Getting a PADI License in the Kingdom

In Saudi Arabia, you have to make your own fun, but that's not always a bad thing. It encourages you to learn new things and try activities you have never tried before. Last June, I went on a Discovery Scuba dive with some of my colleagues in Yanbu. We took a boat out into the ocean, and got a taste of scuba diving. Since then we have been trying to get things organized to get out PADI diving licenses.

The main reason it took so long, was we were waiting for the school's safety officer to upgrade his accreditation, so he could be part of the training. But, in the end it was worth it, because are doing the bulk of the training in Rabigh, which means that I finally get to spend time in the Petro Rabigh compound!

So we finally got started with this thing about a month ago. Our instructor is a Philipino dive master from Jeddah. He is fluent in English, but his grammar is atrocious. He's about as wide as he is tall and has hands like hams. Very nice guy, with a ton of experience. We were given a book to study and a video to watch.

Since out initial meeting, we've met three times to do knowledge reviews, quizzes and tests. One benefit of having our safety officer on board has been that we have been able to have the meetings on campus. Unfortunately, getting people organized has been a comedy of errors--people are always late, or don't show up...and of the six of us who signed up, two have already dropped out.

In fact, originally, we planned to be finished the training by now, but we have only done one pool dive, and half of the text book. I guess we're really going to have to step it up if we want to get finish the training by the time my contract is up. I'm sure we will though.

So, the training has been a bit of hassle, but it's worth while. Scuba diving is a really cool experience. It's like entering a whole new world. All of your senses are augmented: all sounds are amplified, your sense of equilibrium goes crazy, your sense of size and distance is skewed. The coolest thing: you're moving in three-dimentional space. The feeling of weightlessness is delightful. And of course, you're surrounded by nature...at least if you're not doing a pool dive!

The best part: it's affordable too. For the course, and basic equipment (wetsuit, fins, mask, boots, snorkel and bag) it will have costed me about $750.



PS, for those interested, I recently did a guest post for my friend Carl's (AKA Duke Stewart) travel website. Check it out: http://dukestewartwrites.com/travel-enlightenment-part-1/

Yanbu

Last week, I decided I would check out Yanbu on the weekend, so I arranged to go with an English  Co-worker. By providence, a  mutual colleague, an American has planned to go there at the same time. We'll call the Englishman "The Brit" and the American "The Yank". (No offense, if you guys are reading!)

It only takes about an hour and a half to get to Yanbu from Rabigh, and time went quickly, and we had lively conversation the whole way. Yanbu is a small city, of somewhat less that two thousand people. It's split into two areas: "Old Yanbu" (or simply Yanbu); and "New Yanbu" (or Sinaiya). The Brit and I had planned to go the bookstore in Old Yanbu, so The Yank dropped us off and went to New Yanbu to meet  his friend. Jarir Bookstore, it turned out was only one story, but very large indeed.

We went to the Jarir bookstore for the purpose of finding English books--something or a rarity if Saudi Arabia...come to think of it, if Rabigh is any indication, books in general are something of a rarity here. Except for the Koran, of course. Anyway, Jarir, had quite a good selection. I got handy Arabic phrasebook, and a copy of Crime and Punishment, which cost me a mere fifteen riyals. In addition to carrying books, Jarir, also carries electronics. I was able to price out cellphones, TVs and projectors while I was there. they even had video games and consoles. Next month, perhaps I will go back and buy a bunch of stuff. It was really big in there, and we must have spent an hour looking around. The Brit came out with a stack of books.

After a bite to eat, we took a taxi to New Yabu, which took about fifteen minutes...it's really far away enough, and certainly different enough to be considered it's own city.  Old Yanbu is nothing special to look at. It's crowded, not laid out very well. To be honest, it's rather dirty, and not much to look at, either. It reminded me of the older parts of big Korean cities. Sinaiya couldn't have been more different. Created by royal commission, the whole city was planned out--very well. The roads are of a proper width, there are proper sidewalks, the zoning is logical and convenient, there are long swaths of beautiful parkland along the coast, and best of all: it's not all covered with garbage.  

