Job Discussion Forums

[EnglishDoYouSpeakIt]

All year long here in Saudi I think of things I wish I had brought or will bring when I go home for the summer. But the problem is I promptly forget. With about six weeks before I exit the country I'm trying to write this stuff down. Any suggestions?

Basically things not available (but still legal) here, or things that are very expensive here but cheap in the States. Like certain breakfast cereals, costco packs of deodorant, cheap laser pointers (cat toy) etc.

are usb flash drives cheaper in the states?

There is also the online factor, I don't do online shopping here but can in America.

[cmp45]

[EnglishDoYouSpeakIt]

[veiledsentiments]

I didn't find your choices odd... and honest... I'm not trying to pick on you. But this is the type of post that we usually get from someone who has never been to the Middle East. I thought that you would be more likely to know what to bring for yourself than any of us would.

I always brought lots of crazy stuff back with me to the Gulf, but it was individualistic wants. It was mostly shoes and cotton fabric.

VS
(and cmp... way back then I often brought a couple boxes of Grape Nuts cereal... because at the time, it rarely showed up in the supermarkets)

[cmp45]

The only stuff I ever carted back and forth coming and going were gifts for other people in the country I was heading to. I have cut that back as well

I just think people are so caught up in "frivolous comforts" or what they think they can't live without...seems rediculous to me. I always just bought what was available in the country I was living in. Shelves are so full of imported goods these days....and if prices are higher well buy local products or from 'other' nation imports besides USA. To each his /her own... I refuse to be sucked in to believing one brand is better than the next...soap??? garbage bags??? deoderant??? these things are available everywhere...what the heck???? Some clothing items may be the exception...perhaps women/men have 'other'special needs., but these days, most everything you have at home can be found in one form or other here. Maybe I'm the weirdo for thinking this way????

[strangerthanparadise]

you are not a weirdo, not at all, on the contrary, what you say sounds perfectly sane to me: as opposed to what the person says who started this "discussion" ... i find it utterly bizarre to spend time thinking about shopping lists weeks ahead of your vacation...for items you can even get in the desert.

[Muhammed Abbas Khan]

PG Tips

[casio]

Easy: brewer's yeast.

[rainbowprof]

[lcanupp1964]

I think it�s a great question (thanks OP). I always bring back vitamin C because it�s less expensive and you can only get a 30-day supply of tablets at the pharmacy. The GNC stores in Jeddah have stopped carrying the 250 and 500 tablet quantity. One of mangers told me that it is due to the Kingdom wanting most (if not all) vitamin C to be bought at a pharmacy. May not be correct, but I haven�t been able to find vitamin C at GNC stores in Jeddah for a while. They have the chewable kind, but not in tablet form.

Another thing I bring back is four or five boxes of day and night time cold meds. I like a brand that I can get in the states that works best for me.

I wish I could bring back 100 boxes of Cap'N Crunch Peanut Butter cereal.

[teechagimme]

Nothing seems crazy expensive here but I'll probably do some shopping at home if there are some good sales going on and I love my Nook Tablet from Barnes & Noble so if you don't have a reader or tablet, I can highly recommend it. Not only is it a good deal but it has been very useful when I tutor. I've downloaded about a dozen children's books and a few apps that have proven to be both fun and educational. They would probably help my college students...If I could get them to shut the H-e-double-hockey-sticks up and listen to me or do anything that I ask of them.

[EnglishDoYouSpeakIt]

[rainbowprof]

Won't ebay send to KSA if that's the address on your paypal? Doesn't your workplace have a reliable address that you can use if your residence doesn't? Don't any bills get sent to you from which you can get the correct address? You know, electricity, water, phone bills?

[johnslat]

Dear EnglishDoYouSpeakIt,

"My main hindrance is my flat doesn't have an address. Even when I order air conditioners or kitchen appliances I have to draw a map for the delivery people."

How come you haven't gotten yourself a P.O. Box?

Regards,
John

[veiledsentiments]

Don't teachers in Saudi use their employers address for their mail? In the rest of the Gulf, everything was delivered to a wall of pigeon holes in the main office of the language center - usually in the same area as our personal office. Packages weren't convenient as you had to go to the post office in some places to get it through customs, but I understand that has become easier in most places. Many talk here about using Amazon.

There is no such thing as home delivery of mail in the Gulf as most of the countries don't have street addresses. I remember being pleasantly surprised at my second stint in Oman where they had numbered every street and building... and published a book of maps covering every neighborhood in the Muscat area. Finally that fellow delivering the washing machine could find you.

I would expect that the smaller towns and villages in Saudi don't have this, but how about Riyadh and Jeddah?

VS