Somebody, not just anybody

Brian Hinton:
"All human emotion is crystallised here, and subtly vocalised: desire, joy, hope, world weariness, consolation, awe and anticipation"

Listen again. Again? Again and again.

MTV Cribs 2: The Penthouse

It's always sad to see friends leave the compound. Especially sociable ones that drink and play swimming pool volleyball. However, the one silver lining is that new villas become available. Eck and I took advantage of this when summer school started, and made our villa a home. We traded our cat for some speakers, filled up the pool, and stole a couple of chairs. We not have the type of crib P Diddy wishes he could afford. Here are some pictures...

"Nobody gots these"

where we get our tan on

 "it was all a dream"

 where we get our cook on (at the back)

 United scarf, Smith's poster, stolen chairs

 because you gots to have the bump!

 the room, where the magic happens (on skype)

a Spanish pig smoking in Saudi. Haraam ham

 mish mumkin ya pool light

"Ok, you done seen the crib, you done seen the back yard. Ain't gotta go home, but you gotta get the hell outta here"

Abençoado por Deus

The picture below was taken a couple of days ago by my friend in Rio de Janeiro, cidade maravilhosa, my previous and future home.

It's currently winter in Rio, 30 degrees with the sea breeze taking the edge off the heat. If you're reading this in England, in the so-called summer, looking out your window to see grey skies and rain, try not to be too depressed. Instead, do what I did, move to Rio. Now.

This is a simple picture, taking from the Leme end of Copacabana beach, showing a typically relaxed scene that could have been taking on any number of days throughout the year. But this picture alone shows a variety of reasons that make Rio, in my opinion, the best city in the world to live in.

As you can see from the high rise apartment blocks and hotels that line the promenade in front of the beach, Rio is an affluent city. The economy in Brazil is booming. Boosted by a growing middle class and strong domestic trade, it was one of the last countries to enter the recession and one of the first to escape it. Along with Russia, India and China it makes up one fourth of the BRIC union of countries which are expected to represent four of the five strongest economies in the world by 2050. There are plenty of jobs available and they welcome to foreign investment. For expats chasing paper, it is a long term plan that could really pay off.

For those after a quieter, more relaxed life, it's also far more accommodating than you'd expect from a city renowned for it's nightlife. You're never far from a beach, and even a notorious tourist spot like Copacabana is relatively chilled out during the week, as you can see above. The mountains that weave in and out of the city, and so magnificently outline this picture, give the city a beauty and charm that you'll struggle to find anywhere else in the world. 

The weather, buildings, sea and mountains are the things that stand out from this picture, but the smaller details you see are the most important reasons to become an expat: the people. Whether playing football on the beach, playing music in the street, or trying to steal your wallet, the cariocas are a friendly, vibrant and hospitable bunch that you can't fail to get along with. The character of the city comes from it's residents, and this is hard to show in a single photo, even one as good as this. So instead of wasting your money on a holiday elsewhere, come and visit me next year (I'm starting to sound like a Thomas Cook rep), when I return to cidade maravilhosa.

O povo brasileiro continua sorrindo, todos que não vive num país tropical está morando na rua da amargura. Eu vou voltar, ano que vem. Até mais, galera!

Maggie's desert

I've been lazy again, I'm sorry. I'll make an effort to step up my blog game as tomorrow is the last day of university before another welcome, lengthy holiday.

We had the final exams today, I lost my rag with the class I was invigilating; I've never seen such overt and blatant cheating. Another reason to be unimpressed with Saudi's came a couple of nights ago, when we were invited to a delicious feast at the college of Education. They couldn't have been more welcoming and generous towards us Westerners, but the way they treated the Filipino maintenance man there was disgusting. First of all he wasn't allowed to sit with the rest of us whilst everyone enjoyed their post-sunset dates and soft drinks. He was outcast to sit in the corner by himself. Then he came over and spoke to us, just before dinner (which he obviously wasn't invited to). He spoke English well and was an entertaining character; he looked a bit like a pirate and didn't have a full set of teeth. One of the Saudi guys organising the event then proceeded to ask us if we were hungry. The Filipino guy, standing with us, assumed he'd been asked the question, and nodded his head.

"I'm not talking to you"

Was the response delivered bluntly from the Saudi in charge. Perhaps it was said in jest, but he didn't seem to be joking. I've been treated really well since I've been here, but I often wonder whether it would've been different if I'd been from South East Asia or the Subcontinent.

This song is for all my Bangladeshi, Filipino, Indonesian, Nepali, Indian and Pakistani brothers working in the Kingdom, for little pay, in terrible conditions. You may not receive the respect you deserve from your employers, but I certainly respect anyone spending that amount of time away from their homeland, grafting and sending money home for their families.

