6 months of Saudi Arabia
I am annoyed right now, i mean! do people just decide to have some fun and test the fire alarm without giving residents notice? You don't want to know the scene that i was, with my 4 knots (matuta!), shorts and tatas not secured! i shot out like them Kenyans in Beijing, by the way, congratulations! some of these moments when we are all proudly Kenyans!.
I see the fire escape stairs on a daily basis but today for some reason they had been moved, i couldn't find them, i was like a scared chicken not even knowing if am running towards the Fire!, and the Fire, fireman i mean was standing there smiling and telling us to calm down it was just a test! What! i could have thrown him 4 floors down, anyway, i made my small noise like a kikuyu woman, and while at it, i realized that my state was not at most appealing, face down, walked back to my room, i was shaking for at least half an hour after that, i am not the kind of people who think of facing death fiercely, i would rather not have to face it.
Yesterday was 6 months of my stay in Saudi or sand pit as we call it! i am halfway through my contract! Getting here did not seem like a possibility 3 months ago, life was just dragging on. As most of the employees who came during the same time are making crucial decisions to stay and renew their contracts or exit, i am still on the exit mode and am counting days to Feb 18. As the days have gone by, i have come to learn, laugh, cry, get annoyed but laugh i miss most. So we try to smile down at many situations even when they don't make sense.
1. Taxis
Where else will i ever be able to live like this?, i call a cab to go to the mall and back, take a cab to go eat out and back, take a cab everywhere. Where i come from, taxis are for emergencies, and when time for public transport is up, when we need to get our drunken asses home, everyone knows nobody cares when we hail that cab at the wee hours of the night, we are usually so rich at that point until our brains switch back in the morning and blame the alcohol for misleading us. They are building metros here, wonder who is gonna use them cos nobody even walks? Taxis are the boost, that's if you use company taxis cos town taxis are a threat to your safety. The drivers don't understand English, you say 'am going here', he opens the door for you nodding and smiling, please let me laugh at you when you end up in the other side of the big city, you have no idea where you are and you are complaining and barking to someone who doesn't get a word of what you are saying and instead is just smiling! ha!
2. On-flight
The best thing about this is that we leave the other side looking all glamorous, different and as one. By we, i mean 95% of us, especially women, both Saudi (well, the younger generation), and the non-Saudis. Life is quite normal at the beginning of the flight, you can even have a glass of water or 2 until you feel a single little twitch in your brain and stop! just like that, you remember where you are heading to, call the hostess and tell them to return the half full glass! ha! i meant sulk it up, calculate the amount of time for the digestion process and give yourself some few hours to pee, sweat, respirate... all out. All goes well until the pilot announces landing! Alas! its like he just said, you naked people please dress up, we all put up our Abayas and black has never been more appealing. If you mention the word, water to the person who didn't even care when you had it next to them! kuombewa nayo!
3. Jogging
I miss jogging outside so much that the thought of it kills me, to add salt to injury, i see all the muscled men running and it reminds me that, its not that because people cant jog, its because a woman cannot just put on her jogging attire and start running, well, unless you are missing a crucial bolt in your head, or you are not really one. i was thinking of putting a fake beard and stuff my pants with hay to look muscled then go running?
4. Diving, snorkeling
This will be the most memorable fun time i had in Saudi, who thought that i would try snorkeling for the first time in Saudi, in the Red sea. I feel so jazzed and great i got to do it last weekend, After flying to Jeddah, the lovely old town by the sea, going out deep in the Red sea and getting to mingle with all the beautiful fishes in their beautiful reefs was a beautiful experience, but guess what just happened! as from then, rules have changed! no woman who is not accompanied by her husband, brother or father is allowed out in the sea to dive or snorkel. A woman is fragile and needs a man to protect her from the beautiful fishes maybe..my condolences to all who had planned their upcoming diving trips
5. work
Well, work is work! the money is what counts, i think that's why we are all here if we could be honestly honest.
As am looking forward to the 2nd half, do i mention i am so looking forward for my holiday, when i can see my bae soon! haiya! i just used bae, i sneered at every update i saw that they used bae! Hi Bae...
