Living in the Middle East: 10 Things that Make it Amazing & to be Aware of

There are lots of stigmas about the Middle East,

but as a family who lived, worked and traveled there we can attest to the fact that it can be quite amazing. I remember a time when I couldn’t properly spell Kuwait (thought it started with a ‘Q’) and couldn’t have found it on a map. It was blended into the Middle East with the more popularly known Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. But truly there are some absolutely amazing countries to explore in the Middle East and we want to work towards helping others recognize this as well.

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Things that Make Living in the Middle East Amazing:

1. 1. Learn ten words in Arabic: You’ll be surprised how impressed the locals, as well as Arabic expats, will be if you pick up just a little arabic. It will not only help you make more friends faster it will also get you better prices and warmer welcomes at stores. Cab drivers will often try to fleece new arrivals so by dropping some Arabic they will often assume you’ve been there a while and will not fight as hard for crazy prices.
      1. Hello: Sa-lam
      2. GoodBye: Ma-sa-lama
      3. Thank You: Shu-krahn
      4. Yes: Na-am
      5. No: La
      6. Left: Yes-ar
      7. Right: Ya-meen
      8. Stop: Ha-loss
      9. Little Bit: Shway Shway
      10. Arabic: Arabia
   2. Hire a maid: Maids are not very expensive in the middle east and are well worth the money. They can come once a week, a few times a week, and every day if you want. Talk to other expats to get a good recommendation if you can. Please be sure to give a fair price, they are often very underpaid in their jobs and need the extra income, so be generous.
   3. Leave your appliances and electronics at home unless you plan to buy a transformer. Be sure to cheque the voltage and frequency of your chosen country’s power grid to avoid shorting out valuable electronics.
   4. If you aren’t American or British, make friends with someone who is. American and British embassies are technically foreign soil and will often have a bar on the grounds. Be careful not to get too knackered though as it will still be illegal to be drunk in much of the middle east.
   5. Paint your apartment: By painting your apartment right away you are putting your ownership on it and making it a ‘home’.
   6. Explore: Walk around and get familiar with your neighbourhood right away. If you’re a woman you may want to bring someone along with you. Explore the bakalas (corner stores), the grocery stores, the bakeries and the restaurants. Get a good feel for the cheapest places and the best places (not always the same) in the neighborhood.
   7. Talabat.com: This is an online food ordering service. You can order anything (ANYTHING!) Hankering for McDonalds? Want something Italian or Mexican? Perhaps you really want some ice cream brought to your door. You can order off of Talabat in most Middle Eastern countries and have it delivered for a very reasonable price. The taxi driver that brings your food doesn’t get much for the trip, so remember to tip him.
      1. Malls: In most Middle Eastern countries they will have some amazing malls that you can go to. Our favourites in Kuwait would be The Avenues and Marina Mall. The Avenues was bigger and more impressive on the inside, but Marina Mall had a better outdoor area. Make this one of your first stops, you will sure to be impressed.
      2. Kidzania: Many Middle Eastern big cities have a Kidzania or other large indoor kids play areas. Kuwait had quite a few. They are spreading all over the world now (one is even coming to Canada now! Yay!) and are a lot of fun for kids. It’s basically an indoor town that is the right size for kids. They get to pretend to be adults for a day. Go to the DMV to get their license before they go to the car track to drive a car. Go to make their own pizza at Pizza Hut before they eat their lunch, go to an art class where they paint pictures on an easel, etc. And they need to have money to do it all, so they have to go around trying different things (be a police officer or a firefighter) to earn money to buy their pizza, or car, etc. It’s pretty amazing!
      3. Beaches and Resorts: Again in many Middle Eastern countries, you will find beautiful beaches and amazing resorts. Be careful with beaches, you can’t go to all of them and wear a bathing suit. However, there are often private beaches that you can go to that allow you to wear whatever bathing suit you wanted (there were plenty of women wearing bikinis on some private beaches in Kuwait, but again don’t do this everywhere, you could get into a lot of trouble). The resorts in Kuwait were prevalent as was our experience in Jordan. They had 4-5 star resorts on the beach with amazing amenities. Maybe you just want to spoil yourself for a night on the weekend…it is really easy to do this here. Mind you, they aren’t cheap, but generally you make good money in the Middle East, so you can spoil yourself every once in a while.

10 Things to be Aware Of:

Now that we’ve let you know about some the great things you can do to enjoy the Middle East, keep these things in mind to avoid or to be aware of.

