Behind the Veil: An Australian Nurse in Saudi Arabia

by Lydia Laube

Cardiac resuscitation was often applied to a patient who was fast asleep. The hapless victim woke from a peaceful slumber to find somebody, often an infidel, jumping up and down on his chest.

Lydia Laube worked as a nurse in Saudi Arabia in a society that does not allow women to drive, vote, or speak to a man alone. Wearing head-to-toe coverings in stifling heat, and battling administrative apathy, Lydia Laube kept her sanity and got her passport back. Behind the Veil is the hilarious account of an Australian woman's battle against the odds. It will keep you entertained for hours.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Middle East, Memoir, Biography Memoir, Biography

210 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Lydia Laube never says no to adventure, whether that means galloping a horse across the Mongolian plains or hopping on a cargo ship to Madagascar. Born into the farming community of Caltowie in the mid-north of South Australia, Lydia trained as a nurse in Adelaide, then set off to see the world. Her debut book, 'Behind the Veil: An Australian nurse in Saudi Arabia', was an instant bestseller, and she has become one of Australia's favourite travel writers. 'From Burma to Myanmar' is Lydia's ninth travel yarn.

Between winter escapes to the sun, Lydia Laube shares a small house in Adelaide with a large cat with attitude.

Reviews

[W · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blurb claims that this is a hilarious book,I found it rather grim.Life for foreign workers in Saudi Arabia is not particularly easy,and this book confirms it.

Many of them are not paid for longish periods,and find it hard to leave even when they don't want to stay.They can also be treated harshly.

(And that applies to other oil rich Middle Eastern countries as well.Still,many of the foreign workers from poorer countries are so desperate that they make a beeline for the Gulf).

The author also talks about the punishments meted out at the so called "chop chop square",including lashings,amputations and beheadings.Such a fate can easily befall the foreign workers too.

This book isn't comparable to Jean Sasson's rather gossipy "Princess" series on Saudi Arabia.It is a more straightforward account of life in the desert kingdom.The writing style isn't particularly interesting,but it does make some valid points.

[Leanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, if you're considering working in Saudi Arabia for the money, this book should help make up your mind not to do it. It sounds absolutely dreadful. It's the personal recount on an Aussie nurse. Not a great read, but interesting & it was my first ebook downloaded & borrowed from the library.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do you measure western life, western standards, western work ethics in the Middle East... especially when your skills are actively asked for, desperately needed, yet culturally scorned.
JMJ
I couldn’t do it.
And yet I’m keen to read about others experiences.
Well done you.
Fabulous Information.
Thank you for sharing

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

an interesting read but poorly organized.

[Diane in Australia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars = Okay. I liked the book. It was worth reading.

[Kira Butler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting information about culture and the state of the healthcare system in Saudi however I found the comments of the writer to be outdated and judgemental at times.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE STORY OF A NURSE WHO WORKED IN SAUDI ARABIA FOR A YEAR

Author Lydia Laube wrote in the first chapter of this 1991 book, “Riyadh airport is magnificent… My appreciation was rudely cut short: the immigration officer, after discovering that I was alone, took my passport and summoned a guard who hurriedly bundled me away from the queue of passengers. The guard… led me to a place labelled ‘Women’s Room’ in Arabic and English… The room was presided over by two large apparitions covered, eyes and all, in black shrouds… I was convinced that I had been arrested: with visions of ghastly prisons before me, I sat down in a comfortable chair and tried deep breathing. The women began to question me… [in] Arabic… I tried to get through to them that my company representative was waiting to collect me… I had learned enough to realize that their questions all pertained to my lack of a husband…. I had discovered in my many Asian journeys that to panic or cry is the worst thing to do. It is always best to try to behave as the locals do and throw yourself upon their mercy. So I gave myself up to the will of Allah and practiced Eastern calm. I was to do this many time during my sojourn in Saudi Arabia.” (Pg. 3-5)

