Category: expats

10 Activities For Women in Riyadh

I meant to post this on earlier but what stopped me was the Move From Hell which we experienced this week! Believe it or not we were sleeping on the floor in the new house, while our beds and foods were being held hostage overnight in the moving truck by the greedy and totally unprofessional movingRead more

The Princess Souk in Riyadh

The Princess Souk in Riyadh! Sounds like a souq for Saudi princesses right? Glamour, glitter and gorgeous gowns? Not exactly. This is actually a second hand souk located in Riyadh’s Batha, the infamous “ghetto” of Riyadh. Princess souk is like a huge open area marketplace,Read more

11 Ways to Cure the Dreaded Sandpit Boredom

Dear Riyadh, or ___(insert any city in Saudi Arabia here). We love you but you are so boring! There is nothing to do. No cinemas, no bars. What else is there to do anyways?   Does this sound familiar to anyone? Life in Saudi Arabia is of course different to what most are used to back home, butRead more

Blogging Saudi Wives

Many of the blogs on Saudi you will find authored by western wives of Saudi men. I guess we have a lot to share about multicultural marriages and raising kids in a foreign country so different from our own. Keeping a blog can also be sort of outlet to rant out negative feelings. Sharing onesRead more

Good Sides to Life in Saudi-Arabia

In Finland where I’m currently writing from, this time of year (and for a very long time) it gets really dark, murky and gloomy. I haven’t seen the sun for over a week and I’m already feeling depressed and out of energy. Everything seems so expensive and has a tax on it. PublicRead more

Missing Mom and Motivation

We took mom to the airport today and the house has been feeling really empty. We all miss her already! Two months flew by so quick..I find myself feeling blue and finding it hard to keep up the blogging because it really is hard work. We kept ourselves busy and met many of my friends here inRead more

Tuesday Ten From Saudi-Mom’s First Week in Saudi

I saw this idea on Noor’s blog Little Pink Strawberries and I thought I must give it a try too! The idea is to post ten random things from your life during the past week, So here are ten random things from my life in the Magic Kingdom this week..Mom is staying with us for some while here inRead more

Sans Abaya in Saudi

One of the most unsettling aspects of traveling to Saudi-Arabia for women are of course the abayas. The abaya always seems to make women wearing it for the first time feel insecure and very self-conscious. Wearing abaya for the first time feels strange but expats quickly get used to them. ThatRead more

Remember to say Mashallah!

Something I learned the hard way in Saudi-Arabia was the importance of saying mashallah, maashallah, mashallaah, or mash’Allah. When I had just started working as a nurse I was full of excitement and I was very talkative with my patients. I wouldn’t give second thought to complimentingRead more

The different sides to Ramadan in Saudi Arabia

Ramadan is here and Muslims all over the world will be fasting this month. Saudi-Arabia turns into a much more accommodating place for fasting people to live during the holy month. There are many exceptions in everyday life that enable easier days of fasting, especially for Saudis it seems. OtherRead more

The Four Seasons in the Magic Kingdom

The saying goes that there are only two seasons in Saudi Arabia and they are: Hot weather and cold weather.  I’ve come to realize there are in fact four different periods in the year which could be defined as seasons, although very different to the ones I’m used to back in my homeRead more

Expats in Saudi-Arabia and Learning Arabic

Many western expats come to the Kingdom for employment not knowing a word of Arabic and that is unfortunately also how they end up leaving. I could strongly recommend expats planning to come to work in Saudi-Arabia to try learning some basic Arabic even prior to arrival. Once here I would recommendRead more