In Finland this time of year (and for a very long time) it gets really dark, murky and gloomy. I haven't even seen the sun for four days and I'm already feeling depressed and out of energy. Everything is so expensive and has a tax on it! Just travelling around the country to other cities costs me almost as much as international airfare. Trains, buses and gasoline are ridiculously expensive. I went for coffee and paid 24 euros (117SAR) for a sandwich, coffee and water!
I've only been here for few days but have started to appreciate some things we take for granted in Saudi-Arabia. So I thought I'd compile a list of ten things I like about living in Saudi.
1. The sun!
The sun shines by default everyday of the year. It's easy to be in a cheerful mood and to keep energy levels up with so much sunshine. No need for me or the baby to take vit D supplements since we can have it naturally from the sunlight, which is much better anyways! Another thing I enjoy is sunbathing!
2. Inexpensive food
Groceries are so much cheaper in Saudi than for example in Finland or most western countries. Everything except the imported stuff is affordable and good quality. There are countless restaurants to choose from and most are very reasonably priced and eating out won't make a huge cut in your budget.
3. The desert
I just love going to the desert and to experience the absolute silence that falls upon you out there. That is where your soul rests. There's always something interesting out there to find and explore and it's so easily accessible.
Every neighborhood has a mosque or two and they are all look different. It creates a peaceful atmosphere hearing the athan (call for prayer) throughout the day, even inside shops and at the hospital.
5. Tax-free income
This is definitely a big plus too with obvious benefits!
6. Untouched places
There are not many places left in the world where tourists can find themselves the only people around. Saudi has plenty of historic sites, nature reserves and other places around the country that remain unspoiled. Elsewhere in the world tourists pay $$$ to find such places.
7. Women Only
Sometimes it works for your advantage, especially at the airport! Enables faster security checks, passing men in queues and so on. Ladies branches of banks are a breeze and it's nice to go to the gym or swimming pool and know for sure there's no slimy men lurking around! Also I've noticed as a woman it's perfectly fine to jump the line if there's no female section, nobody will dare protest a woman walking straight up to the counter.
8. Cheap Travel
Travel around Saudi and around the Middle-East is affordable. In the Kingdom the roads are mostly in very good condition and the petrol is almost free making driving around the country easy. Domestic flights and flights to neighboring countries are cheap.
9. Red Sea
I don't live on the coast, but just being so close to the Red Sea and being able to go to the beach or diving so easily makes for one of life's little luxuries. The Saudi side of the coast is still mostly untouched by mass dive tourism and reefs remain healthy and rich in marine life unlike the neighboring Egypt side.
Not all western influence is negative but some I'm glad we don't have to deal with in Saudi! Nightclubs, casinos and bars, what good do they really do for society anyway? They only cause trouble, fights, loss of income, even divorces and one night stands among other things! At least in Saudi you don't have to worry about your spouse going to the nightclub, having a second living room in the pub or gambling all the family savings ;)
Also, seeing how some teenage schoolgirls here in Finland were dressed today totally shocked me. They were coming from school, dressed in miniskirts and skimpy outfits (I swear one did not have pants on, just sheer leggings and a T-shirt) in full make-up and false eyelashes. They looked more like working girls than young innocent 13-year olds to me. This makes me feel glad that my daughter won't be exposed to a culture that views this as acceptable and objectifies young girls in this manner.
On the outside, there appears many positive things about KSA. Indeed, there are many positive things. Yet there is equal measure in all things. Take for example the cheap petrol: it is environmentally ruinous! Fuel subsidies mean that consumers are exceptionally wasteful.
ReplyDeleteAnd the sunshine is only a positive thing for Europeans. Most other countries in the world get good doses of sun :p
Living in Australia and never having actually visited a desert in my life, I'm actually looking forward to doing activities in Saudi which aren't common in Australia: picnics in the desert, dune buggies, etc.
But I have to say, the natural environment and old way of life in Saudi (such as the traditional village museums) are a big, big positive!
What a great reminder! People often times forget all of the benefits we have by living here.
ReplyDeleteWhen going back to Canada I cringe when filling up the car with gas, and seriously taxes on everything!
d one point i agree completely wid is abt mosques n azaan in saudi.
ReplyDeleteevrythin els in my understanding has a 'strings attached' footnote to it :)
If you think Finland is expensive, you should visit Norway. I think you'd be shocked! When I travel to Finland almost everything seems so cheap compared to Norway.
ReplyDeleteDefinetly a great reminder of things that are taken advantage of.... last I spoke with my mother who lives in America about gas prices....$3.49...I couldnt believe it....
ReplyDeleteSounds like the Finnish teenagers dress like British ones do... Couple of weeks ago I saw one girl wearing just leggings and a short jacket! I started to wonder that when did leggings become trousers? It basically looked if she had worn just tights- it looked really silly to me but maybe I'm too old to understand teenagers ;)
ReplyDeleteOne thing that really worries me raising my child in the UK is the drug problem they have here. Nearly everyone seems to be smoking cannabis and it's much more acceptable to use drugs here than in Finland (at least it was frowned upon when I was growing up in Finland).