She recalls an advertisement, “‘Nurses wanted for Saudi Arabia.’ … I was sitting in my draughty old flat… wearing more clothes than an Eskimo and still cold to the bone… I could not have been in a more receptive mood… the advertisement offered a generous tax-free salary and lots of other monetary enticements… I took up the phone… The firm was looking for senior nurses with management experience and qualified to work as charge sisters and supervisors in Saudi Arabia… I am a registered nurse and midwife with … many years experience, much of it in remote areas of … Australia, New Guinea, Papua and Indonesia. This kind of nursing is not for the faint-hearted but, if you survive, it equips you for just about anything. During the interview I learned that… They have no qualified Saudi staff, so they hire a company … to provide staff and management for them… All being well, the person is accepted, hired, and toddles out to Saudi Arabia to repent of this folly at leisure.” (Pg. 6-7)

She continues, “The next day, after a trip to my favorite Singapore shopping haunts, I headed for … the Long Bar at Raffles. Here I downed liberal quantities of their specialty… getting what would be my last taste of freedom and alcohol for a long time.” (Pg. 14)

She boarded her plane: “At last I had my first glimpse of Medina… I peeked at [the Great Mosque]… wondering if it was blasphemous for my infidel eyes to gaze upon it… I had been up all night… been detained, subjected to enormous stress, and had no sustenance for what seemed like days. And I was alone in an alien culture. In trepidation I stepped down from the plane.” (Pg. 20)

She was met by Len Fitch, the chief nursing officer of King Fahid Hospital: “He told me that … I must cover my hair with a scarf. Imagine my embarrassment to discover that I had committed a profound indiscretion. I had been sashaying about in a state of serious undress, the equivalent to walking topless down a main street at home.” (Pg. 24) “All the other women I saw wore abeyas with long, black scarves wrapped around their heads. I had not been told to expect this, only that I would have to wear long skirts and sleeves…. I felt half-dressed, even though I was ridiculously well covered for such a hot day.” (Pg. 27)

She realizes, “The contract I had been so careful to check… was worthless. What use is a contract if the company chooses to ignore it and there is no authority to complain to? For the first time in my life I knew what it meant to feel powerless to control my life… I had been conned, and I was helpless to do anything about it. Even if I decided to leave, it could be weeks… I would leave at their leisure unless then wanted to deport me, and then they would evict me at once.” (Pg. 33-34)

She recounts, “I finally got my luggage after six long days, and I had learned some very important lessons. One, the company was never going to be any help to me… Two, if I wanted something done I had better do it myself. Three, if I wanted help, I had far more chance with the Saudis. Four, I should not be afraid of the Saudis… And five, I had one thing to my advantage… I was female and, although this is definitely a big disadvantage most of the time, there were times when it could be made to work for you.” (Pg. 42-43)

Finally getting to the hospital, “The authorities had a nasty way of blaming the nurse for anything that went wrong. In the hospital, nurses were on the bottom of the pecking order, possibly because most of them were women.” (Pg. 62) Later, she observes, “Eventually I came to see that the reason I was not as desperately unhappy as most of the others was that there is far more dissatisfaction among people who are forced to work under stressful conditions than those who choose it in a spirit of adventure.” (Pg. 70) She laments, “It was only after I had signed a mountain of paperwork that I realized that I had admitted responsibility for all the furnishings. If anything was missing… I would have to pay for it, or I could be held without an exit visa until I did… I was at their mercy and could be in for a lot of trouble.” (Pg. 89)

Eventually, “By now, having got to know my way around, and a few helpful Saudis, I felt more secure. I was nice to some pretty repulsive people in order to try to take care of the patients and nurses who were my responsibility, and I found some lovely Arabs…. I admired the way the way in which the Bedu steadfastly refused to bow to western ways and be subdued by a supposedly superior civilization.” (Pg. 118-119)

