I’m such an American…

I just wanted to share a few of my cultural experiences since I have moved here. My new friend/coworker said it best when she said starting a new job can be a nerve wracking experience. You wonder if you made the right decision, you wonder what the people are like, etc. Now start a new job, in a new country, and not speak the local language and you have just multiplied your apprehension by 100. So, here are some of the things I have encountered while looking like a wide-eyed American straight out of the suburbs.

1. There are geckos in Saudi Arabia and they like my address! Some here have warned me of geckos trying to get into cooler places (like your home) and there was even an instance of one trying to jump into a person’s shirt! This person told me to watch out for them and now I am officially freaked out. I have named my new companions Laverne and Shirley…they mostly show up at night…which BTW is around 6:30 PM! Yes it gets dark very early here-which has caused a bit of adjustment on my part. Most activities that happen here start WAY past my U.S. bedtime simply out of necessity. It is too friggin hot during the day to gather and run errands so everything happens after sunset and stays open really, really late. Yes, malls are often open until 12 PM or later. Since I am now often out after dark, I am greeted by my two friends whenever I come home. Yes, I know they are eating the nasty bugs around me but I can’t help but wonder if they have alternative motives! I have now officially become the paranoid person with her key in hand, scurrying across her courtyard, hand over chest (to keep them from entering my shirt) opening and closing my door at lightning speed.
   • Today, a third gecko appeared on the door of my outdoor utility/laundry room. He is much smaller than Laverne and Shirley so I have named him Squiggy. I am praying that Lenny never shows up!
2. I discovered that maintenance will show up super fast if you say you are locked out. Yes, I left the keys on the counter and locked my door. However, I was super on top of it and thankfully programmed the lockout number into my cell! I called the number and had the hardest time trying to figure out why the guy kept saying you let me in when I get there. “No, I can’t I am locked out.” Okay, you submit a ticket. “What? For a lock out?”  Yes, okay, okay, what your number, you let me in? “WHAT? I can’t let you in I am LOCKED out!” Okay, okay I be there soon and you let me in. Ugh…I hang up and a few minutes later I arrive at my place and the gentleman is already waiting for me, looking very anxious. He says…you let me in? I said I can’t I am locked out! I need you to let me in! He says, OH, you are locked out…I thought you say WASHED OUT! Evidently water intrusion is a real emergency. He left and came back 5 minutes later with keys to unlock my door. And no, I didn’t need to submit a ticket.
3. Why is the above so funny to me? The first week I arrived here and for three days in a row my air conditioning broke. For three days, other people on the camp had to call maintenance to come and fix it for me. I didn’t have a land line phone installed and that is the ONLY way you can call in an air-conditioning maintenance request. So much for the usefulness of 21st century cell phones! Twice, they fixed the ‘same’ issue and twice it broke for the same reason. Not having air conditioning in 100+ heat is no laughing matter. By the third day-having had waited for 3 hours for maintenance to arrive (mind you I will NOT open the windows or doors because of the geckos!) a gentlemen calls me and says, “Uh, we finished for the day, we not get to you today, we go home. We come by tomorrow morning.” WHAT?! What do you mean you are done? Thank goodness for my colleagues who can navigate the ‘system’ were able to call on my behalf to get my air conditioning repaired! Granted it wasn’t until 9 o’clock that night, but it did get fixed! Knock on wood, every day that I come home and the loud system is running I am thankful! Oh, I deleted the customer service satisfaction survey that came into my email box 3 days later…no sense in rocking the boat!
4. Don’t smile at camp laborers/workers. Okay, I am trying to navigate through the ins and outs of the new culture. Don’t politely smile at ANY worker. Because they may take it wrong and follow you through the commissary, isle by isle and say things to you in a language you do not understand and totally freak you out. Not saying this happened to me, but just in case…don’t do it!
5. Don’t smile and say shukran-which means thank you in Arabic. The gentleman on the receiving end of the shukran may say something back to you in Arabic, smile and wink at you. Not saying this happened to me, but just in case…don’t do it!
6. Never knew that cruising at 22 mph would be so liberating! Yes, there is nothing like the freedom of swapping out your two feet for the luxury of a golf cart! With so many of my colleagues on vacation I have a privilege of cruising around camp in a golf cart built for two. Me and my coworker have torn up this camp at 22 mph and it has brought on a sense of freedom I never could have appreciated before this job! So, if you know of anyone who is selling a golf cart soon-preferably with a roof and gas powered please let me know. There is a beautiful 4 seater, with windshield and tarp for sale on camp for $26,000 SAR but that is a little rich for my blood. I don’t need the Cadillac of golf carts, I just need a gas powered golf cart!
7. I went on my first off-camp shopping trip in my abaya! The camp provides Mercedes Benz bus rides to the mall for free! Just hop in and relax in style. My question is…why do the buses run and drop you off in a mall that is closed for the holiday? We are officially in Eid Al Fitr…all the stores are closed or have extremely reduced hours. The day I went to the mall the stores were open from 4-5 only and the bus left to come back to Ras Tanura at 1:20. But hey, I was able to walk around and look at the closed shops for a few hours. I will be heading back this coming Saturday…more to follow.
8. Finally, you may have noticed that I have referred to Ras Tanura as a camp. My colleagues had a good chuckle when I described the queasiness I feel when I run into Laverne, Shirley, and Squiggy. “But…I am not camp girl, I am hotel, room service and hairdryer girl I replied!” Well, welcome to camp they tell me!