Category: Saudi women

Break A Guinness World Record by Joining #10KSA

If you’re in Riyadh this Saturday, be part of history, join me and 10,000 other women gathering to celebrate health and raise awareness about breast cancer, and break a Guinness World Record in the process! How many people can say they’ve broken a Guinness World record? Now is yourRead 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

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

Never Stop Dreaming

I want to share with you dear Blue Abaya reader an incredible story of courage and inspiration. A while ago a young Saudi woman, with whom I had exchanged emails with a few years ago, contacted me again with some really great news. I had never forgotten about her and the dilemma she was facing inRead more

Hijab And Youth: A Modern Look At Modest Dress In Saudi Arabia

I have the pleasure to share with Blue Abaya readers another article from “Anonymous Saudi Man”. It’s always interesting to read his view points as we hardly ever hear the Saudi men’s side to common issues in the Kingdom. This time he is discussing the hijab and what heRead more

Why I Love The Janadriyah Cultural Heritage Festival

It’s almost time for the annual Janadriyah Cultural Heritage festival, organized in 2013 for the 28th time. I for one have been waiting for this festival for months. I truly love going to Janadriyah and have been there every year since I came to Saudi in 2008 and some years I went on severalRead more

A Male Perspective On Marriage, Tribes And Love In Saudi-Arabia

We hardly ever hear the candid voices of Saudi men in regards to relationships, marriage and thoughts of living in a tribal society. The following post is written by an anonymous Saudi man. He could be anyone, his thoughts and feelings are probably shared by many others out there. I came acrossRead more

National Day Celebrations In Riyadh

The Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia celebrated its 82nd “birthday” or National Day on Sunday the 23rd of September 2012. As usual, the streets were full of Saudis celebrating the National Day. In addition to everyone having Sunday off, King Abdullah had given an extra day off for governmentRead more

Blue Abaya Interviewed- What is Life in Saudi Arabia Really Like?

I did some interviews for a couple of magazines which focus on what life in Saudi Arabia is like from my personal point of view, as a Finnish expatriate nurse. I think these interviews will be beneficial in answering questions of readers who are new to Saudi Arabia and/or new to Blue Abaya blog.Read more

Saudi Women On Top Of The World

We often hear people say the word “can’t” when talking about Saudi women. I’m always very happy to say oh yes they CAN. Climb Mount Everest that is! A campaign called “A Woman’s Journey: Destination Mount Everest” headed by Princess Reema Bint Bandar AlRead more

Saudi Positives-The True Stories We Rarely Hear Of

In response to the negative behaviors seen in line cutting post, I was asked by a Finnish reader to write about an example of a very good behavior or a nice deed I witnessed done by a Saudi. No problem! It’s very easy to write about positive incidents in Saudi-Arabia because theyRead more

Saudi Wedding Extravaganza Part 2

The first part of the Saudi wedding experience post left us foreigners still sitting at the table in amazement of the goings on. Read that post here. The main event of the Saudi weddings is of course the arrival of the bride. Like I mentioned before the bride actually stays hidden from the guestsRead more