Abdul-Willie and the Dangerous Proposal

Monitor contracts a driving firm in Riyadh called "Effie Cars." We need them because drivers in Riyadh have no concept of lanes, or personal space. Which is traffic language means they run you over in their tricked out hummers. That's what being the source of the world's petrol does to you. So the "Effie Drivers" take care of us and have honed their reflexes for the Riyadh streets.

Most of the Effie Drivers are from the same area near Peshawer, Pakistan. This is how migration and remittances tend to happen here: one person (Effie) makes it, and brings his relatives and neighbors over as well. Their quality of life here is not good; they work consulting hours because they drive us and Bearing Point around. Most of the drivers have college degrees (one has a master's!) and are quadri-lingual (Urdu, Pashto, English, Arabic, although their English leaves something to be desired) but they can earn more money driving in Riyadh than any alternative in Pakistan. Might have something to do with this.

I got a ride from the airport today from Abdul-Willie. That is his "God-given name" and he's proud of it. We got to talking about when I'm going back to the States and when he's going back to Peshawer. I got a generous invite from him to his house:

Abdul-Willie: Yes, come to Pakistan when I go!
Me: Well, is my Indian heritage going to be a problem?
Abdul-Willie: Nono, the problem is not with people, it is the governments
Me(skeptically): Where exactly are you from? I'll look up travel there?
Abdul-Willie: Have you heard of Swat?
Me(full stop):...Swat Valley?
Abdul-Willie: Yes, Swat Valley! I'm maybe 3 kilos from there!

So...I have an invite to Swat Valley. If I run out of other dangerous places to go, like Mordor or just off the coast of Somalia, maybe I'll look up Abdul-Willie there.


*Actually, wikipedia shows some great scenery in Swat, just don't scroll down to the part titled "Taliban Insurgency."