As anyone who knows me well, I am partially deaf. Not in a clinical sense, but I've been cursed with an inexplicable inability to understand the different accents of non-native English speakers. Give me Chinese-accented English all day long, I could translate for you before the person is done talking. I grew up around these sounds. Length of time and practice is the only way I can decipher them.
All employees in the area are men. I don't know if it is against the law for women to work in the service industry, but none do. Restaurant workers, taxi drivers, hotel staff, lingerie store clerks, travel agents... you name it, and there is a man in that job. This brings many non-Saudi nationals to the area, hoardes of men lured by the better wages than they could make in their home countries. Most of these workers are Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Filipino and Lebanese. Throw in some Egyptians and Saudis, and there's not an accent-free interaction for me all day.
Luckily, I have no qualms about looking foolish. I often bluff by just nodding and saying "Yes," but most of the time that is not the right answer. I am sure they think I am some weird girl who doesn't understand English!
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