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.

Ramadan : Pourquoi Les Saoudiens Ont-ils Tellement Besoin des Domestiques ?

Je me suis rendue chez ma coiffeuse quelques jours avant le début du Ramadan. Pendant que j'y étais, son portable sonnait à plusieurs reprises et j'étais surprise de constater que à chaque fois elle regardait son portable, soupirait et ignorait l'appel. Cette attitude éveilla ma curiosité et après que son portable ait sonné pour la énième fois, je décida de lui demander pourquoi elle ne répondait pas à ses appels.


-Ces dames Saoudiennes peuvent être très ennuyantes, répondit-elle. Elles appelent à chaque minute parce qu'elles ont besoin d'une domestique alors que je leur ai demandé d'attendre mon appel car je n'hésiterai pas à appeler si je trouvais quelqu'un qui voudrait travailler comme domestique.


Je compris donc qu'elle éssayait d'aider quelques dames Saoudiennes à embaucher des domestiques. La plupart d'entre elles avaient des domestiques mais elles avaient besoin d'une de plus pour travailler pendant le mois du Ramadan. Dans leur désespoir pour trouver les domestiques avant le début du Ramadan, elles mettaient trop de pression sur elle.


Quiconque a été invité auparavant par des amis Saoudiens à partager l'iftar aurait remarqué la variété des plats qui sont préparés. Les plats sont appétissants et le repas est généralement à plusieurs services. Même un chef cuisinier aurait besoin d'un coup de mains pour l'aider à préparer les repas pendant cette période.


La seule question que je continue à me poser c'est pourquoi ces dames ont tellement besoin des domestiques pendant cette période ? Les musulmans dans d'autres pays célèbrent le Ramadan et les ménagères gèrent bien le travail pendant cette période sans avoir à embaucher des mains supplémentaires. Les musulmans Saoudiens célèbre-t-il d'une façon particulièrement différente?

Ramadan: Why Are Saudis so Badly in Need of Maids?

It was a couple of days before the beginning of Ramadan. I was at my hairdresser. Her phone kept on ringing and I was surprised that each time she looked at it she sighed and decided to ignore the call. This roused my curiosity and after her phone rang for the nth time, I decided to ask her why she wasn't answering her calls.


"These Saudi madams can be very boring at times," she replied. "They just keep calling every minute because they need a maid. I told them to wait until I get back to them when I find someone interested in the job." 


From what I understood, she was helping some Saudi ladies hire maids for their households. Most of them had maids, but needed one more to help with the work during the month of Ramadan. In their despair to get maids before the Ramadan, they were putting so much pressure on her.


Anyone who has been invited before by their Saudi friends to share iftar must have noticed the variety of dishes that are prepared. The dishes are appetising and the meal is usually served in courses. Even a chef would need a couple of hands to help him/her prepare the meals during this period.  


The one question that lingers in my mind is why these ladies need maids so badly during this period? Muslims in other countries celebrate Ramadan, and the housewives deal with the work during this period without having to hire extra hands. Do Saudi muslims celebrate in a particularly different way? 
  

Ramadan Mubarak

Adieu l'Arabie Saoudite

Nous avons tous une raison de venir en Arabie Saoudite. Etes-vous venus à la recherche de meilleures opportunités? Etes-vous ici parce que vous êtes un aventurier? Etes-vous ici pour des raisons religieuses? Je pourrais continuer car il ya mille et une raisons pour lesquelles les gens quittent leur pays pour travailler ou vivre à l'étranger. 


Quelle que soit la raison de votre décision de venir en Arabie saoudite, vous ne voudriez pas repartir dans votre pays natal à l'improviste. Malheureusement c'est tellement facile de dire «au revoir l'Arabie Saoudite». En ce moment même, quelques expatriés se préparent à retourner dans leurs pays natal de façon inattendue. Ils n'ont commis aucun crime. Au contraire, ils étaient des employés travailleurs impatients de rentrer chez eux pendant les vacances, puis rentrer en Arabie Saoudite continuer leurs fonctions. Ils achetaient des cadeaux qu'ils avaient l'intention d'emporter pour faire plaisir à leurs membres de famille. Pendant qu'ils faisaient les courses, ils étaient loin de savoir que certains dirigeants du service des resources humaines préparaient une lettre annonçant la résiliation de leurs contrats. 


C'était vraiment une mauvaise nouvelle, difficile à accepter. Comment est-ce qu'ils vont annoncer cette nouvelle à leurs proches qui comptent sur eux financièrement? A quoi va ressembler leur vie quand il faut recommencer tout à zéro? En plus c'est tellement difficile de trouver un emploi, même pour les ressortissants. 


C'est tellement facile de se retrouver à la porte dans ce pays. Ça pourrait venir à l'improviste. Dans ce pays j'ai appris à espérer le meilleur mais à m'attendre au pire. Ma situation n'est pas meilleure. Je pourrais quitter ce pays inopinément en moins de 2 semaines. Qu'Allah nous aide.

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: Who is Keeping Your Passport?

One of my in-laws came to spend a few days with us before travelling home to spend the long holiday with his family. The funniest thing about the whole show was that, he has to travel in about a week, but he didn't have his passport yet. He was waiting for one of the company administrators to ship his passport to him so that he could travel. His cousin also had a similar problem. His passport was shipped to another province, hundreds of miles away from the city where his flight was booked, so he had to make his company send his passport to his present city instead.


Wait a minute! Isn't there an international law that says the bearer of a passport has the right to keep it? I can see a line in my passport which says that the passport is strictly for personal use and it must not be loaned or sent by post. What are these passports that keep on transiting in Saudi Arabia?


Do most non-Saudi employees even know that their employers are not supposed to keep their passports? And what about these employers? What do they benefit when they keep their employees' passports or what do they have to lose if their employees keep their passports? An article recently published in Arab News, rightfully said employers were keeping their employees' passport illegally. We all hope that something is going to be done about this unfair treatment one day.