Friday, April 17, 2009

R i Y A D H

Background:
8 weeks project in KSA (kingdom of Saudi Arabia).. I don’t know what did I feel when I got to know this. It seemed an interesting project to work on. But Saudi?? I definitely had some apprehensions before I nodded my head indicating my readiness to take it up.

Something about KSA:
For those who do not know – KSA is one of the most challenging countries to stay in. They expect expats also to abide by their customs and respect their religious beliefs. You are not supposed to schedule a meeting in thier prayer times (5 times a day). All the shops close in their prayer times (approx 25 minutes for each time; 5 times a day). Women are not allowed to work here in offices (apart from a few exceptions). Women are not allowed to drive in KSA. Yes that’s a fact – believe it or not! And, every woman in the country needs to wear Abaya (Burkha) irrespective of the religion she follows!

With this background, I was set to fly to Riyadh – the capital of KSA. Read more ....