oppressive heat begins, it will be a major contributing factor.   But there's something else.  It's something about the ridiculousness of it all.  Navigating through a myriad of glaring contradictions and frustrations makes you want to retreat into your own space and to find respite.  Once there, having dealt with the absurdity can give you the distinct sense that you've earned your time for self gratification and indulgences in laziness.  It's easy to spend hours on facebook or watching downloaded series and movies.  Skyping and e-chatting with folks certainly helps you feel connected.  Connected not with "home" or "self" or the "who" you used to be but with the rest of the world where things are "normal".  I've even started referring to everything outside of Saudi as the 'real world'.  It's easy to find yourself counting days and wasting time.

Before I arrived, I had designs of spending lots of time on self-improvement.  Fully aware that I wouldn't have a social network to tempt me with constant goings-on, or the crutch that delicious beer and local watering-holes can so often be (in all their deserved glory), I planned on writing, doing my own brands of yoga and tai chi, reading, maybe trying to pick up the guitar again, developing some recipes, learning as much Arabic as possible, incorporating flossing into my daily routine, and of course exploring as many cultural opportunities as I was afforded.

This is my progress so far.

The fruits of my writing you're privy to.  It's not as easy as I thought to have something interesting to relate on a regular basis but I love the frame of mind that constantly being on the look out for inspiration puts me in and I hope that as I have more authentic experiences with locals as well as through domestic travel, anecdotes will write themselves, larger themes will begin to reveal themselves and my writings will be less observational in nature.  I also hope to write down and expand upon lots of my notes from the CZ and hopefully they'll be coming soon.  Inshallah. Or should I say, doufám.

The eastern health pursuits have been going well and I have maintained a steady regimen especially since my neck injury.  They've helped immensely.

I've only read half a book.

I haven't yet bought a guitar but the money keeps coming in and it's not hard to stay below the budget I've given myself based on my savings goals.  So we'll see.

That budget and the fore-mentioned Saudi-induced lethargy along with less than easily accessible ingredients and only having two hotplates to work with have proven to crush my illusions of lots of cooking for myself.  It is just too easy and too affordable to go out to eat, especially for dinner after the last prayer.  My eating habits have improved in that I'm eating a lot more fruit, both fresh and juiced, and any increase in caloric intake from meals is easily being offset by my drastic reduction in beer consumption.

My Arabic is at the point now where I can give situationally-appropriate, short responses and draw some laughter.  I can also conduct any transaction that I need to, direct cabbies, and explain who I am and what I do.  The alphabet, grammar, and greatly expanding my vocabulary are next (those minor details), the most daunting of which is the alphabet and my reluctance to begin with it says as much about my apprehension.  More office hours in my schedule after the semester break will hopefully help in stirring my motivation and will allow me access to a multitude of language teachers, a great number of which are versed in both English and Arabic. Formal lessons are, in my experience, the best environment for language acquisition, especially in the early stages, but even on my own I could be working harder, and I plan to.

Starting to floss is harder than quitting anything I've ever tried to.  It's baffling.

And as far as cultural experiences, simply letting them come to me has only proven to help me experience a lot of what the expat community here is and does.  Compounds, sport, and a few intimate house parties have all been great and I am so thankful for them, and I'll even be attending my first 'embassy do' next weekend which I'll look forward to sharing with you all, but as far as getting in touch with authentic Saudi, my strategy might have to become more proactive.

Part of the reason I pursued a job here was that I looked forward to the opportunity to limit distractions and focus on being productive.  I haven't quite lived up to my expectations but I feel that I've laid the groundwork and spoken a big enough game to hold myself to them.  If ever an excuse was needed to start to explore and improve things about yourself, having ridiculous amounts of free time in a far away land is it, and with the right balance between work and leisure, diligence and indulgence, and excuses both to and to not, I hope to come away from my experience here a little wiser and much more versed in the things I value.

Hollywood Diplomacy

The general public in Saudi Arabia was first allowed access to the internet in 1999.  Up until six or seven years ago satellite dishes for home televisions were illegal and if they weren't well hidden, ran the risk of being shot at by radical imams hovering over the roof tops in helicopters with AK-47's.  And while satellites are still illegal in more conservative towns and the Great Saudi Firewall blocks a significant portion of what it deems inappropriate content on the web, both have brought with them immense access to global media -- the entertainment portion of which being unquestionably dominated by Hollywood -- resulting in tangible benefits for Americans' perception abroad.

