Clash of Cultures

I have always believed that many of the women I interact with from Western Compounds here in Saudi Arabia do not have a clue about what life is really like here. I refer to them as living on the 'outside' rather than living inside Saudi. This was once again brought to my attention just the other day. I received a phone call from a friend, Abby, who lives on the very American Compound of MD 22. She was calling from our KFUPM Rec. Center. Well, I knew she was coming inside our compound today to register for an Arabic language class that will start up here for the ladies in a few days. I had talked to her a few days ago assuring her that she would have no problem at all getting into our compound as we do not have all the walls, armed guards, concrete and barbed-wire structures and other tight security measures that ALL the Western Compounds have here. She was, indeed, waved right in, when her driver delivered her to register for this class. However, because she was from the 'outside' world, she needed my husband to sponsor her for this class. He had to personally drive over to the Rec. Center and sign a voucher for her. She needed the male 'OK' from an employee of KFUPM to take this class. That was the reason she called me from the Rec. Center the other day, and fortunately my husband was home. We went to the Rec. Center to make sure everything was official. There were two Saudi gentlemen in the Rec. Office talking to Abby when we got there. One was the director of the Rec. Center and the other was head of the Community Affairs Committee. They were both enjoying visiting with Abby because she is very expressive and very outspoken. She was telling them this was all very crazy to have a husband come over like this, and no one had told her she would need a sponsor, and why didn't they just open this class up to everyone because this was a "university." It was really fun to watch these two Saudis 'enjoy' this high spirited woman. Trust me, there aren't many on our compound! Finally, one Saudi asked her where she lived and she said on MD 22. His face lit up and he said, "OH! You live in the outside world!" This was the first time that I was made aware that the Saudis also feel that all those Westerners living in their Western Compounds were not really living in Saudi Arabia, but in the....OUTSIDE WORLD! The US Consulate here has a sign inside their gate as you exit the area heading back out onto the public roads of Dhahran that says: "Be Careful, You Are Now Entering Saudi Arabia". All Western Compounds should have this same sign!

Another instance of culture clashing happened yesterday when my husband and I were getting some coffee at a Starbucks in one of the Malls. The young man behind the counter was absolutely beautiful. He just lit up when we came over to him and broke out in the biggest grin and chatted us up just fine. We were laughing and having such a good time because he was just so full of life. When I asked him what was the coffee of the day, he said, "Kenya! Where I am from!" So we were off and running again about coffee in his country and on to how wonderful our visit was to Kenya a few years ago and, well, it was just a big bright spot in our evening. It is very rare to get such happy and super service like this. This young man said he just loved talking to us because 99% of his customers do not smile or talk to him at all. He loves when the Americans come to Starbucks as we are all so friendly. Unfortunately, he doesn't see that many Americans out and about here because they are getting all their needs met inside their wonderful Western Compounds! Oh yes, my husband and I were the only Americans, as far as we could tell, in the Mall that evening. We had a great time people watching. But that is a subject for my next posting.