1. 1. Bad Attitude: I have to put this in at the beginning because unfortunately there are too many people who think about the Middle East through a very negative lense. The countries and the people can all be quite amazing. Yes, like everywhere you will get some that are not great or perhaps even terrible, but that’s true for every country. Please come with an open mind and a humble attitude, willing to go by their laws and cultural rules. If you can do this, then you will have a wonderful time.
   2. Clothing: As you might have guessed, many Middle Eastern countries (but not all) request more clothing than us Western’s are used to. This is true not just for women, but for men too. You might be surprised to hear that in Kuwait we knew someone who was turned away at government buildings because he wore shorts and a t-shirt. They told him to come back when he was properly dressed. Make sure you ask someone who is living in the country you are moving to about what would be appropriate attire. In Kuwait, a woman would be asked to wear looser clothing that went down past the knees and well over the shoulder. Women were not required to wear a head covering, but you would if you were going to Saudi Arabia and some other countries. Clothing details may be looser in Jordan and UAE, etc. Men could wear shorts and t-shirts, but maybe dress nicer when going into important meetings and places.
   3. Strong Smells: This has nothing to do with food or the people, it was just that it was difficult to get used to the combination of smoking and perfume smells. The malls and many places still allowed smokers to smoke inside. It’s fairly common for men to smoke (at least this is our experience in Kuwait). It was the hardest in malls because it was also combined with perfume and cologne that is sprayed a lot and throughout the mall. Perfume is a big thing there, they seem to love it. It makes sense in a fairly hot country to have perfume as such a big part of the culture. As Canadians, we are not used to these smells, so it took some getting used to (which we did by the end of our 10 month term).
   4. Being Alone: If you are a single female moving to Kuwait (and perhaps other Middle Eastern countries), you may want to consider not being out on your own at night. I would like to say that mostly you are quite safe in Kuwait, but there seems to be more men who make sexualized comments to single women. It even happened to me when I was out with my husband and son. There unfortunately were women who had some not nice stories of men insinuating that they may be available for the right price. This didn’t happen with everyone and you can avoid it much more by being out with others.
   5. Government Hospitals:  You don’t necessarily have to avoid the government run hospitals, but in our experience, if you can afford to go to a private hospital, then you will have a much better experience (you have to, its much more expensive). The government hospitals could do what you needed, but they were busier, the patients were pushier and it just didn’t seem as clean. However, they are a fraction of the price and they were helpful and knowledgeable.
   6. Schedule: The Middle East (and we think of this through our lense of Kuwait) has a much more active nightlife then we are used to. The roads can be busiest from 6pm to 11pm and children are often up that late or later on a regular basis. The malls stay busy until closing as do the restaurants. Perhaps it’s the heat of the day and the coolness of the night that encourages this, we’re not 100% certain, but it is definitely the case. If you’re a teacher, you will notice sleepy kids or kids that arrive late to school. This is fairly common and normal. It can make teaching a bit difficult, but like most things you learn how to work with the kids.
   7. Noise: I’m not from the city and I am from a town that mostly closes by 5pm everyday. So, the noise volume in Kuwait took some getting used to. With an active nightlife, be ready for it to be noisier at night as well. Drivers also LOVE to honk. It’s sometimes aggressive, but mostly it’s to let you know that they plan to pass you. It’s another way of signaling. Sometimes you will find that people talk in a more passionate tone and my seem angry, but often are not.
   8. Toilet Paper: If using a sprayer to wash yourself after using the toilet doesn’t sound like something you could easily get used to, then we suggest buying some toilet paper and carrying it with you. Toilet paper is not something you find everywhere in the Middle East (most malls and restaurants have it, but other places may not). You may not even find toilet paper at the grocery store, but you can often find tissues if need be.
   9. Driving: The rules of the road are a little looser in many Middle Eastern countries, well the rules may not be, but the driving definitely is. You will find the driving to be more aggressive and likely a little scarier. Unfortunately, Kuwait has one of the highest death rates caused by accident. This is a combination of driving practices and the fact that many don’t wear seatbelts. You will see kids hanging their heads out the window and obviously not buckled.
      It can take a while to get a license to be able to drive yourself, so you will start by taking taxis, who can be easy to find, but taxis with seatbelts are harder to find. When hiring a taxi you flag them down like you would anywhere. Be sure to know that Arabic directions above to seem like you have been there longer (they mostly do speak enough English to get by, so don’t worry too much) and be sure to ask someone from the area how much you would expect to pay for trips to different areas. Before you get into the taxi tell them where you are going and how much you will pay them. They absolutely will barter with you, but hold your ground (if you are certain of a fair price). If they say no, then you will find another taxi within seconds/minutes that will. Also, remember to check for seatbelts.
   10. Garbage/Recycling: As someone from Canada, where littering is definitely frowned upon and we like to recycle and compost, it was a bit difficult to get used to the littering that happened in Hawally where we lived. It was also hard to get used to not having many recycling options (except water bottles at school). Because they don’t have fresh water sources, you have to drink bottled water (unless you want some pretty bad kidney stone problems). So, there is lots of plastic waste in this way, which again can be hard to get used to.

Because I don’t want to end on a negative note (since there is lots of great things to remember listed above), I wanted to add a bonus positive note below.

Bonus: Unique experiences/Friends: Like everywhere in the world, each country will have its own unique experiences to try out. We made good friends with a large Egyptian family who were amazing at including us in some very special moments. We had the opportunity to celebrate their sons birthday amongst their beautifully friendly family, most of whom did not speak English, but it was a delight to just be around them and their joy. They also invited us to go ‘camping’ in the desert. This is quite different in Kuwait as it does not include sleeping overnight at all, but does include bringing lots of family and friends together to hang out all day, make lots of food and just enjoy each other’s company. It was nice to get out of the city for the day and explore the desert a little with these fine folk.

In Kuwait we made other great friends too (we had great friends who were a huge part of getting us work in Kuwait that lived right next door to us) and these friends became like family to us. Our experience there was enriched greatly because of them and we highly recommend that you make a concerted effort to also make good friends.  And remember that each country has so much to offer and so much to explore. So, get to know others, get to know the area and take advantage of the time you have there to enjoy life in the Middle East, it’s not hard!