Eterna Busca: June 2011

“Your blog is boring now, all you write about is football”

Maybe a fair comment, but as the season has just finished I’ll try and rectify this and write some more about my exciting life in the Las Vegas of the Middle East. Not a hint of sarcasm there (or there).

It’s the last day of work today, we’re triple checking the exams we’ve already marked and double checked, and then we’ve got 12 days on the compound free to get drunk, watch cricket, and swim. Then on June 16^th people will go their various ways; some are leaving Saudi for good, others are having a 3 month holiday (for those not working summer school), an unlucky few are staying to work summer school, and I’m getting a 4 week break in England.

Recently there has been some massive gossip. I’m not sure if it’s true yet but I’ll print it anyway, tabloid style. One of the Syrian bilingual teachers, who teaches Elementary English in the other campus, has been arrested and is going to jail, for being gay (for want of a better term) with a male Saudi student. Mish mumkin ya teacher. Eck and I asked the student who told us this gossip what would happen to the offender:

“Nothing serious teacher, just three years in prison, maybe”

Three years in a Saudi prison in the oppressive heat trying not to drop the soap around Egyptian convicts doesn’t sound like a walk in the park. Although I suppose if the aforementioned Syrian bats for the other side he might not have such a bad time.

It’s not really a surprise that this sort of stuff goes on in the Kingdom, given the oppression. You literally never see women, anywhere. I haven’t spoken to, or seen the face of one Saudi woman since I’ve been here, and I very much doubt I will before I leave. They’re not allowed to drive, they’re not allowed to go out into the street without a male family member (and even then they are completely covered up), they have their own sections in restaurants, and all education is strictly single sex. All of this means young Saudi guys grow up in a completely male environment; the only girls/women they have contact with are their sisters and mother. Even cousins are off limit from the age of puberty, considering they may well end up getting married to them. The perceived value of a “pure” Saudi bloodline coming from one family outweighs the risk of a genetic mismatch from inbreeding, in the eyes of many families here. For a country whose system breeds homosexuality (in both males and females), it certainly isn’t tolerant of it.

In other, more light-hearted news, we have two new kittens, although one is being given away next week. Manny is three months old, he’s staying, he’ll be moving in with Eck and I in a couple of weeks when we upgrade our villa (get ready for MTV Cribs Al Jouf part 2). The other kitten, Steve Nash, is only three weeks old, and is being given to one of the students on the female campus next week. I think Steve Nash might be a female, but the name is staying regardless.

Swimming pool volleyball season is well and truly underway. It’s about 40 degrees every day now so it’s getting too hot to be anywhere but the pool. I’ll be blacker than a Sudanese farmer by the time you next see me. In other social news we hosted a pub quiz which went down well; Nick’s team beating off stiff competition from Richard’s team. We also had a second pub crawl, photos of which I’ll upload soon. Next weekend we’ll be fleeing our infidel cage and getting our Bedouin on, spending a night in the desert. Also Craig, Eck and I all have birthdays coming up and there’s bound to be some leaving parties too. It’s all happening in Sakaka, Al Jouf. You wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else (you would). Speak soon, Ben x