Job Discussion Forums

Bob Gorn · Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 10:12 pm Post subject:

I agree that some of you have been a little hard on latteegirl. The disabled husband will present a difficulty factor, but the fact that she is a Muslim will work in her favor in many ways. She will go to KSA with a deeper understanding of the culture at the outset. As for the fact that her husband can't drive, many people do get by at PMU just using taxis. As long as her husband can accompany her in a taxi, she'll be able to get around just fine. PMU provides a bus from the compound to the campus, so getting to work will not be a problem. Her husband may face more of a problem with nothing to do at the compound all day.

PMU has other US female faculty married to Muslim men, and US male faculty married to Muslim women. As Vunderful mentioned in another thread, there has been some cultural conflict among Muslims and non-Muslims on the compound. Sounds like they could use more people who span the cultural and religious divide.

Latteegirl, I too question why you are accepting a job from a recruiter when you don't know the name of the university you will work for. Don't put too much trust in the recruiters, especially when you have a family depending on you to keep them safe. Make sure you know everything before you get on that airplane. Ask them to put you in touch with current faculty members who have children, and don't go unless you're certain you have received honest information from a disinterested third party. If you're sure that it is PMU, send me a pm and I can help you get in touch with someone at the university. Good luck to you.

Latteegirl1974 · Joined: 02 Aug 2007 Posts: 75 Location: Webkinz World

Thank-you for your informative posts. I just want people to know that my husband can drive. And he's been walking since May. He is recovering slowly and I know he will be bored on the compound!!!!

I didn't except any job, I was just looking for advice. I never used a job recruiter until now. I received the same job description from the recruiter that PMU has on their web site. I guess I was a little excited when I began this thread. Embarassed

Someone posted that a woman can not go in a cab alone???????? WHY? It's a public taxi in a public place??? Nothing sinful about that! What if I had an Emergency!

Can I have a nanny/ maid live with me on the compound? Is that possible?

Bob Gorn · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 2:15 am Post subject:

Women can and certainly do ride in taxis alone, but safety is an issue. There are lots of scary stories, and some compounds insist that women can only ride with private taxi companies (with non-Saudi drivers, usually Indian). I don't know if your compound at PMU will have any such rules. If you find a driver you know and trust, you will probably want to get his number and use him exclusively.

If you want to sponsor a housemaid, you can do so. However, it is expensive and time-consuming. There aren't many female workers available locally, unlike in other Gulf countries. Housekeepers for expats are usually male workers from India or Pakistan, cleaning part-time for extra money.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Women take cabs all the time - even in Riyadh. Not sure about Qassim and Buraidah.

Get the tel numbers of one or two relibale taxidrivers, a mobile phone and - whoosh you are off !

Junaid · Joined: 02 Sep 2006 Posts: 26 Location: Riyadh, KSA.

trapezius · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:19 am Post subject:

For what it's worth, from www.dictionary.com

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

So, then as to the Middle East, Scot47 was completely correct. Not many places where things are more clearly defined by what it says on the birth certificate. Laughing

VS

brasscat · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 1:25 pm Post subject: PMU Information

I have an e-mail from the HR Department of PMU. Departure date for USA hires is set for 15 August 2007. You need to send all of your verification information to the Saudi Cultural Center, Wash., D.C. immediately.

20 Aug. 2007 is the report date for existing hires. 25 Aug. 2007 begins the seminar/orientation.

AT PMU, the genders are taught seperately. Bringing a Saudi national(maid service) into a secure compound is very difficult and requires permission to do so. Most often the local taxis do get a permit and decal to drive on to the compound.

Getting around without a car is within most people's capability. A shopping and school bus does exist. Yes, I never turn down the offer of a
ride.

The main problem a married family will have is obtaining quality schooling for the children.

Medical facilites do exist and you will have insurance, but not for pre-existing conditions . The medical facilities vary widely, the more Riyals, the better.

If stress and alcohol are issues now, they will magnify in Saudi. Consider this carefully.
brasscat

Junaid · Joined: 02 Sep 2006 Posts: 26 Location: Riyadh, KSA.

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Gender is a syntactic classification that puts nouns into distinct categories and often requires other parts of speech to change in accordance.

There are some languages with no gender and some with as many as 35 different genders. Because in a small subset of the Indo-European language family there are only two genders, and male and female people are kept in separate genders, the confusion has arisen that gender has something to do with seeing things, or people, as male and female. This is not true; there are all kinds of reasons for gender classes.

Because Anglo-Saxon cultures are notoriously prudish about sex, the word gender has become a euphemism for sex.

At a certain state in the development of feminism, the idea arose of using gender to define that determined by nurture and sex for that determined by nature. It's not that useful a distinction, firstly because the word gender is often used clearly to refer to sex, on immigration forms for example, and secondly because recent research has made it clear that most of what was before thought to be solely the result of culture and upbringing is now clearly accepted as having a biological root.

As a linguist, I prefer to keep the linguistic meaning of 'gender' and not have things confused by it's use as a euphemism for sex, but that latter is now accepted usage.

007 · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:09 pm Post subject:

Thank you 'grammatical' peoples, now I understand why some people complaint from Gender Identity Disorder!

He is a male, but he thinks he is a female! So, what Gender is he?

Bob Gorn · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:17 pm Post subject:

Brasscat, the schools in the Al Khobar area seemed quite good to me. Have you checked into Dhahran Academy (located at the US consulate)?

Maybe you are talking about other areas of KSA. I know that there are problems finding schools in areas like Riyadh where most expats were evacuated a few years ago, but I think that all the international schools in the Al Khobar area are still functioning.

trapezius · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 8:33 pm Post subject:

Yes, there are several very good schools in the Eastern region. International Schools Group is a consortium of several schools in that area, using Bitish, American, and the IB curricula. (and perhaps more importantly, Western management as well)

http://www.isgdh.org

Even in Riyadh, there is an American school, and a British school.