Brainscrubber

Continuing a discussion of things it is good to know if you’re coming to visit, live in, or work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

1. Prayer time governs EVERYTHING. I’d be hard pressed to emphasize how important this fact is in getting through the day.  I’ve written about it before, but it bears repeating.  In Saudi Arabia, nearly everything stops five times each day: 1) Fajr (Dawn); 2) Shorook (Sunrise); 3) Zuhr (Noon); 4) Asr (Afternoon); 5) Maghrib (Sunset); 6) Isha (Night).  Yes, I listed six, but the main five are numbers 2 – 6.  Stores close.  Restaurants close.  Some restaurants and stores will let you stay inside and shop; but, many will not.  Business meetings come to a halt.  Most Muslims will stop and pray at these times.  There some who do not, but most do.  So, you must plan not only your commercial, but your social activities around prayer time.  Prayer time is based on the position of the sun; so it changes throughout the year.  Most of us keep a sheet identifying the daily times.  I use IslamiCity.com as my source of prayer times.  They are not so strict in other Muslim countries, but they are very strict in KSA.
2. The weekend is Thursday and Friday…NOT…Saturday and Sunday. I have written about this previously, but this is a biggie.  Of all the things that required adjustment for me, this was the most difficult.  After a while, you get used to it, and it’s just the weekend…though, it is almost impossible to shake the feeling that Saturday should be the start of the weekend rather than the start of the work week.  In most Arabic countries, the weekend is Friday and Saturday…why it is Thursday here, I don’t know.  But, this has greater impact than just your personal psyche.  Business with US and European counterparts is pretty much limited to three days a week.  Saudis take off Thursday & Friday; Westerners take off Saturday & Sunday.  While there are exceptions to the no business statement, it holds true in most cases.  Thursday will sometimes see half-days, but most folks take the full day. Everyone likes their weekend.
3. Business is rarely, if ever, conducted on Friday. This is one of the hardest things for Western business people to realize.  Friday is the Islamic holy day.  While it is not against the Q’uran to conduct business on Jumu’a (Friday), except one hour before noon prayer (that is how I understand it anyway), the practical matter is most stores and restaurants don’t open until 1pm.  Most of the ones that do open close at 10am or 11am.  After 1pm, it’s almost exclusively stores and restaurants, which open – except in emergency situations.  Islam requires all adherents to participate in public prayer at a mosque on Jumu’a, which is held at noon.  Many of the TV channels actually switch to prayers for those who cannot attend.  If there is a single day commonly used as a  day of rest, it is Jumu’a.  Even the lower caste folks who do all the crappy work are given the day off.  No business on Friday.  None.  Anywhere in the Arabic world.  Except for emergencies.

I have more items to offer up to those preparing to come to Saudi Arabia, which I’ll be posting.  I hope someone finds them useful.

All materials posted on Brainscrubber, whether photographic or written, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted by Greg Hubbard.  No material may be used in any fashion without the written permission of the author.

OK.

I find that a bit more exciting than having King Abdullah transit past.  But, only slightly so.

President Obama will be in Riyadh on 3 June.  It’s in all the papers here, and folks are anticipating his arrival with great interest.  I went to a function at the American Embassy last night, and while waiting in line to get inside, members of the advance team arrived in black SUVs and unmarked bobtail trucks.  They didn’t show up all together, but in groupings – most likely a sensible security measure.

Unfortunately, foreign dignitaries tend arrive around the time I leave work.  The traffic is bad at that point anyway – a city with a population slightly less than LA  and much less infrastructure – and the arrival of the US President only exacerbates the situation.  I commented on this when President Bush visited in January 2007.

Still, as an expat,  it’s kind of cool when your own national leader is in the same country as you are.  And, like in the US and Europe, Obama is quite popular throughout Asia, especially in the Middle East.  Again, it’s the hope that things will be different under his administration than under the previous one.  Not everyone sees it this way, but that is the prevailing point of view.  I’ll try to monitor the local papers and see what is said in them about the visit.

Any way it goes, I guess I’ll be taking the back route to the compound on Wednesday.