She observes, “The women… could cause some surprise when they took their covers off in the hospital. It was a shock to discover that underneath they were mostly clad in bright colors and shiny materials… the wealthy wore the latest fashions under the abeya, which would only ever be seen by other women and their husbands… The town Arab women wore western clothes under their abeyas… I mostly wore long caftans under my abeyas, for even when taking it off in the hospital… it was necessary to be covered adequately.” (Pg. 129-130)

She explains, “All weddings are arranged. The bride’s face is not seen by the groom until after the wedding, which must sometimes lead to some nasty shocks. A woman’s dowry is paid by the groom to the bride’s family… The preference in wives is for value for money; they like them chubby, plump or down-right fat… plump means well-fed, and well-fed means that you have enough of the good things of life.” (Pg. 39) She adds, “It is still possible by law to have four wives, but it is not so often now that men take more than two… Concubines are not restricted in number, but the enormous harems of the past are going out of fashion.” (Pg. 140)

She points out, “There is a law against the practice of any religion except Islam in Saudi Arabia and it is a crime to profess any other faith, so it is illegal to celebrate Christmas. Though Saudi Muslims revere Christ as a prophet they strongly oppose the practice of Christianity. It is a grave offense to own a Bible or a crucifix, even as a piece of jewelry or a chain around the neck. If you arrived in the country wearing one, it would be torn from your neck at customs.” (Pg. 143)

She notes, “I had read that women were stoned to death for adultery, but did not really believe it until I saw the public square in Jeddah where the executions take place (revoltingly named by westerners Chop Chop Square) and heard them announced every week on the television news. Every Friday, after the main prayers of the day, the condemned are taken out into the public square in front of the mosque, and there the sentence of beheading, stoning or flogging is carried out. Stoning can be a very fast or very slow way to die, depending on who is there and what their aim is like.” (Pg. 156) She continues, “Punishment can be barbarous. The hundreds of Iranians … arrested at the time of the riots in Mecca were said to have been taken out in a plane and sent sky-diving without the benefit of parachutes. I was nervous when I heard stories like these. The power the Saudis had over you was so absolute, and the outside world was so shut-off, so remote.” (Pg. 158) She was also forced to watch a Filipino nurse be whipped publicly with a bamboo stick. (Pg. 161-162)

She was given three weeks’ leave after working five months, and she went to Egypt: “It was strange how freedom now affected me… I kept catching myself thinking how weird it was to be walking on the street with my head uncovered… It was frightening that it had only taken a few months to reduce me to this… At the end of the three weeks… the thought of returning to that other life depressed me utterly. If I had not given my word (and left behind most of my belongings) I might have stayed in Egypt. It would have been easy to … get a job in one of the international hospitals… Reluctantly I took myself back to Medina… and I was once more back in purdah behind the harem.” (Pg. 171-172)

She explains, “I recorded my diary, from which this book is written, on cassette tapes, and then sent them out by Nurse Mail, taping the call to prayer and some of the Arabic lessons from the television at the beginning, hoping this would confuse the censor… Even so I was very nervous when the time came to go out through customs.” (Pg. 198)

This is an at-times-shocking account, that will certainly interest women thinking about traveling to Saudi Arabia.

[Sephie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having recently read Eight Months on Ghazza Street which was a nightmareish novel about life in Saudi, this was a real tale, humorously told, but still had an uncomfortable undertow. Lydia provides a very useful glossary and background to Saudi at the back of the book, which helps to give the reader a greater understanding of the country and traditions.
I'm surprised that this book has had 2 disappointing reviews on Amazon but it seems the reviewers were more concerned about the portrayal of Saudi culture rather than the actual content.

[Nani Rump · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting read as it was what I was going to do but it was hard to put it into context as I didn't know the dates she went (maybe it said in the beginning and I missed it) also how old Lydia was during it. It really hit home how money corrupts and the effects of boredom and not having to work for anything..

[Anne Patkau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grim. Impossibly mutilated claimed suicide servant, more as slaves. Imported labor is forced to stay, kept poor. Agencies lie. Conditions abysmal in Saudi Arabia. Laube sounds authentic, factual style; what did she omit for high references?

