Saudi: first impressions..oh jeez!

yes, living in Saudi Arabia as an English teacher totally sucks, on one level that is. It is absolutely oppressive in every way: for almost two weeks now I have not talked face to face with a woman except for the four words I exchanged with a Philipino nurse in the medical center. The Saudis look down on everybody, including other Muslims. College students are paid to attend class and are therefore more arrogant and lazy in class than they otherwise might be. There are no restaurants, movie theatres, cafes, book shops of any kind in the town I live in. There are coffee shops, books stores and restaurants in other cities, but forget movie theatres. Where I live is also a terrible place to learn Arabic, the one thing--besids a conservative version of Islam--you'd think would be in ample supply here.

But on the proverbial other hand, there are 20 million Saudis here and another batch of 8 million foreign workers, all of whom happen to be living in one of the pivotal countries of the Middle East. However difficult the Saudis may or may not be to deal with, they have been relatively cooperative and friendly in the US's project to keep it's feet in the middle east and deal with Islamic fundamentalists. They are also rather enamored of the West and with education in English speaking countries. So, even though it may be skewed at times, there are some bases for a good working relationship and one where we can learn from one another.

But I have only been here two weeks. Let's see how this looks in two months.