DOCUMENT RESUME ED 336 289 SO 021 184 AUTHOR McGregor, Joy; Nydell, Margaret TITLE Update: Saudi Arabia. REPORT NO ISBN-0-93366-90-4 PUB DATE 90 NOTE 177p. AVAILABLE FROM Intercultural Press, Inc., P.O. Box 700, Yarmouth, ME 04096 ($19.95, plus $2.00). PUB TYPE Reports - Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Cultural Differences; Cultural Opportunities; *Foreign Countries; *Foreign Culture; Intercultural Communication; International Relations; Overseas Employment; Tourism; Travel IDENTIFIERS *Saudi Arabia ABSTRACT A guide for persons planning on living in or relocating to Saudi Arabia for extended periods of time, this book features information on such topics as entry requirements, transportation, money matters, housing, schools, and insurance. The guide's contents include the following sections: (1) an overview; (2) before leaving; (3) on arrival; (4) doing business; (5) customs and courtesies; (6) household pointers; (7) schools; (6) health and medical care; (9) leisure; (10) cities in profile; (11) sources of information; and (12) recommended readings. Three appendices are also included: (1) chambers of commerce and industry in Saudi Arabia; (2) average celsius temperatures of selected near eastern cities; and (3) prior to departure: recommended supplies. (DB) ***********************************************1!*********************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** U.S. DEPARTMENT OP EDUCATION Office of Educitional Research Ind Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) ty,thls document has been reproduced Se Keived from the person or worn/aeon I (Quieting it O Minor changes Aare been made to improve reproduction Quality Points of view or opinions stated in this docu . ment do not necessarily represent officiel OERI Position or policy "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL INMICROFICHE ONLY GRANTED BY 1,4 tatiVszN TLtY4S Other titles in this series: Update Belgium (1989) Update France (1989) Update Germany(1990) 3 Update Saudi Arabia Joy McGregor Margaret Nydell Ahson R. Lanier was the originator of the Update series and is currently editor of The International American, a monthly newsletter for Americans living and working abroad. Intercultural Press, Inc. Yarmouth, Maine 4 For information, contact Intercultural Press, Inc. P.O. Box 700 armouth, ME 04096 USA Library of Congress Catalog No. 90-083788 ISBN 0-93366-90-4 Copyright ©1975by Overseas Briefing Associates ©1977by Overseas Briefing Associates ©1978by Overseas Briefing Associates ©1981 by Alison Lanier ©1990by Alison Lanier All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Printed in the United States of America t's" (A. "A: Juba' "1/4S:, Datil 6 Dhahran Thal molt, HoluIS label 'Poo Ova 0,,o KAaphlr 00 Quwayidn4, 0 N.50 Hats es, 0 Contents 1.An Overview 1 The Country 2 The People 7 The Present GovernmentThe House of Saud 11 The Religion of Islam 14 The Economy 23 2.Before Waving 27 Entry Papers and Requirements 27 Customs Regulations 31 Furnishings and Goods to Take 34 Clothing 40 3. On Arrival 45 Arrival Information 45 Living Conditions 46 Important Warnings 48 Health Requirements 50 Transportation 51 Banking and Financial Matters 57 Language 58 S ix X SAUDI ARABIA 4.Doing Business 61 Foreign Business VenturesSuccess or Failure? 61 Key Business Organizations 65 Joint Ventures 66 Government Financing 67 Time 68 Communications 71 Business Mechanics 73 Business Etiquette 77 5.Customs and Courtesies 85 Values 86 Social Occasions 93 6.Household Pointers 97 Housing 97 Household Help 100 Bargaining and Shopping 105 Kitchen Advice 108 How Hard IsIt Really? Replies from Women 110 7.Schools 113 Jiddah 114 Riyadh 115 Eastern Province: Al Khobar, Dhahran, Dammam 116 8.Health and Mwdical Care 119 Medical Facilities 119 General Health for Foreigners 121 Adjusting to the Heat 124 Food Precautions 126 9 CONTENTS XI 9.Leisure 129 Media Entertainment 129 Sports 131 Activities 132 Activities for Women 137 Activities for Children 140 10.Cities in Profile 141 Riyadh 141 Jiddah 146 Yanbu 150 Eastern Province: Al Khobar, Dhahran, Dammam 150 Jubail 154 11.Sources of Information 155 12. Recommended Readings 159 Appendixes: Appendix 1 Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Saudi Arabia 167 Appendix 2 Average Celsius Temperatures of Selected Near Eastern Cities 169 Appendix 3 Prior to Departure: Recommended Supplies 171 Update Saudi Arabia 1 Rn Overview The ultramodern and the ancient greet the newcomer in Saudi Arabia. In Jiddah and Riyadh (and soon in the Eastern Province) one arrives at superb modern airports. Freeways connect the airports with the cities, where modern glass and steel high-rises flank boulevards choked with traffic. Gone are the huge flares above the eastern oilfields, the gas now tapped off and shipped