A discussion about favorite television shows in my classes here runs about the same as it has anywhere else in the world I've been.  "Lost", "24", "Prison Break", "How I Met Your Mother" "CSI What-have-you".  "Friends" is always popular.  And everyone sees whatever the newest film starring the most beautiful people happens to be.  McConaughey, Pitt, Jolie and Cruise are all household names. In fact, first names are more appropriate.  And what this familiarity with our stars, dramas, and sitcoms does in effect is put a face on America, one that for the most part is a sympathetic one.

I for one don't see it.  But, according to a number of sources-- mostly but not limited to friends of mine's mothers-- I apparently bare some resemblance to Matthew McConaughey.  My point is not to compare myself to a man chosen by People magazine as the sexiest in the world (just sayin') but more to illustrate how the world's familiarity with our pop culture, particularly our movies and television, has created a sense of intimacy that for the most part benefits us and our perception abroad.  Every time someone in a foreign country has made mention of this supposed likeness the experience has been overwhelmingly positive.  The individual usually first learns that I'm an American and then makes the jump, maybe thanks to my subtle Hoosier accent coming across as somewhat Texan to the untrained ear, and I am immediately thrust into the center of attention and everyone wants to be my friend and hear my story.

The point, though, is that the jump is easy to make.  When people's only experiences of interacting with Americans for the most part come from developing these para-social relationships with our actors and actresses, those bonds are mostly positive and in turn we are much more well-received.  It can even prove to create a sense of wonder about the States as though everything there is right out of the movies.  It reminds me of a conversation some American friends and I had with some 18 year-old Hungarians who were talking with native English-speakers for the first time.  "It's just like in the movies!," they said and they couldn't get enough.  And who hasn't experienced that sense of romanticism and association with Hollywood, like for example a Midwesterner visiting New York for the first time and hearing his first authentic Brooklyn accent.

Abroad though, our perception is so much more important.  When the only images put forth of Americans were soldiers driving tanks over boarders and clips of violent rhetoric from our politicians, we weren't seen as a sympathetic people.  We were easily vilified and dehumanized.  With our humanization, however, has come a growing sense of commonality and  in some cases wonder and even idolization.  And while there certainly are things about our exported media that do not play to our advantage, do not represent our citizenry accurately or responsibly, and are not good in my opinion to purport either within our society or abroad -- namely over-sexualization and violence -- the overall affect abroad, in my experience, is a positive one, and has done more to dissuade hatred and create understanding than any amount of "winning of the hearts and minds" ever has.

The Life of a Saudi Woman

Saudi women live in the shadows.  They walk behind their fathers, brothers and husbands both literally and figuratively.  When men meet on the street, their women stand back, silently and unspoken to.  It's not appropriate to inquire about a man's wife or daughters, even to ask how they're doing.  It's never appropriate to address a woman in another man's "house" be they his daughter or wife and giving gifts to a man's wife would only be appropriate if you knew the man quite well and would be done through him, not in person.  It is normal that you could know a man for along time, very well, and never have met his wife.

In childhood, while their brothers are a source of pride for the entire family, encouraged to speak out and play, Saudi girls assume a secondary role.  Any argument between a brother and sister is automatically assumed to be the fault of the sister. Girls aren't allowed to run or play sports*.  It's not as if Saudi girls aren't provided for though.  They are afforded every luxury and creature comfort including the finest clothes and cosmetics. It's also not as if love is withheld.  Even their fathers can be extremely affectionate and giving of love throughout their childhood.  But everything changes at puberty. Quite often fathers stop acknowledging their daughters. In public they are required to start wearing the abaya and hijab**. They are meant to hide their womanhood and to show modesty.  At puberty, girls become something to be protected, but more importantly they have something to be protected -- their virginity.

Until marriage, Saudi women are encouraged to pursue their education.  With little else to do but pamper themselves and shop it's often a welcomed pursuit.  Consequently, female Saudi students are much more likely to be well-behaved and more studious than their male counterparts.  Also, the more educated a girl is, the more money she will bring her family .  Unlike the tradition of paying a dowry (the money a bride's family pays to the groom's), in Saudi the groom pays money to the family of the bride.  It's not uncommon for an educated girl, especially one who is beautiful and well-kempt, from an upstanding family to net upwards of 500,000 Riyals ( $130,000 US), so needless to say "investing" in your daughter can make sound financial sense.

Contrary to what one might think, Saudi girls actually have quite a lot of say when it comes to who, when and under what conditions they marry.  There are no arranged marriages in the strict sense.  At some point, usually around the time her education is complete, a father will approach his daughter and tell her that it's time that the search begins for an appropriate husband.   The families of both potential brides and grooms conduct the sometimes exhaustive process of finding quality matches.  What family your from is of the utmost importance.  It, along with education and earning potential, are the primary factors families consider when selecting candidates to present to their son or daughter.

