R i Y A D H

Background:

8 weeks project in KSA (kingdom of Saudi Arabia).. I don’t know what did I feel when I got to know this. It seemed an interesting project to work on. But Saudi?? I definitely had some apprehensions before I nodded my head indicating my readiness to take it up.

Something about KSA:

For those who do not know – KSA is one of the most challenging countries to stay in. They expect expats also to abide by their customs and respect their religious beliefs. You are not supposed to schedule a meeting in thier prayer times (5 times a day). All the shops close in their prayer times (approx 25 minutes for each time; 5 times a day). Women are not allowed to work here in offices (apart from a few exceptions). Women are not allowed to drive in KSA. Yes that’s a fact – believe it or not! And, every woman in the country needs to wear Abaya (Burkha) irrespective of the religion she follows!

With this background, I was set to fly to Riyadh – the capital of KSA. Instead of flying on Emirates’ nice and cozy flight, I ended up flying on Saudi Arabian Airlines’ B777. It was a nice flight. I was just trying to read my KSA visa again when I was in-flight. I could read only 3 things – 1) My name, 2) Validity 3) No. of entries. There were many other details printed on it but all in Arabic. I was curious to know what that Arabic text stood for! Mr Mohamed, my co-passenger, helped me out. He translated that for me. And then only I got to know that even though total validity was 3 months, maximum period I could stay in the country was only 30 days! And this critical information was in Arabic. I revalidated all my visa details after landing at Riyadh as well.

KSA is one of the biggest countries in Middle East. It shares borders with Kuwait, UAE, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Oman, and Iraq. There’s also a roadbridge to Bahrain from Dammam which runs for 40 kms in the Persian Gulf. Riyadh is the capital city and is centrally located. Its equivalent to Sharjah in UAE or Pimpri-Chinchwad area (near Pune) in India. Other prominent cities include – Jeddah (approx 500 kms to the west of Riyadh and on red sea), Dammam (approx 450 kms to the east of Riyadh & touching Persian gulf.). Both are good ports and have good air & sea links with other countries. There are some nice places to visit in KSA but none of them is in central region. KSA’s currency is Saudi Riyal (SAR) and approx 1 USD = 3.75 SAR. (or 1 SAR = 13 INR). Highways are overcrowded with mostly American cars like GM, GMC, Ford, Lincoln. A litre of Petrol costs 45 halala (0.45 SAR); 55% cheaper than a bottle of 1L mineral water (1 SAR). Weekend in KSA is Thursday+Friday!KSA is in GMT +3 hrs of timezone.

Globalization:

Saif had come to pick me up at the airport. I kinda understood what does globalization mean at that time. Client’s HR manager, a Yemeni guy, had sent Saif (an Indonesian driver) to pick me (Indian) – who works in a company in UAE which has got its HQ in Switzerland – up at Saudi’s capital in American car (GMC). Wow! Saif could hardly speak English. He dropped me at my hotel apartment whose name I couldn’t understand!

Ok, let me just briefly touch upon my experiences in KSA so far!

1) Check-in: Hotel reception
When I checked in there, the manager gave me a print out and asked me to sign on that. I looked at the paper and asked, ‘where do you want me to sign’? Reason: That printout was completely in Arabic! He pointed some space. Damn, I just didn’t know on what paper I was putting my signature on! 

2) Day 2: Morning.. Leaving for office!
I did not know the name, address of the hotel I was put up. So I asked in the morning at the reception. There was some different manager who did not understand even a bit of Ingleezi. Somehow I managed to get a card which had hotel’s address and telephone number. As expected, it was in Arabic. Damn, how the hell i’m gonna stay in this country for next few weeks, I thought.

3) Day 2: Dinner
Challenge 1) where to eat - Thankfully, my client had arranged for my conveyance from hotel to office and back. After reaching office, I managed to understand the name and brief address also for the hotel  In the evening, my boss dropped me at one of the restaurants near my hotel. I thought I’ll get some authentic Arabic food over there.
Challenge 2) Where to sit – I pushed the door and entered in there. I knew that in KSA they have separate sections for family and singles. So I was looking out for singles section. Couldn’t see any signboard indicating that. So I asked a waiter. He did not have a clue what I was trying to ask. I had to go in complete dumbC mode to explain him that I’m hungry, I want to eat and I want to sit somewhere in singles’ section. He gave me a smile and showed me the way! Yes, I was gonna get some food  Singles’ section had a cubicle like structure with walls of approx 5 feet. That waiter asked me to go in one of those cubicles. As I opened the door of the cubicle, I saw only a carpet laid down. No table and chairs  ! So I had take off my shoes and sit down there. I was wearing my suit, tie and was sitting on a carpet for eating something. It was funny!
Challenge 3) What to order – The next challenge was what to order. I dumbC’ed him to get something in chicken and no beef. He nodded his head positively and got back with some type of chicken biryani and pepsi. I could eat only 20% of it .It wasn’t that tasty either.
Challenge 4) How much to pay – At the counter, I did not have any clue what my check was amounting to. I gave 50 riyal note; expecting to get something back. He gave me 37 riyals back. So my bill was 13 riyals only! Good..

Knowledge:
Arabic (Saudi, Yemeni, Syrian, Jordanian, Egyptian, Kuwaiti, Bahraini etc... Basically who can speak Arabic) guys are very friendly and they wont try to cheat you. However, there's a genuine barrier of language.

Lesson:
To learn speaking basic Arabic phrases and numbers!

4) Telephonic conversation
As part of my project, I was supposed to get some updates from client’s offices in Jeddah and Dammam. Guy sitting in Jeddah office was good in English and hence I got my information from him within minutes. Then I dialed for the guy sitting in Dammam. Man, it was so damn difficult to understand what was he trying to communicate.

JD: “Salaam aalekum Majid. data1 ok & moujud??”
Majid: “Wallekum assalam hamdullah Mr Jadeeb. Data1 No ok. Tomorrow inshallah.”
JD: “ What is the problem?”
Majid: “my car break. I not go to other office + (something something in Arabic)”
JD: “By what time will you send data1 tomorrow?”
Majid: “Ok, tomorrow inshallah hamdullah”.
JD: “Tell me the time.”
Majid: “I don’t know.”
JD: (thinking thinking.. and finally ..) “Ok fine!”
Majid: ”Thank you!”

5) Washing Machine
The place where I’m staying in is a self serviced hotel apartment. Means its like a fully furnished 1 BHK. There’s no restaurant, café, recreation area in the hotel. After 4-5 days of my stay, I wanted to wash my clothes. There was a semi-automatic machine in the bathroom but it did not have either water or electricity connection. So I asked the hotel manager – how do I use this machine. He said, its simple! Move the machine to the other corner of the bathroom where there was an electric point and pour water into the machine using the bucket. I was amazed but I hardly had a choice. When I moved the machine to get the electric connection, I noticed that it was blocking the way to come out of the bathroom. Man, I really had to squeeze through a tiny winy gap to get out of my bathroom after setting up the machine for washing. After a while, I had to do the same exercise as I had to move the clothes from washing compartment to the dryer. Grrrrrr…. There wasn’t enough space in the bathroom where I could’ve done dhibi-pachhad also.

Now I’m kinda settled here in Riyadh after 4 weeks of stay. I had a quick trip to Dubai last weekend to get a new visa stamped. Lets see if I can visit any interesting places in Riyadh in next 4 weeks.

Salaama!

- Jadeeb
(They find it very difficult to pronounce my name. So they call me Jadeeb or Jay or something like that :) )