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Published: February 15th 2009
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Bagels, cream cheese, and lox
I think I ate most of this platter. Today was the end of SAC III, so that means we are half-way through the six assessment centers. Wow!
Kim set out breakfast today and imagine my surprise when it was bagels, lox, and cream cheese. They may have been the last thing I expected for breakfast. And it was delicious!
One of the things I like best about day 2 (of the two-day process) is that it is a bit more relaxed because by lunch time, all of the assessments have been completed and all that remains for the candidates are a couple of briefing sessions and their feedback from the consultants.
I had a few interesting conversations. One conversation I had was for quite long with a man who is in “computer forensics.” If there is computer fraud, he is called in to investigate. He is a “certified ethical hacker” and listening to him was incredible. They use a combination of software and detective work to uncover deleted materials, trace transactions, etc. Lesson learned: don’t count on the passwords in Microsoft products like Word and Excel to do much! You see a lot of this on CSI, etc., but to hear about it in real life
More Tasty Treats for Breakfast
These are rolls filled with various, uh, fillings. was quite interesting. There are careers at Aramco that really are specialized. We had two more helicopter pilots in this session (who also trained in Grand Forks.)
In a conversation I had with another person, I asked one of the people who were conservatively dressed. He confirmed that the different colors of robes are for temperature control. He is from the north and was wearing a darker color. The fabric was heavier and more cloth-like. The white robe (called a “thobe”) is made of light-weight cotton, more like linen. He also told me that different regions in Saudi wear different color headdresses (call gutras). He said that the red and white checkered pattern is popular in Saudi where it is particularly dusty because the white shows all of the dirt. Makes sense. He said, “It’s just a decoration.”
I found the following description of the garments online and it explains it well: “A man's headdress consists of three things: the tagia, a small white cap that keeps the gutra from slipping off the head; the gutra itself, which is a large square of cloth; and the igal, a doubled black cord that holds the gutra in place. Some
And still more
Doughnuts, sweet rolls, fruit kabobs, OJ, and the ever present Arabic coffee and dates. men may choose not to wear the igal. The gutra is usually made of cotton and traditionally Saudis wear either a white one or a red and white checked one. The gutra is worn folded into a triangle and centered on the head. When a Saudi woman appears in public, she normally wears a voluminous black cloak called an abayah, a scarf covering her hair and a full face veil. There are varying opinions regarding the wearing of the abayah and the veil; however, Saudi women cover themselves in public and in the presence of men who are not close relatives.”
I’ve also been told that if a man is wearing a white headdress and it doesn’t have the igal (the cord on the top) it means he is very religiously conservative.
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Ellen
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Breakfast
Never would I ever figure they would serve Bagels, cream cheese and lox!