[howsoonisnow · Rating 1 out of 5]

A bland, distant and remote account. It reads like a laundry list of administrative annoyances in Laube's life as a foreign nurse in Saudi (cleaning, fixing up the accommodation, applying for housing etc). There are no details on her relationships with her colleagues, not even the nurses she housed with. Her nursing colleagues are arrogantly lumped together into one indistiguishable group labeled "the filipino nurses". There's no effort to individualise anyone or describe her relationships with them, it's as though she floated through her job interacting with no one at all. There are references to horrifying situations involving the lives of her patients and colleagues which reveal the hostility of this desert nation, but nothing in the way of her personal feelings on the matter. She seems so distant, remote, indifferent; completely untouched by the drama around her. She climbs the career ladder, eventually becoming the only female nursing director of the hospital, but does not even touch upon how she got there - the stress, sexism, political upheaval she inevitably would've faced. In the end, when she decides she's had enough and returns to Australia, I've learnt nothing about who she is, nothing of her emotional palette, and nothing of what her life was like as a foreign nurse beyond administrative matters. And this is the worst kind of memoir - the kind where the author holds you at arms length.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is from the blurb: 'Behind the Veil is the hilarious account of an Australian woman's battle against the odds. It will keep you entertained for hours.'
Hmm. I don't think anyone would call this book hilarious - in fact it was downright depressing. This book was first published 30 years ago so the experiences of Lydia would hopefully be different for nurses working in Saudi Arabia now. The conditions and promises that were made were so far from reality that they almost sounded unbelievable. Lydia traveled from Australia to work a 12 month contract as a nurse in Saudi Arabia. Lydia had many incredible stories to share but I found her writing style clunky and not easy to read. I think if this book had been co-written with a writer the story would have been much more powerful. This was a Bookclub book and most of our members felt the same - interesting story but poorly expressed.
2½ stars

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an amazing experience just to read this book. I can’t imagine the horror of living in this male dominated society. How Ms Laube could exist for the term of her Contract was al most unbelievable.The only ray of light and hope came from the kindness of the Saudi women. The weather and environment aloe would have been a nightmare but to cope with the substandard living and working conditions and retain some dignity is beyond imagination.
It is good to read real life experiences like this so one can get a better appreciation of how difficult it must be for the Saudis to assimilate. Yet do they want to or are they able to would be a better question.

[Mary Monks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping but disturbing autobiographical novel about the author's time as a nurse in Saudi Arabia.
It is advertised as "A wickedly funny traveller's yarn", but I'm afraid I could see very little humour in it.
The experiences of women in that country defiy imagining, and I could never imagine wanting to work there.
Most of the things she had been promised as part of her employment, were generally non-existent when she arrived. The fridge was not working... nor was the stove.... the hospital where she worked was horrendously understaffed etc.
An interesting read for sure ... but somewhat of a "cautionary tale"!

[Kathrin Schröder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hinter dem Schleier, Lydia Laube

Die Erlebnisse einer australischen Krankenschwester, die ein Jahr in Saudi-Arabien arbeitet. Aufgeschrieben Ende der Achtziger als Bericht der Arbeit, Geschlechtertrennung und des alltäglichen Wahnsinns vor Ort.

Leider habe ich den Schreibstil und den Inhalt eher ermüdend als neu empfunden, da in der Zwischenzeit schon häufiger Bücher zu diesem Thema zu finden waren.

#HinterdemSchleier #LydiaLaube #Rezension #KathrinliebtLesen

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this in 2019, I wonder how much has changed in Saudi Arabia in the past 20 years. Not the best writing and the endless finger pointing at other people's incompetence do take away from this but I enjoyed it all the same. So good to get a personal account from someone working in what is a fairly closed society. And I love that the author is such an adventurous person. A working / travel tale worth the read.