When someone fitting is found, a meeting between the guy and girl is arranged.  Usually in the company of the girl's father, the two are given about fifteen minutes to become acquainted.  If afterwards both parties consent, an engagement agreement is entered into by both families.  The agreement is not legally binding but with it the process of planning the ceremony can begin.  Also, the engaged couple can begin spending time together.  They are allowed to talk on the phone, go out for meals, and visit each other in their homes, most of which taking place under fatherly supervision.  The engagement can be broken by either party at anytime for any reason with no consequence and the family will take it upon themselves to continue the search.  A guy or girl can decline to marry any number of potential spouses, but due to family pressure must at least consent to meeting them first.  If the engagement period is successful, prior to the wedding, a marriage contract must be agreed upon by both parties.  In it, the bride price (not my term) along with the wive's personal monthly stipend are stipulated.  The wife can have anything put in writing including if she will be allowed to get a job and if the husband may take another wife.

Once married, a Saudi woman's life, instead of being controlled by her father, becomes controlled by her husband.    She has no say in the affairs of her house not stipulated in the marriage contract including how her children will be raised or even how many she will have.  She does not have the right to deny the sexual advances of her husband except for in the instance of illness or during menstruation.   She is usually given the responsibility of shopping and cooking or that of delegating those tasks to the help.  She does have complete control over her personal finances which include both the stipend from her husband and any money she may earn through employment.  This money is hers and her husband can't touch it, no matter what, even in divorce.  With it and little else to do, most Saudi women pacify themselves by going to the mall.  They must still be escorted every time they go out and are not allowed to drive, but with a driver they are at least afforded some semblance of freedom and mobility.  If she has been allowed to work and finds a job, oftentimes, especially if it's not in education or in an all-female branch of a bank, she will be asked to work from home.  So despite having a job she still does not have much reason to leave the house.  But, a woman can legally divorce at anytime for any reason despite strong encouragement to the contrary from her family.

Having never spoken to a Saudi woman, I have no idea how they feel about their lot in life.  I do know that in addition to activists who speak out against gender subjugation and marital abuse, there are those who speak out to the contrary, about the pride they feel in their modesty and devotion to their faith and "guardians".  I also know that for whatever reason the rate of mental illness for women in Saudi is much higher than that of the rest of the world and that the life expectancy here is lower for women than it is for men, something not common in non-war-torn countries.  There is hope among human rights observers that the situation for women here will change to become at least more in line with that of many of their Arab neighbors. It seems the first representation of this will be in allowing women to drive.  I've heard that the king is even in favor of this but because of fervent opposition it will take time to convince the public at large.  I'd love the opportunity to sit down with some Saudi women to discuss their lives, but in all likelihood this won't happen.  I will have to settle with getting this information second hand from female westerners who teach them or other foreigners who've been here long enough to know what it's like.  My thought is that it has to feel as oppressive as it sounds, but -- as is so often the case-- it's hard to look at anything through eyes other than my own.

* Saudi women aren't allowed to run or play sports because of the risk of rupturing the hymen.  If a man is told his wife is a virgin but she cannot "prove" her virginity on her wedding night, she is of no value in marriage and will be divorced immediately.

** Abaya-  One piece black garment worn over the clothes which covers the neck, wrists, and ankles and which is required to be worn by all women in public including foreigners.
      Hijab-   Hair covering

A Fast Food Nation

It's hard to imagine until you get here just how many American fast food franchises there really are in Riyadh.  McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Hardees, Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme, Baskin Robbins, Quiznos, Subway, Pizza Hut, Dominos, Little Caesar's, Texas Chicken*. And it's not like there's only one of each.  On the way to work today I counted 8 McDonald's.   It's astounding.  It doesn't stop at fast food franchises either.  There are chain restaurants as well.  Chili's, TGI Fridays, Hard Rock Cafe, and Applebee's are common.  You can 'eat good in the neighborhood' in Saudi Arabia!  It's enough to blow your mind.  And it's not just the expatriate community that is keeping these establishments afloat.  And it's not like they're just barely scraping by.  Saudis can't get enough, and business is booming.

Maybe it's the fascination with everything American.  Maybe it's the fact that since everyone drives, fast food is just more conducive to the lifestyle.  Maybe it's that Saudi food just really isn't all that interesting -- mostly what my students talk about is a dish called Kabsa, which is basically a large plate of seasoned rice with a huge chunk of animal in the middle, usually chicken or lamb (but sometimes camel), served family style with flat bread and eaten with the hands.  But whatever the reason, this is a nation obsessed with fast food.  Their own franchise brands have popped up as well--  Kudu and Herfy's to name a few.  They offer Saudified versions of burgers, fries, and wraps.  There are also Baskin Robbins and Subway knockoffs.  My personal favorite, and something not in any way Americanized, are the falafel joints which while serving fried things quickly are at least vegetarian making the experience somewhat less guilting.

