khitan004

If you are here in Riyadh and, like so many of us, without the glitz and glamour of compound living then keep an eye out for upcoming meet-ups.

I have set up a test meet-up as I've never used the facility before. Follow the link and put your name down and we'll keep you posted. Alternatively, make your suggestions and get involved - it is your community.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/calen...2011-11-19&c=1

The purpose of these meet-ups is to allow people who would otherwise be stuck in hotels to meet fellow Riyadhites face-to-face and network. It should give people on the outside a chance to access the 'compound' lifestyle: a chance to share information about embassy functions and compound parties as well as taxi numbers and good local tips.

So get involved at make the most out of this sand-pit.

khitan004

Could anybody interested from within a compound get in touch. I think it may be a good idea if a group are going to a mall on a shopping bus to meet others from 'the outside' when they arrive.

khitan004

New email address set up to coordinate:

[email protected]

send it an email and get on the list or PM your email across to me.

khitan004

Keep your suggestions coming in, spread the word and we should be able to put something together shortly.

norsk

bloody hell mate. riyadh really is getting under your skin isn't it? i hope you meet some people, but the only cure to ksa is leaving..

(and before someone pipes up, yes i know some people love the place. however, fact of the matter is that most don't. in fact from the people i've spoken to most despise it and some even go as far as counting down seconds until they are next flying out..)

OleJanx

Interesting. I lived in both Kuwait and Iraq, which were very good at mucking people about, but Saudi, the place that needed expats the most to help always has struck me as the place that has resented them the most and treated them the worse, and then turns back and complains that nobody respects them to the level that they apparently think is due to them.
Before anyone gets on their high horse, I have met many normal, working Joe Saudi's who could shock Emirati's with their capability, but, it is always, ALWAYS! the bad apples in the barrel who spoil it for others.
Cross threading, there is a thread about how many Brits are in UAE prisons.
O.K some are going to be there for financial misdemeanors. And quite a few are going to be there because they got drunk, thumped someone, got caught rat-arsed in a car, believed it always happened to someone else...
If you want to survive, play the game by the local's rules. Start being arrogant, and you will lose. Everytime. And you can't go bleating to the U.K. embassy, because you you are expected to have some common sense, and realise where you are going. It always saddens me to see naive newbees get it catastrophically wrong, when if in doubt, so many resources are available BEFORE entering the country.

Give me a week or two, but I have a great many books about the Middle East that I will try and put up into the Wiki section. These date from 1975 onwards, so hopefully, things may have improved, but they give you the real deal...

Will post up in Wiki soon, just need to do some digging,
Meanwhile, SMILE! If nothing else, it will confuse them, and that, on a psychological front, means you're winning!

Alexa

Khitan, I think you are doing a great job trying to organize this. Being stuck in a hotel in Riyadh is pretty harsh.
I will forward your contact to some friends in Riyadh who live on compounds, if that is ok with you.

khitan004

I'm in a compound now, but have had the experience of hotel living.

OleJanx

Looking back at my posts, I think that they could be read as somewhat negative.

I really don't mean them to be so, and I admire those of you you who still have the 'Get up and go!' to turn up some where different, and I wish you all the best.

I hope all works out well for the curent generation of ' Oh, well, it can't Really be all that bad, Can it it?'

I'm probably just an old cynic, and after all, the world does have a way of sorting its self out, no matter what theese flawed residents do to it....


Good luck,and best wishes to all you newcomers. Afterall, we were all newbies once.....

khitan004

Well, we still need a couple more people to show interest before we can make something viable so if you're interested PM me, send an email to [email protected] or get involved in this thread.