Half way house

I arrived in Saudi Arabia on the 7th February. Today is the 7th of August. 6 months baby! Half way through my contract, and what better way to celebrate than to play this track, from the greatest hip hop album ever, Illmatic.
"It's still half time"

Those who can

“I would prefer even to fail with honour than to win cheating”

I’m not sure students in the Kingdom have read much Sophocles, but if they have they certainly haven’t paid much attention to the above quote.

Cheating is rife in the KSA educational system. It is ingrained in the culture and extremely widespread. In the final exams the students took last May, seven out of the twelve students in my class were caught cheating. Some were caught with cheat sheets on them, others because they had written identical essays to other students. When illiterate students who can barely string a sentence together write an essay in perfect English, it’s not because they’ve studied hard the night before. Quite a few of them get away with it, if they’re lucky enough not to have written the same thing as their friend.

In the case of the town I work in, the man profiting from this culture is known as “The Egyptian Tutor”. This enterprising figure lends his services to over 300 of the 400 students in attendance. He pockets 1000 Riyals per student, per term. There are three terms (if you include summer school), so he’s making around 900,000 Riyals a year (£150,000), tax free of course. I’m in the wrong job! Somehow he manages to find out, or figure out, the essay questions that will be in the future tests, and he gives his students a model answer, with the Arabic translation written on another sheet. The students either take this into class on a tiny cheat sheet, or memorize it if they have the capacity.

There was a clampdown on this kind of behaviour last term, but it didn’t stop the cheating. Far from it, the students just found new ways of beating the system. We checked their palms before the exams started, so they wrote in between their fingers. We moved their chairs around so they couldn’t see each other’s work, but they came up with a system of tapping their chairs and coughing to give each other the answers to the multiple choice questions. You have to admire their invention!

Not all students cheat; some of the students here are excellent, hardworking, and very intelligent. However, these good students are definitely in the minority, and from what I hear this problem isn’t confined to the University I work in. It is frustrating, and I try to stop it, but there's only so much you can do. Our boss reminded us (teachers) why we're here, a few weeks ago, and it's advice I'd give anyone coming to work in the Kingdom (although I'm not American enough to say the following quote out loud):

"Guys, you gotta keep your mind on your money, and your money on your mind"

If I sound like I'm complaining sometimes, I don't mean to, I'm just trying to give an honest account of my time in Saudi. Despite the restrictions I'm delighted to be here, because I'm here on a short term basis to save for my future, and in that respect I certainly can't complain. Every day spent here increases the happiness of my wallet, and is a day closer to England and Brazil. Masha'Allah.

Striking gold

Alhamdulillah for YouTube. Sometimes you'll be a bit bored at home, on the internet, listening to random songs, and you'll come across an absolute gem, from a band or singer you've never heard of, who you'll then obsess over for the next fortnight (or even longer). Here are three tracks that I've happened to stumble across on the dusty road of procrastination.

1. Claudia - Deixa Eu Dizer

This song is sampled on Marcelo D2 - Desabafo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGgrb2-x70g), a great tune in it's own right, and the YouTube vid which linked me to this classic Brazilian rhythm. Tranquilissimo.

2. CYNE - Paradise

I loved this song from the minute I heard it, and still listen to it a lot, one year on. CYNE are a hip-hop collective from Florida, and for some reason not very well known, even though almost all of their stuff is amazing. If you like this then check out some of their other stuff, such as - Haze, Arrow of God, Feather (ft. Nujabes), Soapbox, Pretty Apollo.

3. Buddy Guy - Stone Crazy

I was looking at Jimi Hendrix videos when I came across this on YouTube, then later downloaded it from the Rolling Stone Magazine 100 greatest guitar songs. Face your speakers outside, then sit on a big chair in your garden and listen to this whilst smoking a pipe; you will be happy.

The fast show

Welcome to Ramadan

Day 1 of Ramadan. Skies are clear, mood is upbeat, restaurants are empty and mouths are getting drier. I stupidly didn't leave enough time to eat breakfast, and don't go home until 1:30pm, so I'm currently on my own reluctant fast. Feel like a Muslim, and I haven't shaved in a week so I'm starting to look like one too.

I've been teaching a new class today. They are special, in one sense of the word. They each chose a celebrity to write about, here are some highlights:

"Wayne Rooney is fat because he play football everyday"

"Akon is 125cm tall"

"Shakira, he is beautiful and have hair crazy"

They then played twenty questions. I split the class in half and organised two teams. One team called themselves "Team Interesting", the other team called themselves "Morning Breeze". Extremely random.

Since we're on the topic of inspirational education, I'll leave you with an Arabic proverb.

العلم في الصغر كالنقش في الحجر

"What is learned in youth is carved in stone"

I am honoured to be sculpting the great minds of Sakaka, Saudi Arabia!