My Dance Card Is Full

I've been leading a whirlwind social life lately.

Last week was the big holiday party thrown by my office mate and her husband, old hands who have been here for 17+ years. Lots of food and alcohol being consumed by other western (white) Aramcons who have been here for the same length of time. Mostly Americans with a sprinkling of Canadians.

I've come to the conclusion that there are far too many westerners here in Dhahran who should have gone home years ago. Someone suggested that it was because they were too used to the service economy here: houseboys, maids, cooks, gardeners, guys to wash your car, drivers, Aramco services to take care of maintenance and security...the list goes on. The price for these services is a fraction of what it would cost in the US and it would not be possible to duplicate this lifestyle back home. So they stay, becoming more poisonous and cynical with each passing year.

On Sunday, our group's main admin, a Brit named Tess, invited me to a caroling party that night. I wasn't quite sure I was up to caroling but she assured me I could "mime"--brit for lip synch. The other attraction was the offer of mulled wine. Hmm, I thought, that might improve both the local product and the prospect of lip synching to carols. So I went along and had a wonderful time. I decided to call this party the Commonwealth Love Fest: it was packed with Irish, Scots, Brits, Canadians, even a few Aussies and Kiwis. As it turns out, I was the sole American there! After a few mulled wines or three, the stories and grumbling about the "fookin' Americans---oh, sorry, luv, not you!" would begin. I would laugh and assure them that making derisive generalizations about other groups were not restricted to just them. This group was quite friendly and full of energy and holiday spirit. And the mull definitely improved the local whine.

In fact, these folks were so friendly that when they found out I was by myself for the holiday, I got invited to two more parties on the spot!

As a side note, I discovered that in general, Commonwealth folks don't mix much with Americans, the Eastern Europeans tend to stick together, you NEVER see French people out in public, the Asians tend to clump up by country of origin--not much mixing at all, at least at private social events.

This week, one of the women in our group had a luncheon at her house for all of the other women. I generally hate these affairs because I am always the lone technical professional amidst all the secretaries and admin staff and it just isn't my scene. I'm not being elitist--I just have different priorities than those women tend to have. But we have quite a few professional women in our group at work as well as a good mix of cultures: Saudi, Lebanese, American, Brit, Irish. So for the sake of getting along with my new group, I went. Amilia cooked a wonderful lunch for us and it was a nice break in the middle of the day.

Tonight Tess is taking me to THE holiday party, THE one party that everyone talks about for the rest of the year. I don't think we are talking Animal House here but I've been told to expect an adult party with lots of alcohol.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm off to attend a small private BBQ with some of the Commonwealth folks. And Friday, Christmas Day, I'm heading to Bahrain to join about 20 others in a fancy group luncheon.

On my way back from Bahrain just before we get to the causeway (remember that Bahrain is an island nation), I'm planning to have the driver stop off at a special grocery store. Called Alosrah, it caters to British expats, carrying for example every chutney known to mankind. But tucked in the back behind a partition...is the Pork Store. Here you can buy bacon, pork hot dogs, even hams. You can ask them to repackage it, label it "chicken", and when your car is searched as you re-enter KSA (Saudi border guards always search every car coming back from Bahrain), nobody is the wiser. Besides the glamorous products in the Pork Store, I also plan to shop for hair conditioner and dog food.

And Tess, who does seem to be quickly becoming my social secretary, is taking me into town (Khobar) on Sunday with three of her girlfriends for shopping and dinner. The dogs will get short shrift that night and I do feel a bit guilty about that but...well, if she keeps inviting me out she can't find me too tiresome yet.

As a new hire, you get lots of advice. You keep some, you toss the rest. One of my rules of thumb is to ask five people. After five versions you can get a pretty good idea of how to get something done. Anyway, one piece of advice that several people offered was that during my first few months here, I should attend every social event I was invited to. That way I will learn what I like to do and find a circle of friends to do it with. I'm doing my best to take that advice!

But I do hope that my experience tonight with more brown on the rocks won't spoil me for the real thing in Bahrain on Friday!