FlorenceZebedee

I've just moved over from London with our three children, classic tale, to follow my husband who started his job here a few months ago. We broke many rules when coming over, despite many efforts we had no accommodation, no guaranteed spots at the British School, the wrong kind of visas, etc etc. However, I wanted to post this message because against all odds, things worked out surprisingly well, and we are now settled at Eid, a good compound, the children have started at the British school and we're sorting out our visas. So having just gone through the whole process, I thought my fresh experiences might be useful to someone, and if so do PM me or post a message here.

Blue Cat

well done Florence!! you ought to try and meet up with Nic1 if you haven't already

may11

congratulations- my husband is also in riyadh he moved a month ago my daughter and i a due to follow soon but he can t find us a compound, he's tired many EID has a waiting list for 1 year so we have been told, if we dont get a compound we wont move, my daughter is 2 and is missing here dad so much... how did you get a compound so quick? and what is life like there? how old are your kids?

FlorenceZebedee

Hi there, having read the advice on this forum, I convinced my husband to insist that his company find accommodation for us, on a Western compound. Although they committed to do this, and on hindsight we were quite naive, they did very little and after two months had very little to show for their efforts. To be fair, my husband works for a Saudi company and there are very few expats so I don't think they fully understand what we need and expect. Any how, on arriving here, it was clear that we had to take matters into our own hands, and we started phoning around. Al Hamra wouldn't even see us, but most of the others, although officially full, were open to us coming to visit. And I think this is key, as far as I understand, you (or ideally your husband) needs to meet the compound manager face to face. I think it's quite a personal decision, if they like the look of you and you are the kind of person they want on a compound (it must vary but for Eid, I suspect they were quite happy with a English speaking family with youngish children.) Plus we were ready to move immediately, we were living in a crappy hotel (rather than moving from another compound) and my husband was at its most charming of course.

I can't speak for other compounds, but Eid is very child friendly, there are lots of other families, and children play together outside. In terms of childcare, some take on a maid/nanny (about £4 an hour). I put my 20 month old daughter into the compound pre-school (which has recently become a Montessori) and she is very happy there. It costs about £1000 a term, mornings only. My 5 and 10 year old take the school bus (very convenient) to the British school.

I hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions.

still.unsure

well done! with all due respect and fair game to you, you folks certainly have got a fair pair of bollocks!

seconded on the personal touch recommendation, makes a world of difference. and better yet if you already have a colleague on the compound as a way of 'vouching' for you. as for the compounds that won't let you visit, try and find another way in (colleague or such) as getting past the stock standard answer of "we're full" is the key.

welcome to eid, PM if you need a homebrew recipe!

typical

It must be getting time for another Bored Riyadh meetup...

Blue Cat

got to be, I reckon Still.Unsure seems more sure now so he should chair the meeting

still.unsure

oi, what? meet-up and give away my 'secret identity'?!

typical

Just wear the abaya and niqab...

still.unsure

now that's a thought... go ninja-style!

Smoochy Girl

Well I'm grabbing the bull by the horns here and since I've started researching Saudi, you're just perfect to answer my questions re housing. I have been told by a very good friend that compounds are a lot more expensive than a free standing villa which is also much larger and has a garden (I'm claustrophobic and hate small houses).

So have you seen/considered living outside a compound - perhaps a free-standing villa close to a compound so you could still visit with ex-pat friends?

Can I have some opinions on this please

typical

Life in a compound, particularly for a woman, is pretty different to life outside:

- Freedom to leave the house and wander around - along and sans abaya
- Organised activities, for adults and kids
- Wider set of backgrounds amongst neighbours (quite often)
- Access to an expat community
- Access to gyms (although there are now women-only gyms in most cities)

It's certainly possible, but the trade-offs are pretty significant. There's a reason most ex-pats do head to compounds.

Smoochy Girl

OK that's fair enough except:

(1) I daily work from home for about 10 hours a day
(2) I have no kids
(3) I hate going out and coffee mornings
(4) I have dogs
(5) I hate moving my butt off my chair so don't really do gyms

Nic1

I have dogs here in Riyadh (5) and live on a compound. The problem out here is that many of the compounds have shared/communal gardens. We were fortunate that the company villa we got has a private garden (the other company villas are on a compound with communal gardens and deer and peacocks and such that wander freely - they wouldn't have lasted long with my lot on the loose!! But we would have eaten well for a week or so ). Living off compound with dogs here could be pretty grim. Here I can walk the dogs in shorts and t-shirts with no worries. Off compound you would have to cover up every time you step foot outside your walls. You also need to ensure your garden is not overlooked or you could get complaints from the neighbours about how you are dressed in your own garden - this has happened to friends of ours . . . .

I never see dogs being walked on the public streets here, they truly don't like dogs at all. It's not like Dubai in any sense.

My husband is reading this over my shoulder and says 'put the dogs to sleep - saves you money and stress' - I think he was joking . . . .

Seriuosly, you need to be on a compound.

N

typical

+1

The other reasons were fair for being off-compound, but with dogs it'd be crazy. You'd be relying on a driver / your husband to take them out to the desert to walk them. I simply cannot imagine the reactions towards a western woman walking dogs on the streets of Riyadh