Category: culture

Ushaiger Heritage Village

The following is a guide to the restored Saudi Arabian heritage village of Ushaiger (the town also called “The Little Blonde”) located outside Riyadh. The beautiful town of Ushaiger is the perfect destination for taking a day trip out from Riyadh, just an hour and a half drive away.Read more

Ten Things to do in Riyadh’s Historical Diriyah

The historic city of Ad’Diriyah, where the first Saudi State was established in 1745 (1158H) has been undergoing a huge restoration project since 2011. I for one have been anxiously awaiting for it to finish because I simply love all this place has to offer. Every time I go to Diriyah,Read more

What is a Wasta?

If you live in Saudi Arabia chances are you’ve heard the word ‘wasta’ mentioned before. A wasta is a widely used term for a well connected individual in the Arab world. It refers to using one’s influence or connections to getting things done, cutting through bureaucratic red tape,Read more

Complete Guide to Janadriyah Cultural Festival 2015

Your Complete Guide to Al Janadriyah Cultural Heritage Festival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia brought to you by Blue Abaya. An Updated guide to visit the National festival of Heritage and culture can be found here: Janadriyah 2016 Festival Guide.  Find all you need to know about the Janadriya festivalRead more

Happy 84th Birthday Saudi Arabia! Time to Celebrate!

September 23rd 2014 marks the 84th year of the Unification of Saudi Arabia by King Abdul Aziz Al Saud. To check out the year’s 2015 National Day festivities, go to this post: Saudi National Day and Eid Al Adha 2015. Saudi Arabia is gearing up for the festivities and KSA’s biggest citiesRead more

Takalamy. A Conversation with Young Saudi Females

While a part of the Saudi society is sometimes seen as moving backwards in time, there is another part, less known, which is going in the opposite direction. The western media will rarely show us this side. I recently learned about the Takalamy initiative. I would describe the Takalamy initiativeRead more

Ten Things to do in Al-Balad Historical District, Jeddah

Al-Balad, which literally translates to “The City”, is the historical area of Saudi-Arabia’s second largest city Jeddah. Founded in the 7th century, Balad historically served as the city center of Jeddah until the big oil boom when most families started moving out the area. AlRead more

Ramadan and Eid al Fitr in Saudi Arabia

Learn all about the Holy Month of Ramadan and Eid al Fitr holidays in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the following Blue Abaya posts. The first post on Ramadan is back from 2010 when the blog began and it’s called ‘Magic Month in the Kingdom‘. A good read for those not familiarRead more

The Saudi-Finnish Temperature Extremes Chart

It was a sweltering + 44C  last day of May in Riyadh Saudi-Arabia today. Meanwhile back in my home country Finland, they’re experiencing temperatures around+ 10C, which is actually quite normal for this time of year even though it might sound freezing cold to Saudis. Despite it being only 10Read more

Sinta, The Indonesian Prisoner-Housemaid Part Two: Escape Plans

The story of Sinta, a remarkably strong and kind woman that had become a prisoner confined in a small hospital room somewhere in Saudi Arabia continues. For part one click here. Sinta’s story ends in the final part which can be read here.  As time went by Sinta came to terms with her newRead more

Bring the ‘Magic Kingdom’ into your home!

Dear Blue Abaya readers, As you may have noticed Blue Abaya has a whole new look going on for 2014! After some setbacks the new design is now finally (almost) finished. I ended up designing and building the whole website myself. More on that later! One of the new developments has been setting up aRead more

Camel Milk- An Elixir from the Desert

Camel milk is truly an elixir from the desert. The knowledge of the healing powers and nutritious benefits of camel milk have been known to nomadic peoples from Mongolia to Africa for thousands of years. The Bedouin saying, “water is the soul, milk is the life” may prove to be true due to theRead more