February 2015
So, after a
few months in Saudi Arabia I thought I’d add a ’part 2’ to my blog, mainly to
answer some of the additional questions that I’ve been asked by folks back
home. Not surprisingly, banking has been a subject people seem to be interested
in. Well, although apprehensive about setting up a Saudi bank account, my
experience has been positive. I chose an account with Alinma Bank based on recommendations from lads already here. I
think their advice was sound in that a friend and I managed to open an account
quickly with no hassle. In the branch, staff administered the account and made
it ‘live’ immediately. I was able to choose my PIN in the branch and then was
given my bank ATM card there and then (they could print it on the premises).
This contrasts with the UK in that I’m sure I’d have to wait a fortnight for my
card. Over the next few months, my account has worked with no issues – from
receiving my salary, transferring it to the UK as well as drawing cash from ATM’s.
One of the things I feel that some of the UK banks could learn from is that in
Saudi, you are alerted by text whenever there is a transaction on your account.
So for example, if you take cash out an alert arrives via your phone. This
gives you an element of safety as if it is fraudulent, you can do something
about it immediately. Also, if you log into your account online, there are
multiple layers of protection including being sent a code by text in order to
continue the login process. So, if your account was hacked, the criminals would
also need your phone or at least the number as well I suppose.
In my first
blog post, I mentioned how disappointed I was when I visited a hospital to get
a prescription medicine. The visit was unsatisfactory as I was passed from one
receptionist to another. I managed to see a doctor as I think his personal
nurse kind of felt sorry for me after seeing me looking bewildered. However,
although the doctor was sympathetic, he couldn’t help and sent me back down the
corridor to throw myself on the mercy of the receptionists again. After a
while, I gave up and chalked it down to one of those bad experiences. Anyway,
spin forward six weeks or so, I realised my mistake. A friend of mine on a separate
visit to the hospital (The Royal Commission Hospital in Jubail) established
what you were supposed to do. You needed to attend the hospital and register
(and present your private medical cover details to them) before you could be
taken on as a patient. I did just that and was immediately given a patient number
(by text) and also asked if I wanted to make an appointment. So, in fairness to them, it was my fault that
I simply turned up previously expecting to be seen, when in fact I hadn’t made
an appointment. This probably explains the hostile receptionists!
The weather
has been at times really cold! This has proved to be quite surprising as I was
under the impression that this country was sunny and hot! However, many days in
December and January have been ‘mild’ or actually quite cold. Very thick fog in
the morning is common which makes the roads (I’ll come to them in a moment)
vastly more dangerous. It has rained a lot more than I was expecting which in
one way is good as it serves to clear the air by bringing down suspended
particles. One day at the beginning of January, there was a proper dust storm.
Visibility went down to a few metres and the dust blew everywhere covering all
surfaces. Movement outside was difficult as the dust got into your
eyes making them sting. I tried to wear a dust mask to help prevent
breathing in the yellow dust as fine as talcum. The masks only helped to a
point – my throat and chest didn’t feel quite right later and unpleasantly, I
was coughing up some of the desert for a few days afterwards. I’d hate to be in
a really big sand storm as one can imagine the trouble it would cause in terms
of health and in matters such as disruption to driving and aircraft flights. I
guess this is just one of the hazards to be expected here.
Driving here
is unlike anything I have seen. The level of road sense, driving ability and
plain stupidity is remarkable - no wonder there is on average several thousand
deaths a year on Saudi roads. Some say that the average Saudi man is a fatalist
in that if it is his time to die then so be it - after all, it is Gods will. I
think it’s more likely to simply be that drivers here are of a certain mind-set
in that they want to get from A to B in the minimum time possible and so they
put their foot down and blast along the roads without a care in the world. I’ve
heard that as this country is very conservative, driving fast is one of the few
sources of excitement that people can enjoy. They think nothing of tailgating
at literally a metre from the car in front or undertaking / overtaking at high speed,
swerving in a crazy manner. Also, they will use their car horn at the slightest
thing. In fact, as soon as one man beeps the horn, it seems to trigger an
automatic response causing everyone in the area to start sounding their horn
enthusiastically. The other day, the bus driver even decided to drive the
opposite way down a one way street, oncoming cars simply had to get out of the
way. There is a joke here that as Saudi’s drive on the hard shoulder so much,
this is called the ‘Saudi lane’. Honestly, I have never seen such dangerous and
disgraceful driving in any single country around the world that I’ve been in. Whatever
the reason for this behaviour, it has put me off driving here in that I just
think it makes more sense to rely on taxi’s or buses and not get involved in
the wacky races that pass for driving in this country. One of my other concerns
here is that if you are involved in an accident, you cannot leave the country
until all of the legal paperwork is completed. I’ve heard of instances of this
taking several months (at great expense) for a relatively minor bump. So, I
don’t really fancy being prevented from getting on a flight out of here because
of some outstanding paperwork.
