Despite my best efforts at cultural sympathizing, some things about life in Saudi Arabia are hard to understand. No matter how hard I try to suppose that my initial resistance to certain things is somehow biased or due to how I've been socialized, there are some things that still, at the end of the day, I just can't wrap my head around. Initially, it was my hope that I could take everything as it came for what it was; that I could recognize things as different from what I am used to and not necessarily as better or worse; and that even things which at first glance seem to be so difficult for me to excuse could at least be attempted to be understood. After five months here, I can now say that this hope has failed to be universally realized. The stuff I'm referring to ranges in scope, application and significance from simple annoyances to disagreements over the dominant cultural ideology. It also must be remembered that a lot of Saudi people themselves might want to change many of these things if they could. So, at the risk of revealing my own Amero-cetrism and cultural and national intolerance, I've decided to relay some of these issues. The first couple deal with matters of practicality.
When driving around Riyadh, there is enough to frustrate anyone. From the crazed drivers flying up on everyone's tail to the youth taking any and all liberties, blurring the lines between transportation and recreation, to the 30 year-old buses and box trucks over-flowing with Bengali workers being transported to and from work sites with no consideration seemingly being given to their safety, it's a harrowing scene to say the least. All of that, coupled with the fact that in order to obtain a driver's license in Saudi, little more than a note from your father is necessary, and it's easy to see how cultural understanding can fail. For me though, the system (or chaos) does seem to have some functionality to it. Everyone expects people to drive crazily, they allow for it, and react accordingly. My biggest frustration, however, comes when trying to get somewhere I've never been before: There are no street addresses in Saudi Arabia.
What pass for addresses are actually more like directions. When I got what I thought was an address for the post office, I was given a sentence in Arabic that translated as something like "Go down so-and-so street, take a right at the third round-about, then drive for 10 minutes and it will be next to the fish restaurant." The directions themselves use landmarks which change frequently and street signs are almost nowhere to be found once you've gotten off of the highway. With no addresses, there are of course no mail boxes, so anyone who would like to receive mail has to get a P.O. Box. You would think that this would actually simplify the mail system and that it would run like clockwork but in fact the opposite is true. I know quite a few people who are still waiting for packages that were sent to them months ago and the fact that I received two in relatively quick order is viewed by most as a miracle. The private courier services have a system that seems to work for them: they take your phone number and call you for directions when they get close. All of this would be excusable in a country with no infrastructure to speak of, but in a modern city like Riyadh, even the Saudis themselves have consented that an address system should be implemented. That was two years ago, they just haven't gotten around to it yet. Soon, they say, Inshallah.
Another practical matter which is also related to infrastructure is that of a gutter and drainage system for rain water. None currently exists in the country, including Riyadh and Jeddah, the two largest cities, and what they do have consists primarily of a few large holes to collect water. After it rains, they just pump the standing water from the streets into large trucks. It rains more than one might think here and if there ever is a significant amount low spots in the streets fill quickly. For two years now floods have killed many in Jeddah, and even in Riyadh large floods completely filled underpasses and caused deaths in 2010. Again it is an issue that the government here knows they need to address but no progress has been made in implementing a solution. Like too many things here, it seems like if they can just weather the storm when it comes and immediately after, preparing for the next one fails to become a priority.
When driving around Riyadh, there is enough to frustrate anyone. From the crazed drivers flying up on everyone's tail to the youth taking any and all liberties, blurring the lines between transportation and recreation, to the 30 year-old buses and box trucks over-flowing with Bengali workers being transported to and from work sites with no consideration seemingly being given to their safety, it's a harrowing scene to say the least. All of that, coupled with the fact that in order to obtain a driver's license in Saudi, little more than a note from your father is necessary, and it's easy to see how cultural understanding can fail. For me though, the system (or chaos) does seem to have some functionality to it. Everyone expects people to drive crazily, they allow for it, and react accordingly. My biggest frustration, however, comes when trying to get somewhere I've never been before: There are no street addresses in Saudi Arabia.
What pass for addresses are actually more like directions. When I got what I thought was an address for the post office, I was given a sentence in Arabic that translated as something like "Go down so-and-so street, take a right at the third round-about, then drive for 10 minutes and it will be next to the fish restaurant." The directions themselves use landmarks which change frequently and street signs are almost nowhere to be found once you've gotten off of the highway. With no addresses, there are of course no mail boxes, so anyone who would like to receive mail has to get a P.O. Box. You would think that this would actually simplify the mail system and that it would run like clockwork but in fact the opposite is true. I know quite a few people who are still waiting for packages that were sent to them months ago and the fact that I received two in relatively quick order is viewed by most as a miracle. The private courier services have a system that seems to work for them: they take your phone number and call you for directions when they get close. All of this would be excusable in a country with no infrastructure to speak of, but in a modern city like Riyadh, even the Saudis themselves have consented that an address system should be implemented. That was two years ago, they just haven't gotten around to it yet. Soon, they say, Inshallah.
Another practical matter which is also related to infrastructure is that of a gutter and drainage system for rain water. None currently exists in the country, including Riyadh and Jeddah, the two largest cities, and what they do have consists primarily of a few large holes to collect water. After it rains, they just pump the standing water from the streets into large trucks. It rains more than one might think here and if there ever is a significant amount low spots in the streets fill quickly. For two years now floods have killed many in Jeddah, and even in Riyadh large floods completely filled underpasses and caused deaths in 2010. Again it is an issue that the government here knows they need to address but no progress has been made in implementing a solution. Like too many things here, it seems like if they can just weather the storm when it comes and immediately after, preparing for the next one fails to become a priority.
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