Sword, Sand and Subroutines

I first traveled to the Middle East in 1976. I lived and worked in Iran for two years and, subsequently, in Saudi Arabia for seven years. What I came to appreciate during the time I spent in the Middle East was that my initial attitudes about the Middle East were actually not mine at all. Rather, they were the result of formal education, rumor and gossip. In other words, my feelings and attitudes were prejudices forced upon me by other people - most of who had never been to the Middle East. I came to appreciate I was actually experiencing the region. I also began to examine my mores and attitudes. The world I left behind was only a memory and I was confronted with a new reality. I recall being told not to drive during Hajj. Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam and requires a trip to Mecca. But the reason for not driving would surpass the imagination of most Americans. Quite simply if someone is performing the pilgrimage and dies they are thought to go directly to the arms of Allah. The ultimate desire for the true believer is to be delivered to Allah. What better method for the old, lame or infirm to meet their maker than by walking in front of a car driven by an infidel? It is not the dead person"s "fault" and the dead person does not risk the life of another Muslim in the "accident." Would any court, much less a Muslim one, believe I did not knowingly contribute to the death of one of their members? I recall at the time it seemed implausible, but after actually living in the country, it seemed probable. I quit driving during Hajj. The attitudes of indigenous Saudis are also the result of religious doctrine, their countrymen and the Saudi society at large. Saudi children are exposed to prejudices towards religious beliefs, racial beliefs, other national groups and what it means to adopt "Saudi" ways in order to become a member of the Saudi society. The shrinking world, however, is forcing the Saudi culture to confront some of "the old ways." The resulting emotional upheaval is a constant reality in the daily turbulent lives of all the residents of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Sword, Sand and Subroutines provides insight into a society that resists change. Larry gives you the intellectual, humorous and emotional perspectives of an expatriate's daily life. He lived what he has written. He traveled within the Kingdom, watched and listened and uses those experiences to reveal what it is like to live and work in a truly "foreign" country. He invites you to visit a world that you might not know and he presents it honestly and with a wry sense of humor. My mind was flooded with the memories and emotions of Saudi life while reading Sword, Sand and Subroutines. If you would like to know some of those same feelings and understand what it means to be an expatriate, then, read this book. Take it from someone who has been there. -Larry Roerig.