Apart from driving on-site at work, I don’t imagine that I shall take a car out
here unless I have to.
In January,
there was a long weekend here in the kingdom which many of the ex-pats took
advantage of by going on a trip to the island of Bahrain. This is a separate
kingdom to Saudi Arabia and as such has a very western feel to it – hence the
attractiveness of it as a fun destination. From where I live, it takes about
two hour’s drive to get there after having to navigate through a series of
checkpoints over a 15 mile causeway. This road bridge over the sea is a very
impressive feat of engineering. However, it is very congested and waiting in
line to get through the passport checks can be frustrating. It is quite
remarkable the contrast between Bahrain and KSA, and that is an understatement!
The place is very modern with an impressive skyline. At night, when the hotels
are lit up, it is not dissimilar to Las Vegas (albeit on a small scale). There
is obviously money here judging by the shops, hotels and cars. This is
perfectly illustrated by having a walk around the ‘City Centre Mall’ which is a
magnificent edifice to consumerism. The shops here are varied and predominantly
western (especially British and American brands). One of the things you notice
here immediately is that there is a mixture of traditional Arab and Western
culture which seems to sit side by side easily. One of the most striking things
is that you will see groups of women covered head to toe in the traditional
Abaya, including face veil in the same shops and restaurants as western women
in jeans and tops. No one seemed to take any notice of this at all. From my
point of view, it was refreshing to see people going about their business and
having a relaxing time without wondering if any offence was going to be caused
by their clothes or if they had strayed into a ‘men only’ or ‘family only’
zone. In the evening, a great time was had by all and the next day I woke up
feeling very strange indeed – I was hung-over! You see, if you didn’t know
already, you can get any type of alcohol in Bahrain in hotel bars and clubs. I
was drinking Guinness followed by Gin and it was lovely! Without doubt, the
reason western ex-pats come to this island is to have a drink as it is not
allowed in KSA. It made a great change having a pint and watch a band - just
one of the things you miss working in Saudi Arabia. The other is that I enjoyed
a cooked breakfast which included bacon! Again, this would be unremarkable in
most other parts of the world but pork is specifically banned in Saudi Arabia
on religious grounds. I don’t have a problem with this at all, however, it was
nice to be able to have the choice to eat what I wanted.
 |
| Just arrived in Bahrain..where's the nearest bar.. |
Security
concerns. In my previous blog entry, I wrote about a couple of attacks that had
taken place on westerners. Another attack occurred on January 30th
involving two US citizens being shot and injured not far away from here in a
place called Hofuf Al-Hasa. At the time of writing, the details of what
happened are not transparent. However, we were advised to remain vigilant and
keep away from this area. After this and other incidents, the security
measures at our compound were enhanced. This means that cars and buses entering
the compound are subject to inspection by the security guys. Although these
inspections are better than previous, I am not filled with a great deal of
confidence that they would stop even a moderately determined attacker. Still,
when I’m out and about running along the coastline, I’ve not felt frightened or
concerned and so have decided to ‘be alert’ and not worry unduly. Overall, as
I’ve mentioned before, I still feel that there is far less trouble here than
back home (or at least 'visible' trouble). You could be stabbed, beaten-up or even shot in the UK - I
read the UK papers online every day and without doubt, there is a lot of nasty
incidents (particularly drunken incidents) in the UK. After a while, when at home I kind of become anesthetised to it and so don't notice incidents as much. I take no pleasure in writing this, however, I don’t think places like Saudi can be condemned as necessarily worse than other countries. I
genuinely love my country and everything it offers, but I don’t think anyone
should fall into the trap of thinking that it somehow adheres to a higher
standard of behaviour than elsewhere.
All the best!
All the best!
Jimmy