So…you’ve been offered a job in Saudi Arabia.  Or, your husband has been offered a job in Saudi Arabia.

(Note: Unless a doctor or a nurse, a Western woman will NOT be offered a position in KSA.  Women from South Asia, East Africa, and the Philipines do get offered positions, but as maids or nannies.  Trust me when I tell you, you do NOT want to be a maid or a nanny in KSA.  [NOTE: Most nurses who work in the hospitals available to the general public, including Westerners, are Filipina.])

But, in any case, you’re coming to KSA to work for a while.  What is it that you need to know to make the adjustment smoother?  Periodically, I am going to list a few things you need to know to prepare yourself.  Many of them are small things, of which I wish someone had made me aware.  Some are pretty obvious.  Some are not.  All are fairly important.

1. Learn to count in Arabic and to recognize Arabic numerals. Those of us in the West are taught our numerals are Arabic numerals (as opposed to Roman numerals).  The truth is, they’re derived from Arabic numerals.  In reality, there is a significant difference.  Wahid (1-one) does look pretty close to a Western “1″, and tissa (9-nine) does look like a Western “9″.  But, with the exception of sitta (6-six), which looks like a Western “7″, that is where the similarity stops.  Sifir (0-zero) looks like a dot.  Arba’a (4-four ) looks like the Greek letter epsilon.  Thamania (8-eight) looks like an upside down “V”, though the upright “V” looks like saba’a (7-seven).  Ithnayn (2-two) looks like a backward “7″, while thalatha (3-three) looks like a wavy backward “7″.  Khamsa (5-five) looks like a rounded triangle, and it can be mistaken easily  with the Western zero.  Confused?  Probably.  But, the thing is, it’s really, really, really important to be able to recognize these numerals at a glance.  Car license numbers are written this way, and that is often how you identify your car.  Prices are mostly written in Arabic, which means that you need to know this in order to have an idea what you’re paying.  And – this is IMPORTANT – your Iqama will be written in Arabic, and you REALLY need to be able to recognize your IQAMA number.  The iqama is the most important document you will have, and it is vital you be able to read at least the number on, if nothing else to make sure it gets transcribed correctly by someone else who may use it.
2. If your employer does not have a facilitator on staff, hire one yourself. Few, if any, clerk-level bureaucrats speak English.  If they do, it is rare that it is not poorly spoken and understood.  And, there are misunderstandings of words, which happens anytime there is a translation from one language to another; precise language translation is an art form. You’ll need a driver’s license.  You might get a ticket and need to pay it.  Maybe you’ll need to go down to the Alien Registration office to get an Exit/Re-Entry Visa.  Perhaps you’ll want to enroll in a course in Arabic at a local university.  All of these tasks can best be handled by someone who speaks Arabic fluently.  Often these tasks require multiple trips or lengthy sessions to accomplish.  THIS IS A TRUE BUREAUCRACY.  Facilitators make it a much, much simpler task – many of them know shortcuts or have some wasta (an “in”) at various places.  Trust me.  It works better with a facilitator and is a LOT less annoying.  Whenever you may be required personally, they can streamline the process and whisk you right through whatever you’re trying to accomplish.  If you hire your own facilitator, ALWAYS get recommendations – and require receipts.  Do not just hire someone off the street.  Only hire someone recommended to you.
3. Give up on the English Imperial System of Measurement. Folks, metric is here, and it is here to stay.  Learn it.  Get used to it.  Move on.  This is true not only in KSA, but in just about any country outside of the USA or the UK.  Weight is in grams or kilograms.  Distances are in kilometers, and speeds are in kilometers/hour.  You buy gas by the liter, just as you buy milk or water or juice.  Learn to do quick, relative comparison conversions…figure out what amount you really need…then just go with the metric; it is so very much easier to do.  If you’re driving, you do not need to know your distance in miles or your speed in miles/hour at all.  Even if you’re trying to figure out how long it takes to get somewhere, you’ll simply divide the number of kilometers (or klicks, in slang) by the speed in kph.  Metric.  It is reality.

That’s where I’ll stop this time.  I’ll post more as I note them.  I hope they help someone, or provide a peek behind the scenes, for someone who is reading this.