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ReplyDeleteSorry, my comment was twice here, so I deleted the other :-)
ReplyDeletey3cob-thanks for the comment and welcome to my blog!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the point you raised about the fuel! They have never heard of driving in a manner to save petrol here :)
But I disagree about the sunshine only being a positive for europeans! Lots of ppl around the world other than in europe don't get as much sun as we do in Saudi..And I think the arabs should make more use of it since the ME has the highest rates of vit D deficiencies in the world, yet they have the most exposure to sun!
SO are you planning to move here soon?
Felicia-ya but that happens wherever people live, they start to take for granted what they have and long for things they don't have!
ReplyDeleteSadiya-lol but what strings would you say are attached to the unspoiled places and cheap travels?
ReplyDeleteHeli-Oh really! I didn't remember it was so expensive!
ReplyDeleteummaryam-yes it's good to remind ourselves every once in a while about these good sides :)
ReplyDeletePia-Exaclty leggings are the new trousers! It looks as if they are walking around in their underwear. I don't get parents! And don't they freeze?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know cannabis was so popular there, that's alarming! In Finland I guess its the alcohol..its like part of our culture so cannabis will never become as popular.
Aww, now you really made me want to go back to Saudi again (despite of the stories you told the other day...And it was great seeing you again!) :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! It must be wonderful to have sunshine all year round!
ReplyDeleteGeez I hope that sandwich was at least very very good, that sounds ludicrously expensive!
Unfortunately yes, the legging-as-pants thing has conquered the world...it looks terrible and I wish it would finally end :D Together with skinny jeans! :D
Whoa! It seems the muttawa have infiltrated this blog! Either that or some hardline pentecostal preacher!
ReplyDelete"Negative Western Influence" is defined as solely: Nightclubs, pubs, casinos. ("What good do these things do anyway?") *snort*
I have to question your methodology.
"Negative influences" may be better defined as: Illegal narcotics, red light districts, conmen & scam artists, street muggers, ripoff merchants in tourist strips.
Nightclubs, pubs & casinos serve on the other hand are all regulated & monitored legal activities.
One important function they serve is as a pressure release valve & consequently are a calming influence.
The Scandinavian model of binge drinking to excess & extreme may not be ... er... the best example of pub culture.
They are more usually the community meeting place, & the most common reason to enter one is for a relaxing conversation & a few drinks, in a convivial atmosphere.
Steve at the Pub-dude chill there has been no muttawa influence on this blog! As I said SOME of the negative influences..I did not define anything!!
ReplyDeleteYou mention scam artists and street muggers, and ripoff merchants as western influences, I disagree.
First of all, the ones doing these activities in western countries are mostly immigrants. The western countries got these influences from outside.
Second, non western countries such as Egypt,South Africa or Thailand are full of scam artists, ripoff merchants and street muggers. Just because western tourists are the targets it doesn't mean that it's a western influence right?
Anyways thanks for the comment I enjoy reading your thoughts and you're right about the Scandinavian style of pubbing is not the best example. But I still think it's better in the long run and considering all aspects to chill with friends at home than at the pub.
Cheers!
Soile-it was great seeing you too!
ReplyDeleteSylvia-I have the same wishes! I hate leggings they've always just looked like long underpants to me lol
ReplyDeleteHi Layla, hope you're enjoying your time home. I find it interesting that you mentioned about the vit d deficiency rate being among the highest in saudi. Is it because of the abaya? Doctors in the UK did report that muslim women there have insufficient vit d exposure especially due to hijab and coverings but I suppose it is expected since in winter we don't get much sun. A fraction (not sure the percentage) of women gave birth to babies with rickets. But in Saudi too? Do the doctors there make suggestions for the women to spend a fraction of time a day under the sun? Should not be a problem since the Saudis live in fortress-like homes (correct me if I am wrong). Having not enough sun exposure is a problem, not only for congenital rickets, but depressions among the women. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post. Excellant as always.
Sireh
@Steve at the Pub
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect, but that is your personal opinion. Not all people share the same values and find drinking, gambling and sexual promiscuity something "positive" in the society. One can find many, many other things that can work as "pressure release valve & consequently are a calming influence." as you put it. =)
//A.M
Don't Saudi women take of their abaya's in their own back-yard? I find it strange that so many of them suffer from vitimin D defeciency while living in such a sunny country.All the women in my family wear niqab, but we do get sun. I guess their culture will not allow them to take it of on empty beaches or at picnics when there are no strangers around.
ReplyDeleteSireh-Sorry for the late reply! Yes majority of Saudi women have vit D deficiency because of the covering and because thy dont fo out side at all in the daylight. they don't want to get tanned. Also not all homes have backyards, or they find it too hot, or there is nothing to do outside, just a concrete "box". Women who live in apartment buildings have it the worst! Saudi style homes sometimes don't even have windows that allow sunlight in!
ReplyDeleteI am lucky to at least have a balcony where I can suntan and swim with the baby and get my daily vit D intake from :)