Job Discussion Forums

[survivorkitty]

Yes, I did learn more about the jobs in Bahrain. I am actually working in Bahrain now. I have been here since August 2009.
First of all Bahrain in comparison to the other Gulf/GCC countries is pretty open and free. This is in reference to the fact that alcohol is permitted; there are bars, night clubs, etc. There is also prostitution. You will see Thai prostitutes all over the place usually in the arms of married American/British Navy/Army/Military men. (Single men also ). At first it was shocking, I was in awe but now I am immune to it. I am not passing judgment but this is what you will expect to see in Bahrain-especially in Juffair. Juffair is the most westernized place-there is many restaurants and many western expats living here-Many Americans and British nationals. There are many Asian expats as well.
Life here is not so bad. I have lived in Kuwait; have been to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. So Bahrain is much better in Kuwait. If you live here you can take a cab or usually rent a car for about 9 BD a day-depending on the make. If you want to get a used Toyota or Nissan you can pay about 66 BD a month. 1 BD is equal to 2.656 USD (current rate).

So now some big negatives or at least what I consider negative:
If you are Caucasian you will be lucky in the Middle East-gulf countries. Even though they are colored people-they (Arabs) are obsessed with white people-especially if you are blonde with blue/green eyes. For example-if two girls are together out in town and they are both beautiful-however one is dark skinned, dark haired and the other is Caucasian with light hair, light eyes-the Arab men will go crazy for the Caucasian girl and approach her. Even if it is an unattractive Caucasian girl with light hair, light eyes-they go nuts as long as you have blue/green eyes-I find this strange. The men are really perverted and all they care about is sex and alcohol-not all but many. On the weekends (Thursday-Saturday) All the Saudi, Kuwaiti, and Qatari men drive their over priced SUV's to Bahrain and rent out fancy apartments for the weekend, hire a gang of hookers, and purchase many bottles of liquor and will do this all weekend long. So when you do look for an apartment in Bahrain-make sure it is not daily rental-otherwise be prepared to wake up at odd hours of the night because drunk hookers and Arab men do not know which flat they belong too and they will be ringing your door bell. You will also have hookers vomiting in the hall way-loud music, and fights in the hall way. The police will come if called but nothing really ever happens. Another point to keep in mind-if any conflict did ever happen between an expat and a Bahraini or an Arab-the police will side with the Bahraini/Arab.

Also there is racism here in the gulf. It is everywhere. Many of the people who work as laborers /maids/drivers/ construction, etc are Indian, Philippine, Indonesian, etc. The Bahrainis and many other gulf countries treat these poor workers inhumanely; to be blunt they are treated like shit. They have no rights, no healthcare, they work 14 hours a day and get paid maybe 100 BD a month-which is nothing. a cheap flat/apartment will cost you about 300 BD. They have horrible living conditions and the Arab will dictate and tell them what they can do and when they can breathe.
What is sad is that yea they bring in outside help and many or the people they hire are dirt poor-but does that give you the right to treat someone like they are below or lesser than dirt. Just because you have money does that mean you shouldn�t care or help others? Does that mean you can yell and beat people?
What is sad is that the gulf countries such as Bahrain and Kuwait-used to trade with India before they became wealthy or before the discovery of oil. Their decent is Indian. They used to follow Indian rules and had Indian currency about 50 years ago.
These people are expendable here and have no rights. It is modern day slavery and it is disgusting.