It was really gorgeous there--it didn't even feel like Saudi Arabia. I imagine Dubai is like Sinaiya. Anyway, The Brit and I did some shopping in a modern grocery store, where he bought smoked cheese, and other delicacies not to be found in Rabigh. I bought some baklava. Eventually The Yank Arrived, and we walked around the seaside for an hour or so.

The Yank was staying so he could go scuba-diving the next day, so me and the Brit went to catch a taxi back to Rabigh. After several attempts to get a cab back to Rabigh from Sinaiya, we relented and went back Old Yanbu to connect from there. We were crammed into a car with two others, minus the driver, who was trying tenaciously to find a fifth passenger. The Brit and I very nearly took another cab, but seeing we were out of patience, the driver got going. We probably should have found a cab for just the two of us, as I had to sit in the middle of the back seat and neither of us were very comfortable...but it was only seventy rials a piece, so we bared with it. Actually, the cab ride back was a lot of fun. We just told jokes and laughed the whole way back. The Saudi must have thought we were mad!

How Does One Have Fun In Rabigh?

Imagine, if you will, that you are in a small town, inside of a giant desert, in a country that is theocratic and ultra-conservative. Now imagine that there are no movie theaters, no bars, and all women everywhere are covered in black robes from head to toe. Now imagine that you do not have a vehicle, and you're living in a hotel, and hour's walk from the city's downtown area. And now, the question: what does one do for fun, in this grim situation?

Well, first, of all, you make friends with whomever you can. It doesn't matter their age, ethnicity, religion, or even relative English ability. You just talk to everyone, and be as friendly as possible. Then you go out with your new found Spanish friends and smoke shisha like a boss.

Okay, Rabigh doesn't have a whole lot going for it, but there are some benefits. First, it's close to the Red Sea. You can drive there in ten or fifteen minutes. And if you don't have a car, you can just call up your Indian friend that works at the the drive through cafe, and he will act as your personal chauffeur, driving you and your friend to the beach, hang out for an hour and driving you back for only 25 SAR (about $7.50). I wouldn't want to go to the beach during the day, but at night, it's nice and cool. It's a great place to bring some food, and whatnot, and relax with friends. Or, if you're in the mood, for exercise, there are long sidewalks so that you can walk for as long as you care to.

There is no booze, in KSA, but the food makes up for it. Arabian food is delicious, and even at the cheap restaurants, it's fresh, and of high quality. I've had the best fish of my life here a couple days ago, in a dirty little restaurant ran by Indians. It cost around $6. There is a juice restaurant that also serves doners and fried chicken. There are about 30 flavors of juice. It's all made fresh, and it costs about $2 for a mug. I'm not sure that the chicken there is the best I've ever tasted, but it's in the running. $16 for a whole fried chicken and fries. That's a meal for 4. I'm going to go check out a Turkish kebab place in a couple minutes, and I'm sure it's going to be amazing. I'll be surprised if dinner costs more than $6. Even the cafeteria food here is good. No, really, it's pretty great!

Unfortunately, there is only one gym in Rabigh, and nothing in the way of martial arts, yoga, or anything of the like. But there is good scuba diving here. Granted, I have never done scuba diving, but I can work towards getting a license while going out on dives. I'm pretty sure I'll have time!

For now, I'm stuck in a hotel, but I don't plan to be by the end of the week. You can make a lot of money in KSA, and the cost of living is cheap. As in you can rent an apartment for $325 per month here that would cost at least $700 back in Vancouver. That means you have plenty of cash for a nice TV, and audio system, and whatever else you want to put into your apartment. Electronics cost about the same in Bangkok as they do in London. But since there is not tax on electronics, they are cheapest in Saudi. You can deck out a place for relatively cheap, and then, who cares if you never leave your apartment. For someone like me, who loves to read, write, draw, play video games and mediate, having time to myself in my own space, isn't a burden it's a blessing.

In a few month, perhaps I'll even pick up a used car. Why not, when I can pick up something decent for a month's wages. Saudi's aren't particularly keen on buying used cars. In fact, I've heard stories of people parking their old cars after buying a new one, and just leaving it there, like an empty soda can. So yeah--you can get something decent used for cheap--although you might have to buy directly from the seller; I understand it's hard to find a used car dealership here! God knows there are no lack of roads to drive here!