[Shikha Malviya · Rating 5 out of 5]

A two hours read, mostly to read between your serious readings. It's packed with rib tickling jokes laced with sarcasm. Lydia adopted a very critical view about everything related to Saudi Arabia, people, culture, healthcare system and also touches upon the plight of women in that oppressive environment. Very much like a book I read some time ago- A burqa and a hard place.
Overall hilarious and worth a read

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look into the life of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia. It was more sad than 'wickedly funny'. I commend Lydia Laube for getting through it all and making the best of a situation in which she was essentially a prisoner. It makes me wonder if/how much has changed since this was written in the early 1990s.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an account of an Australian woman spending a year in Saudi Arabia as a nurse in the mid 1980s. What a revelation. And what a sick, misogynistic, violent and all round fucked-up society that country is!

[Wendy Marchment · Rating 3 out of 5]

"...Hilarious account" is completely misleading. It's an account of slavery in a country that has appalling human rights especially in regards to the treatment of women and the book is a dire warning to those who are considering working there.

[Belle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shocking, funny, and enlightening, but the writing wasn't amazing.

[Jigs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly funny. Cool sarcasm , almost reminded of bill Bryson.

[Darla Ebert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly entertaining! The author manages to give plenty of detail while being amusing and above all, able to adjust. I enjoyed every page.

[J S · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good insight into living and working in Saudi Arabia, a country that has fascinated me

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clean

[Elyse DeBarre · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've lived in a few Arab Middle Eastern countries although not in Saudi. The Arab Middle East is my favourite part of the world to live in. I've not experienced anything so extreme as mentioned here and I know that Saudi has changed since the period the author was living there, but I still found the book interestingly written and very readable, and I was able to imagine some details based on my own experiences and awareness.

[Leonie Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth reading if only to realise how lucky you are to be born in a western country, especially if you are a woman.

[Mareike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Die Australierin Lydia Laube berichtet von ihrem Jahr in Saudi-Arabien. Ich war auf die Lektüre sehr gespannt, da ich mir einen Einblick in eine fremde Kultur erhoffte. Die Autorin überzeugte mich in dieser Hinsicht absolut, denn ihre Schilderungen von Saudi-Arabien sind wirklich interessant. Der Schreibstil entspricht einem lockeren, oft ironischen Erzählstil, wie man ihn in einem Tagebuch wiederfinden kann. Lydia Laube erzählt völlig umgangssprachlich von ihrem Jahr in Saudi-Arabien, für das sie sich freiwillig gemeldet hat. Ich muss zugeben, dass ich ihre freiwillige Bewerbung als blauäugig empfand. Ich selbst hätte mich niemals freiwillig nach Saudi-Arabien versetzen lassen. Das Buch ist im Original allerdings bereits gute 20 Jahre alt, wodurch sich vieles relativiert. Lydia Laube hatte gar nicht die Möglichkeit, sich nach heutigem Standard gemessen zu informieren. Gleich zu Beginn merkt man übrigens schon, wie gut der Erzählstil ist, denn sie berichtet von ihren Gründen folgendermaßen:

"Krankenschwestern für Saudi-Arabien gesucht." Wo könnte es wärmer sein als in Arabien, dachte ich. Es war Ende Juni und ich lebte in Sydney. Ich saß in meiner zugigen, alten Wohnung über eine unzureichende Heizung gebeugt, mit mehr Kleidung auf dem Leib als ein Eskimo und trotzdem kalt bis in die Knochen, und las den Sydney Morning Herald.
Ich hätte in keiner aufnahmefähigeren Stimmung sein können. (Seite 9)

Was die Autorin schreibt, regt eindeutig zum Nachdenken an. Es entsteht ein Bild der arabischen Kultur, die sich so völlig von der Westlichen unterscheidet, das nicht gerade positiv ist. Sie erzählt von ihrer Ankunft in dem fremden Land, wo sie direkt nach ihrem Ehemann gefragt wird. Das sie keinen hat, scheint die Menschen zu verstören. Sie berichtet darüber, dass sie immer verschleiert in die Öffentlichkeit musste und dass Frauen manchmal sogar weniger wert als eine Ziege waren und sie erzählt davon, dass sie die Stadt Medina nicht besuchen durfte, weil sie keine Gläubige war. Als Frau durfte sie auch nicht allein auf die Straße. Sie wurde eingesperrt in dem Krankenhausgebiet und war völlig abhängig von Männern. Und all gegenwärtig waren die Hitze, die leeren Versprechungen und die Gebete.

