Here we go again! The summer holidays are just around the corner. What plans have you made for your little cuties? Thinking of a summer camp? Good.
Summer camps are organised worldwide. It is amazing to see what kids learn at these camps. Many organisers introduce programmes that are meant to build your child's confidence, teach them positive habits and develop their critical thinking skills, besides organising activities for entertainment. The Young Learners Summer Camp through the numerous activities that it organises, provides an excellent ground for your child to learn and have fun at the same time.
All you need is one email to: lucout@hotmail.com and they will call you back. Try them and share your experience with friends and family members.
You might be surprised by how different a woman's life can be in Saudi Arabia. If you do not live in a Muslim country, you might to some extent think that women do not live happy lives here. On the contrary, women are happy even though they do not enjoy their full rights.
The very first time that I arrived here, the thing that jumped to my eyes almost immediately was the segregation of sexes. Yes, it was just so obvious. In a restaurant, for example, there was a section for single men and another section for families where women were allowed to sit. I was stunned. Yes, I had never imagined things to be like this.
Women are advised to veil. This, I knew before leaving my country, and I was not particularly worried about it. It only became a problem when places were really getting hot and I had a scarf wrapped around my head and neck region.
Women do not drive. Saudi Arabia is the only country that does not let women drive. This, I also knew, and was somehow unhappy about it. Nevertheless, I got used to it until the day my husband started working out of town. I had to take a taxi to go to work despite the fact that I had a car packed just outside our apartment building, with the key lying on my bedside table. A few days from June 17, a day that women plan to drive, I find myself wondering whether we would ever be given the opportunity to drive in this country.
Becoming a mother in this country is not an easy task for an expatriate, especially for one that is working. Finding a good obstetrician is a big deal unless you are so lucky to get a good one on your first pick. Most often it is by word of mouth that you can get a good one. The next thing is the cost of services. If you have health insurance, then all is well for you, as health services are pretty expensive here. Every time I visited my obstetrician, I paid at least 500 SAR (133$). For normal deliveries, I found that the cost varied a lot from one hospital or clinic to the other; from 1000 to as high as 5000 SAR (266 -1333$).
A maid will always be helpful if you are a working mum. Getting a good one is a headache. Here, you also have to rely on friends and acquaintances, but this does not guarantee that you will get a good one. The first maid that I hired was a woman in her early forties. She knew how to take care of a child; something that I was looking for in a maid because I had just had my first son. After a year and a few months, I had a second maid. She was in her early twenties, but she proved to be a good nanny for my son. Initially, when I first moved here, I found that most people were paying their maids 800 SAR per month. Thereafter, this increased to 1000, then 1100, then 1200. Some people pay up to 2000 SAR per month.
One of the things that I love to do best is shopping. Oh yes! There isn't much to distract you in the kingdom, but just the shops can make you spend your entire day outside admiring the best you can find on the market. You can practically get everything in the malls in Jeddah. Of course everything; except alcohol, drugs and pornography. If you love fashion, then you would certainly love the shops in Jeddah. They have the latest things on the market, ranging from clothes to accessories and technology.
We may cover ourselves, not drive, and so many other things, but there is always a good side to every law. I am not frequently harassed by immoral men, no one touches me without a valid reason, and many more…I wish I had time to continue.
Vous pourriez être surpris, mais la vie d'une femme peut être différente en Arabie Saoudite. Si vous ne vivez pas dans un pays musulman, vous pourriez penser que les femmes ne sont pas du tout heureuses ici. Au contraire, les femmes sont heureuses même si elles ne jouissent pas pleinement de leurs droits.
Quand je suis arrivée en Arabie Saoudite, la première chose qui m'est sauté aux yeux était la ségrégation sexuelle. Oui, c'était tellement évident. Dans un restaurant par exemple, il y avait une section pour les hommes célibataires et une autre section pour les familles où les femmes étaient autorisées de s'asseoir. J'étais stupéfaite. Oui, je n'avais jamais imaginé que les choses seraient comme ça.
Les femmes doivent se voiler. Je le savais avant de quitter mon pays et je n'étais pas particulièrement inquiete à ce sujet. Malheureusement, ça devient un problème lorsqu'il fait vraiment chaud et j'ai un foulard enroulé autour de ma tête et mon cou.
