Their life and almost all fun activities are 180 degrees of most desis. Yes, this is all a generalization, but it is based on my experience and the other desis I have met.
I have met plenty of goras who spent time in the KSA, UAE, Qater, Oman etc, and seems like whatever they did for fun, I never had the chance to do, neither have I even known any desi people who were involved in that kind of stuff.
All these Goras I have met, there activities in the mid east included sand duning in dune buggies, rock climbing, sky diving, boating, sun bathing, exploring caves, going camping in the desert, mountain biking, “Experiencing” Arabic culture and basically just doing cool and expensive outdoor things. Some I met from KSA even had access to exclusive social clubs for foreigners. They always happen to meet the right kind of fun Arabs, who were rich, spoke perfect English, and were into the same things.
Most desis I know who have lived in the KSA, UAE, Qatar, etc (myself included), their activities included hanging out at the mall, shopping, family picnic at the beach, checking out cars at the showroom or at Corniche, drooling over new TVs in the electronic bazaar,watching TV and Indian movies, and just aimlessly wandering around.
Ofcourse, most Goras who are willing to go the Mid East, they are already interested in these activities before hand, so they just meet like minded people. Also, most goras there make the big money. I doubt any gora in KSA makes less than 40K riyals / month. That is seriously big money over there. I am not saying that there aren’t desis who make a lot of money in the mid east, I am very sure there are. I have met people there who were senior engineers, consultants and managers. I am sure they made lots of money.
But still, I had never heard or seen sky diving in KSA! Once I went with my dad to the beach to inquire about boat rentals. It was gonna cost 900 Riyals for 2 hours, and they would have to hold my dad’s aqama. WHO IN THE RIGHT MIND WOULD PAY 450 RIYALS/HOUR FOR A BOAT RIDE??? So then we inquired about the jet skis, they were 125 Riyals / hour, which was ok. but the guy still wanted to hold on to the iqama. Dad just said NO. He said his son is going to ride this, and he will be standing right here with his family, why do they need the iqama. In the end, i just rented one of those ATVs for real cheap and had some fun for half an hour. Before you comment, we are talking about riyals in 1994, so that might not be a lot of money right now, but it sure was back then.
Another thing I noticed. Goras never seemed worried about their Iqama getting lost, their passport expiring, or their family’s visa being late for the renewal deadline. No one ever seemed to bother them.
None of the Arabs I knew were into any of those activites. I had some Saudi friends, and the most expensive car any of them owned was a Cressida. No Ferarri owning Arabs here. They had only one activity, soccer. They played that in the morning, during the afternoon, at night, and during sleep.
Granted, my time in KSA (80 - 96) was mostly spending summer and winter vacations (and elections!!) there. So I was only spending 4 months out of the year there. So maybe those other 8 months all the desis were out boating, four wheeling, exploring underground caves and hanging out with rich Arabs. Who knows!
But not to sound negative in the post, I loved every bit of my time in KSA. I sometimes want to go back and see it again, but it is never going to be the same. That country has changed a lot in the last 9 years, and I am afraid I just might ruin my childhood memories.