Saudi Arabia: When is it Time to Leave?

Most of us, expats, are in Saudi because we wish to make more money. Very few are here for purely religious reasons. (True or false?) While this is the best place for a Muslim to live, what can this country offer us? Our bank accounts are monitored (what? I read that our incomes should be proportionate with our monthly salaries), we're not supposed to have extra jobs, or even send substantial amounts of money to our home countries. What irks some expats

most is that you cannot buy an apartment or a piece of land and call it yours.  

Some Muslims are planning to leave Saudi Arabia for other countries: for the West! Why the West when we know how Muslims feel about westerners? Why the West when we know that the standard of living in those countries is much higher that in the Kingdom? Below are the responses of some expats (quote unquote):

• I felt that I was persecuted. I published a paper and I was verbally abused for telling the truth. What can we gain when in the academic setting a researcher is threatened for publishing his data--results that he did not falsify? How do we expect research to move forward? 
• The educational system is not good. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry is employed to teach our kids. Some teachers are not even qualified to teach, yet employers hire them without running a background check.
• You can never be too sure that you'll leave the hospital alive when you're ill. Some specialists are far from being who they claim to be. I've heard of Egyptian doctors who buy the MRCP from the black market and brandish it around to avail of high salaries. Blimey!
• We get paid according to the colour of our passports. I thought everyone was equal in this country. I was so disappointed when I observed the contrary.  

Is there anything that irks you in Saudi? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. As a matter of fact, there are always pros and cons about life anywhere. To be fair, I had written a post a few years ago about a woman's advantages of living in Saudi.

Jeddah: Look Who's Back!

Hello Dear Readers,


It has been nearly 4 months since I last posted on this blog. Al hamdulillah! I am back and ready to start posting again. 


We went through a hard time trying to look for another kafeel (sponsor). The point is that we had 2 weeks to get a new sponsor or get an exit visa. Phew! I remember when my husband got that sms. We were having one of those conversations and wondering whether his sponsor would call him soon to give him a deadline. We stopped laughing about the whole thing when his phone beeped. And lo! It was written in black and white. He had 2 weeks to get another sponsor and start the transfer process or his sponsor would issue him an exit visa.


Our greatest ordeal was finding another sponsor who would accept an emergency transfer. The second was to pay 12,000 SAR (this is not the usual fee for transfers). We had a few disappointments from a few people who accepted to become his (my husband's) sponsor. Along the line they disappeared leaving us in the middle of our despair. Finally, we found someone who was willing to go ahead with the transfer. Al hamdulillah, he wanted to do everything on his own. That meant going through the normal and lengthy procedure of transfers. The guy who asked us to pay 12,000 SAR would have sapped us of our funds because the usual fee was 2,000 SAR for first-time transfers. Apparently, he was the type who did things under the table and behind closed doors. We accepted to work with the new sponsor, who took his time in doing everything. Going through the normal channel meant that we risked not meeting the deadline set up by the former sponsor, but we had to do it if we wanted to go the legal way. As the days passed, we kept praying that his former sponsor would not call to remind him of the deadline. Every time there was a development during the transfer process, my husband always made sure that he informed his former sponsor. Two weeks became 4 months, and today we have a new sponsor. Needless to say that his former sponsor exercised great patience because he was willing to give us more time and in doing so he was putting himself in a situation that did not suit really him.


Finally, we can start making plans to leave Saudi Arabia in a smooth way and not like we are being shooed out of the country. I am thankful that this whole thing is over, and we do not live with the worry that at one moment or the other someone might call us to tell us that they were going to issue us an exit visa.

I Will Be Back

Dear readers, it has been long since I last posted on this blog. I admit I have been very busy during this period. In addition, there are legal issues that my husband and I are trying to resolve. 


Insha'Allah, I will be back, and I will take over from where I have stopped. Hopefully, I will be writing from Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.


I thank my friends and readers for their kind messages. I will not forget you in my prayers.

