Getting my feet wet

Today was my first day in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I'm definitely bummed that the last week had to end, because all the people I've met have been really cool and hopefully I can keep in touch with them throughout our careers, whether in the same company or not. First a weekly recap:

I flew into Abu Dhabi on Qatar Airways, which had fantastic warm towels, funny hat-wearing flight attendants and exquisite in-flight entertainment, which included (for me) Toy Story 3, North by Northwest, and the first half of Fantasia until the music literally put me to sleep. When I got to the airport, I went through security surprisingly easily, although I don't expect the same courtesy from Saudi, since I've been told they confiscate everything of value (aka booze and material with less-than-fully-clothed women). After I got through security, I quickly realized there were no drivers with signs with my name. My first thought, Holy Crap! I'm in a foreign country and they forgot about me. At that point I proceeded to sweat bullets and wander aimlessly for 20 minutes desperately seeking any information I could get. One guy even got a little pissed off that I didn't choose his taxi, but I was able to subdue the situation. Eventually I dug up my emergency contacts and got a hold of the HR contact for Abu Dhabi at the socially convenient time of 12:15 on a Saturday night, using the cell phone of the guy who worked at the information kiosk. Luckily, they hadn't forgotten about me and the cab was on the way. I shared it with a guy from Iran and a French woman from Angola. Their advice to me: enjoy the week, because it's mainly downhill after that. Luckily we all got into the complex and I checked into my room at about 1:30am, with classes starting at 8:15 the next morning.

I won't go into all the gory details about what we learned during the week, but I can tell you everyone seemed a little reluctant to speak early on, understandable considering it was the first day of the rest of our lives. I also found out that when SLB says they are an international company, they mean it. Here's a roster of the nationalities and the number of kids from each country:

Iraq: 7
US: 3
Malaysia: 3
Oman: 7
Saudi Arabia: 5
India: 2
Russia: 1
Norway: 1
Brazil: 2
China: 2
Egypt: 2
Indonesia: 11
Iran: 1
Pakistan: 1
Yemen: 1
Thailand: 2
Vietnam: 2

That's quite a list, and since I've never been to a single one of those countries (outside of US of course), I knew it would be an interesting week. We were lectured about numerous safety items, ethics, and business information. Throughout the week we learned a ton of information and the odds of all of it sticking immediately are quite slim.

Our complex was a huge learning center for pretty much every segment of the business. They also have a hotel exclusively for employees, which ended up being pretty sweet. I played some pool, performed sober karaoke for the first time in my life, played futbol poorly and played basketball with a former member of the Syrian national team, as well as the Russian LeBron James who dunked from everywhere on the court without saying a word the entire game, no joke. I also conveniently went four days without shampoo or soap, since the hotel store only accepted UAE currency and also lacked an ATM.

Tuesday night we went out as a group to the Shangri-La Hotel, which was a massively ornate hotel close to downtown Abu Dhabi, and also right across from the 8th largest mosque in the world, which was absolutely gorgeous when lit up at night. I also discovered that you could order wine with dinner and smoke shisha (hookah) outside by the pool. Sorry Bosch and Hayes, this one hit way better than room 16.

We also went out on the town Thursday and Friday night. The only places you can drink in the UAE are at hotel bars, so we went to both Le Meridien and Le Royal Meridien hotels. They both offered lots of Fosters, Stella, VB, and not a single American beer (sorry Henry). We also discovered that the Royal Meridien was frequented by less-than-reputable women in their top-floor bar. We were warned to avoid public intox, so it was a far cry from stumbling out of Rick's after 2am, but we managed to have alot of fun dancing, especially with one of our friends whose only 3 drinks he'd had his entire life were in that week in the UAE.

The best experiences I had were simply meeting people from regions I knew so little about. I spoke to Iraqi's about US foreign policy, to an Iranian about Islam, and to a Russian about what else, drinking. These things will stay with me forever, and I figure most Americans don't get to hear about these places from people who've lived there all their lives.

As open and fun as the UAE was, Saudi Arabia is strict. When I got to the airport in Dammam, the women's restroom sign showed a woman in a full facial veil. Little did I know just how prevalent they would be. Literally, every native Saudi woman must wear the full veil. Foreign women must wear a full length black dress, but headwear is not required.

We drove to our housing complex, which is a pseudo-prison, but is completely inappropriately called a 'resort.' The morning call to prayer woke me up today and the only food I'll be consuming in the near future appears to be fast food. All I know is I don't have to do laundry and the reception has dozens of pamphlets that try to convert me.

Bacon, alcohol, dancing, movie theaters, practicing non-Muslim faiths, and showing skin above the knee are all outlawed in Saudi, as is driving safely and speaking softly. I think my culture shock moment came when we went to McDonalds and the entire restaurant was separated into two areas: one for women and children, and one for 'bachelors.' Literally there was a ceiling-high wall that divided us from them. We could not see them ordering, much less eating. My Omani friends explained that this is only common in Saudi Arabia, not the rest of the Arab world, but it left me kinda shell-shocked nonetheless.

I'll try to post some pics tomorrow, but for now I must rest. Day number 2 on the job promises to be more difficult. I apologize for not updating this earlier, but settling in has been difficult the last 10 days. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and what on earth happened to Michigan/Lions football? Oh wait, we've been crappy all year.