Les femmes ne conduisent pas. L'Arabie saoudite est le seul pays au monde où les femmes ne sont pas autorisées de conduire. J'étais au courant mais que pouvais-je faire ? Je m'étais habituée à cette situation jusqu'au jour où mon mari a commencé à travailler hors de la ville. Je prends un taxi pour aller au travail en dépit du fait que j'ai une voiture garée juste devant notre immeuble, et la clé est au chevet de mon lit. A quelques jours du 17 Juin, le jour que les femmes en Arabie Saoudite comptent prendre le volant, je me demande si nous aurions l'occasion de conduire dans ce pays.
Devenir mère dans ce pays n'est pas une tâche facile pour une expatriée, surtout pour celle qui travaille. Trouver un hôpital ayant un bon obstétricien est un calvaire, sauf si vous êtes chanceuse de tomber sur un bon médecin après une première tentative. Le plus souvent, c'est de bouche à oreille que vous auriez ce renseignement. En plus, le coût des soins est tellement élevé. Si vous avez une assurance-maladie, tout ira bien pour vous. Dans le cas contraire, il faut vous préparer à dépenser une petite fortune chaque fois que vous visiter votre obstétricien. Je me souviens que chaque fois que je consultais mon obstétricien, je dépensais au moins 500 riyals (133 $). Pour les accouchements normaux, le coût varie d'un hôpital ou une clinique à l'autre; entre 1000 et 5000 riyals (266-1333 $).
Une bonne sera toujours utile si vous êtes une femme qui travaille. Il faut aussi compter sur ses amis et connaissances pour trouver une bonne travailleuse. La première bonne que j'avais embauché était une femme dans la quarantaine. Elle savait prendre soin d'un enfant; quelque chose que je recherchais chez une servante, car je venais d'avoir mon premier fils. Après un an et quelques mois, j'ai eu une autre bonne. Elle était jeune, mais elle prenait bien soin de mon fils. A mon arrivée en Arabie saoudite, la plupart des gens payaient leurs servantes 800 riyals par mois. Par la suite, ce montant est passé à 1000, puis 1100, puis 1200 riyals. Certaines personnes paient 2000 riyals par mois.
L'une des choses que j'aime en Arabie Saoudite c'est faire les boutiques. Eh oui! Il n'y a pas beaucoup de choses qui peuvent vous distraire dans le Royaume. Néanmoins, vous pouvez passer toute une journée entière dans les magasins. Vous pouvez trouver pratiquement tout dans les centres commerciaux à Djeddah. Bien sûr, tout, sauf l'alcool, la drogue et la pornographie. Si vous aimez la mode, alors vous allez certainement aimer les magasins à Djeddah. Ils ont les dernières nouveautés sur le marché; vêtements, accessoires, technologie...la liste est longue.
Nous nous voilons, nous ne conduisons pas les voitures et tant d'autres choses, mais il ya toujours un bon côté à toute loi. Je ne suis plus fréquemment harcelée pas des hommes immoraux, personne ne me touche sans raison valable, et bien d'autres...si seulement j'avais assez de temps pour continuer.
The ride is so smooth, you feel like driving forever. Just like Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic, you want to be the king; only this time, the king of the road. And there you go! That loud BANG. You are hit by an airbag, and you suddenly come out of your reverie. The next thing that comes into your mind is, are you safe? Ok, yes. Did I get hit or did I hit a car? No, it was just a pothole. Not a hole in a pot, but a big one staring at you right in the middle of the road!
When you see them for the first time, you are impressed. Saudi Arabia, developing country, with roads so wide and so well constructed. But then, you need to drive for a while in Jeddah and you would be surprised by the number of potholes that you have to avoid on the roads.
Our car is in a horrible state now. It took only one little hole in the middle of the road to get it in this state. You need to be a victim to understand what big damage getting into a pothole can do to your car. Who will pay for the damages? Certainly the guy who didn't see the hole fast enough to avoid it.
I wish someone could do something about these holes. With all the construction guys digging the roads every day in this city, this shouldn't be a big problem.