I see the fire escape stairs on a daily basis but today for some reason they had been moved, i couldn't find them, i was like a scared chicken not even knowing if am running towards the Fire!, and the Fire, fireman i mean was standing there smiling and telling us to calm down it was just a test! What! i could have thrown him 4 floors down, anyway, i made my small noise like a kikuyu woman, and while at it, i realized that my state was not at most appealing, face down, walked back to my room, i was shaking for at least half an hour after that, i am not the kind of people who think of facing death fiercely, i would rather not have to face it.
Yesterday was 6 months of my stay in Saudi or sand pit as we call it! i am halfway through my contract! Getting here did not seem like a possibility 3 months ago, life was just dragging on. As most of the employees who came during the same time are making crucial decisions to stay and renew their contracts or exit, i am still on the exit mode and am counting days to Feb 18. As the days have gone by, i have come to learn, laugh, cry, get annoyed but laugh i miss most. So we try to smile down at many situations even when they don't make sense.
1. Taxis
Where else will i ever be able to live like this?, i call a cab to go to the mall and back, take a cab to go eat out and back, take a cab everywhere. Where i come from, taxis are for emergencies, and when time for public transport is up, when we need to get our drunken asses home, everyone knows nobody cares when we hail that cab at the wee hours of the night, we are usually so rich at that point until our brains switch back in the morning and blame the alcohol for misleading us. They are building metros here, wonder who is gonna use them cos nobody even walks? Taxis are the boost, that's if you use company taxis cos town taxis are a threat to your safety. The drivers don't understand English, you say 'am going here', he opens the door for you nodding and smiling, please let me laugh at you when you end up in the other side of the big city, you have no idea where you are and you are complaining and barking to someone who doesn't get a word of what you are saying and instead is just smiling! ha!
2. On-flight
The best thing about this is that we leave the other side looking all glamorous, different and as one. By we, i mean 95% of us, especially women, both Saudi (well, the younger generation), and the non-Saudis. Life is quite normal at the beginning of the flight, you can even have a glass of water or 2 until you feel a single little twitch in your brain and stop! just like that, you remember where you are heading to, call the hostess and tell them to return the half full glass! ha! i meant sulk it up, calculate the amount of time for the digestion process and give yourself some few hours to pee, sweat, respirate... all out. All goes well until the pilot announces landing! Alas! its like he just said, you naked people please dress up, we all put up our Abayas and black has never been more appealing. If you mention the word, water to the person who didn't even care when you had it next to them! kuombewa nayo!
3. Jogging
I miss jogging outside so much that the thought of it kills me, to add salt to injury, i see all the muscled men running and it reminds me that, its not that because people cant jog, its because a woman cannot just put on her jogging attire and start running, well, unless you are missing a crucial bolt in your head, or you are not really one. i was thinking of putting a fake beard and stuff my pants with hay to look muscled then go running?
4. Diving, snorkeling
This will be the most memorable fun time i had in Saudi, who thought that i would try snorkeling for the first time in Saudi, in the Red sea. I feel so jazzed and great i got to do it last weekend, After flying to Jeddah, the lovely old town by the sea, going out deep in the Red sea and getting to mingle with all the beautiful fishes in their beautiful reefs was a beautiful experience, but guess what just happened! as from then, rules have changed! no woman who is not accompanied by her husband, brother or father is allowed out in the sea to dive or snorkel. A woman is fragile and needs a man to protect her from the beautiful fishes maybe..my condolences to all who had planned their upcoming diving trips
5. work
Well, work is work! the money is what counts, i think that's why we are all here if we could be honestly honest.
As am looking forward to the 2nd half, do i mention i am so looking forward for my holiday, when i can see my bae soon! haiya! i just used bae, i sneered at every update i saw that they used bae! Hi Bae...
This is such an interesting post! It must have been some culture shock moving to Saudi Arabia from Finland! Good luck for the remaining 6 months.
ReplyDeleteOh Lizzzzzz, you made me laugh so hard! I didn't know you were such a great writer. Your sense of humour...my gosh. You made me feel like i was there present during the fire incident!! It has been so much fun reading your blog. You are so honest and down to earth. I envied you girls going out there to Saudi to make all that good money, but you have given me an eye opener. Life is not all about money yeah? Thanks for sharing your experiences. Come home soon...xoxo
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