First Day at the New Job

Once I got back to Dammam, I was in a tricky sort of situation.  I technically had a week left to work at Dammam University.  But I was supposed to start with the new company this same week.  I did have 10 days of vacation saved up from my old job, so I was planning on using this to cover the days I would miss.  Still, it felt weird to be living in my old housing, but working at Al Khobar Female College.  To avoid having to explain this to my co-workers, who might accidentally tell the company who could still make my life miserable in regards to the exit visa and final pay and all that, I arranged for a taxi to pick me up and take me to the new place at 7am, knowing the bus would leave at 7:15 so I wouldn't have to see anyone.  Wouldn't you know it, while I was away in Riyadh, they changed the bus schedule to leave at 7am instead of 7:15.  So my careful planning backfired and basically guaranteed that everyone on the bus saw me not get on the bus.

Oh well, I would sort it all out when I got back that evening.  So, luckily, my Aramco buddy had taken me on a drive to see the new college, so I had a general idea where it was.  I also looked it up on Google maps and found the shortest way.  It should take about 35 minutes, and it didn't look that hard.  Basically you stay on this one highway and take the last exit before the bridge to Bahrain and from there I remember the way.  Since the college is brand new, I know he won't know the way, so I showed him on the map, and tried to explain it the best I could.  He said he knew the place and we were off.  I started to get a little worried when we took an exit.  It seemed to me too soon, because I knew we had to be on the highway for a long time, but he said he knew it, so I thought, ok, I guess I will trust him.  He is after all, the driver.   When this exit took us to the heart of downtown Dahran, I knew we had been led astray.  So I figured I needed a new strategy.  I knew I could get to it if I just found the Cornish road and we drove along there.  So I told him to go there and he thought I was crazy.  I kept saying keep going and he kept double checking, are you sure and I kept saying yes, yes, I am sure.  But the thing was, I wasn't sure, only about 75% sure.  But after my other recent cab trip where we were lost for ages, I didn't want to say I didn't know, and go through another three way translation, so I made myself sound more confident than I felt.

Eventually we got to the point where we would have gotten off the highway if we had stayed on the road I told him to take.  I pointed this out to him and he said, yes, if he had known we were coming here he would have stayed on the highway.  I didn't think it polite to point out that he did know we were coming here, or rather, I thought I had made it clear we were coming here.  After another 5 minutes or so, I spotted the school across this incredibly blue triangle of water.  The school is located not far from a desalination plant, and my guess is that this really blue triangle of water is part of that process somehow.  The building itself has three sections each one a different pastel color on the outside, pink blue and green.  From the outside, it is very impressive, until you notice that there is still no roof on one large section of the building.  But they are working on it.  We drove around the whole building to find an open gate, and I didn't see any cars.  The place looked deserted.  The driver asked me if I was sure this was it, and again, I said I was sure with more confidence than I felt.

I paid him and got out and walked up to the gate.  There was a man in a guards uniform and one in a thobe.  I wasn't sure who if anyone to address, or what to say.  Finally, I just said to the air in between them both, "I'm a teacher here?" and they both said yes of course and gestured toward the front door.  I walked to the doors, there were three of them, and I tried two before I came to the right one.  When I finally got to the one that was unlocked, because I expected it to be locked too, I pulled the door so hard it flung open.  Standing there was the Vice Principal and one of the administration ladies.  The glass on the doors was tinted so they could see out the whole time, but I couldn't see in.  So they had basically gotten to see my whole three stooges routine with the doors up close and personal.  Great first impression.

The inner courtyard of the Khobar Female College.  The circular  part on the far left is the Mosque

The first quote as you enter the building.

I was actually the first to arrive.  So I hung out with them in them in the lobby while we waited for the others to arrive and tried my best to redeem myself with intelligent sounding remarks.  Luckily, we didn't have to wait long.  A few other teachers arrived, and some more admin girls, so we were ushered through the college into the training room.  The college has an open courtyard area in the middle of the buildings with some trees and grass and some pretty cool round benches that I imagine will be a prime hang out spot once the trees get a bit bigger and provide shade, or when the weather gets cooler.   Then we passed into the three block buildings which are united by corridors.  The walls are all painted in pinks and purples and blues with fun asymmetrical geometric patterns and fun famous quotes about women and education.  It feels very fresh and young and exciting.  It has that new car smell even.

There are Arabic and English quotes

The classroom we were using had tables on wheels for easy reorganization of classrooms and comfortable but portable chairs.  It was just missing a white board and projector.  Apparently most of the furniture is currently stuck in customs, waiting for a bribe or something to get it through.  They are also still installing the internet, so there isn't any yet.  The toilets were also not exactly up and running yet either, so there were clearly a few kinks to be worked out, but overall, it was impressive. I felt really privileged to be here at the start of this project, and a part of me still couldn't believe it was actually happening and that I was really going to be done with my old company for good.  It just seemed to good to be true.

A terrifyingly ominous quote.....

