# Which Middle Eastern country?



## gerrit (Jul 15, 2008)

I have lived in 5 EU countries by now, plus Turkey. Of all, Turkey beats them all in every possible field. The most friendly people, the culture and history everywhere around you, the relaxed pace of life, the unique blend of East and West, ... I lost my heart there and other than that I have always had a huge fascination for Middle Eastern culture, arts, etc. In other words, my experience in Turkey just confirmed that the Middle East is where I really want to be long term, and I want to return to the Middle East.


Now I know I feel comfortable in Turkey as I already lived there, but I would at the same time like to discover other areas of the Middle East also. Mainly Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, the Sinai area and (not technically Middle Eastern but still Arabic-like in cultural terms) Morocco strongly attract me.

Now since undoubtly there are people here who know the Middle East well, there may be some interesting advice. I should explain a few background facts though:

- one main concern is employment. I speak 4 languages (including French, German and English) but unfortunately my Turkish is limited and my Hebrew and Arabic non-existant at this point other than some very basic expressions and important terms. So I would sorta need to find jobs where the employer is prepared to recruit foreigners and arrange the working permit, but where foreigners without university degree and with mainly foreign languages as asset are welcome. Is there anyone who knows how to go about the jobhunt? Only with Israel and Turkey (I lived in Istanbul already before) I have concrete experience with the jobhunting maze, in other M Eastern countries I am unsure how to tackle the jobhunt. Also, as economical circumstances changed rapidly lately, I am not entirely sure which city in the Middle East offers the best chances now (probably Dubai and the Saudi cities, but as said I feel more attracted to the more ancient cities such as Jerusalem, Istanbul, Beirut, Damascus, ...)

- I have a mild form of autism, although I cope with that reasonably well. Still, people will notice at some point that I am somewhat different than the average person. In Turkey I had never any issue with this, on the contrary there was not a single harrasment unlike in the EU countries where I lived and people were lot more inpolite. I also am aware Israel has good facilities for people with psychological issues. I am unsure how neurodifferent minorities are approached in the Arab countries, and if medication such as Xanax or Seroquel is widely available in the Arab world (again, in Turkey this was no issue for me, I could even buy it at the counter without prescription )

- last but not least I like a relatively liberal (not very conservative) atmosphere but while still feeling you are on Middle Eastern soil. Some cities like Tel Aviv (although it doesn't look like such a bad place) or Dubai look a bit too much taken over by expats to have that Middle Eastern feeling widely present, while very conservative places such as Riyadh would probably not please me much neither. I really liked the mixture of modern vibes and trends with authentic Middle Eastern influences that I experienced in Istanbul, it was modern and quite liberal but at the same time distinctively Turkish as well. Anything like that is perfect.



If anyone wishes to share advises, including on jobhunting, please let me know. Thanks in advance.


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## SmirLife (Sep 16, 2010)

Well as you mentioned Morocco in the beginning of your post, and how you would prefer a liberal country, don't look any further than Morocco to be honest. I would recommend cities such as Marrakech, Agadir and Essaouria, reasons being that you are very likely to find a range of different jobs, with the languages that you know, in fields such as teaching, in hotels and even as a real estate agent. Also the cities that I mentioned are the most vibrant and most friendly in Morocco to live in.

Best of luck.


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## tuandang8865 (Sep 28, 2011)

Elphaba might know.


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