Thankyou... I'm out!

When I left Finland to SaudiArabia an year ago, I wasn't sure what to expect! From the stories in the media, I was somehow afraid or do I say nervous to take this journey. I have to say if I was not from Finland, I wouldn't have done this trip. Born in Kenya, where life circumstances has forced lots of people to come to Saudi for manual labour and domestic jobs, all I knew about Saudi as a young person was mistreatment and death. There were lots of news on tv about sad grief stricken parents begging the government to help them find their children who left for Saudi and never came back. There were young ladies crying and kissing the earth at the airport for getting back and being reunited with their parents. They told the country tales of how their passports had been taken from them and the kind of mistreatment they got from employers that included washing their employers feet.
So you can imagine when my Kenyan family heard I had decided to take up a contract in Saudi, they were abit worried until I explained some things.Its about the passport you carry and the job you get!

You see, when I started working in Finland, I learnt that a lot of nurses leave for Saudi and make good money, with my partner and many of her friends having being in Saudi before and telling stories that got us laughing till we almost peed our pants, I got some courage to give it ago! In my mind was experience and ofcourse make a good salary!

I arrived in Saudi looking so decent I had not known that kind of decency in my life! I was picked up and dropped in the housing complexes and the following day began my orientation to Saudi life! Through this 1 year journey I am thankful for:

1. The luck of being born elsewhere: I understand nobody chooses or plays cards to determine where they are born, but I am thankful everyday that it wasn't in Saudi. As a woman, being not able to make any decision about my life would have killed me slowly, growing up and living your whole life without knowing what it is to be independent is one of the biggest miss outs in life. Being born and living in a place where I can decide for myself is a gift I no longer take lightly.

2. The people I met along the way. It is amazing that you can pack your bags and take upon a journey alone, then meet others who have done the same. Friendships, aquittanships, bonds have been formed simply on basis of people going through the same thing. In here I met people I could rely on either for true friendship, sharing cabs, going out, sharing frustrations, going to gym. I am thankful for each and everyone of you, for standing by me, bitching with me, drinking with me and sharing this Saudi journey with me. Love to you all.

3. Thankful for love. Thankyou so much love, for cheering me on, for listening to my frustrations, for waiting at airports to receive me, for giving me memorable holidays, for pushing me to fulfill my goals, for face timing me everyday, for a million texts everyday, for all the love and support through, long distance is hard , we did it and here we are. Love you much.

4. For life. Thankyou powers of the universe, for life, for the lessons we learn!

It wasn't as bad as I expected, i had really good days and really shitty days! Days where  you want to pack and never come back and days where you thought, it's really a good day! But my spirit cannot hold up any longer, I need to show myself to the world! This is it for me on life under the Abaya!

Peace out!

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