Did I really hear about drunk driving? In Saudi Arabia? Yes, I did. I did really hear about drunk driving.
In my 3 years of living in the Kingdom, I have met a handful of people who have claimed to drink alcohol during social gatherings. They all admitted to drinking "en cachette" since alcohol consumption is strictly forbidden here. It therefore comes as a surprise or maybe it is some form of mockery that some individuals would drink, get drunk, and sit behind the steering.
For a country that has been described as having the highest accident death toll in the world, and one that bans the consumption of alcohol, it is pretty surprising that some drivers forget all of this and still sit behind the wheel despite being drunk. It is either due to stupidity on the part of the individual, or stupidity induced by the liquor itself.
Now, it is not uncommon to hear that someone has been caught drinking or distributing alcohol. I wrote about this in a recent post. A reported 243 driving licences have been seized this year in Jeddah alone. The reason; drunk driving. Read more...One driver was detained in Riyadh for driving drunk after a misdiagnosis of a leg fracture at a hospital; a detention which cost him a lot as he was suspected of drunk driving and was detained when he needed medical attention for his fracture. Read more...
Fact or fiction? People just can't stop drinking whatever be the punishment reserved for them.
June 17th is drawing closer as there are more speculations as to whether women still have plans to drive on that day or not. Besides risking being flogged by some of their male relatives, the Islamic Police would certainly not fail in making sure that women are kept off the streets on that day.
We keep our fingers crossed as this issue becomes one of the hottest subjects of debate these days. See the video below that was posted a few days ago, addressing the issue of women driving in Saudi Arabia.
Amidst the rising debate on websites and locally, the speaker of the Shoura Council said on Thursday that they were ready to discuss the issue of women driving if they were asked to. Read more... There have been reports of an invitation sent before to discuss this issue, but it was cancelled. Is this new invitation from the speaker of the council himself a gateway to solving this problem in the Kingdom? We do not know yet and hope for a good outcome.
"The Labour Office has changed its rules in a way that will affect you, so you need to finish your iqama transfer quickly or you will not be able to renew your iqama next time, or maybe you will not even be able to stay till your iqama expires. Make the transfer quickly and make sure you transfer to a company that complies with Saudisation requirements."
This was the message my husband recently received from his former employer. It caused distress because not only will he have to look for a company to hire him, he will have to look for a company that promotes Saudisation.
After the message of the Minister of Labour a few days ago saying that, all expatriate workers within the Kingdom will have a six-year cap on their work visas, many expats have been pretty stressed up. The Minister of Labour, Adel Fakieh, threw more light on this issue, reasuring expats that this does not apply to all of them.
According to the Ministry of Labour, companies will be placed in 3 categories:
Green:Those that comply with the Saudisation policy. Yellow: Those that have not reached Saudisation quota of employment. Red: Those that have completely disregarded Saudisation rules.
If you are working for a company in the green list, you are safe. Your iqama (residence permit) does not have the six-year cap.
If you are working for the yellow-listed guys, and have been working for 6 years or more, your visa will not be renewed. If you have been working for less than 6 years, your visa would be renewed, but bear in mind that you will have to say goodbye to Saudi at the end of your 6 years. Nice for someone who has amassed enough to go on retirement, right?
If you are working for a red-listed company, forget about renewing your visa with your company.
The good news is that, employees working for the yellow and red-listed guys, would have the liberty to join a company that falls in the green category, as their employers would not have the power to stop them from transferring to another company. That leaves a smile on the face of the guy who was always working under constant threats from his employer. On the other hand you should be darn lucky to find yourself among the estimated 50% who would get a job in a green-listed company. So what happens to the other half? Packing their bags and preparing to go home earlier than planned? Not a good end for someone who has not yet achieved his goal in Saudi Arabia.
When is this going to come into effect? In two weeks. Waoh! That's pretty tough. Lets hope for the best. We pray that many Saudi employees will learn when it is time to come to work, and how to make the difference between working and sitting all day long drinking tea/coffee and/or smoking cigarettes during working hours.
Below, you will find the links to some companies that promote Saudisation:
For more information, see the Ministry of Labour Nitaqat programme. Please be informed that the information at present is given in the Arabic language only.
