Job Discussion Forums

[fellow5]

I have been offered a position with Skyline Global teaching at a university in Yanbu. My Rough Guide to Saudi Arabia has about 5 sentences on the city. It sounds like there is some nice snorkeling, but that it is otherwise a petrochemical city with little else.

Does anybody have some first hand experience there?

[briand]

Sorry no first hand experience but I have gathered about the same info on the city. It has been mentioned as a possible destination for me by SGS.

[efemmera]

My advice is to find someone on the internet who lives in Yanbu, preferably an expat and/or teacher. Introduce yourself and ask questions. I found a very nice woman who graciously answered all of my questions. Much of the info is relevant only to females and was told to me in confidence so I won't break that trust by posting it in this forum. However, the info ( I won't use the word truth as I'm not channelling Fox Mulder and truth is very subjective at times) can be found if you are persistent with your internet research skills.

[fellow5]

I got some private replies. There are three universities in Yanbu: Yanbu University College, Yanbu Industrial College and Taibah University. They are divided into men's and women's branches.

Apparently the scuba diving is good and there is a beach for westerners organized by Aramco. I guess this is so that you can go in smaller bathing suits. To me, I just wonder if it's going to be too hot to be on a beach.

Otherwise, I'm told Yanbu is a very quiet place.

[trapezius]

Did you Google it? Everybody comes here asking about small and remote cities such as Baha, Khafji, Yanbu, etc. The internet is full of information, more than any book you can get your hands on within a reasonable amount of time.

And there is also Wikipedia. Wikipedia has everything. Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanbu and if there isn't enough info there, check the external links at the bottom of the page, and also just Google it.

[efemmera]

I am unsure about the male placements, but female placements are in Taiba which is located downtown.

[fellow5]

I did google it and I read through the wikipedia entry, which was sparse. It's because I didn't find much on the internets that I put the question to the forum, hoping to get some first hand info. I was contacted by someone who told me a little about it.

I guess my main question now is: What can you do to entertain yourself in Yanbu in your off time?

[Stephen Jones]

[johnslat]

Dear fellows5,
Knitting, I think, is littleoldlady's pastime. In ALL of Saudi, there are not what you could call an abundance of leisure opportunities. Mall walks, the occasional compound party, trips to the desert (cautious trips - make sure you have lots of water and two vehicles is a good idea), shopping, going out to eat. There isn't a whole lot more. I imagine there could be some "seaside" possibilities in Yanbu, but, quite honestly, I don't know for sure.
There's always reading - have you ever said to yourself, "Someday I'm going to plow through all those thick Victorian novels by Dickens, Thackeray, Hardy, the Brontes, etc? Or perhaps Joyce and Kafka? And likely the Net - where you can go online to Dave's here and vent all the complaints about "life in the Kingdom."
I really don't think it matters all tat much where you ARE in Saudi (well, with the exception, perhaps, of near the causeway to Bahrain if you like booze) because, as I posted before, when you're already in nowhere, does it matter much whether you're in the middle of it or off to the sides?
Regards,
John

[shadowfax]

[when you're already in nowhere, does it matter much whether you're in the middle of it or off to the sides[/quote]

That must be metaphor of the month, and all those slabs of Thackeray and Smollett were not in vain!


O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count
myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I
have bad dreams.

[Mia Xanthi]

[johnslat]

Dear Shadowfax,
And to quote the same author, though a different play:

"Here's the blood, still. All the perfumes of Araby will not sweeten this little hand." - Macbeth, Act V

Of course, the word "still" used as an adverb here might more appropriately be used as a noun there.

Regards,
John

[GlobalDawg]

Yanbu is definitely a quiet place. I think the best thing about Yanbu is that it is a place where you can save a lot of your earnings because there isn't much to do. My favorite past-time when I was there (for all of five years) was going to the ATM and getting a balance statement. The most social life I experienced were the several times I had asthma attacks and was hospitalized for several days on each occassions. The Filipina and South African nurses were delightful. There is a group of western educators at the International School in Yanbu al Sinaiyah who live on a compound in an isolated area between al Sinaiyah and Yanbu al Bahar; they are a nice group of folks if by chance you meet them.

Who said something about downtown? There is no downtown unless you are referring to Yanbu al Bahar which is about 15km from Yanbu al Sinaiyah which is where the universities and college are located. At most there is a supermaket near the hospital and then a bit farther up the main road there is a relatively new shopping center with a Carrefour.

If my memory serves me correct, the drive to Medinah is approximately 170km (1.5 hours) and to Jeddah is about 280km (3 hrs). The bottom line is that the veterans are right . . . it's a remote area with not much to do. If you have young kids they won't notice that there's not much to do; however, if you have teenagers, they'll be bored most of the time and wanting to either go home or to Jeddah on the weekends; if you're young or old and single, you'll watch a lot of television or read a lot of books or arrange rendezvous with a girlfriend or boyfriend (significant other like the nurse you meet at the hospital) at the Raddison (hush-hush and on the Q.T.); or if you are inclined to study, it's a good environment to complete an online degree. Above all, if you are good with managing your money, you'll save a lot.

Oh yeah--there is the Red Sea and I hear diving and snorkelling are great. Also, a round-trip bus ride to Amman, Jordan was approximately 170 riyals--about an 8 hour ride including the border stop; an enjoyable and inexpensive quick tirp during the Eid holiday.

[sandeater]

GlobalDawg is pretty near the mark with a good assessment of what it's like. I worked there a long time ago at the Industrial College, which was OK, but I wouldn't go back.
It's not really a town at all, rather a collection of small housing units with a few shops and restaurants and an occasional bus service linking them. If you have no car, or no friend with a car you are stuck. It's built like American surburbia.
Even the coastline is engineered and sterile until you get up the coast away from the industry.
Even the Saudis didn't like it there because none of them are from Yambu, so they were always going back to where they came from whenever they could.
Further up the coast it is nice - quiet, good fishing and diving ummm . . . that's it. Take lots of good books.
In Yanbu Al Bahr I remember eating fantastic Indian food from a hole in the wall type place (no Saudis).

[desultude]