Those Terrible, Terrible Maids

First of all, let me start of my saying that I love maids. Particularly my or my family's (even you, Sussana, who would tell my mother on me when I came home late or was even up and about the house after hours while I was in high school). But, something, anything, must be done to combat the scourge that is foreign domestic workers! Human Rights Watch clearly has no idea what is really going on.

First they abuse the poor Saudis by making unreasonable demands and running away en masse if they aren't spoiled by decent pay and a day off each week. They even had a dedicated series of "Be Nice to Maids" public service announcements.

Now they have turned their vicious eyes to the poor Kuwaiti men, tempting while they work and occasionally inveigling them into marrying them. Fortunately, the Kuwaiti government may step in to protect their boys. Nawal Al-Muqaihit, a third district candidate said that if she was elected to Parliament she would submit a proposal forbidding Kuwaiti men from employing attractive maid-servants in order to prevent them from getting married.

In a more serious tone, she has a point, only in that high rates of out-marriage can threaten a culture, particularly one that is already surrounded by a large number of foreigners. But I doubt attractive maids are the primary cause. If anything, such a measure may be in the attractive would-be maids wishing to avoid h

Ships Impounded for Middle East Internet Cable Cuts

Although Egyptian authorities said that satellite imagery showed no activity around the cable that was damaged off of their coast, Dubai disagrees.

It looks like last week Dubai authorities impounded two ships who were spotted in satellite photos near the damaged cables around the time that they were cut. The ships were identified by Reliance Globalcom, whose FLAG Telecom unit maintains the cables, and which in turn notified the Dubai Port Authority.

Officially, the two ships, the MV Hounslow and MT Ann improperly dropped anchor near the cables and accidentally severed them. When they arrived in Dubai on February 19, the Iraqi and Korean ships were seized. Reportedly, the Korean ship paid 60,000 USD in compensation to FLAG Telecom for repair costs while the Iraqi ship is sitll being held.

Whether other ships accidentally cut the other three cables serving the Middle East and caused a loss of power to a sixth is yet ot be determined. ;).

Middle East Falcon Trade Threatens Russia's Birds of Prey

Just as I was reading Samurai Sam's Interesting Links of the Day on the UAE Community blog on Dubai's falcon hospital, the Russian news started to run a story on falcon smuggling from Russia, which is a cruel process during which many birds die. Even if they do not, the process poses a very serious threat to several of Russia's birds, which are taken out of the breeding population while they are young or at prime breeding age. All of this got me thinking as to where the UAE's birds come from. I know there are nurseries in the UAE and Saudi, but I also know that smuggling is a serious issue (the first case of bird flu in Saudi was actually detected in eagles smuggled from Kazakhstan), and in the case of some species (including the aforementioned Kazakh eagles), threatens their very survival.

Once in the UAE, I believe that most people treat their birds well. An acquaintance 's family even has their own falcon medical center, while every falcon that I've seen, in the UAE or Saudi, looked well-cared for. I'm also glad to know that there is a free hospital for owners who want to ensure that their birds get the best care without worrying about how to pay for it. But I just can't see it all as a feel-good story; these birds come from somewhere, and in many cases, it really hurts their species and their homelands.

Saudi Gender Expectations

My Dear Sister is in rather challenging executive MBA program (she's smart like that). A lot of the work at said program is done in the same groups, and over time she got to know one of her classmates, a Saudi who works at the embassy. He's a very thoughtful guy, and ever since she told him that we used to live in there, he included her on the Embassy's gift list. This is great, and much appreciated around holidays and other events when the Embassy sends stuff out. This may be at an end however due to one scandalized embassy employee. I hope not , but we'll see.

It all started over this weekend, when a family friend's children participated at International Night at their school. They put a lot of effort into the table for their country, Afghanistan, as they really wanted to show it in the best light. Dear Sister and our mother were invited to come see it, so they went (the mother is a sucker for cute children, and as I have thus far proved uncooperative in producing grandchildren she gets her fix where she can). The Saudi table was next door, and Dear Sister started talking to a Saudi mother standing there. He husband came over as well and joined the conversation. It's a friendly, international school and Dear Sister didn't think anything about this until the following conversation:

Saudi Father: I work at the Saudi Embassy
Dear Sister: Oh really? I have a friend who works there.
Saudi Father: How nice, what is her name?
Dear Sister: Oh his name is Faisal.
- brief silence -
Saudi Father: But that is a boys name!
Dear Sister: Yes, his name is Faisal
Saudi Father: What is his family name? What is his job exactly?
Dear Sister: (realizing now that she may not be doing her friend any favors): Oh, I'm not sure. He's not really a friend, we just go to class together.
Saudi Father: Where do you study?
Dear Sister: -Major (and wrong) University-

Dear Sister then suddenly noticed our mother across the room and ran off as fast as she could. When she came back, the Saudi table was unmanned and the Saudi family stayed away from her scandalous self for the rest of the evening. She then wrote an email to Faisal to give him a head' s up that she may have compromised his reputation.

