Has anyone ever been to Dhahran if so whats it like?

Question

My husabnd is getting ready to do a one year contract over there and they told him that after 90 days my daughter and I can join him over there.
I just wanted to see if anyone has ever been there before and tell me a little bit of what it's like there before.

All I know is that we'll be living in one of the houses on the compound there. I guess I would just like to know what it's like living there.

Answer 1

I was there when it was bombed in the late 90's, so I am gonna have to tell ya it sux!

Answer 2

I live in Dhahran currently. The houses in the compound are really tiny- so if youre from the states itll be a huge suprise! Also, if your daughter is in 9th grade- or below, she will come to the school. I am in 9th grade, and even though our class has been together since kindergarten, we are very welcoming to new people. Life inside camp is very different from life outside camp. Women can drive inside camp. Inside, it is like a utopia land and totally americanized. We have a commecery, mujamma (mail center), and other stuff too.... You will like in Dhahran however the weather can get HOT durring the summer and there are always saudi guys (rich ppl) driving around campus, or indian workers staring at you. But not that much, i mean they dont stalk you or anything. If you come here, you will find people like you, and you will like it here. Next year im going to boarding skewl, (after 9th grade, we get fully paid boarding school deal) and ive had a fun childhood here. I should meet you sometime there! Though there are 10000 people stuffed in, our town is relativley small.

Answer 3

What I remember of Dhahran- a big city with a lot of the usual features of any big city- I recall visiting a 3-story shopping mall complete with food court, eating at restaurants like Sizzler, KFC and McDonalds (over there they call it MedMac) lots of shops,- gold, silver, gems and jewelry were very cheap there (at least they were in 1991) I bought some nice perfume for my mother that was very inexpensive. I went into a big supermarket, most of the products seemed to be from England, Japan and China. I had a chance to visit a compound where some employees for Aramco oil company lived- they had nice air-conditioned 2-story condos, a swimming pool with snack bar and flower gardens everywhere.
Also, Half-Moon Bay isn't too far away- it's a recreational center on the Persian Gulf where you can swim, wind-sail, etc.
I'd like to go back and visit one day. The Arabs were pretty friendly, too.

Answer 4

Dhahran and the Eastern Province have been exposed to Western influences for decades, far longer than any other area of Saudi Arabia, and is therefore a more liberal place than elsewhere in the Kingdom. Most of the compounds are pleasant, self-contained, and secure. You also have the added benefit of being able to make a quick trip across the causeway to Bahrain for entertainment, shopping, and an escape from the oppressive lifestyle in Saudi Arabia. If you have to live in Saudi Arabia, Dhahran is one of the easier places to go.

Edit: Oppressive lifestyle - Extreme gender segregation (women can't drive, they must be accompanied by a male relative, they require a male relative's permission to leave the Kingdom, men and women not related by blood or marriage are not allowed to be in the same car or eat in a restaurant together or be in the same home, etc. - otherwise you are engaged in unlawful intimacy and subject to jail, lashing, and deportation if a foreigner); women must wear the black abeya and must cover their heads (and often their faces); Cultural segregation (if you are not a Saudi, you are a lesser person); religious isolation (only one legal religion); no movie/play/dance theatres; no clubs; no alcohol; roving religious police to ensure compliance; high security - checkpoints/armed guards/machine gun posts/security checks/barriers; and it is generally very hot and dry. Just personal observations - and I like Saudis and Saudi Arabia.

Answer 5

I spent a year on a remote site in Turkey and when people asked me what it was like I told them quite truthfully that it was the a-- end of creation. Then I went to Daharan for 90 days. When the same people asked what it was like, I answered that it made Turkey appear modern and up to date. I was offered a job there at almost triple what I could make here. I spent two tours in Vietnam and was stationed all over the world in 27 years in the military. Ninety days in Saudi was more than enough.

Answer 6

My father was there and elsewhere in that part of the world. You
live in compounds because only there can you practice American
conventions, escape the conditions outside, and with employer
rules of moderation so you don't paint the town red. You'll limit
alcohol and select other articles to non-public locations, watch
your mouth, and don't abuse authority figures. Punishment is
usually the next aircraft out of the country or being stoned to by
passer-by. Imagine, Life in Fort Apache, 1878 Arizona Territory.

Answer 7

It's a lot like Chicago,only with less public sodomy.

Answer 8

you will definately have a culture shock but most of the people i have met were really nice

Answer 9

T78 You are on the big news!!…
http://www.osoq.com/funstuff/extra/extra01.asp?strName=T78

Answer 10

don't knw i've never gone