The girls who were staying at the accommodation finally arrived on the bus.  We did a quick introduction exercise and they all seem like wonderful people.  There are six other Americans, but the other 22 or so are all from the UK, Ireland, or South Africa.  There are also a handful of teachers who still haven't arrived and are waiting on visas etc...  It's clear that they chose really seasoned teachers and I think it's going to be a great program.  I can also see already that there are some strong personalities that may come in conflict with one another.  We will see how it goes.

I'll keep this one in mind when with the job switch.

I was really excited to see Luiza, one of the women I worked with at Dammam University.  She was also hired from my old company, and because she was on her husbands visa, she didn't have the same problems with quitting that I did.  She came late because she had to turn in her leave notice to come to the orientation.  She came just as we were getting a tour of the college, which so far consisted of peaking into a lot of  empty rooms.  There were a few computer labs, a kitchen and a huge canteen as well.  I sneaked off during the tour to rescue Luiza from wondering around lost looking for us.  When we saw each other we hugged.  It felt like we were long lost prison cell mates who escaped and met up at the agreed upon rendezvous point.  We had both been secretly talking about escaping the old company for a while.  Neither of us had told the old company or any of the other girls we worked with about swapping over so it was a very hush hush operation.  It was good not to feel so alone since most of the other girls had arrived a week ago and already kind of bonded.

After the tour, we had a typical ice-breaker activity, and then we had an introduction to the company and the school and the mission, which was more or less off the cuff since the managing director was supposed to come and deliver these remarks, but was held up and couldn't be there.  Basically, the school is part of an initiative by the King called Saudization.  One of the biggest challenges Saudi faces is that half their workforce (women) traditionally don't work, and the other half only works if the job is management level or higher. Saudi's are extremely proud people, and feel very strongly about their superiority over others, so they  feel that any job below management level is beneath them. All the manual labor, retail, and other "low level" jobs are filled by third party nationals, mostly Phillipinos, Pakistanis, Bangalies, and Indians.  The goal is to slowly shift this trend so that more Saudi's work (instead of being on a sort of government supported free ride) and pay taxes, including women.  Plus as an added bonus, the foreign population would dwindle with no jobs available for them, so that Saudi can go back to belonging to just Saudis.  It's especially important to limit the presence of foreigners in the country because they are not always muslim and don't always follow the religious laws the way they should and they bring in all these western ideas that degrade Saudi society, very dangerous.  So, as part of this initiative, the government has created what they call "Colleges of Excellence" which are more or less job training centers targeting the students who didn't get the marks to get into University. It's a 3 year training program during which time they learn english, and a job trade skill, and at the end are placed with an employer.

Looking up at the central rotunda in the main building.

After that background information, we stalled for a while, taking yet another bathroom break.  I got the feeling they weren't really sure what to do with us since most of the agenda for the day had been built around things that weren't ready.  Like, powerpoints that couldn't be shown because the projectors had not yet arrived, or presentations no one could give because the presenter wasn't there.  Luckily, they did have food for us.  Our orientation meals were being catered since the cafeteria wasn't up and running yet.  It was really a very swanky set up.  The food was beautifully displayed and came in little serving sized cups on tiered platforms.  There were several kinds of salads, and then little mini sandwiches and finally a watermelon cut into the shape of a basket with fruit shish kebob skewers sticking out of it like a huge bouquet.  It was beautiful and tasty and healthy too.  Perhaps I am too easily impressed, but the food sold me.  So the company wasn't as organized as I might have liked, it was a brand new school.  Things were bound to have a bit of a rough start, especially in Saudi.  At least they cared enough to provide us with lunch while they were (not) training us.

More than that though, unlike the old company, which openly didn't care about student outcomes, other than how they looked on paper, this company (at least so far) really seems to be trying something new to help Saudis.   Though students do get a degree at the end of their 3 years with us,  the degree is not the point.  The point is that they will be able to find and keep a job.  So in years 2 and 3 they have 120 hours of internship work in addition to the classwork they have to complete.  Then, they will be placed in a job upon graduating.  The company gets paid if that person stays in the job for 3 months, 6 months, even a year.  Sure, it's still a numbers game, but these numbers are real achievements.  It means women actually working in Saudi.  If this works the way they want it to,  instead of changing marks on exams and papers to boost numbers, we will actually be changing lives and boosting not only numbers, but whole future generations of Saudi women and their children.  We are going to be teaching them English, sure, but also basic skills like, showing up on time, or even, showing up at all.

There were over 10,000 applications for the 650 available slots this trimester.  The girls want to be here.  They want to learn and try to do something more than what their mothers were able to do.  I'm excited to be a part of this initiative to help them do that.  It's a tall order.  We will be expecting a lot from these girls, and from ourselves.  It's a risky business.  It could go either way.  The girls could rebel and demand the kind of treatment they are used to getting; low expectations, apathetic teachers and corruptible administration, because it is a system they know, and one they know how to work to their own advantage.   They could carry on considering school to be a social hour, and waste their time here instead of at home or at the mall because at least they will be with their friends.  Or they could surprise us all and rise to the challange we put before them.  They could be just waiting for some tiny bit of direction and inspiration to begin to grow into stong, intelligent, and capable women who will change society from within.  I hope it is the later, but only time can tell for sure.