Ahh, drama!

A Good Time at Jeddah Airport

I generally don’t write about things such as airport layovers, but given how unpleasant they usually are, I thought I’d give a shout out to Jeddah Airport. It’s not the largest, and not the most luxurious, but they definitely earned the Gold Star.

Due to a mix-up regarding Dubai versus Abu Dhabi as the departure point for my flight to Sana'a, I missed by flight. I didn't even get that far, really, I didn't even get a ticket (which in this case is good, as I would never have made it to AD in time). I was on fire to see Sana'a though, and had a very limited time in which to do it, so I bought the next possible ticket, which took me through Jeddah. I was a bit worried, as Josef warned me that I would have to go through immigration to switch terminals, and I had no Saudi visa, but I called Emirates and they told me it would be fine. I was also a bit worried as I didn't have my abaya with me (an invitation for harassment or hostility in many cases, or at least a lot of unwelcome staring), or even a scarf for my hair, and I wasn't sure what Saudi immigration would make of a single woman, under 40 (their cut-off point for women traveling alone, at least as far as the foreign ministry is concerned. Anyone younger is still suspect), traveling alone, inappropriately dressed and without a visa.

Well, it turns out that Josef was right and Emirates was wrong, but in the end it didn't matter. Everyone was extremely nice and helpful. To get around the visa issue they provided a dedicated runway transport buses to take me across the runways, picking me up and dropping me off at gate entrances, thereby negating the need to go through immigration. The various staff were all helpful and friendly. Even if they did all ask to see my passport "for official reasons" just because they were curious. They directed me to my gate, sought plug adapters and were generally helpful and friendly. The one question I had the entire time was when I went through security. The man at the X-ray machine didn’t recognize my curling iron, and made me show it to him. He had a much better sense of humor than most TSA employees, joking that it was maybe “a funny bomb” (it was funny the way he said it) and being generally polite. Of course, I was the only person there unlike the TSA lines with hundreds of hurrying passengers, but still, there is no need to be as nasty as some of those people can get.

Technically, none of this was not allowed, but the official helping me went to his boss and asked him to sign that I was allowed to anyway. The director protested, saying that it was against regulations, my helper pushed him to "do it anyway," so he did. A weak rule of law can be a great hindrance in most cases, but in cases like this I appreciate the ability to circumvent obstructionist bureaucracy. I wasn’t trying to enter the country illegally and I wasn’t a threat, so it would have been a real shame if I were sent back to Dubai instead of Sana’a. Not to mention the Sana’a flight left earlier than the next Dubai flight, so if they really wanted to get rid of me, the fastest way would be to let me just continue on.

The airport is also undergoing some renovations including a new business class lounge (I was in the temporary one, which was quite fine with me, but the ticket desk worker and those in the lounge itself couldn’t stop apologizing for not being able to offer a more luxurious lounge), and more expansive plans may be in the works, but in general it was very nice to be there, as Jeddah Airport hasn’t changed much since I was there last, half my life ago. All of which made me a bit homesick and that much more dedicated to plan my next trip to Riyadh.

Thank You, Jeddah Airport!

PS The flight to Sana’a was less exciting – being the midnight flight the Saudis used it to deport illegal Yemeni workers they had caught and held for up to ten days. It wasn’t the Yemeni’s fault, as the Saudi jails in which they were held are not exactly paragons of hygiene, but they smelled really bad. I made friends with the Saudi woman sitting behind me who sprayed me with her perfume every 15 minutes for the duration of the flight, which was appreciated until I walked off the plane and saw Josef waiting for me on the runway with some of his colleagues and a car. I said soothing about wanting to enjoy the cool mountain air and rode back with the windows open – I didn’t want to knock everyone out with my super-strong perfume. It was actually really nice, but there is such thing as too much of a good thing, and I definitely reached that limit.

