Racism revisited

I had talked about discrimination in an earlier post, but I would have to say that over the last few days, non-white contract workers recieve the lion-share of racist behaviors of the people who work here. Students use "nigger" when talking to their teachers. A student said that in my class at the beginning of the year, to the chuckles of students. They quickly stopped when they saw my face. "That is not funny at all. That is a word that hurts people, and is very bad. You should not say that word." "Oh, I didn't know. They use it in rap songs." Well, I believed that it was their ignorance. Not anymore.
 

We had no idea that such images could be viewed as racist!

A colleague of mine, a black Muslim man in his 60's from a country to the south, who I respect very highly and who I enjoy talking to, told me of two incidents that happened in recent months. One was when students (plural) told him to go and learn English. He said "where should I go?" and they said "a coconut tree." Another time, he entered the elevator and a student greeted him by hooting like a monkey. How can this be merely "ignorance"? That the comparison between black teachers and simians is made not just once, but many times, to black teachers throughout the school? Some of these teachers are easily identifiable as Muslims, but that does not provide any safeguard.

The racist language use extends to behavior towards migrant workers in general. Migrant workers, those from the near Middle East like Egypt, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, are routinely talked to in informal, ordering tones. It is awkward for me, to say the least, when this behavior is shown by children toward adults 5 and 10 times older than they are. The most demeaning attitudes are shown to those of Philippino and especially Indonesian descent. Somehow, some people here are raised with an attitude of extreme entitlement. That their needs are of immediate primacy and urgency, and that if you are of non-Saudi descent, you should simply step aside and let your "better" have his place.

Yesterday, I had a conflict with a Saudi student. I was in line, and was ordering my food at the cafeteria counter. A Saudi (maybe 18 years old), steps up beside me out of nowhere, and starts banging the glass and the top of the counter, demanding an extra piece of chicken. I looked at him, and said "What are you doing? I am ordering, please wait." He looked at me, and then continued to demand his chicken. The counter staff, having been trained to give Saudis whatever they want when they want it, handed him his chicken. Then I raised my voice another notch and said his behavior was rude and that he should have waited. The student made a gesture with his hand and some comment in Arabic, and with a smirk on his face, ambled off. Others in the line, who were from Northern African / Levantine I guess, looked at me with something like pity mixed with astonishment. I was fuming. Yet, I have seen this in banks, where Saudis walk right up to the window bypassing 20 people in line, because they are better than some mere "migrant." You see it every day with the driving: I am entitled to this lane, I am entitled to get ahead of you, your safety or welfare is of no concern to me.

These attitudes need to change. Mark my words: the oil will run out one day. The Americans will not be here forever. Making enemies of those around you because of your riches is not a sustainable strategy. Modesty, kindness, tolerance, generosity - those are the virtues of the belief system which finds its origin in this country. Remember your heritage. Think about who you are supposed to be.

Dialect discrepancy

It's ok in North Carolina...

Seminar yesterday from a renowned researcher in dialects and accents. Main point was that there is no standard English, and that englishes have equal value, and should be treated without bias. "she be on my ball team" would be marked "innappropriate/inaccurate" on the IELTS exam. To use the grammar of some of these dialects would immediately mark the user as having a lower level of proficiency. I would suspect that much of the grammars characteristic of dialects are generally spoken. Literacy rates might be lower, and proficiency testing and the language of academia and business tends toward a more conventionalised written form. My guess would be  that the majority of languages that are endangered and will disappear in the next 50 years are also spoken only, with minimal content in written form. I think this is political correctness run amok again. Not killing dandelions because as plants they have a right to exist. Poor grammar is to language like weeds are to lawns.

Take a look at this:


Gangsta is not cool

They’re standing on the corner and they can’t speak English. I can’t even talk the way these people talk: Why you ain’t, Where you is, What he drive, Where he stay, Where he work, Who you be… And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

Bill Cosby would say that learning English is critical for success. He states that people who have good jobs and make positive contributions to society use the language well. That blaming imperialism or institutionalized discrimination or whatever for the bias against certain kinds of langauge form is wrongheaded. And that the use of this dialect is part-and-parcel with a kind of lifestyle that ultimately is anti-intellectual, counter-productive, and self-destructive.


