Job Discussion Forums

expatgirl · Joined: 17 Apr 2003 Posts: 19 Location: Malta

Can anyone provide any recent info about working at Prince Sultan College in Riyadh? As women can apply, I'm interested, buthave never seen anything good/bad about the place. salary, students, all the usual would be helpful - thanks

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I cannot in all honesty recommend Riyadh for an unaccompanied western female. Your life would be restricted in many ways. Stay in the Emirates, that is my advice.

johnslat · Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2003 6:05 am Post subject: Stop me before I do it again

Dear scot47,
Aaarrrggh - too late. I've already e-mailed her the e-mail address of a friend and former colleague who's been working at PSU here for some time. But I'm sure he'll go into great detail about how life for an " unaccompanied western female " ( I assume we're making an assumption here ) can be less than a garden of earthly delights.
Regards,
John

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

She should be fine in Riyadh. I knew lots of unaccompanied females who had a ball there.

Why she should want to leave the Emirates though is another matter.

expatgirl · Joined: 17 Apr 2003 Posts: 19 Location: Malta

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Dear Exat girl,
There aren't any movies in Saudi Arabial And if you go to a restaurant the single men will be in one part and you in another.

If you speak to single men in a public place you will be arrested as a prostitiute.

You meet people at private dos. But if you have had problems with the social life in the Emirates, then you will find Saudi hell.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Expatgirl,

I must say that I agree with Stephen on this one. If you are lonely in the UAE, I fear you will be much worse off in Saudi. I wouldn't consider it unless the money was at least double and I needed money badly. Smile

But, see what John's friend has to say. I'm sure John wouldn't send you to someone who would lead you astray.

Every female friend I have known, married or single, was ecstatic to get out and would never go back - especially to Riyadh. Every single one of them loathed the place. And, these were people that were happy in other Gulf countries. That is not a good sign to me. (I'm sure that there must be some women who didn't mind it, but I just haven't encountered them in the last 20 years)

Being happy/content with life there seems to be a guy thing. Smile

johnslat · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2003 5:03 am Post subject: Against all odds

Dear ex-pat girl et al,
First, let me say that I agree with scot 47, Stepehen Jones and veiledsentiments - this is not a congenial environment for single - heck, any - females: severe restrictions on dress and behavior, matawas prowling for infractions, being treated like an inferior species. Not nice at all, especially in Riyadh, the xenophobic capital. That being said, let me also mention that: 1. the housing for PSU, on the Diplomatic Quarter, is very nice and transport is provided to work and for shopping; 2. The classes are relatively small ( often fewer than 10 students )' 3. You just never know - let me relate a little " anecdotal evidence " here. In 1987 I taught an American Lit. class ( University of Maryland extension program ) for American Community Services in the evenings. My students, men and women, were all Westerners. After the course was over, one of the ex-students ( Maggie Dew - who was working as a nurse in one of the hospitals here ) and I began " seeing each other ". We'd have " forbidden " dates ", usually going to hotel restaurants ( where the matawas are a lot less likley to intrude ). We're still together ( through apart at the moment ) today., having met in, of all places, romantic Riyadh. OK - admittedly not a typical story, but, as I said - you never know. 4. And then there's, as Yeats put it - " the fascination of what's difficult ". For most non-Moslem Westerners, this country has got to be one of the hardest places in the world to adapt to, tolerate, endure.
I mean, if you can make it here, well heck, you can make it anywhere.
Regards,
John
P.S. I should add that Maggie - who, I'm pretty sure , never has quite forgiven me for assigning a term paper on Faulkner's " The Sound and the Fury " as a Final, hated it here, and there aren't enough wild horses in the world to drag her back.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I agree with the poster who says IF YOU ARE UNCOMFORTABLE IN THE EMIRATES DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT RIYADH