SAUDI ARABIA: Life in Purgatory

To Americans living in Saudi Arabia, life in the oil-rich desert land of Mohammed is a sort of steamy purgatory. Items:

¶ Foreigners may not build churches for their own use. They may not be married in Arabia. Church services are held surreptitiously in recreation halls. Clergymen come in from Persian Gulf ports disguised as teachers.

¶ No alcoholic beverages may be imported, not even beer and wine. Even the foreign embassies in Jidda are forbidden shipments of liquor.

¶ Aramco (Arabian-American Oil Co.) employees may not keep dogs as pets. This is...

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