I would have done anything to be invited into the home of a Saudi person, and that was an extremely difficult ambition to achieve.
Even the architecture in Saudi gives you an idea of just how challenging my ambition was. Social, cultural and climatic characteristics mean that privacy is valued highly, and I spent weeks trying to work out how to get some insight into the lives of local people.
As far as I know, most of my 250 colleagues at the university ( from virtually all the English-speaking countries in the world ) never managed this, partly because maybe they didn’t want to, or because there were embassy parties and various other diversions, and we had plenty of friendships – and emnities too – among us all to keep us engaged socially. Also, in my first period in Saudi Arabia, women couldn’t drive, so we were always dependent on drivers to get around, which of course was frustrating and made spontaneity impossible.
I’m happy to report though, that little ways of achieving my ambition started coming in a few weeks after I arrived.
Out There & In Here 