Without it, doors close...

What would happen if the speaker's ideas, when written in dialect form, were submitted to an international journal? Would the paper get an acceptance, or would the editor require a re-write? Is that social bias, or a recognition that an international standard does exist, and is found in the written language of academics and business documents?So, for students to achieve success in those worlds, they need to have proficiency with its form. If they insist on retaining their linguistic identities, then they need to live with the consequences.

That is yet another example of bringing in ivory-tower academics who recommend practices and procedures which do not help at the chalkface. We as teachers are to help our students achieve success, and typically this means wanting to do well in the academic, political or corporate world. And that is not an unconventional or unpredictable outcome. As a teacher, I do not believe that I am an agent of social change or should engage in social engineering. Learning is change, yes. I teach from a particular value system, yes. However, in too many classes, IMO, I have seen teachers go off in another direction.

ESL teachers in my hometown who use rap music in order to give vent to social inequality. Use poetry to advocate for this global issue or that political agenda. Why is this ok? Do math teachers do this? Do science teachers? Music teachers? I really think that ESL teachers are sometimes bored with the content, and do not examine language structure for its own sake (maybe the teachers don't know how), and this lends itself to open-ended, class discussion formats which penalize students for being shy, modest, or wanting to get a high mark by producing or desiring a more defined subject matter.

Employment escapades

Part of the Expat blog is a job site for employees looking for work in the Middle East: http://www.expat-blog.com/en/jobs/middle-east/saudi-arabia/



My experience is limited to language teaching, but I have heard/read some interesting stories.



The Arab News reported that a Pakistani driver was in a car accident, in which he was killed and the car was totalled. The Saudi owner had no insurance on the car, and blamed the driver for the accident. The driver had worked for the owner for over 15 years. Upon his demise, the owner refused to repatriate his body back to his home, so that his family could bury him, unless the family gave him something like 50 thousand dollars to pay for damages. His body was kept in cold storage for over a year before the courts ruled the owner could not keep the body, and damages were waived. Bear in mind, Islam requires that the dead be buried within 48 hours. That his body was kept for over a year, apart from the bereaved family, is unfathomable to me.



A nurse, new to the working here in KSA, had noticed that an elderly patient (who was in the mutawa) in pre-op for a tracheotomy had had his long beard carefully taped to one side. Thinking that this was inappropriate for such a procedure, she proceeded to shave off his beard, and threw the remains into the trash can. His family was in hysterics about the result, and seemed to prefer the possibility of bacterial infection rather than the loss of the beard. The nurse's identity was unknown, but the story has become legend around hospitals in this area.



Different country, same indentured story

 Bangledeshi workers on top of a 4 storey building were working on the roof, when it suddenly collapsed. Seven died, and the owners claimed to not know the identities, or possess the iqamas of the workers. The only way families back home would ever know that their loved ones had died would be if other members of that work group had recognized the bodies and reported it informally. The fact that the whole group had died at once lessens the possibility, so perhaps 7 families will never know what happened. My barber has been in the country for 16 years, and his partner for twenty. They are both from Pakistan. They get to go back home once every 2 years. They paid an astronomical fee to the sponsors (always Saudi) for the "privilege" of working here. When they go back, they have to pay the sponsors the amount the sponsor estimates he loses from their employ (so, 6 months' worth of profits) before they leave, which is probably equal to 1 years pay. This is partially reimbursed when they return. Indentured servitude.

I remind myself of these stories whenever I think to complain of my circumstances here. What I make in one month of work here is greater than one years' salary of my barber. And they are always cheerful.



When the Asians came to NA, they came for 3D reasons: dirty, dangerous and demeaning. This is still very much the case for migrant workers who come from near Asia to work in KSA. It is said that those that choose to come and teach here in KSA  do so for 3D reasons: divorce, dry out from drugs/alcohol, debt. I would add a fourth one: delusional - there are some strange birds here, I have to say.



