Mike's Saudi Six - A Street in Dahran

( Sorry that this blog is late but we had an issue with the computer our only digital device it ok now)

Towards the end of our stay in Saudi Arabia we lived in a large but developing city in the east of the country. Despite the surroundings there still existed some traits of earlier customs, one of which was that Bedouins would come into town, bringing items from their earlier lifestyle to sell largely to Westerners. I could hardly imagine a Saudi buying what they considered old junk and which we considered prized historical artefacts.

The Bedouins would sit on the board pavements surrounded by these items and drink tea ignoring all who passed by. If you saw something that you found particularly attractive the form was to sit on the pavement alongside the seller and talk to him in English and he would answer you in Arabic as though he knew what you had said. He would during this meaningless but necessary conversation offer you a tea, of course you accepted as it would insult him if you refused. He would then take the cup he had been using toss the dregs away, swill some fresh tea round in it to clean it out and refill it and hand it to you.

After some time as you sat drinking his tea you might indicate the item you were interested in; at which point he would nod and in an unhurried way write some figures on a piece of paper. Now before you went on this type of shopping it was essential to learn the Arabic numbers. (Early in my Saudi career I offered more than the seller was asking!) He would hand you the paper which represented the starting price about this time he would find another cup and you would sit together in conversation as before drinking tea and altering the figures on the piece of paper until a mutually satisfactory price was arrived at; this could take up to an hour or even longer.

During one such episode, I was in the process of negotiating a price for nicely crafted wheel from an old well. I think I’d got it down to about half the original price when an American lady walked up bent over my Bedouin friend and offered him full price. He looked absolutely disgusted and waved her away, what she failed to see was that this was much more than a sale it was a social occasion. From my side it was a great way to spend a morning and get a piece of Saudi history, I still have the wheel and treasure the memories it brings back.

Mike's Saudi Five The Round Tuit

My colleague and workmate Abu Garda was also an Imam and had committed the whole of the Koran to memory a prodigious feat and could recite sections of it in a delightful half sung style of the Islamic clerics. (I wonder how many Christians have learnt the Bible from cover to cover.) Not only was he working with me but he was also studying English Literature at the University, from this you might gather he was exceptionally intelligent, and he was. His spoken English was excellent and his written English even better. As an Imam he would pray five times a day and during his prayer time he would give me a passage from an English translation of the Koran to read so we could discuss it on his return. Despite all his accomplishments he was a typical Saudi in that much that what could be done today was left to tomorrow, when I accused him of procrastination he would smile and say “It is our way we will do it later Inshallah”.

Twice a year Syb and I would take leave in the UK and it was on one of these leaves that we discovered a little gift shop that had some ‘Round tuit’s' for sale. A ‘Round tuit’; is usually a plate with the phrase printed round the circumference and a little verse explaining that now you have an ‘Round tuit’ you can do things immediately I can’t remember the exact wording but that was the gist of it. I later found the above example. An ideal little gift for Abu I thought.

After returning from leave and back at work, I presented Abdul with his gift. He looked at it for a long time with a serious demeanour, he lifted his eyes to me and said “Mr Mike isn’t it very rude to call someone a fat twit?” It took me a long time to have him understand the meaning of ‘Round tuit’ but eventually he gave me a smile of acceptance and we continued to work together happily as before.

 

Mike's Saudi Four - The weightlifter

I was asked to photograph a Saudi weight lifter as he tried to beat the Saudi record, I have no idea what classification he was in or the weight he was to lift all I know is I couldn’t have lifted it unless I had a JCB. It was at a local sports day, I stood in front of him as he prepared himself for the lift, camera ready, he bent to grab the bar, lifted the weights on to his chest, then pushed the bar above his head. Snap the picture taken as he stood there with every sinew and muscle in his body straining to hold steady the load. It was in the days of film cameras and I had to take it away to be developed and printed.

I was so pleased with the results, it had been taken out doors and the sun gave texture to the bulging muscles the Saudi record the face strained with effort captured, I had a wonderful picture for him. Later in the day I showed him the print of it, he looked at it sadly “Mr Mike” he said “I am not smiling, we must do it again so I can smile when you take the photograph.”

True enough he organised the lift again, it followed the same procedure as before except that when he was struggling to hold the weight above his head for a brief millisecond he smiled and thank heavens I managed to catch it. The final print showed a strong man lifting the Saudi record weight and smiling as though it was as light as a feather. Perhaps he was right to insist on taking it again.

Mike's Saudi Three

“Kaleefa would be classed as a rogue by the Saudi establishment, I prefer to think of him as a man who went his own way, although a Muslim he was not always guided by the Koran which led him into some scrapes. Of which I was involved in one.

Even though it was Ramadan we had an inspection by a high ranking official who would be visiting the establishment where Kaleefa and I worked. On the morning of the inspection he had not shown up he was usually late but this time it was particularly bad. As the inspection team drew nearer to our building Kaleefa showed up drunk and smoking, it was only minutes before they would walk through our door. He was in no way connected to me as we worked on different projects and I could have left him to his fate but I like him he was an individual among many who were the same. I got rid of his cigarette told him to shut up and locked him in a large steel cupboard. The rest of us stood by as our inspection took place fortunately he was not missed even though the inspecting group talked to us for what seemed ages. Eventually they left and I could let Kaleefa out, as I opened the doors I found him slumped rather awkwardly in the bottom of the cupboard asleep and I had worried about him giving himself away by making a noise. He went home immediately afterwards but the following day he thanked me for hiding him and I realised what might have happened to me if they’d found him.

