Saudi Arabia
 

Well, I have waited for a bit to mention this, but thought; although not general knowledge I should mention that I am in Saudi Arabia for a 1 yr contract. Was laid off last October, no jobs and unemployment ran out, so a "job" was needed. Saudi is very interesting so (no internet in my room for a week or two; so using a library computer).

You can buy most anything here, sometimes more expensive, sometimes cheaper (not counting gas, its very cheap)


Anyway, I will be on the forums during your day hours most likely, as they are 9 hrs ahead of east coast time.


Ed

My friend is currently traveling in United Arab Emirates. In the phone, he told his wife what he saw .... or his wife remembered wrong .... saying the government there sending a check of USD$30,000 to each household (or citizen?) every month, without request them doing anything.

True?

Hey Ed,

Thanks for keeping in touch. My only advise today is use SUNSCREEN. :)

Hi Ed,
I wish you a nice and interesting time over there in the "no-beer-zone":cheers:
Come back safe.
Best wishes,
Andy














.

Arabic language is a hard one. A good oppertunity to figure out what they wrote on those Persian Mausers :)

Alvin?

Wouldn't those be in Farsi?

FN

Fred, I hope I knew. Only remember the language contains many horizontal bars with dots above or below them. Imagine road plates with full of those characters.

Alvin,

Yeah, I'm sure I don't know if the two languages use the same written characters. Maybe not as the Persian LP.08s don't have arabic numbers. ??? Might be like English 'english', and American 'english'. I once tried to do the crossword in the London Times. NOPE! Where I can whip right through the NY Times.

FN

There is a huge difference between Arabic and Farsi, like Russian and English.
BTW,the numbers we are using nowadays are based on Arabic numbers like 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
instead of Roman numbers like I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
The Arabs teached mathematics in their universities thousands of years before Sokrates, Pytagoras and other genies in Greece even were born,
about 4000 years before the German born genie Einstein developed his theories.

Ed,

If it sounds like fun, you might go hunting in the desert for "Saudi diamonds" (quartz) which can be cut into very nice diamond looking stones for not much money. Could be good souvenirs.

A buddy who was in Saudi Arabia working would go out in the desert at first light to see the stones glint or sparkle in the slanting sun light. Found a bunch of the stones. Had them cut/faceted in Bangkok for a few bucks. He had fun for years giving them away or selling them for $5-15 a stone to recoup the cost of cutting them. He had match boxes full of "Saudi diamonds" that looked like real diamonds.

http://dubaibestbuys.blogspot.com/20...-diamonds.html

Gene

Not sure, but I think the link is showing faceted "Saudi diamonds" and not CZ.

Farsi and Arabic use the same alphabet, but they still are two different languages.
The same alphabet is also used in Urdu, that is the language spoken in Pakistan.
This is from my experience, as i have been in this three countries, due to working reasons.
About the numbers, we use the arabic ones, coming directly from ancient arabic. The numbers now used in arabic language come from some indian alphabet.
As you can see, there is a little confusion out there.
Cheers
Antonio

Thank you, Antonio, for clearing that up. Very interesting.

FN

I hate to askn this, but what have they done in the last 2000 years?

They have boned us for oil :mad:

Hi, Ed!

Best of luck in the sand. I spent a year in Tabuk in the early 1970's. It's in the northeast corner of the nation on the road to Amman, Jordan.

An very interesting assignment with a very intereting culture.

Very sincerely, David

Ed,
Best of luck to you, just be careful my friend and stay far away from any visiting politicians from the US.

Jim

The Saudi's and their culture are both interesting and quite different than our own.

I have a distant relative that married a Saudi pilot (the son of a Saudi 747 pilot). They are both well known and respected, one being trusted to the extent of flying Yasser Arafat to New York for attendance at the United Nations.

They live in Jeddah. In her words it has been like winning the lottery with nothing to spend it upon! They live in luxury with servants, etc... She is not allowed to drive, so must be driven when she needs to travel. This also means that there is always someone with her.

A few years ago, she got inattentive about her appearance, and let her hair show outside her head covering and scarf. The town religious "police" warned HIM about her behavior, yet she continued to do this. Eventually HE was brought in for a ritual beating to punish him for not controlling his wife.

There are cultural things that I'm sure will take some time to get used to. For example, don't talk about your pet dog in Saudi Arabia. Dogs are considered dirty, and keeping one barbaric. Also, don't cross your legs and show the bottom of your shoe to anyone. That's a rather significant insult!

Best wishes... Every time I'm overseas, it's a great learning experience.

Marc

You are missed Ed. Keep us posted on all happenings there, and let me know if your family needs anything at home... I'll do what I can.

Ed,

Good luck in Saudia Arabia. I was in Bahrain in January. Everyone goes to Bahrain from Saudi Arabia on the weekends to party.

Take care,

Tracy

Marc, Tracy and all thanks.


Finished my "in-processing" and start work tomorrow. I am aware of some cultural items, but will try to remember what you said Marc. Evidently the interpreter assigned to me (most of the time), I will ask for his help in being culturally aware, as that is important to me.


Now that i have internet access, I'll be around, just at weirder times :D

Ed