Life here in Saudi...where do I start? I would say so far we have been adapting pretty well. We've made friends fairly quickly within the embassy and expat community. As for having Saudi friends it's been a little challenging, but I have made one girlfriend. Despite all the uprisings around us, Saudi still is a fairly safe country. Hopefully it stays this way here. I do find life at times to be a bit constricting and confined. In my opinion we tend to live in a bubble within the diplomatic quarters. We'll never really know how it feels to live among Saudi's. Especially since we're only here for 2 years.
The culture shock sneaks up on you very gradually here. It's not like moving to Guinea, Africa where it smacks you right in the face. Riyadh is fairly clean, it has many malls, shops, restaurants and activities. Most expats or government workers from abroad all live in very westernized compounds. In my opinion it's the confinements of living in compounds (which some people never leave during a tour), the segregation between men and women, women not being able to drive, and a few other nuances here and there that makes this a "hardship post".
Segregation starts with many functions being for only men or women. When you go to a restaurant there's the family section, where women and married couples can dine. Then there's a partitioned off section just for single males. Coffee houses, such as Starbucks, fast food joints are the exact same way; separate entrances for women and men. Some stores at the mall do not allow single men to enter, and during weekends single males may be banned all together from entering the shopping mall. Even at weddings the men and women have separate parties.
Driving is something I dearly miss. The freedom of going somewhere, when I want to go, and explore on my own term is complicated here. One, I depend on a male driver, which sounds nice, but it involves having to plan things in advance and coordinate around prayer times (5x a day), as well as pick up times for the kids at school. Two, even with Billy, I can not drive. I still depend on him to drive me around (which he doesn't mind). Third, there is no public transportation system. The only public transport they have are buses for the service workers who come by the hundreds here to work from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, etc...The "Muttawa", the religious police also make sure to enforce their rules. A couple times, I've been stopped for not wearing my headscarf. It feels a little weird having grown men not making eye contact with you and saying in a stern voice, “woman cover your hair”.
Even with all I've stated, I don't regret for a second in coming here, and I feel fortunate to be living abroad. I am discovering this place to be mysterious, intriguing, yet contradicting at times. The experiences I am gaining are priceless. Although it's not always easy, I find what works best for me is to not play into the comparison game. I also remind myself that I am in a different country and I am a guest here in the Kingdom. I use common sense and try to respect their beliefs. Despite the cultural and religious differences I still find people to be the same wherever I go. In general, most of us want: respect, health, food, shelter, love and happiness. Maybe I sound like a big hippie right now, but I believe what I say to be true.
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