The Physics of Zam Zam Water

I flew via Jeddah recently, and Jeddah being a major destination for pilgrims going on Hajj or Umrah, the pilot told us when we flew over Mecca so that they could conduct their proper prayers. My customs form also informed me that I was able to bring up to 10 liters of water from the Zam Zam well, which makes me wonder how large that well really is. A well large enough to support a woman and her child, or even thousands of pilgrims in centuries past, may not be large enough to support the millions that come now. It might be, Mecca and the well are located at the lower end of a long geographic tilt which funnels what rain and underground streams fall in the region, but I still wonder, especially if each of the estimated two million people who come each year are allowed to take 10 liters with them. 20 million liters is a lot for a spring. Demand expands beyond those actually on a pilgrimage as well, as Zam Zam water is sold commercially outside Mecca (despite it being against Saudi law to do so). There is even counterfeit Zam Zam water, something to be avoided, as not only is not from the site that matters so much to the purchasers, at least one lot of it was found to have come from an area where arsenic tainted the groundwater, thereby poisoning the counterfeit water as well.

It Wasn't Just One Cable

This month brought a bit of drama as damage to undersea cables providing service to the Middle East severely cut Internet access in many countries and weakened telephone capacity as well. Affected countries included the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Iran.

The most popular story appears to be that only one cable was damaged, possibly in two places. This cable is roughly 8km off of the Egyptian coast, near Alexandria. Although true press accounts do exist (see here, here, and here), the majority seem dedicated to preserving this fiction. They mention two cuts, both at that one site, and both taking place on February 1, 2008, but make it sound like they were both near Alexandria. They do mention the other cable cuts, but make it sound as if these were just rumors which "could not be confirmed."

Even those news outlets covering more than the official two cuts seem willing to chalk the entire thing up to an “unfortunate," as were the conspiracy theorists. A poll (translated version) of visitors to the Egyptian site Filbalad.com accepted the story of just two cable breaks near each other, and 13.36% saying they believed an accident caused the cuts, 17.26% thought the damage was due to the natural breakage due to aging infrastructure (which shows you Egyptians' expectations from their infrastructure. Of all the possible explanations I considered, it never occurred to me that such vital telecommunications equipment was just falling apart due to age and poor maintenance).

Mini Cable Damage Timeline
23-Jan-08: The Strait of Hormuz - Off Iran, near the UAE
25-Jan-08: Off Malaysia
30-Jan-08: Mediterranean - off Egypt
30-Jan-08: Mediterranean - off France
01-Feb-08:Off Qatar
01-Feb-08: Off Qatar- connecting to the UAE

Neither explanation is plausible when one considers the high number of broken cables in such diverse locations, but they are if you believe the only damage took place off in one area off the coast of Egypt. Another 52% thought it was Israel, a knee-jerk reaction I'm inclined to disregard as one of many uneducated knee-jerk reactions (blaming the Jews for the Asian Tsunami comes to mind). That said, unlike the Jews-caused-the-Tsunami insanity, this particular conspiracy theory is based on a bit of fact, namely that the cable serving Israel and Iraq remained untouched while so many cables targeting the rest of the Middle East were damaged, and much of the diverted Internet traffic was routed overland through the US. This does not a conspiracy make by any means, but in the absence of a more rational explanation, US and/or Israeli involvement sounds just as reasonable as all the other improbably explanations out there.

Of course, given the wide geographic range of the damaged cables and the concurrent timing of several cuts leaves me no choice but to conclude it IS a conspiracy, the question remains what type, and by whom? Was it the Big Bad US and their favorite ally, Israel? Was it terrorists out to cause damage to the hated businesses and governments in their own region? If so, why didn't they claim credit yet? Was it the US, seeking to weaken Iran, or at least test that country's ability to recover ahead of an attack?Was it Alcatel-Lucent, who signed a 125 million dollar deal with the less than wealthy Telecom Egypt two days after the last cuts (Egypt had several cable connecting it to Asia, four of which were cut)?Dragging a few old anchors over some cables is a fairly inexpensive way of gaining multi-million dollar contact from a country with dire infrastructure development needs and several undersea telecommunications cable already connecting it to the outside world. And why is there this fake cover up? Lazy journalism? A true conspiracy? It all sounds so crazy but something is up.

I am usually so disdainful of those that believe in the unseen hands (the conspiracy kind, not the economic one) and one time even subjected a poor Afghan coworker to a four hour history lesson on the origins of the American Civil war beginning in the late 17th century (he thought it was the creation of the Rothschild family so that they could get wealthy on contracts) in my quest to end them, but in this case, I am willing to make an exception. Games are afoot, I just don't know which. Which is rather frustrating. Further inquiry is required…