I noticed that a post on one of my favorite subjects, the Saudi religious police, was long overdue. "Muttawa" is actually the third most popular search word that lands people on Blu...
the second you step outside you feel as if youve walked into a convection oven.you at the same time dread and wish for a gush of wind or even a breezethat gush of wind feels like someone is blasting ...
A colleague I used to work with recently asked me, dont I miss work? My first reaction was yes in a way I do miss it. I miss the patients mostly. I miss interaction with them and the opportunity of m...
We often hear people say the word "cant" when talking about Saudi women.This time Im very happy to say oh yes they CAN.Climb Mount Everest that is!A campaign called "A Womans Journey: Des...
Many expats find themselves worrying about their arrival to the Kingdom. The first flight into Saudi-Arabia and the initial shock experienced at the airports can be eased a bit by this simple guide!C...
I find myself missing my family, friends and my country a lot lately. Its been a while since I was last there (well ok 5 months..but still). I make sure to go to Finland every summer b...
Few weeks ago at a friends house we were watching a program that discusses social issues in Saudi-Arabia. I had actually never watched the program before since my understanding of Arabic is not that ...
In response to the line cutting post I was asked by a Finnish reader to write about an example of a very good behavior or a nice deed I witnessed by a Saudi. So I thought of writing a few r...
The first part of the Saudi wedding experience post left us foreigners still sitting at the table in amazement of the goings on. Read that post here.The main event of the Saudi weddings is of course ...
Ive said it before I will say it again. Most Saudis dont know what a queue, also known as a line is.Other foreign concepts include (but are not limited to):Standing in a line.Queuing.Waitin...
Apologies for being away form the blog so long. But I had a good excuse! We were finally able to move into our new place in the Diplomatic Quarters in Riyadh. For the move we were planning to hire a ...
I meant to post this on Tuesday as the Tuesday Ten but what stopped me was the move from hell which we experienced this week! On Tuesday I was sleeping on the floor while the beds and foods were bein...
Its my pleasure to introduce you to an expat nurse and friend of mine who worked in Riyadh for a few years. Her memories from Saudi are positive despite some negative incidents that oc...
Ive noticed myself pretty annoyed lately. Lots of stuff going on last week. Some things in Saudi just tip off my irritation. Im going to have to rant to let some steam out. If youre easily offended a...
So I attended my first big wedding party (walimah) here in Riyadh! What an amazing experience!Weddings are the most important social gatherings in Saudi. Often costing hundreds of thousands of riyals...
One of the advantages to living in the Middle-East and Saudi-Arabia is the travel opportunities it opens. Many places become geographically closer for the expats coming from the Americas, E...
Every once in a full moon I get hate mail or just hateful comments on the blog. I guess its normal. Haters gonna hate.Naturally there will be people who will disagree on what I write or how I view th...
This Tuesday Ten will be a light-hearted post to balance out the recent heavy topics that have been discussed on Blue Abaya :)I got this meme from a fellow Finnish expat blogger Heli who currently re...
Heres a list of some suggested activities for those in Riyadh this March.1. Visit the International Riyadh Book Fair. The fair starts 6th March and runs through the 16th, open daily from 10 am to 10 ...
A while ago I wrote about Saudi men and the pressure some feel to perform in the bedroom. Check it out here: http://blueabaya.bl ogspot.com/2011/09/saudi-men-a nd-pressure-to-perform.htmlIn the ar...
The Princess Souq! Sounds like a souq for princesses right? Glamour, glitter and gorgeous gowns?N ot exactly.This is actually a second hand souq located near to Batha the infamous "ghett...
Who is the whitest of them all?A fair complexion equals beauty in many cultures around the world. In Saudi-Arabia white is definitely the preferred skin tone for both men and women. But like most thi...
Believe it or not this is an actual question I get asked every once in a while.Expat nurses often ask me about some strange habits Saudis have and odd stuff they saw patients doing. I guess bein...
My first experience fro m Saudi wedding make-up was when a colleague of mine showed me her wedding picture album. My jaw dropped! WHOA! Girl literally had painted rainbows on her e...
Theres so many events going on this February I thought of dedicating a post to it on its own in addition to the Events tab I regularly update. Too many things going on this month not to be ...
My mother recently visited us in Saudi and we wanted to show her as much as we could of the country so we decided to go on a road trip around Southern Saudi-Arabia. What an awesome way to e...
Im still sort of shocked about this! Almost choked on my chai when blogging buddy Susie of Arabia told me about it.Blue Abaya has been chosen as one of the five finalists for the best Asian weblog (i...
Last week I wrote about the lack of green values in Saudi-Arabia you can read the post here:http://blueabaya.blogspot .com/2012/01/recycling-saudi-v alues.htmlI promised to post some tips on how to eas...
Sometimes I like to check which Google searches bring people to my blog. The all time most searched have been (after blog name) jalabiya, muttawa, camels and desert rocks. Interesting.But once i...
Recycling, preserving the environment, conservation and green thinking are all mostly alien terms in Saudi-Arabia.Wasting, exploiting the environment, littering and materialism are the way ...
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