Would you work in KSA?
Discussion
oilydan said:
I came back to the UAE after 3 years there, at the start of 2017. Lived in Dahran, actually Al Khobar I think, never got the local geography. I lived in the Rashid mall hotel apartments. Nice enough with a mall/Carrefour/foodcourt downstairs. Exclusive lift to apartments meant that the novelty of taking a supermarket trolley straight to the fridge never got old!
The driving got to me for a while, then just ended up amusing me. If you get road rage easily you need to come to terms with the fact that you can put a seemingly normal human into a 4 wheeled box and it instantly turns him into a
. If you dont, you will spend a lot of time raging. And the roads are more pothole than road, do not get a nice car as door dings, potholes and hit/runs will ruin it.
Food, is crap, or expensive. Tamimi stocks some Tesco and US products, but expect to pay in gold bars.
Drink is available, if you have friends in the right places, if not it is an hours drive to BAH. I did this every 30 days to reset my visit visa as I didnt have residency. A good excuse for a glass of wine in a BAH hotel. Spinneys style shops in BAH for piggy products, easily sneaked through customs as they really are just on the lookout for bottles. Dont take bottles across the border!
Its dirty. Filthy. Zero respect for the environment, even just emptying crap out of the car window at the lights, leaving everything after a family BBQ on the 'beach'. Filthy. I could not find a patch of clean desert for some photos, even 10 miles out of town.
Prayer time. I get that in the olden days you used to have to shut your corner shop to go pray, but there is no need to shut a massive supermarket when you can stagger the checkout guys prayers. The amount of trolleys I have had to abandon in Carrefour is comical. Half way through the weeky duties and the advert for Ali's Snackbar is broadcast.... just go home. Same for petrol stations, many times caught with zero fuel, and the pumps off for 40 mins...
Money. I did it for the money. Sent the wife and kids back to the UK, visited every 6-8 weeks for a week, and used the cash to buy the forever home. I would not do it for less, and I would not do it without a clear goal. I would do it again, without hesitation.
I spent my time in the gym, got really fit. Unfortunately back in the UAE I seem to be reverting to my natural form....fat. pissed. antisocial. Happy
Makes sense. Well done on the forever home as well. The driving got to me for a while, then just ended up amusing me. If you get road rage easily you need to come to terms with the fact that you can put a seemingly normal human into a 4 wheeled box and it instantly turns him into a
. If you dont, you will spend a lot of time raging. And the roads are more pothole than road, do not get a nice car as door dings, potholes and hit/runs will ruin it.Food, is crap, or expensive. Tamimi stocks some Tesco and US products, but expect to pay in gold bars.
Drink is available, if you have friends in the right places, if not it is an hours drive to BAH. I did this every 30 days to reset my visit visa as I didnt have residency. A good excuse for a glass of wine in a BAH hotel. Spinneys style shops in BAH for piggy products, easily sneaked through customs as they really are just on the lookout for bottles. Dont take bottles across the border!
Its dirty. Filthy. Zero respect for the environment, even just emptying crap out of the car window at the lights, leaving everything after a family BBQ on the 'beach'. Filthy. I could not find a patch of clean desert for some photos, even 10 miles out of town.
Prayer time. I get that in the olden days you used to have to shut your corner shop to go pray, but there is no need to shut a massive supermarket when you can stagger the checkout guys prayers. The amount of trolleys I have had to abandon in Carrefour is comical. Half way through the weeky duties and the advert for Ali's Snackbar is broadcast.... just go home. Same for petrol stations, many times caught with zero fuel, and the pumps off for 40 mins...
Money. I did it for the money. Sent the wife and kids back to the UK, visited every 6-8 weeks for a week, and used the cash to buy the forever home. I would not do it for less, and I would not do it without a clear goal. I would do it again, without hesitation.
I spent my time in the gym, got really fit. Unfortunately back in the UAE I seem to be reverting to my natural form....fat. pissed. antisocial. Happy
People forget that doubling your money having already doubled or trebled it really helps.
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