overseas. Gone too are most of the shuttered houses of Jiddah and Many of the mud buildings of the Najd. The desert, it seems, has been tamed. The Fourth Five-Year Plan, which is well under way, has concentrated on building the country's infrastructure: roads, hospitals, airports, communications systems, and schools. School enrollment at all levels has increased more than fourfold In fifteen years. There are now 18,630 miles (30,000 kilometers) of paved roads, many of which are engineering marvels like the Mecca to Taif highway, with 174 twisting mountain curves in fifty-four miles. Nearly twenty- eight thousand miles (45,000 kilometers) of farm roads now link dozens of villages and remote areas. The country's ports process more than fifty million tons of freight per year, and the three main airports handle twenty-four million passengers per year. New industrial parks are under construction all over the country on the theory that development should reach beyond urban centers (for more information about the Five-Year Plan, see page 23). 12 1 2SAUDI ARABIA This country of superhighways, jets, and Italian fashions still hears, five times a day, the call to prayer from the delicate minarets of ancient and modern mosques. Nowadays the muezzins do not climb the rickety stairs to the top of the minaret but call the faithful to prayer over a microphone or with a recorded message. The glass and concrete skyscrapers are surrounded by open-fronted shops where copper, brass, and carpets are sold, as they have been for hundreds of years, by merchants puffing water pipes and sitting cross-legged on the floor. Camels don't saunter down city streets as they onne did; they are now in racing stables or far away in the desert beside the long black tents of the Bedouin. The Saudis place a high value on preserving their culture and traditions. They are restoring old buildings and retaining wind towers, not because they are needed for office space or air-conditioning but because they are part of the local scene. They intend to maintain their identity as a people, a nation, and the Keeper of the Faith. They are unhappy with encroaching foreign moral and cultural attitudes that threaten their beliefs even though they actively seek infusions of foreign technology to launch them into the twenty-first century. They are determined to use this new knowledge without diluting the old faith and treasured traditions. THE COUNTRY Saudi Arabia, often called simply "the Kingdom," occupies four- fifths of the Arabian Peninsula, covering roughly 800,000 square miles (about the area of the United States east of the Missisbippi or all of Western Europe). In our mind's eye we see a vast, trackless "Lawrence of Arabia" desert, a land of wide open spaces and barren mountains. Saudi Arabia is that, but it is also much more: a land of new roads, villages, and towns; huge farms irrigated by giant pivots; ancient oases, antiquities, and nomads; cities and univer- sities; oil wells and industry.It is a complex land which can no longer be labeled undeveloped. 13 AN OVERVIEW 3 The major cities on the west coast are Jiddah and Tait as well as the holy citis:of Mecca and Medina, forbidden to non- Muslims. Riyadh, the capital, is near the center of the country. The major cities in the oil-rich Eastern Province are Dhahran, Dammam, and Al Khobar (see chapter 10 for descriptions). The villages of Arabia are fascinating. Not long ago most were tightly packed clusters of buildings surrounded by a mud wall (for protection against raiders), small fields, and date groves. Now the old village has been abandoned and given over to the goats and sheep. Nearby is a new village of concrete villas, each walled for privacy, with new schools, mosques, and marketplaces. With the advent of deep wells and pumping systems, orchards, fields, and pasture extend around many villages. Regions Popular belief has it that Arabia is one giant sand pit. In fact it is no such thing. Wide plains, rugged mountains with wild river valleys, and volcanic areas make up two-thirds of the country. The other third comprises the incredible sand dunes of the deserts in the north and south. The Arabian Peninsula, known as the Arabian shelf, is a separate tectonic plate formed by volcanic activity and sedimentation. Eons ago the Arabian plate broke free from the African continent, forming the Red Sea in between. The western edge of the plate was slowly tilted up several degrees onto its side, which accounts for the many escarpments running north and south in various parts of the peninsula. The two most spectacular of these are the Hijaz Mountains in the Western Province and the Tuwaiq Escarpment in the Nejd or Central Distrk;t. The Western Region. The Tihama Plain extends along the coast from Jiddah past Jizan and on into Yemen.