Christmas memories...

There are some countries, maybe most of the countries in the world, where children's eyes will be illuminated in front of big displays of Santa Claus made of chocolate. But in Saudi Arabia, this does not exist... I mean, it could have existed but it didn't. This story happened in the supermarket (Hypermarket) Carrefour of the region. The department-Head for Food supplies decided to make a huge display only with Chocolate Santa-Claus, Kinder products like on this picture. The display was nice, prices were attractive and many people were filling their trolleyswith those red & white chocolates. But the issue was that some guys, wearing white and red suits but WHO WERE NOT Santa-Claus (look at the next image) but actually people called "Muttawa" came to the supermarket and asked to talk immediately to the General Manager. They gave him "fifteen minutes" to empty the display completely, otherwise they (the Muttawas) would call their colleagues and do it themselves. Of course, such a threat is not something to joke with... Why??

Because the Muttawas represent the religious authority here in Saudi Arabia. (5th of January : I have found the name of the Commission that hires the Muttawas : the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice ... I will make no comment about this.) They have as much power as the police, maybe even more according to some sayings. Some years ago, the community of Muttawas pressured the royal family to get more power on people and companies, and they obtained satisfaction to their request. For example, in Saudi Arabia all the shops and companies stop their activities during prayer times, and the Muttawahs are in charge of "checking" that this rule is well observed. Subsequently, at prayer times, you will always find those guys with policemen, walking around and looking into the shops if anyone is working. And if they catch someone "red-handed", and if - this detail makes the consequences even more serious - the guy is Muslim... He could be beaten. Or his ass could be kicked until he reaches the gate of the Mosque. So... better not mess up with those guys. Also, if they see a woman who doesn't hide her hair, they absolutely have the right to make a remark to her. This is all about Muttawahs!

About my Christmas eve, it was how to say, less boring than a 14th of July :p No.. Honestly, those two days were interesting, I have no reason to complain. I received many phonecalls from relatives, friends, and was busy quite all the time. I celebrated the Eve in a nice bar-Club of Bahrain with Jais, it was the occasion to meet with some British and Irish people. They are incredible... So drunk that they could say "hello, where are you from?" 3 times to the same person in the same night. But very sociable and funny, when it comes to drinking. For one night I thought I was in the Rasmus Rask Bar, in DK. So... the atmosphere was good.

Today I went back to my office to correct the papers of my students... It took one hour all in all, which is not that much actually. My expectations as far as those exams were concerned were actually much lower than the results. I was well surprized by my students' papers, even though some of them are a bit weak at some points, they all made some efforts to pass it. I have no failing student this session. For level 1, particularly, students shew interest and motivation for language, even though they all have different aims. I have a 11-year-old boy, a British manager, and the 12 other students are Saudi doctors or engineers who will complete a postdoctoral program in France.

For the next days, I will try to enjoy some rest, but will go on working for private courses with a student who will attend a french school in Tours from next February and during 8 months. Then, he will be attending a speciality program in medicine at Hopital Cochin, Paris. On the 10th of January, 3 days before the beginning of a new session, I will invite my students from all the levels, here at the Institute. It would be an opportunity for them to meet with more experimented students, and also some managers from FR companies settled here. They are all complaining that there are too few occasions to implement their knowledge, to speak french in the region and that's true... So, let's try, we'll see the results.. Now I feel a bit hungry, i'll go and have dinner...

Seeya..