Job Discussion Forums

[sheikh radlinrol]

Much has been written on these boards about compound life in Saudi and whether or not compounds are better than the alternatives.
I liked living on a compound. I felt safer (although recent posts have given me food for thought).
I recommend compounds to Saudi newbies. What do the old hands (and new ones) have to say?

[johnslat]

All my non-compound friends used to look upon me with a mixture of pity and superiority when they learned I lived in a regular apartment building amid "the natives" and mostly "non-Western" non-Saudis.
I like it that way, though. For one thing, it was only a ten-minute walk to work; for another, if I wanted to live in a transplanted American town, I could have just stayed home. But most of all, in 2004, when the compounds started getting bombed, well, then living off a compound starting looking better and better.
Regards,
John

[cmp45]

Since I have never lived on a compound I admit that I am biased. I have visited a few compounds and they all seemed pleasant enough once you get past the barage of security. However, it's the thought of having to go through the endless security on a daily basis which is a major turn off for me. All that security is a constant reminder of the vunerability(real or imagined) which exisits on a compound. While living within the community, there is alot more freedom to come and go as one pleases. It is a more integrated community.

The only plus that I see to compound life is they do tend to have more green spaces to relax as oposed to being surrounded by so much inner city concrete. I guess there is always a trade off somewhere. My priority is with ease of movement to and fro...I work where John Slat used to work and live in the same single men's housing and am always thankful that I can walk to work and not have to deal with the daily commute from a compound.

Most of the time you do not have the choice and you have to live where they put you.

BTW John, you are still remembered fondly by many of the local and some of the regular expat. staff ...do you rememeber 'big' John (American) who now lives in the Philippines?

[Stephen Jones]

When we were in Jubail they built a compound around us. Came back from holiday one summer and found the apartments guarded by armed police and a concrete perimeter wall going up. Bechtel had decided that it was going to house all its employees around where we were and was building the security around us. In general this reinforced my belief that 9/11 was an inside job funded by the concrete industry, particularly when we found that the construction company responsible for the infrastructure was Bin Laden co.

We were all hauled into a meeting by Bechtel's head of security, an ex-squaddie who went by the name of Charlie. He explained to us his anti-terrorist experience in dodging the IRA in Germany ("Yea, but didn't they win the war, Charlie?", somebody called out), but did rather spoil his claim to cutting-edge expertise by handing out leaflets regarding Bechtel's security arrangements in the event of a terrorist attack, which instructed us to meet in the "Mess Hall" and ended with the motto "Remember; loose lips sink ships."

Charlie, whose experience in Germany we later learned mainly involved training the army bob-sleigh team, remained as security consultant for a further two years. He attracted a large audience when he decided to demonstrate to the Saudi soldiers on guard how to stack sandbags, and an even larger audience the next day after they'd all split or fallen down, and he was attempting to shore them up. About a year into compound life I asked him what had happened to the request I had made for anti-blast cling film to be applied to all the windows (there had just been a bomb blast outside the Australian Embassy in Indonesia, and the Australians didn't have a single casualty because they'd used the film on all the glass windows). He told me it would have to wait another year because they'd spent that years' budget on CCTV cameras covering all the exterior walls.

Scot 47 will no doubt be able to give us the details on the Great Shebab Evacuation of 2004, and the posterior occupation of the terrain by specialized forces.

And if you do miss the bus to the supermarket in most compounds now you should be able to grab an unattended armored car whilst the driver is occupied praying, watching TV or otherwise occupied. Indeed even females late for the supermarket can take advantage of this since I doubt either traffic police or mutaween will be overenthusiastic about approaching a driver who is pointing a heavy duty cannon at them.

[johnslat]

Dear cmp45,
Thank you for letting me know that gone is not forgotten. It's flattering to learn that the remembrances are fond ones; the same is true from my end -
it's the people I got to know and like there that will stay forever in my memory. I miss them.
And yes - I most certainly do recall "Big John", though if we, like Robin Hood, went by the principle of "reverse nicknames", he should be "Little John" and I should be "Mr. Big" (so to speak.)
Regards,
(Big) John

[Cleopatra]

The fact of the matter is that what me might 'recommend' is almost beside the point. Most ex-pats have to live where their employer puts them, at least for the first several months. Even if their employer is happy to give them a housing allowance, chances are, for teachers at least, that that allowance will not stretch to cover accommodation on one of the better compounds. So the point is, in a sense, moot.

Besides, not all compounds are created equal. Some (yes, the ones most teachers can't afford) are mini-cities you almost never need to leave. The ones more financially suitable for your average ESL teacher are more likely to consist of a group of villas and apartments, with perhaps a pool, gym and a grocery shop thrown in. Of course, such places are likely to have a lot of 'non-Western' residents, a fact which does appear to be of concern to many "Westerners" who find that the presence of brown folks rather cramps their style.

[Rob Taylor]

Can't be as dull as the topic sounds, can it?

[scot47]

On my first contract here - almost 40 years ago - I got a housing allowance and had some choice. Since then with three different employers I have had no choice but to take the housing provided.

To tell the truth I rather LIKE the place I am in. Extensive parkland, very green, and quite unlike most of the mini-compounds like "Arabian Homes" that a certain type of "expat" longs for. And what a weasel word that is - EXPAT !

[Griff-James]

Who was your first contract with, Scot47?

40 years, man alive. Is there anyone left who's been in Saudi longer? I don't mean that disrespectfully.

[johnslat]

Dear Griff-James,

"Is there anyone left who's been in Saudi longer?"

King Abdullah - possibly.


Like Dilsey in The Sound and the Fury, scot47 can proclaim: "I'se seed 'em come, and I'se seed 'em go. I'se seed the first, and I'se seed the last."
Regards,
John

[scot47]

In that time I have been out of KSA, working elsewhere. I know of people working in KSA who have been her longer than 40 years. There are one or two still around who came on the Min of Ed programme that employed me.

[Griff-James]

"In that time I have been out of KSA, working elsewhere. I know of people working in KSA who have been her longer than 40 years. There are one or two still around who came on the Min of Ed programme that employed me."

Of those still working, who's been here the longest?

When you started out in the early seventies, how long had the old timers been there then? Any intrepid pioneers from the 30s and 40s?

[Griff-James]

'"Is there anyone left who's been in Saudi longer?"

King Abdullah - possibly.'



'Like Dilsey in The Sound and the Fury, scot47 can proclaim: "I'se seed 'em come, and I'se seed 'em go. I'se seed the first, and I'se seed the last."'

Brilliant.

[Stephen Jones]

Scot's a youngster and newbie compared to some of our colleagues, past and present.

[Griff-James]

I find this fascinating � tell me more, Stephen!