Alexa

Hello dolphin Friend,

first of all, thanks for coming here and offering information.
I have lived in Riyadh, and enjoyed it very much. I had the best of both worlds, a western compound to live on and the Arabic hospitality outside. I was lucky, i went everywhere and anywhere in Riyadh without being threatened,except for the muttawas, of course
Yes, there are lots of things a Westerner does not agree to,but then again, Saudi is not a western country. Hopefully in the future our governments will allow us to come closer and learn more from each other.
Until then, lets keep up the good work ourselves and try to be accepting and tolerant.
Good luck , Dolphin Friend!

khanection

Dolphinfriend, a/a. I'm located in NYC and very interested in exploring career opportunities in the ME, especially Saudi Arabia. Will i have to come and live there in order to search for work or can i do so from the comfort on my home in NY?

I'm a technology consultant.

Thanks!

shakh your bootie

Hi DolphinFriend,

Nice to see you posting again. What happened to your idea for a Book Club in Saudi Arabia - did you set it up?

Seasons Greetings & Happy New Year.

DolphinFriend

well, we do have science but i think if we had technology & engineering girls wont find work in these fields ..but you know, private colleges opened lately, they have business admin. , interior design and more of cool majors.
i dont think they cut off ppl's hands the 1st time they steal, and if a poor man stole , got caught and said he is poor and need to feed his family i think they will find way to help ..i understand how you feel about decapitation, i agree with you that mistakes happens, i think will search more about this and let you know more about this as soon as i can..
was discussing your questions with my young brother(13 years old)he reminded me of a story that happened to a Scholar who was during is life time number 1 here in the kingdom, his name was Ibn Bazz(may his soul rest in peace), he was blind man, but very well educated about Islam, very kind hearted, and we knew this story after his death ..Beside his house there was a factory, where a Pilipino man work, one day his Mom was so sick and need to have surgery to save her life ASAP, she needed money, he wasnt having the surgery fee to help his Mom, so he thought of stealing the house near the factory, he got caught but when he was in the way to the police station he was surprised to find them taking him back to the house he was about to steal, as the religious man Ibn Bazz asked them, he met the man and the man was nice to him, they dine together, then the man said why you were trying to steal my house, the man said coz my mother need money to have surgery, then Ibn Bazz gave him 13,000 SR and asked him to go to his mother pay for her surgery, the story is longer but the point is this man is applying the Islam and Muslims have to look at him as an example

thanks for your questions, will write more as i promised (God Willing)

DolphinFriend

am so glad you enjoyed living here
yes, Saudi is not a western country..
muttawas, are getting better lately, as people are speaking in the media, writing in the Newspaper about their mistakes..last night i saw some of them in a mall, i think they are trying to make people change the way they look at them..
Lady Lou, i wish if we had met while you were living here..
thanks so much for your nice reply

DolphinFriend

you will be most welcome here
my advice is to search online
then you can let me know the name of the company, and will see if my brothers know about it..
wish you the best luck

DolphinFriend

thanks for asking
i printed invitation cards, distributed over 30 cards, now waiting for my members emails to set a date to meet

Happy New Year to you as well

madmidwife

Dolphin Friend,

I hope that your efforts to enlighten us all are rewarded. I have not been put off by the negative comments I have seen on the forum and will aim to be in Saudi June 2008. Everyone is an adult and should take all information given (good and bad) and decide for themselves. Thank you for your posts. Good luck with your efforts to improve yourself through education and inshallah you will be a success. Every journey begins with the first step.

Amazing Grace

DolphinFriend it was a pleasure to read your posts and to give us an insight to life in Saudi Arabia. My husband and I worked in Khamis Mushayt for over 4 years and although life is very restricted for women both Saudi and Expat we had a great time. I worked in the Administration building of an Armed Forces Hospital and was the only woman working there. I was given the utmost respect from all the staff who were both military and civilian and this was returned from me. The only problem I had was from the Muttawas in the shopping mall who would ask for mine and my husband's Igamas but hey nothing to hide so didnt worry and was always polite.

It is very refreshing to read some interesting posts from someone who is from Saudi Arabia so please keep posting

Alexa

I will let you know when I come back to Riyadh, Incha'allah soon...

DolphinFriend

Am so glad to hear this : )
You will be most welcome my dear in your second home
Thanks so much for your nice wishes for me
I believe each person differs from the other.. I feel its like adventure for expats, seeing different culture, experiencing different life style, I feel it must be interesting as its human being nature to try new things..
I feel this concerning moving to the west, here we can go out at any time of the day , while if I will be there it wont be the same, here malls close at about 11 pm, while there very early ,I think after sunset.. fasting during Ramadan wont be like here, people around me all will be eating while am fasting..i think will face difficulties concerning praying on time if I will have classes in the University , of course praying comes 1st but don’t know if it will be easy to leave my class to do it?.. my cover will draw people attention to me..i think people will not feel comfortable dealing with Muslim wearing Hejjab…
So as you see I feel it will be new adventure, but I believe if I have Aim I should focus on it and not look at the obstacles if I wanna really achieve it ..
So in which city will you work here?

DolphinFriend

Wallahi am happier to hear from you, and that you enjoyed being here..i think you like the weather in Khamis Mushayt, its cold but nice..people of the south region are very friendly and generous.. Abha city is near Khamis Mushayt have you been there? The nature there is amazing ma shaa Allah, and people there are very friendly, we have been there so many times, one day while er were needing to know certain place Daddy stopped a man walking in the street to ask him, can you imagine that after he helped us, he invited us to his house? He doesn’t know us but this is how are the people there, amazing really! A freind of my Uncle live there, whenever he heard of us coming to Abha he insist that we don’t go to a hotel, but stay in his 2nd house that is being built among the beautiful nature..
Thank you so much for your nice words that reflects the beautiful heart you have

DolphinFriend

will be happy my dear to meet you

DolphinFriend

madmidwife

Hi Dolphinfriend,

I plan to work in Jeddah all being well. Any information you can give would be welcome. Don't worry about people being unwelcoming because of your choice of clothing. I was in a hairdresser on Saturday and a lady from Somalia was having her hair done. When she was finished she put on her hejjab and left the salon, no-one even blinked. You will meet all sorts of people and hopefully give them exposure to something different.Most institutions have a nondenomination prayer room so you should be able to pray as needed. Lectures can be in note form or you can get a recorder to tape whilst you are out, maybe even get another student to take notes for you. I used to take notes for fellow students who were not able to attend particular lectures. I have members of my family who are muslim (most are non-practicing). My late step-grandfather was muslim - Saheed was his name. Everytime we visited him he would take out the holy book and say prayers for us - we are christian. We loved him, he loved us - religion was not an issue and it shouldn't be.