Goodbye Saudi Arabia

We all have a reason why we are here in Saudi Arabia. Did you come to look for better opportunities? Are you here because you are an adventurer? Did you come here for religious reasons? I could continue because there are a million reasons why people leave their home countries to work or live abroad.

Whatever be the reason behind your decision to come to Saudi Arabia, you wouldn't want to leave unprepared. Unfortunately, it is sooo easy to say 'Goodbye Saudi Arabia'. At this very moment, a few expats are preparing to go home unexpectedly. They didn't commit any crime. On the contrary, they were hardworking employees who were looking forward to going home for the holidays, then come back to Saudi to continue their duties. They were buying presents which they were planning to take back home to please their family members. While they were shopping, they didn't have the slightest hint that some HR guy was busy preparing a letter to announce the termination of their contracts. Just a click and there went the mail!

This was really bad news and it was one that was hard to accept. How will these expats announce this to their loved ones who are relying on them financially? How is life going to be like starting all over again when jobs don't come easy these days, even for nationals? 

It takes just a little to get you walking through that door. It might come unexpectedly and one thing I have learnt in this country is to hope for the best, prepare for the worst and accept the path that is reserved for you by God. My situation is not any better. I might be leaving unexpectedly in less than 2 weeks. May God help us.

Saudi Arabia: General Misconception

Click to enlarge.

They were speaking in Arabic, but I did a transliteration since I can't write Arabic. This is what happened:


A Saudi man saw an African lady in front of a newspaper rack. She had a newspaper in her hand, which she was scanning. He was polite. He greeted her and asked her if she was a shagala (maid). She was angry, but she didn't show it. She thought of asking him whether every black woman on the street was a shagala, but then she knew it was pointless to say anything. This was not the first time that someone asked her that question. Usually when anyone asked her her nationality and she responded, the next question that followed was, "Inti shagala?" or "Are you a maid?"


She turned around and looked at him. He looked like he didn't mean any harm. After all, it is a generally belief that nearly all black women here are maids. She looked away and said, "No, I am a doctor." He was so embarrassed that his face turned red. He rapidly apologised, then went into the store nearby at the speed of light.


Why? It is life. Not that being a maid is an insult, but it is a pity that people do not know how to ask questions. It is only in Saudi Arabia that I witnessed people asking questions like, "Are you a maid?" instead of "What is your profession?" Sometimes it is, "Are you a muslim?" instead of "What is your religion?" or "Is Egypt in Asia?" instead of "Where is Egypt?"


If you are new to scenarios like this, then welcome to the club. 

End of the World: Not this time?

You must have heard it again. The first time that I witnessed it, it was in 1994, if I have a good memory. I was still a teen then. I spent all of my little savings because I didn't want to risk the chance of dying and leaving my money behind. It has happened again: "The end of the world!" This time, 21st May 2011.

Search engines have been crazy over the last few days. Worldwide, people were searching for information regarding the end of the world in 2011. You must have read that Harold Camping, an 89-year old former engineer, predicited the world was going to end on Saturday, May 12, 2011 at exactly 6 p.m. How he was able to come up with this date, only God knows. After this announcement, his followers started going around, alerting people that the world was going to end on the 21st of May. There are some tracts online which say judgement day will start on the 21st of May 2011, when God's elect people would be taken into heaven, and Earth would be finally destroyed on October 21, 2011.

So what did you do on the day before the big event? Who? Me? Ah, yes. Well, I went out to spend some time with a couple of friends. I had heard of the end of the world a few days back but then, I couldn't annul this event that I had planned well before the prediction. Plus, it was a day before the said-day and none of my friends nor acquaintances seemed to be the least worried about the world ending the next day. In fact, it didn't even feature in our conversations. 

And what happened on the 21st? Um hum. It was around 10 a.m while I was at work that I remembered that the world was supposed to end on that day. Waoh! Madam had completely forgotten and did not even seem to be the least disturbed by this. My colleague wasn't the least moved by the news when I told her. Her reply was, "I guess I would stay down here with all the other sinners 'cos I haven't been really living a religious life." With that, she burst into laughter.