For those thinking of working here, do your homework. Know that your life will be curtailed here. Social outlets are few and far between. The diplomatic and engineering class of worker represents the upper echelon of employees here, and I do not run in those circles, so their experiences are substantially different (they also live in those compounds I talked about yesterday), and their salaries are twice to four times as high as well. Know that the contract you signed overseas will not be the one that you may have to sign again when you arrive: the contract must have the signature of the saudi owner in order to be legitimate in the eyes of sharia law.


Mouth shut, eyes open


The work circumstances are surreal. Expect the unexpected, and do not try to be an agent of change, or an adherent to standards of excellence. There is a lot of lip service paid to standards, as KSA tries to primp itself to the world as a place which is in progress and developing quickly. In truth, westerners are paid to stand around, do "busy work" when required, and look western for photo ops. Keep your mouth shut, your eyes open, and remember why you came. Do not try to be "different", or be a "rebel" and kick against the taboos: it does not work, and you do not want to run afoul of the mutawa or the police. You can disappear. Have an exit plan. Very few come here long-term, so it makes for a transitory expat experience, much more so than any place I have been.






A metaphor for social life...

 Know that your family will experience a lot of difficulties. I left my wife and son back home for precisely these reasons. Frankly, I do not want to explain to my son why mom cannot go outside, and why she has to cover herself up. There is nowhere for my son to play outside, as riding a bike is bound to be fatal. There are no libraries, no rivers and green places. There is work, for me, and an AC-cooled room, with the internet. Expect nothing more, so that if there is (the odd BBQ now and then, a friendship), you will appreciate all the more.





The green is an indicator...


Life in KSA is not a dream job, or a dream place. UAE (Dubai), Qatar and Bahrain are different worlds that are more family-friendly, but the pay scales seem to be less, and due to their size, opportunities also seem to lag as well. Oman and Yemen I would stay away from, as the Arab spring seems to be making those places unstable. Iraq, Iran, Egypt - forget it. Kuwait is just a little too close for my comfort to the Iraqi border. A Montrealer was shot in a taxi by militia in Egypt couple months ago. The Gulf states, on the other hand, have the benefit of a large presence of US military, which can give a sense of security, but can also lead to the presence of unsavory establishments. So, for the money, and nothing else, KSA is it.

House hunting II

Julien created Expat blog 7 seven years ago. He writes: "It is a unique platform about all the expatriates’ blogs all over the world. Expatriates’ blogs are indeed a great way to get information about real life in a foreign country. As the years went by, new features have been added to the website such as a forum, guides, albums, a business directory. Expat blog has now more than 420 000 members and 1.8 million visitors per month. There are 206 countries and 400 big cities all over the world. 11 156 members are registered on the Saudi Arabia forum. The new features are aimed at helping people in their job and accommodation search in Saudi Arabia, two essential steps when expatriating."


In the housing section, ads are available by kind of accommodation, whether you are looking for or offering an accommodation. http://www.expat-blog.com/en/housing/middle-east/saudi-arabia/

Issues when trying to find a place include location, status, price, and facilities.

Riyadh is expanding daily; the roads are under constant repair, and building sites (and rubble heaps) are everywhere. Thus, its a good idea to be located as close as you can to your workplace. The weather is unbearably hot, and so don't try to walk 1.5 KM to work in June or July. Don't even think about biking to work. This city has the fewest bikes of any place I have ever seen. Cars and trucks have been known to run off, and even run over, cyclists on the shoulders. Thus, taxi-ing or carpooling is the best way to go, IMO.

