Job Discussion Forums

[bootita]

Hello all!!

I have read a significant amount on this site and others regarding EdEx. I am well aware of their reputation but would like to know if any progress has been made on their part?

Are they processing visas properly and aiding in the issuing of Iqama as soon as possible after arrival in KSA?

Has the housing situation improved?

Any good news about these guys? or is it still "run for your life"? I can put up with a bit of B.S. up to a point. I'm a strong and tolerant person who is culturally sensitive and aware and accepting that things will be "different" But to the extent that my life could be in danger????

Anything anyone has to say would be great

Thanks everyone for your input!!!

[babur]

[lcanupp1964]

I'm glad you feel you are "a strong and tolerant person who is culturally sensitive and aware".

You will need all your strength.

If one has never been to KSA, there's no way to prepare. I've been in Jeddah for almost five years and I had a such a bad day yesterday that it tested my strength to the very core. I wish you success.

[fledex]

It's been a while, but a friend still there tell me it's worse than 4 years ago. Although, other friends tell me there are even worse contractors now. A quick race to the bottom between these racketeers.

[bootita]

thank you all for your replies.

could anyone provide any specifics? like what was so terrible about your day yesterday? (sorry about that by the way...)

and for fledex, what exactly is worse than four years ago?

for example, what is so awful that I would possibly only last for one week???

thank you all!!!

[bootita]

also, I am supposed to be working at PNU. is it bad there specifically? in what way??

I mean, am I going to be homeless without a paycheck? or am I just going to deal with lazy students or possibly annoying or overbearing administrators??

is it all tolerable enough that I could last through my contract and "get it over with"? or is it completely unbearable?

any more clues would be great.

Thanks

[nomad soul]

[lcanupp1964]

You might have a day where people are cutting in front of you in line because they think you are anybody - you're not Saudi. Then when you speak in polite, formal English and say, "Excuse me, I believe I was next" (one of the many reluctant tools I am forced to use hourly), their eyes widen and they slowly back away.

You might have a day where you’re trying hard to follow the rules - be a good person, a good worker and they change the rules without telling you.

You might have a day where you find 7 cats eating out of the trash bags your next door neighbor always leaves in front of your apartment door because he is too lazy to walk the trash down and there's chicken bones everywhere coupled with a very bad smell.

You might have a day where cars are coming at you from every direction racing past you with zero regard to the average "rules of the road".

You might have a day where you are waiting three weeks for a few hours of OT pay to be processed because the staff comes in at 10:00am, drinks tea, checks their facebook, goes to the mid-day prayer, drinks more tea and are all out of the door by 2:00pm racing home like crazy just to sit down and stare at the four walls.

You might have a day where you have rented an apartment that is 100 feet from a loudspeaker yelling at you to go pray at 4:45am and four other times a day.

You might have a day where you have no water for two days in your apartment because your landlord only pays the water bill when it gets turned off as a reminder to pay the bill. You wash-up the next morning by pouring five very large bottles of water over yourself in the tub.

You might have a day where you get to school early because you want to print out a worksheet that you thought about the night before and you find the office still locked 15 minutes before your class starts and when you finally get someone to unlock the door (at 8:04am), someone from the IT Dept. took away the only printer for 20 teachers.

These all seem like trivial events and one might say, “Go home if you are so unhappy”, but you have spent a lot of time and money to get here in the first place in order to make/save money. You never want to go through this experience again, so you stay as long as you can. But, what if all the things above happen every single day for as long as you're in this boring, hot-as-heck, dead cat smelling waste hole?

WARES YOU DOWN TO A NUB.

But... That's not why I had a bad day yesterday. I don’t have enough time in the world to write about that crappy day. The things I wrote about above rolls off my thick, callused skin like dirty syrup because of years and years of blisters bursting and being built upon the weight of my back. It has jaded me to a point where all I want to do is go to my class, shut the door to this world and teach - gee, if I could only JUST teach. The bad news is that I only work/teach 12 hours a week, so the rest of the time I'm fighting for my place in line, smelling old chicken from Al-Bake, ducking cars and being woken up at 5am every morning.

But look on the bright side.

Some things in life are bad
They can really make you sad
Other things just make you swear and curse
When you're chewing on life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best...

And...
...always look on the bright side
of life...

(Whistle)

- Monty Python

[nomad soul]

[bootita]

i hear you all. it sounds pretty bad....so what makes you stay or come back?? must be bearable enough, right????

[cnthaiksarok]

carry a copy (updated) of your savings acct. in your back pocket. Refer to as needed and repeat.

but I'd sooner work in the US on the "mexican-chain gang" than go in with edex or anyone resembling their ilk.

[bootita]

[nomad soul]

[bootita]

the reason why i ask for specifics is because everyone has their own level of tolerance. some people say "run from edex and never look back". but why? i want to know just specifically how bad it is

and yes, i will make a separate post for PNU

Also nomad soul, are you saying i should be researching PNU instead of edex because I wont be dealing with edex once i arrive there???

thanks

[fledex]