The Housing Sitch

Ever since I arrived in Saudi, we've been searching for a place to live. I know I annoyed Jeff by pushing him to take me looking around at places, but he didn't seem to have the same sense of urgency I had. Excuse me for not wanting to have a baby and bring it back to a hotel room.

I was perfectly fine with living in Saudi, since I had read up on all the compounds and it seemed like decent living. We went around and viewed the compounds that were targeted in the Al-Khobar massacre of 2004, as it is known around here. (After all, wouldn't these be the greatest places for Western living?) They were NICE. I'm talkin' beautiful pools, playgrounds, state-of-the-art gyms, abaya-free living (in fact, abayas are prohibited inside the compounds), cafeterias, lounges, etc.

Jeff didn't like the machine guns, the miles of circular barbed wire surrounding the tall compound walls, the security checkpoint where you drove onto a huge mirror so the guards could check for bombs under the car, or in other places, endured the simpler, mirror-on-a-stick thingy.

We found out that these compounds were astronomically expensive! The housing allowance we had would probably cover 40% of the annual cost. Um, no thanks. And, each compound was already full, with waiting lists until 2008. So that's how these compounds got crossed off our list. Most other companies pay directly for expat housing, so I guess that's how these places can charge the high prices. But in our situation, we receive no assistance from the company, so we are on our own, with definitely less leverage as individuals than if the company negotiated a block of villas for everyone.

We ended up in Bahrain because if you don't live in a compound in Saudi, you have to live in an apartment. And apartments in Saudi for women mean prison. It would have meant that I would be stuck inside the apartment anytime Jeff was at work. We could hire a driver, but that would be an added expense. And, after the baby arrived, I wouldn't be able to even take it outside for walks. In Bahrain, we can pretty much have a similar-type of life to back home. There are still restrictions, but after being in Saudi these restrictions seem quite reasonable!
It's all about perspective.