Riyadh has an very unfamiliar approach to categorizing apartment types: family, and single. Most units are oriented to families, so if you want to get a bigger place, you might have to, ah, stretch the truth so that you and your buddies can get a villa (an aprtment with 3 or more bedrooms) together and save money. When I first arrived, it was quite frustrating when house hunting: place after place asked me about my wife and family, and so I had to say that she was coming (when she was not). Single units can be grouped together, and thus can at times resemble a ghetto. The only place where this is not as evident is compound life. I have not yet been on a compound, but they tend to have more facilities available, and a more Western-style approach to lifestyle. They are gated communities, with passport control and armed guards. One has to be aware, however, that there are compounds for westerners, as well as compounds for those of middle-eastern origin, and this difference would create tangible constraints on lifestyle.

Prices can vary alot. The closer you are downtown, the more expensive apartments become. You should be able to find reasonable rates in the 1500 to 2500 SAR per month zone. be warned: landlords here often expect 6 months prepaid rents, with 3 month increments after that. There is no refund, so if your job status changes, you will be out-of-pocket unless you can find someone to sublet. Compounds are often paid for by the employer, and thus can run 60,000+SAR per year = 5000 per month. This is well beyond the means of most expat teachers (at least, more than I would be willing to pay), but sometimes you can luck out and find something in a more reasonable range.

Finally, another frustrating oddity are the facilities. Saudi construction efforts are often half-complete: live wires will hang down from ceilings uncapped, gaps in bricks and tile will be uncemented, windows will have gaps as well, doors and floors will indicate a lack of grading evident in the sand that can blow in when the winds are high (I tape my windows to try and mitigate this). As well, tenants are expected to provide the entirety of finishing pieces to the unit: we had to buy the kitchen cabinets and sink, the fridge and stove, and air conditioners; luckily the light fixtures were already provided. Furniture was ours, no question. Hotel units are furnished, but tend to be old and rather dirty, as well as of questionable functionality; compounds generally, I have heard, have no issues like this.

So, for us to get housing, took a lot of logistics and planning, especially since there was a group of us. we looked at 5 or 6 places, negotiated and negotiated, and when we finally got  a place, we needed someone with an iqama to sign for it, and then the whole issue of acquiring "stuff" for our place began. But that is another blog.

You can post or discover job opportunities in Saudi Arabia, per type of job (more than 100 jobs and fields), create your CV and find a job! http://www.expat-blog.com/en/jobs/middle-east/saudi-arabia/
and this will be dealt with in the next posting.

Down-time Deprived

I have mentioned sleep deprivation in a previous blog, but would like to give it more space here. An interesting testimonial is given here. Thomas is talking about how sleep deprivation affected his personality, how he became more impulsive, irritable with people, less creative. It was also associated with a spiralling depression. People who chronically lack sleep are also prone to micro-sleeps, which is falling to sleep for a few seconds without conscious awareness.

What's interesting about Saudi Arabia is the possibility that many here are affected by a similar condition. Almost everyone I talk to at some point mentions how they feel tired most days (I do, that's for sure). You have to wonder if the high incidence of impulsive risk-taking with driving are because of sleep deprivation. Could the high traffic accident rate be due to people having micro-sleeps at the wheel?

Sleep deprivation is often caused by life stressors. Thomas above began to have insomnia after his divorce. It is said that many come to KSA for 3 reasons: drugs/dry out, divorce, and dough. There are a lot of financial refugees here - I am one of them! Those financial stressors are in the background as we work, and they must re-emerge in our subconscious dreamworld, to reduce our quality of sleep. Addictive cycles have also been associated with a disruption of the sleep cycle, too. One stays up late at night considering all that needs to be done, all the loose ends, making it difficult to get settled and into a relaxed state that precedes sleep.

Interesting article here states that obesity, depression and anxiety all contribute to day-time sleepiness, which in turn is associated with problem behavior, attention deficits and learning difficulties:

Children who have learning, attention and behavior problems may be suffering from excessive daytime sleepiness, even though clinical tests show them sleeping long enough at night, a new study reports. Penn State researchers studied 508 children and found that those whose parents reported excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) -- despite little indication of short sleep from traditional measurements -- were more likely to experience learning, attention/hyperactivity and conduct problems than children without EDS. The culprits? Obesity, symptoms of inattention, depression and anxiety, asthma and parent-reported trouble falling asleep have been found to contribute to EDS even among children with no signs of diminished sleep time or sleep apnea.