There was an incident at work. The owner of the school I work at never shows up except twice a month to collect the money. The teachers and the principal run the school. During midterm week she shows up. She pops in each classroom for about 45 seconds. She is this old wig wearing, Persian woman (many Persians live in Bahrain). She has been here forever and is the owner of the school. You would think since she owns a school-she would have some humanity and is a believer in equality and all that. She is the most irrational, insensitive, crude, arrogant, frigid Bitch anyone has ever met. She will treat her white teachers one way and the colored teachers a totally different way (unfairly and unethically). There was a teacher who was wearing a shirt that the old lady owner thought was too low (it wasn�t of course but in this culture they think wearing tank tops is being over exposed). She orders the teacher to step out of her classroom and she tells her what is this with your shirt.. The teacher gets nervous and starts pulling up the shirt she had underneath her top. The owner of the school says DONT DO THIS HERE-GO TO BATHROOM AND COME BACK (in broken English). The teacher comes back and the owner says to her-YOU DONT LOOK AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR IN THE MORNING?-teacher says I�m sorry I did not mean anything I did not think it was low-Owner cuts teacher off and says IF YOU EVER COME TO MY SCHOOL AGAIN LIKE THIS I WILL SEND YOU HOME AND YOU WILL NOT WORK HERE ANY LONGER. Tells the guidance counselor who is her relative to keep an eye on the teacher and to report the teacher if she ever wears something like this again. What a bitch. She doesn�t care about the hard work and dedication the teacher puts in, or her love for her students, or the students who are failing school and they will pass anyway if the parents pay them money, or the students smoking behind the school building, or the seniors who are making out in the art building. The kind principal comes down after hearing about the owner yelling at the teacher in the hall way in front of students and other teachers. Principal asks teacher is she is ok. All the owner had to do was pull the teacher aside in a corner and ask her to not wear that shirt again if it offended her. Not to humiliate her and make her feel like she is a servant or a dog. The principal told the owner that the teacher she yelled at was American-the owner was shocked-because she was too ignorant to realize that Americans are not all white people with blonde hair and blue/green eyes-how sad-so this is the idiot who owns the school and pretends to believe in education-all she really cares about is the money. The students hate her and when ever she comes into school to make one of her pretentious speeches you can hear other teachers ridiculing her in the background.
Another incident- there was teachers waiting to get their CPR card and the CPR agency here in Bahrain. There was a dark skinned teacher and a white South African teacher having a conversation and standing waiting their turn on line to be called to the next teller. There were many other Indian, Asian nationals on line. A guy comes over and tells the White South African to go to the teller-just because she was white she got to skip everyone else and go-and event though she was talking to her other teacher friend -the other teacher couldn�t go with the South African because she was a dark skinned American.

So this is all I have to say right now. But teaching is great-I look past all this garbage and I am there for my students who love me and I love them back. You can�t take baggage to work-you have to leave it at the door when you teach your kids. Because to me they are number one-I don�t care about the owner or the bigots. I am there for my students. Plus I have an awesome principal who is a great American man and supports his teachers.

[Arabian Hawk]

Survivor kitty,

Interesting story of your experiences in Bahrain!

AH

[veiledsentiments]

Goodness... I can't remember the last time I heard/saw someone use the word "colored" ... some would consider that racist.

Yes, I learned on my first trip to the Middle East that they are just as racist as everyone else - in spite of their religion emphasizing equality. It is obviously human nature, and we all need to work on it.

VS

[7atetan]

[With Malice Toward None]

I would anyday prefer those racists who never hide it to those who hide it behind Saville Row-like suits, phoney smiles and polished accents.

[Arabian Hawk]

Racism in Bahrain is nothing new....just ask the Manama business ladies what they think about the guys wearing thobes from across the causeway!

[scot47]

Racism is everywhere. You going to change the planet so everyone shares your liberal "Californian" ideals ?

[survivorkitty]

well sorry I didnt mean to use colored in a negative way

[veiledsentiments]

Certain words are culturally-loaded... and the term "colored" in the US has historically only been used to refer to African-Americans. I would never use the term to refer to Arabs or Indians or other Asians. And it has long moved into the list of socially unacceptable terms - one that now makes one cringe a bit - just a tiny bit more acceptable than the 'n' word. The PC crowd has seemed to exchange it with "people of color"... for the last 20 years or more. I suspect that it is to separate it from the previous meaning.

VS

[balqis]

Impossible to imagine Khaleeje thoroughbred Arabs digging ditches anywhere in Asia.
They would rather return to their past Brigands of the Desert nomadic mode of being.

balqis

[johnslat]

Dear scot47,

"Racism is everywhere. You going to change the planet so everyone shares your liberal "Californian" ideals ?"

Let's get into the "Wayback Machine" - the year is 1807, the subject is slavery and the person you're addressing is "The Honourable William Wilberforce."

"Slavery is everywhere. You going to change the planet so everyone shares your liberal "Independent" ideals?"


Regards,
John

[scot47]

Wilberforce ? Misguided !

[johnslat]

Dear scot47,

Misguided? By whom? Amazing Grace, perhaps? You recall her, don't you?

Regards,
John

[Arabian Hawk]

Misguided by Amazing racism!

[7atetan]