At the Hands of a B!

One of the saddest stories I ever heard was involving a woman whose husband was dying of cancer.  They had returned to Saudi so her husband (a Saudi National) could die in his homeland near his family.  One early evening a few days after her husband passed away she decided that she wanted to go to the graveyard and pray for her husband. She called another teacher and asked her to go with her.  When they called the driver to take them he told them that women are not allowed in the graveyard, but out of his pity for this woman he took them.  Almost as soon as they got to the graveyard the police came and asked them to leave.  They left.  After a few days the police tracked the women down through the car’s license plate number. They were asked to come to the police station for questioning and then released.  The end of the story? NO!

The widow’s immediate supervisor at the school where she taught began circulating a story that the widow and her friend went to the graveyard and were praying pagan prayers and dancing naked on her husband’s grave.  Then when the police came she was arguing and fighting with the police for 2-3 hours.  First thing, anyone who knows just a little about Islam knows that the graves are not marked with names in Saudi Arabia (See picture above). Second, when the driver was asked about the incident by another colleague he said that they were only in the grave yard a couple of minutes at the most, they were not naked, and were not doing anything.

The story doesn’t end there.  When she came to work looking very tired and wearing dark glasses the supervisor spread the rumor that she was drunk.  She was probably wearing dark glasses because her eyes were puffy from crying. Another time a driver dropped off a key at the school for the widow and the supervisor went around saying that she was having an affair and the key was to her boy friend’s house.  Another time the supervisor was trying to contact the widow over the weekend and when she didn’t answer the phone the supervisor called around saying that she was worried that maybe the widow was in jail.

What a shame.  This poor woman suffered through the death of her husband of more than 30 years and then had to suffer at the hands of a very nasty woman.

To She or Not to She......That is the Question!

One September a very large broad shouldered eastern European "woman" arrived at our school to teach English.  She wasn’t much of a dresser; having only 2 skirts and 2 blouses.  She was very intelligent and I am sure a good teacher, but something just wasn’t right.  Soon students were whispering in the halls and to teachers “Is she a man?”  Female teachers also began to wonder.  She was shaped like a man, had a strange voice, and had a very large Adam’s Apple.  About the same time someone began urinating all over the toilet seats in the restroom.  So one day 2 teachers entered the restroom just as she was coming out of one of the stalls, they decided to wait until she left and went into the stall and check out the scene.  There was urine all over the seat!  In other words, women don’t need to raise the seat to pee!

Drop and Give Me 10!

I am sure many of you have heard about teachers using some strange and unethical methods for maintaining order in the classroom.  There was one female teacher who had pervious to teaching been in the military, thus her classroom was like a boot camp.  Wayward students were ordered to drop and give her 10 when she wasn’t pleased with them. 

She also had this demeanor with her colleagues.  Once 3 teachers were discussing postings to a website that made fun of language mistakes (Bushisms) of then US President George Bush Jr; this teacher became irate.  She said “He is my commander and chief.” 

Another time she complained because the same group was discussing the fact that Pope Benedict the XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) was involved with Nazi Germany and the Hitler Youth.   What is even stranger is that she wasn’t even Catholic unlike one member of the group discussing the Pope.

Witchcraft and the Magic Kingdom

Witchcraft in the Arab world is feared, but it is also practiced.  Many people seek the advice of practitioners of the dark arts to end relationships, curse their enemies, and even to find a mate.  Witchcarft is so feared that hardly a day goes by that some poor innocent isn't arrested for practicing witchcraft. One colleague's husband was arrested because he received something in the mail that was suppose to be connected to the practice.  Now let me stress that to this day it is not known what was in the mail or even where it came from.  It seems that in the Magic Kingdom the accused has no right to know what the evidence is.  Any way, he was accused of magic and placed in jail for 3 three days while his sponsor tried to have him released. During this time the time the man went before a judge. He told the judge that he had no control over who sends what in the mail.  He did not solicit anything such thing from anyone, nor did he know anyone who practiced such things.  Finally, he was released with the final judgment pending. After about 6 months the charges were dropped.

After speaking to a friend whose husband is a high ranking official in the Saudi government he was told that he was framed by the police.  How is that and why?  He was told that he probably had pissed someone off.  The moral to this story is be careful who you piss off.

But the story does not stop there….. The wife's immediate supervisor decided to exploit the situation and have her contract dissolved. Only after pleading her case to the president of the school was the decision revoked.

Still the story does not end……The supervisor then went around warning people about the teacher and her family, "Stay away from them they practice black magic." 

Now, might I ask who is the real witch in this story?

The World's Oldest Profession + Saudi Arabia = Imprisonment!

A few years ago a colleague; I will use this term very loosely (LOL-loosely!) here, was convicted and deported for prostitution.  She was basically running a house of ill repute out of her apartment which was paid for by her employer.  Of course she denied the charges, but what she did not realize was that her apartment building was equipped with surveillance cameras which filmed her activities.

I recall that when she first came to Riyadh she was asking where all the parties were and where she could meet men.  Many of the teachers she asked were astonished. "Didn’t she know where she was coming?"

Now we all know that this is the world's oldest profession, but I'm not sure how TESOL became part of it!  Maybe it is part of the lesson….."Remember English only in the classroom!"

I'm Gonna Punch Your Teeth Out!

 There was one somewhat deranged individual (English teacher) who decided that he didn’t like something one female teacher was saying and so threaten to punch the teacher in the mouth and throw her off the bus on the way home from work one day. When a fellow teacher decided to complain about his violent behavior she was told by the general director that it was none of her business. When the colleague persisted she was ordered out the director’s office. This male teacher not only threatened females with bodily violence, but other male colleagues. Furthermore, he flipped the bird in the face of the very director who was protecting him!  Amazing but true, but to make matters worse he still wasn't fired!

Dobbie, Dobbie, Doooo.... Ya man!

On Dave's ESL Café on October 18, 2005 Garfield said:
One Jamaican working for a large US contractor was found in the centre of Taif smoking and selling pot. His defense statement in court was great! "I am Jamaican, smoking pot is my birthright!'. The second was an Aussie who worked for a helicopter company. A gang of us used to go scuba diving at a beach to the north of Jeddah. We used to take our 'supplies' down, bury the unused supplies and mark the spot for retrieval next time. No point in bringing them back and risk getting stopped at the police check point. The police got wise and used to probe the beach and sometimes found the cache. The Aussie was arrested on Monday morning in Taif, the police had found his cache - he had put his name and address on it!

Its like a episode of world's dumbest criminals! It takes all kinds!

While this didn’t occur in Riyadh it is a strange story and thus I can justify including it here!