From a socio-cultural perspective, Bedu culture also is a night culture, with people staying up late at night and getting up late in the morning. The mainstay drink here is a strong coffee, and the caffeine does not help. islamic tradition also is influential: as the summer waxes, the sundown prayer time and sunrise times will grow closer together. This culminates in Ramadan, with all-day fasting (making it difficult to sleep), and feasting until the wee hours of the morning. My students are tech addicts, video gaming being one of their primary recreational activities:

Technology can also be blamed for disrupting our sleep. The constant input of emails, texts, and social networking, video and online games, and TV on demand, all the time, puts the brain into a constant active state. A brain that’s wired up has difficulty settling down when it’s time to sleep. Often enough, a person who tosses and turns trying to get to sleep gives up – and goes back to the computer! So much for quieting the unquiet mind!

Staying at home inside (its hot outside) is associated with growing obese. Obesity is a serious problem in saudi arabia. And, tragically, it may also reinforce sleep deprivation:

Sleep-deprived people may be too tired to exercise, decreasing the "calories burned" side of the weight-change equation. Or people who don't get enough sleep may take in more calories than those who do, simply because they are awake longer and have more opportunities to eat; lack of sleep also disrupts the balance of key hormones that control appetite, so sleep-deprived people may be hungrier than those who get enough rest each night.

What to do?

Several ideas sound good to me:

1. avoid napping (which is what I tend to do already);

2. avoid eating before sleeping; I do tend to have a snack an hour be sleeping, and I need to stop that;

3. relaxation before sleep: I have taken up listening to music before, to try to settle down before sleeping;

4. regular schedule: tough to do sometimes because the skyping schedule back home is 7 hours difference, but I try to turn by 10 or 1030PM

5. block noise: I have an air cooler, which circulates water through the machine, and this quiet gurgling provides a white noise which helps to block the noise of my roommates rustlings late at night, as well as the playing of children outside, and other sounds (screeching cars and cats).

Community Conscience

This will be a thoroughly speculative piece. I am wondering about the behavior of the men I am working with here. We live segregated from women 24/7; we teach only male students; and generally, we socially interact with men only, except in privileged circumstances some expats enjoy on the compounds.



No female influence here either

I wonder if the combination of the isolation from women with the stress and anxiety of this controlling environment creates a loss of community conscience? Do women provide a sort of social conscience that is absent when men are put together? That some other type of social order assumes command in its place? That social order is one of “survival of the fittest”: who is the loudest, strongest, smartest vie for social prominence in a way that is more pronounced when women are not present to act as moderators? I have found that a lot of men I am working with have grown less able to control their normally operating social inhibitions. There is a greater frequency of lost tempers, abusive language treatment, carelessness with customary social obligations.

This could be due to simply accumulated stress. It could be just that people are always this way, and their true nature is becoming manifest. Or, it could be that a moderating influence of women on social behavior acts as a brake on male excesses. I have heard that having women drive in KSA would probably do more to improve the quality of driving on Riyadh highways than any speed bumps or added law enforcement could ever accomplish. Is this the case for social settings as well?

In any case, I am sensing a growing amount of tension and “extreme” behavior in people I have come across. It is approaching the end of the year, people want to go back home and re-connect during the vacation period, and relieve some stress. It is also getting hotter; the temperatures are rising, the rain makes everything muggier and more humid. All things put together, this makes for a wild ride in the last month before vacation, so seat-belts are not optional.

The Daily Debacle: Lack of competence, or lack of courage?

Another day, another debacle.