Ich war größtenteils schockiert. An vielen Stellen blieb mir förmlich der Mund offen stehen. Ungläubiges Kopfschütteln und amüsiertes Lachen wechselten sich bei mir in regelmäßigen Abständen ab. Ich kann eigentlich immer noch nicht glauben, dass in einem Krankenhaus mit 600 Betten praktisch alle Saudis unfähig sind und ihren Arbeitsplatz nur durch Beziehungen haben. (Leider habe ich selbst einmal einen Chef aus Sri Lanka gehabt und da ganz ähnliche Erfahrungen gemacht, so dass ich mich oft mit Lydia Laube identifizieren konnte.) Es ist mir genauso unverständlich, dass eine Frau für Ehebruch gesteinigt wird. Ehebruch hat eine Frau bereits begangen, wenn sie sich in einem geschlossenen Raum mit einem Mann befunden hat. Diese harte Bestrafung hat mich extrem getroffen und die Autorin berichtet absolut schonungslos darüber.

Obwohl die Autorin als Krankenschwester nach Saudi-Arabien gekommen ist, erfährt man wenig vom Krankenhausalltag. Es gibt kaum Situationen, die Krankheitsfälle beschreiben. Insgesamt dreht sich die Geschichte eher um den schlechten Zustand des Krankenhauses, die völlig andere Kultur des Landes und die Bemühungen der Autorin, das Leben dort besser zu gestalten. Vor allem zu Beginn des Buches ist es sehr ausführlich. Ich hätte mir diese Ausführlichkeit gerade zum Ende hin noch öfter gewünscht. So wird ein Jahr auf gut 220 Seiten erzählt und erschüttert dabei den Leser immer wieder.

Bewertung
Hinter dem Schleier ist beileibe kein Buch für zwischendurch. Es regt zum Nachdenken an und gibt einen spannenden Einblick in die islamische Kultur. Vor allem auf Grund des Einblicks war das Buch für mich sehr interessant und ich habe ein gutes Bild und vor allem die Lust auf weitere Bücher dieser Art gewonnen, um diese Eindrücke vertiefen zu können.

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very light look at working as a nurse in Saudi Arabia (in the late 80s? If she specified, I missed it). Laube has published a handful of travel books, but this is the only one I've been able to get my hands on.

Most of what Laube covers here are comical errors to do with living in another country, one very different from her own -- not so much her errors, but things she never would have expected. I do wish she'd spent more time talking about her work as a nurse and the sorts of cases she dealt with (her discussion of those is usually quite general), although it's interesting to note how different her frustrations are than other expat doctors/nurses I've read about. In many places the problems seem to be largely a matter of insufficient resources; here the problem was more total mismanagement.

For the sake of reference: I read, in 2010 and 2012 respectively, In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom and Paramedic to the Prince. Lots of similar themes, but also interesting to consider what different positions they had -- how jobs and gender, in particular, might have played roles in the experiences they had there. Would be interesting to read something from, say, one of the nurses from the Philippines, whose options (as Laube makes clear) were far more limited.

[Joaquina Pereira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tal como Roma antiga, Arabia teve escravos
Pais de incompetência profissional geral
Exploração laboral- salarios não pagos a estrangeiros
racismo em relação a estrangeiros
Nepotismo profissional
Censura de ordem reliogiosa
Desorganização laboral
Recrutamento de estrangeiros para livrarem-se de responsabilidades
mulheres consideradas inferiores
pouco respeito pelos outros seres humanos