My students are aware that fast food isn't healthy -- some students are rather quick to point it out-- but they'll all concede it's delicious and rank burgers among their favorite foods.  It's very similar to their feelings about cigarettes and let me tell you that the number of young smokers here is equally astonishing.  But for some reason the message seems to have no affect on the public in general, not very much unlike a lot of folks back home in the States.  Healthy food options are not easy to come by at the grocery store but especially when eating out and it seems like the one's they do have are there simply to cater to health-conscious westerners.  The reasons could be that warnings to the contrary either aren't taken seriously or people just don't really care, but the effects, along with those of the extremely sedentary lifestyle, are plainly visible.  Lot's of students walking around campus are easily what you would call 'pudgy', more than a few would be termed obese, and everyday like clockwork you see them coming in with their McDonald's cup in their hand, holding a bag containing burgers for their friends who didn't feel like making the 100 yard walk.   It's alarming, it's sad, and it makes me wonder what exactly we're exporting not only in terms of business but in terms of culture.

*Texas Chicken is the Middle Eastern off-shoot of Church's Chicken in the States, but because of the connotation with Christianity, the owners felt obliged to change the name for franchising in the Muslim world.

Visa Issues

KSA is one of the most restrictive countries in the world to get into.  Someone within the country must first apply for your visa.  Only a limited number are awarded to any particular "sponsor" and how many is often dependent on how much wasta the individual has.  There a few different types available but for the most part they can be divided into two categories: a full work visa known as an iqama or a visitor's visa.  Visitors visas are good for one entry and one exit.  As soon as the sponsor has filed the appropriate applications from inside Saudi, they can be obtained at any Saudi embassy, usually in a matter of a couple days.  Once in country, the holder maintains possession of their passport and within the visa's validity period, usually 90 days, they can leave whenever they want, for the most part without penalty.  Some need to be renewed outside of the country, but these days most can be renewed from within KSA up to three times.  The situation with the iqama is somewhat different.  Once inside the country your sponsor holds on to your passport.  You are given an iqama card which functions as the only form of I.D. you need.  With it you can open a bank account, buy a car, sign a lease-- everything you'd need to do -- except one little thing:  leave.  In order to be granted an exit visa you must reacquire your passport and obtain an official letter from your sponsor granting you permission.  Without it, you'll be denied your exit visa.

The situation on the ground, therefore, can be kinda scary.  I have to imagine that if you really wanted to leave, there would have to be something your embassy could do for you, but it would not be without a fine.  The problem, then, would be if you ever wanted to come back and the way laws are written here, employers can make it quite difficult.  When your exit visa is issued on your iqama it's often issued with a reentry.  If you still have a valid visa with an unused reentry, you can't get a new visa from a new sponsor.  It's your old sponsor, or none at all.  Excluding the fact that most foreign workers don't have the resources to come or go even if they wanted to, if their sponsor isn't accommodating, which they have no obligation to be, they become veritable prisoners.  The visitor's visa may seem to afford its holder more freedom, but similar to the iqama, if the sponsor doesn't want to take the necessary steps to allow you to return -- i.e. apply for a new visa for you -- you're not coming back, at least not with that company.  So again, it comes down to if your sponsor -- who for the most part is your employer -- wants to accommodate your exiting, which considering the risk of employees not returning and the effect this would have on business, doesn't seem to be the case.

I was told before I came here that I would have at least a few opportunities to travel.  In the contract it stipulates that we would be given the Eid holiday (the holiday after the Hajj) and any other Islamic holidays off.  Other breaks like those in the university's schedule, however, are not written in, and even if they were given to us -- and it's looking more and more like they won't be -- it is completely at the discretion of our company if they want to let us leave or not.  I'm on a visitor's visa and because of the length of my contract -- less than 10 months -- it is not looking likely that I will be granted permission to leave unless for some special circumstance.  So my goal of using Saudi as a homebase while I travel the region is not looking like it will be accomplished although I will have time and definitely the resources to travel once my contractual obligations are fulfilled.  I feel a little bit like I've been lied to, definitely like I've been misled, and the worst part is that I am in danger of breaking the promise that I made to Amy of coming home at least once during my stay here.  Some employers seem to be more lenient and willing to allow people to leave -- something I would think they would have to be in order to incentivise employees to sign subsequent contracts -- but in my situation, where it seems that the short term gains are so much more the focus, keeping teachers here, even if they're unhappy, unfortunately seems to be the primary concern.