Maccah Road, next exit

There are standards in this place, and they are printed on walls and on posters scattered throughout the campus. The first goal on this list is the following: "To instill in students a sense of responsibility, committment and self-discipline." The mission statement posted on the website states: “To equip the youth of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the English language skills needed to succeed in their studies, in their society, and in the world. In doing this, we work in partnership with our fellow educators to instill in the students life-long learning habits and respect for self, others and the environment.” The notion of responsibility is key, since this is linked clearly with learning success. Hence, admin has stated in its own very message:

“The [university] will open up many unprecedented opportunities to self-development. Since instilling the principle of responsibility into students is one of its objectives, the [university] will not act as a custodian nor will it hand you everything on a silver platter. Indeed, it will provide you with the development kit and you have to learn, yourselves, how to make use of the available opportunities. You have to take the consequences of your negligence, if there is any, without blaming it on anyone else.”

That responsibility manifests itself in time management, respect for each other and oneself in language and behavior, consistency in class performance, etc. etc. On the other hand, when students are shielded from the consequences of their actions, the invalidation of responsibility-taking takes hold.

One major project involved the students in conducting (mainly secondary) research on a current social issue, presenting their findings to the class, and then handing in a written paper on the work; this had strict deadlines and rubrics for marking. Today, those deadlines were arbitrarily lifted and extended; presumably, students went to admin and complained about a scheduling conflict: the assignment was the same day as a math exam. Admin arbitrarily directed the project coordinator to inform teachers midway through class about the extension. I had pushed and prodded my students to complete their studies for the last two weeks. Invariably there are laggards, and I sternly was telling them that presentations were to be done by tomorrow, and papers handed in after the weekend would be late. That discussion was invalidated by today’s email.

This is the kind of event that happens over and over. Significant numbers of students were over the 50-class absence, and made their to the admin office. They were promptly given 50% more absences to play with, 4 weeks before the end of classes. Thought it was difficult to get projects and assessments done before? Now just try, with students taking their absences as entitled vacations. In the first couple of weeks, students routinely get teachers removed from their classrooms when the teachers have expectations of performance that are above what the students are willing to expend. We are told to be generous in our marking of exams, and that to hold student output to the rubrics in a fair and standardized fashion is to invite reprisal and sanction.



Butler-teacher, serving education

Some would say this is simply a lack of competence, that admin simply does not realize the consequences of decisions made on the day-to-day class management issues faced by teachers. But admin has said that students are to engage in “self-development”, and that they would face “consequences of [their] negligence”. Tough words. When push comes to shove, it’s clear they are just words. The admin will not stand by its statements. I call this a lack of courage. The admin refuses to stare down the students and maintain standards. Students know through sheer numbers, through their wasta connections, through intimidation and threats (as was the case with the prior admin head who had bottles and shoes thrown at him in a previous ill-fated confrontation), they hold the balance of power.

The admin is afraid of the students. They are afraid of holding students accountable. Students are indeed handed their education on a silver platter. Teachers act as the butlers, and they had better be appropriately attired.

Courage is not to be unafraid. To not be afraid of the consequences of losing your job, or worse, is to be a fool. Everyone feels afraid; the key is what to do with it. Nelson Mandela said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

To know what the standards are, to know that imparting these to students is for their benefit, and to knowingly give in, is a lack of courage. Admin, like cowardice, has asked “is it safe?”, and for expediency’s sake “is it politic?” But, to continue Martin Luther King Jr.’s observation: “conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular- but one must take it simply because it is right.” Martin Luther King Jr. 1929-1968

BTW, teachers hold no such leverage as the students do. The best they can do is quit, and they are quickly replaced. The lack of continuity is of no concern, because the program goes through several iterations in a given year anyway. As long students are marked present, are happy, and no shoes are thrown, the program goes on. I am surprised that admin even admits to this: “Everyone knows that [this university] is not difficult academically.”

I recall an event from a previous position with the Human Resources Department of a major corporation. They were in weeks-long discussions to change the nameplates on the classrooms, to reflect more modern, quality-assurance lingo. What did not change was the process inside the class, the process for planning what happened in the class, and the responsibilities of all participants generally. The nameplates changed, the realities did not.



Integrity beaten, chained up and slinking away

Tying in with the curriculum plan I described yesterday, the program is changing the descriptors, but the processes are untouched. And integrity, beaten too many times, lacking courage to change the context now, turns tail and slinks into the shadows.