Day 1 in Jeddah

We woke up at 3pm and then went to the home of our brother & sister in law. As soon as we arrived, I took a jet lag induced nap while the kids played the x-box. We then had dinner and watched tv and visited with family. At 1am we went back home and the kids played until they went to bed at 5:30am They slept all day and then woke up at 5:15pm! I blew up my blow dryer in the outlet..oops, so at 6pm we went to the mall so I could buy a new one. Then we went to ToysRUs. At 9pm we had dinner. I took some interesting pics around town of our first day in Jeddah. I was so excited to see TGI Fridays and Applebee's! At Toys-R-Us, we came across some interesting packaging. Check out the modesty imposed black sharpie drawings on the pool toys!

Comparing Life in the USA to Life in Saudi Arabia



I thank Mike a geat photographer for this amazing photo. Find him on Flickr @Inbet_1979

Perhaps the title is a little deceiving, but one of the main cultural differences is how time is valued. Most if not all successful countries and their cultures show a great level of respect to time and timelines. In America we know our paychecks will be in the account on or before the payday. When our neighbor and friends ask us to help them with something we complete the tasks on or before that day. In our culture we always say I will be there on or before time. When we purchase our furniture we expect it to show up on time if not a little before.

In Kingdom of Saudi Arabia time is like oil. There is plenty of it to waste, which people do all the time. In comparison to U.S. in Saudi Arabia everything is after this or that time. For example most organizations will inform their employees their pay will be disbursed after a certain date. If you insist on knowing a date they will simply say you will get paid after the 2^nd. It can be a day or weeks after that day. You can expect the same behavior from almost all the service providers. After purchasing office furniture I was told my furniture will arrive after the noon prayers. Not used to Kingdom’s customs I was ready at 12:30. I failed to realize, when I was told after the noon prayers it meant anytime after that and before sunrise the next day. The next day I was told they delivered the furniture around 8:00 Pm.

Maybe one day the market will change, perhaps the younger generation can learn from the foreign cultures and embrace all the good. But till that day Saudi Arabia will always be considered as country of  Bedouins. No skyscraper or modern infrastructure built by expatriates can help a nation become successful, unless they start respecting time amongst other things.