In Saudi like many places marriages are arranged and this is often seen from the women’s side but it can also be difficult for the men too, not meeting your future partner can be hazardous. So it was for Kaleefa, at a late stage in the arrangements for his wedding he found his intended brides phone number. Naturally he phoned her and said something like “Why don’t we meet and check each other out, I might be ugly and spotty?” Well she obviously agreed as she was the only Saudi bride I knew of who was pregnant at her wedding. This may sound funny to us but the punishments for this sort of behaviour in Saudi are quite dire.

The last time I met Kaleefa was at Jidda airport, Syb and I were flying out for a spell of leave when suddenly from out of the crowd he appeared. Change your plans he said come and spend your leave with me at Taif, it was tempting but our families were expecting us back home. Though Kaleefa and I sailed pretty close to the wind we seem to escape the consequences. Perhaps we should have gone to Taif after all.”

Mike's Saudi Two

I’ll let Mike continue, he seems to be enjoying it.

“Mohammed was also a Bedouin but of a poorer background and a simpler man, though he had proved himself within the culture by getting married and fathering a son. We were friends and on a number of times he had saved me embarrassment caused by my ignorance of the local custom.

A little time after Syb and my daughter Karen joined me out there Mohammed invited us round for an afternoon naturally I wouldn’t insult him by refusing though I did wonder what we had let ourselves in for. He lived in a little block built house of a single room with a corrugated iron lean to. At the time his son had not been born so the whole space inside was given over to entertaining us. Although Karen could speak no Arabic and Mohammed’s wife knew no English they got on like a house on fire each speaking their own language and admiring the wife’s golden jewellery, this as with all Saudi women represented her personal wealth. They were the same age, sixteen.

Mean while Mohammed, Syb and I conversed in English, I can’t remember now the subject but at intervals during the conversation a few Saudi women would come in and settle down, each time Mohammed would tell then to take their veil off and they would sit there unveiled  some breast feeding their children. After a little while Arabic tea arrived along with some little European cup cakes, I had never seen this type of cake in Saudi before and I have no idea where he had found them. But I imagine he had gone to a great deal of trouble to get them.

As we all sat there without veils eating English cup cakes and drinking Saudi tea, Mohammed nudged me with his elbow “Just like England” he said. I managed not to laugh for he had tried to create what he believed was a European environment. Where he had done his research I don’t know but he was not in a position to have learnt it from any of his normal sources in a little brick room in the mountains of the Asair Province. We were honoured to be sat on the ground with our host and hostess who had gone to so much trouble to make us feel at home with an English afternoon tea.”

Mike's Saudi

 

This week I decided to let husband Mike have a go at writing a blog we were together in Saudi and because of the religion and culture we moved in very different worlds so here’s his take on it.

"I loved my time in Saudi Arabia, I was there for four years before Syb could join me and in that time I got to know many of the locals. People like Ali Badi a Bedouin and the son of the tribes chief, of all the people I have ever known he is the one I would describe as a natural gentleman and I’m pleased to say a good friend of mine. He lived the normal Saudi life so I never met his wife other than when fully covered she brought the in tea to her husband’s lounge and left immediately, at such times it was polite for me to ignore her. This would seem very strange to our western culture but Ali’s wife refused a trip to the US simply because she would have to take her veil off so she was pleased rather than offended that I ignored her.

When I was there it was a case of trying to understand the Saudi culture, after all they had lived with it for many hundreds of years and who’s to say my way would be better for them? Actually their culture which was almost totally based on the Koran had much to recommend it, I don’t need to go into it here and I only understand what brushed off on me but it did seem to work for them. King Fisel who was ruler when I first went out was a very wise man and instituted a lot of rules for the development of his country.

To try to bring Saudi into the modern world, a country with a small population and a strictly non technical background he had to rely on the Western countries to educate his people. Even though the conditions for the expatriates were separated from the population it was inevitable that they would mix, western ideas would spread and it was inevitable that in time there would be clashes of culture and misunderstanding. Why is it that we in the West can’t accept that there are other ways of doing things and keep our noses out of others life styles, religions and cultures? I suspect that if we had done there would be a lot less terrorism in the world.

A lot has changed from when Ali and I used to sit and drink tea together in his lounge."

Today and yesterday

I just read my last blog through about the changing world, it took me back to when I was first married when the thought of someone killing someone was totally shocking and seemingly rare. I wonder if it is really the improvement in the media that brings every action of ours into the full glare of the spotlight or that life was always so callous. We often hear that in much earlier times life was cheap and I have no doubt it really was but after the last world war and during the time of conscription I believe that for a short time life was friendly helpful we were comrades. Our wants were simpler, we were less materialistic and satisfied with a much simpler life style.

There seem to me that the reasons for the change in attitudes are the easy ways in which we can get credit and so satisfying dreams more readily, and so increasing our wants still further. Our first car was a 1934 Morris Eight open tourer it cost a princely sum of £25 we couldn’t really afford it but it came after years of cycling and walking. I learned to drive in it double declutching and all. I should mention that it was our only car and it was old when we got it, of course! Now youngsters aspire to cars as soon as they are old enough to drive and who can blame them they live in a competitive society and relatively easy availability, not only that but Mum and Dad have a car each, so why not me?

Me - there’s a word, it seems to be the driving force of today’s population, from youngest children we teach personal gratification. The children of my modern family have an ever increasing mound of toys to play with; most ignored after a very short time in favour of some digital device whilst the adults are out at work to earn more; to buy more gratification for the family.

When life was simpler it didn’t require the income to support the ever competitive life style of today, for one thing there were less things to buy, and for some products rationing still existed and the gap between rich and poor was accepted. It was in other words less stressful, I accept that it is impossible to go back delightful as it was in my memory, but I am so grateful that my life spanned that time.

Now I live in the country, not as a recluse, as I keep up with the news and join in the local events but it is peaceful here and a wonderful place to write.