Job Discussion Forums

[ickle_moose]

Hello all,

I've been offered a position in Buraidah, did a search and don't see much on here apart from, 'It's super conservative'. I've lived in Riyadh before, which seemed pretty conservative to me, so anyone know what the differences are? In Riyadh I did the whole hijab/niquab thing to try to deflect unwanted attention, so no problems there.

Any ladies on here who are living there or who have lived there before?

Thanks.

[nomad soul]

There's a 4-year old thread, "Anybody worked in Buraidah before?" (http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=74886). It rambles off topic but you might get something from it. Plus, I believe one or two regular Saudi forum posters have taught in Buraidah; hopefully, they'll respond to this thread.

[fledex]

I'm not a woman, but I lived there for an academic year, along with a number of women teachers in the same hotel. Buraydah is definitely different from Riyadh. It is much smaller, with less to do. When I was there, the women were followed around by the Central Intelligence men assigned by the prince to look after them. They generally didn't go out alone, but it was possible from time to time in safe places. Many restaurants have family seating in the downtown areas, but it is much harder to find places that will serve a woman alone than it is in Riyadh. There are a couple of shopping malls where a woman can roam pretty freely if well covered. In the other Qassim town, near Buraydah, it seemed to be a little more open. One could see groups of women roaming together freely on the streets in that town, not generally true in Buraydah.

Grendal had a wife there with him. So maybe he could give more information.

[ickle_moose]

Thanks for the help guys!

[shebab]

I knew a woman who worked in Hail (not much different from Buraydah) who would go to Riyadh on the weekends to "have fun" and "feel normal." That just about says everything....

[scot47]

Locals from Riyadh come to Khobar to sample the fleshpots of decadence. I suppose it is all relative !

[fledex]

When I was in Buraydah, some of the older women teachers went to the University of Hail for job interviews. At that time, they were raving about how much better Hail was. They ended up in Riyadh after all, but Qassim was definitely worse for a woman than Hail, according to them.

[JK01]

In relation to the entry about hail. I find it hard to believe that hail was deemed more suitable for women. Having visited both hail and buraydah and spoken to colleagues at both, I would say buraydah is probably more suitable for women. The compound is definitely much nicer in buraydah, where women can relax. Qassim also has better restaurants for families, which is almost nonexistent in hail.

To summarise: buraydah is a bigger and more suitable place than hail, but less appealing than Riyadh. So if you found riyadh a challenge, then I would recommend that you avoid both hail and buraydah.

Hope it helps.

[Bebsi]