It was after midnight and I was still up. No one called me to say that a relative had disappeared or had been lifted up into heaven to be more specific. I was sitting right there in my living room, watching a movie and playing with my baby. And now I am writing. It is a day after the end of the world. Still nothing is happening. Surely the world is not going to end now - at least not before I publish this post. And what about the "real" last day? That is supposed to be October 21st, 2011, right? Waoh! I had made plans to go on holidays in December 2011. Looks like someone is planning to go on holidays after the destruction of Earth.

Do not be fooled. No one will know when the world is going to end. It is pointless for people to go around making baseless calculations and even giving specific dates and times. In the Injeel (New Testament), it is written: "The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night." [1 Thessalonians 5: 2 (NIV)]. No one would know the last day, even Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) himself said he didn't know, but talked of the warning signs of the end times.

So chill guys. Keep your calculators aside and stop scaring the hell out of some people with your end of the world predictions. Only the Most High will decide.

Who is ''Human Land?''

Anyone who is used to the website expatriates.com must surely have seen the posts of the individual who always identifies himself/herself as "Human Land." He/she does not post regularly, but the content of his/her post is interesting and full of knowledge. Every time I read his/her words, I wonder why he/she decides to stay anonymous. I wonder whether this person is a writer or is aspiring to become one, and why he/she chooses to post ads that teach some virtues, knowing fully well that people usually come to this site for personal or material things. I do hope I get to know this person someday because once his/her words made me smile on a day that I was low.  

Below is one of his/her most recent posts.

How Not to Let Annoying People Annoy You

You can ignore people If you are dealing with strangers, but What If they are your Colleagues, Family, Neighbors or Friends ???

Following points to handle such people...

1: Staying calm means you don’t do something you regret later
Sometimes when you get really mad, you may end up doing something rash. If you can stay calm, you’re more likely to choose constructive actions.

2: Getting mad often means staying mad
If you get annoyed here and now, that bad mood may last for a long time.

3: When you stay calm, you really annoy those who want to annoy others
If that person is truly out to annoy you, the very best way to annoy them back is to stay cool. Deny them the satisfaction of getting you riled. They hate that.

4: You only harm yourself
Getting annoyed really harms no one but you.

5: Getting annoyed makes it easier to get mad the next time
You start a cycle of anger – which means it takes less and less to set you off.

6: Dreaming of revenge is bad for you
This is certain, that a man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well.
- Francis Bacon

7: Getting annoyed makes the memory stronger
Anything you experience while having a strong emotion, will be etched permanently in your mind. This is why some people can remember every little detail of that incident 8 years ago where some jerk cut them off on the highway. The problem is that the memory becomes so strong that it keeps coming back to you and keeps annoying you for years.

8: Instead of getting mad at annoying people – feel sorry for them
Jerks are very often jerks because they feel bad themselves. Hating them is really a waste of time – feel sorry for them instead.

9: Sometimes you’re at fault and blowing up just makes it worse
Sometimes it turns out, that the whole thing is actually your own fault. If you previously blew up at someone, then you look really silly…

10: It’s not about you
Most jerks you will meet are not really out to get you, personally – this is how they treat everyone.

11: It may not be intentional at all
Maybe they have absolutely no idea that they’re annoying you.

12: Losing your temper makes you look bad
Even if you’re in the right in the situation, if you lose your temper you can end up looking silly, petty or unreasonable.

13: Laugh about it
Most workplace jerk behavior is annoying sure, but when you really look at it, it’s mostly pathetic and ridiculous. Laugh at it, rather than get annoyed.

14: Is it a case of projection?
Few things annoy us more than other people displaying the same weaknesses and faults as we fear we have ourselves. If a person really, really ticks you off, maybe that person is just making you think about some weak sides you’d rather not admit you have.

15: Maybe it’s an honest mistake
And most of all: People make mistakes. Don’t read too much into it when people do inconsiderate things. It may simply be an honest mistake.