After a week living in this grubby and smelly apartment I’m starting to get annoyed! You can only eat kebarbs and fast food for so many nights before you start to tire of it! The hotel staff are friendly but there is little interest in doing any work. It took two days to get a towel and now its starting to smell……. Soon the smell will transfer to me! Actually everyone is friendly and wanting a free english lesson. It’s the benign neglect and apathy that’s frustrating.
Today I put my foot down about moving onto a compound. If you don’t know it there are two options available to expats. You either rent a private apartment or rent something on a compound. The latter is considerably more expensive but you tend to get western management and service. It tends to be a microcosm of western life where residents can dress and move around without having to comply with the local culture. They all have walls around them and are guarded. The religious police are not allowed into the compound. The employment contract I negotiated included the requirement for my employer to house me on a western compound that has a pool and a gym (my requirements). however the local staff have been telling me they have been having difficulty finding a vacancy in a compound near work. Today I managed to get them to understand I didn’t mind travelling and I drew a circle on the map of Riyadh. I hope that was successful because I have appointments tomorrow to look at two compounds. One is closer to work and the other is on the opposite side of the city but near the majority of the other western compounds.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the building industry in the country has almost ground to a halt. Moreover few new compounds have been built in the last decade after many expats fled when terrorists attacked three compounds. The expats are now back in numbers and there is a shortage of compound accommodation. Consequentially the cost of renting has skyrocketed. I’m not concerned about the price (the employers is paying). It’s the availability and suitability which is of concern!
My business cards have arrived. I may be "a “Suit” but my title is “Chief Expert for Rolling Stock Maintenance”. Quite a mouthful! :-)
This afternoon I was shown to my new office. It’s in a corner of the new head office on the top floor. there is only one other person in this part of the building but the numbers will grow as more are recruited. there is a great view out my window of the concrete wall of the adjacent building. I suspect if I were higher then the view might not be much better as the visibility is poor!
One of my Saudi colleagues brought me in some traditional Syrian home cooked food today. I’ll take it back to the apartment but it might be interesting trying to heat it with a match to light the gas and I don’t have any pots, plates, utensils, or cutlery in the room! I guess if I’m hungry enough I’ll find a way!
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