Job Discussion Forums

[jjdoll42]

Dear All,

Curious of what is new with PMU for 2009. Worked there in 2006-2008 while it was a start-up. As far as English and standards go, they were starting the IELTS. I now work in the UAE and preside over a fully-IELTS curriculum that is actually quite a good thing.

One works a lot more in UAE than in Saudi. I remember the coffee huts, the relaxed atmosphere, but yikes - the dangerous driving. I miss Aramco friends too.

The Oryx was nice - roomy, but theft was a problem. Still, overall, the lessons of Saudi were good.

Curious of what has been new this year. See any of the PMU-ers at TESOL Arabia in March. Recruiting for Khalifa University.

[scot47]

I attended one of your presentatıons. At KSAALT Conference. You were ın fancy dress.

Do you stıll go around ın a thobe ? I understood that to be a criminal offence for non-GCC-citizens in the UAE.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

They're not "thobe"s here Scot...they're "Dish-Dasha"s. Completely different animals.

NCTBA

[scot47]

When İ saw hım he was wearing a thobe.

[mouse5]

Scot's right. Saudis call 'em a thobe & gutra here mate.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Aiwa, here they're called Dish-dasha and ghutra. To-may-toe...To-Ma-toe...mate.

NCTBA

[Mia Xanthi]

It is my understanding also that it is against the law in the UAE to wear "national dress" if you are not a UAE national. I never knew anyone to do it. I also wonder if that makes it illegal for a non-Emirati woman to wear an abaya in the UAE

[007]

[Cleopatra]

As far as I know, it is not illegal for foreigners to wear 'national dress' in any of the Gulf states. However, it can be considered inappropriate for men - especially non-Muslims - to don the thobe and ghutra, as it may be felt that they are mocking the locals' dress style. I think also that, particularly in the postage stamp sized sheikhdoms where foreigners outnumber locals 4 or 5 to 1, the national dress is seen as a badge of identity, so it is not appreciated when foreigners appropriate it.

I also understand that the situation for women in rather different. Even outside KSA, where the abaya is de facto obligatory for all women, regardless of nationality, wearing the abaya is seen as a sign of 'modesty', at least for Muslim women. For this reason, foreign women wearing the abaya does not appear to have the same implications as wearing the national dress might for foreign men.

[Asda]

In classical Arabic, thobe refers to any full length garment that is worn from the shoulders down. Now, Saudi and Qatari thobes are by and large similar, in that they have a stiff, raised dog collar (wing collars optional). The front and back of the Saudi ones are joined by a tapered bit of cloth where the side pocket is. Qatari ones are just two bits of cloth joined at the sides.

Emirati thobes have no stiff collar and have a curved pattern that starts from the shoulders and goes to where the buttons are. There is also an optional brushtail type thing worn at the top button. One school of thought says that it's to dip perfume into and another says historically it was to shoo away flies!

The ghutra is the light white cloth with no embroidery, rather like a net curtain. The shomagh is the ghutra but with embroidery that's usually red or white. The black ring is called the igaal.

I don't the special name for the Omani style rag, which is a fairly thick cream coloured cloth with a pattern on the border (usually blue). The Yemeni headgear looks more like a stiff cap integrated with some white and orange embroidered cloth.

As for wearing the garb in the K of SA, they generally welcome it saying things like: "Masha Allah beautiful wallah! You are like Soodi...!!" - can't forget the odd "Thanks God!" either...

Just my 25 halalas worth...