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Jaime1
Joined: 11 May 2008
Posts: 66
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 Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 1:53 am Post subject: Riyadh |
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To those who live there what can you tell me about the city?
What is illegal there that is legal in America?
Is the cost of living high?
How is public transportation?
Thanks |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 2:18 am Post subject: |
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Are you arriving with a contract to teach?
Have you done any reading on this board?
What is illegal there that isn't here? Drinking alcohol... even having it in your car... or bloodstream. Homosexual relationships. Being caught with a person of the opposite sex who isn't a close family member. Getting raped. Discussing local politics or the royal family.
Of course the reality is that all of the above happen all the time, but just don't get caught in public. The jails are very bad news...
What do you consider a high cost of living? As compared to where?
There is no decent public transport other than expensive taxis.
VS |
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stonecold
Joined: 30 Aug 2010
Posts: 39
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| Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 8:51 am Post subject: excellent questions |
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the cost of living is very low in riyadh. I rented a car monthly for roughly 400 dollars and petrol is dirt cheap. to fill a compact car costs around 15-20 sar which is 4-6 dollars US.
they have buses but the schedule can not be found and its usually frequented by south east asians, plus the drivers are horrible.
they are currently building a sub way system. dont know how long it will take though.
the streets are fairly well maintained but he driving is crazy.
alcohol is illegal as was mentioned but generally people make their own or smuggle it in from bahrain. police wont search in your home unless they have reasonable suspicion. many saudis drink alcohol in their homes and you can get it on compounds.
homosexuality and "sorcerey" are illegal, meaning no palm readers and such. but homosexuality is here and some say its rampant. cant confirm that. also, ther eis only one officiall religion, islam though some embassy will have other religious services available since they aree soveriegn territory.
you will also notice there are no movie theaters here. women cant drive here either.  |
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stonecold
Joined: 30 Aug 2010
Posts: 39
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| Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 8:52 am Post subject: forgot something |
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| food is really cheap as well and you can get most name brand things here. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 9:28 am Post subject: |
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My advice is to read.
Not just the boirad but other material as well
Heed the opening words of the Koran !
"Read....................." |
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cassava
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 175
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| Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 1:26 pm Post subject: Re: excellent questions |
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| stonecold wrote: |
they have buses but the schedule can not be found and its usually frequented by south east asians, plus the drivers are horrible.
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This information is wildly exaggerated. If you inquire at the bus depots, you will be able to obtain bus schedules.
What does it matter who rides on the buses? Whether their ancestry is South Asian, African or European should be totally irrelevant. The preoccupation with people's "race" is a bizarre obsession among some teflers.
In every country, there are bus drivers who are good while others are mediocre. Saudi Arabia is no different. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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| I thought I was the only EFLer in KSA who uses buses ! |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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I always found that Gulf country bus systems were so sparse that there was never a route that took me from home to work without long walks in the heat on each end. (not that women would want to venture onto a bus in most of these countries anyway... some routes in Kuwait were OK from my home to shopping... but not any to my work)
VS |
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Jaime1
Joined: 11 May 2008
Posts: 66
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| Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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| ok thanks everyone. |
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hsm
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
Posts: 65
Location: Second Floor
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| Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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The north of Riyadh is more expensive than the south though at the expense of social environment,,,
the south of Riyadh is more crowded, noisier, poorer and more dangerous...
the north of Riyadh is the opposite - relatively speaking...
Renting an apartment anywhere in Riyadh depends on where you rent it,,,the rent differs from one place to another greatly....if there is no difference in the rent there should be difference in the quality of the apartment...
When renting an apartment try to bargain and not accept the rent proposed by the real state agent directly...
There is also a discrimination between married and single individuals and that's why there are apartments for single individuals and others for married ones. It's somehow difficult to find a suitable apartment for singles....
Technically, there is no bus system in Riyadh...The buses are overused, often crowded and not air conditioned...
On weekends bus drivers charge more than what is normal on weekdays...
You need to get a driving license from your country so that you can exchange it with a Saudi one to buy a car or it will be very difficult and expensive to get around the city...or you need to go to driving school which may contradict with your schedule... |
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stonecold
Joined: 30 Aug 2010
Posts: 39
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| Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:14 am Post subject: Uh, is it not a fact? |
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[quote="cassava"]
| stonecold wrote: |
they have buses but the schedule can not be found and its usually frequented by south east asians, plus the drivers are horrible.
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| cassava wrote: |
What does it matter who rides on the buses? Whether their ancestry is South Asian, African or European should be totally irrelevant. The preoccupation with people's "race" is a bizarre obsession among some teflers.
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Am I wrong that the race is predominantly south east asian? are you insinuating I'm somehow a racist because I point out the obvious?perhaps the obsession with race is your own? |
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stonecold
Joined: 30 Aug 2010
Posts: 39
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| Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:16 am Post subject: Bus depots? |
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| like SAPTCO? where are these elusive depots anyways? |
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hsm
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
Posts: 65
Location: Second Floor
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| Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:52 am Post subject: |
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Even though there are now new buses run by SAPTCO, the public transportation system is still inefficient simply because the logic behind the design of the city as a whole does not admit or support the concept of public transportation!
There are buses but bus stops are very few and look out of place. You can virtually get on or out of the bus anywhere...The routes of buses are very few compared to the area of Riyadh.
To add insult to injury, if one decides to walk in a nice day, pedestrian friendly pavements are just a new invention...walking altogether is not common especially for women...
I could say the car is a "moving house"... |
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cassava
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 175
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| Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 7:29 pm Post subject: Re: Uh, is it not a fact? |
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[quote="stonecold"]
| cassava wrote: |
| stonecold wrote: |
they have buses but the schedule can not be found and its usually frequented by south east asians, plus the drivers are horrible.
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| cassava wrote: |
What does it matter who rides on the buses? Whether their ancestry is South Asian, African or European should be totally irrelevant. The preoccupation with people's "race" is a bizarre obsession among some teflers.
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Am I wrong that the race is predominantly south east asian? are you insinuating I'm somehow a racist because I point out the obvious?perhaps the obsession with race is your own? |
Stonecold makes a blatant implication by sandwiching the statement regarding ethnicity between the patently negative statements about the lack of schedules and the "horrible drivers".
If Stonecold is really unable to comprehend this simple fact, he is obviously extremely naive, or else he needs to immerse himself in courses on structural linguistics as well as basic logic. |
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Grendal
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Posts: 861
Location: Lurking in the depths of the Faisaliah Tower underground parking.
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| Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:08 pm Post subject: Re: Riyadh |
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| Jaime1 wrote: |
To those who live there what can you tell me about the city?
What is illegal there that is legal in America?
Is the cost of living high?
How is public transportation?
Thanks |
Hi Jamie one,
If you feel inclined to take a bus in the scorching heat then by all means do. Smell ya later.
As for what is illigal. Pretty much everything you can do in the west is illegal there.
Cost of living is higher than most other cities. Yes of course you can live in southern Riyadh and get mugged, raped, and killed just to save a few hallalas but most sensible Expats stick to more secure areas and as a result experience a higher cost of living. I found it pricy in Riyadh and prefer to just frequent gyms and then go home to my X-Box. Cook at home as much as possible and you will avoid gastro-intestinal problems. Also remember that the heat takes more water from your body than in the west so drink more that you usually would. I drink 2 litres usually but up it to 3 per day in Saudi.
Grendal
Last edited by Grendal on Fri Sep 03, 2010 10:03 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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