the essential
SERIES 8/12. As part of our series on the Tarnais at the end of the world, close-up on Maud Pasturel-Belarbi and her sister Cécile. The first has lived and worked in Kuwait for six years, the other in Qatar for a year and a half. The future could bring them together in Saudi Arabia
“We see each other at least once a month. An hour's flight is the equivalent of a Paris-Toulouse flight.” Maud Pasturel-Belarbi, 27, travels from Kuwait City to Doha (Qatar) to meet her sister Cécile, 23. The next time, it's the opposite.
Coming from Albigensian families, they were born in Castres where Maud studied at the Jean Monnet and Jean-Jaurès colleges, Cécile stayed there until CM2. The appointment of their father Younes for three years as a teacher in Lebanon gave them a taste of expatriation and above all a taste of coming back.
Maud, after Sciences Po Grenoble, found an internship at the French embassy in Kuwait. Having left for six months, she has lived there for six years. “I worked for two and a half years at the consulate. Then I said to myself: you have time to go back.” Today she is an associate in a Kuwaiti law firm, the only little “Frenchie” among all the nationalities in the Middle East.
“Here, we are very respectful, people are very tolerant with us,” she says. “And it’s absolute security, an important criterion for a young woman. Last year, I was unable to enter France for Christmas, my work colleagues saw me affected. They decorated my office and prepared my breakfast. People are sensitive to the fact that we are far from our family and independent.
A high standard of comfort, the cost of living too
Cécile, after a Prépa at Fermat, joined the École Normale Supérieure in Nancy where she obtained her geological engineering diploma. Specializing in mines and quarries, her internships took her to Belgium and Paris. “But southerners, we have trouble with Paris. I did these studies to emigrate.”
It's won. Total Energie is recruiting her as an International Corporate Volunteer (VIE). His work takes place in the laboratory, analyzing “fluids” (gases, oils), one of the data which will be used to determine future drilling.
“Total accommodates me, provides the car, she explains. The standard of comfort in Qatar is very high. The buildings have their gym, their swimming pool. We earn in net what an engineer in France earns gross. And without taxes.”
But life is very expensive, corrects her sister, trips to return to see family also represent a budget. A four-month summer at 50°C and high humidity (especially in Qatar) could bother many.
“We live in air conditioning, nature is not green like in the South-West,” Maud slips. “But the desert is an incredibly beautiful nature. They have created parks everywhere. I started running along the corniche,” says Cécile.
Territories of opportunity
The geopolitical situation in the region comes up in conversations, the boycott of American channels is followed, the keffiyeh is worn more and more: solidarity with the Palestinian cause is clearly displayed.
Relations with the local population are stronger in Kuwait. “Qatarians tend to live among themselves, but if you talk to them, they open up easily,” says Cécile, who has lived there for a year and a half.
The future could bring the two sisters together in the Arabian Peninsula. Maud will undoubtedly follow her companion Jasser, who is transferred to Riyadh. Cécile would also like to join the country of Saud where Total Energie has major solar projects with EDF.
“We are far without being far. Besides, I read La Dépêche every day,” says Maud. Her sister adds: “A night flight, we are in Paris. And the Middle East offers such great opportunities.”
