Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Here are some photos from our Jeddah visit in December. These are all taken with my iPhone so don't expect anything of awesome quality.

Some of the traditional buildings in the historical district of Jeddah, the oldest dating back to the seventh century. Many buildings have fallen into disrepair and is sad to see how little the Saudi government is doing to restore the area. To the right in this picture is a building that has gotten a facelift, at least on the outside.

Walking through the historical district I felt lucky that I was not hit by an air conditioning unit, sattelite dish or other random object falling down from one of the half rotten wooden balconies.

My brother insisted on me taking a photo showing the price of the fuel. Not sure if I have posted one of these before. A litre of fuel costs 45 halalas, that's less than half a riyal. One riyal equals approximately 20 euro cents! Cheap as chips, cheaper than chips actually.

This can only end well

The OSN man, aka the cable guy, is here to fix us up with a few more TV-channels. At least that is the idea. This guy speaks mafi English (no English) and he has been on the phone with someone for a while now and I hear the word mushkil (problem) being repeated all too often.

If we end up with absolutely no TV channels at all, it's fine by me. It is my husband that will throw a tantrum :)

Have a lovely Monday everyone!

Taif, Saudi Arabia

When my family visited in December we decided to do some traveling in Saudi, rather than traveling somewhere else in the Middle East. We chose to travel to Jeddah and nearby Taif, mainly because we wanted something that was easily accessible and not too far off the beaten track.

Here are some photos from the area around Taif, a city in the mountains 2 hours drive from Jeddah.

One of the biggest attractions were, quite surprisingly, baboons. Maybe because all the water parks were closed.

The last few kilometres the road was anything but straight.

Lots of hazy weather because of the changes in temperature. Our woollen sweaters did get a good exercise while in Taif.

See the building immediately to the left of the bridge, that was our hotel. Do. Not. Recommend. It. If you wake me twice during the night just to check what time I want my breakfast the next morning, I will not be a happy camper!!!

I have a feeling Taif becomes overloaded with Jeddawis during the hotter summer months, hence all the water parks. Good for a one night stay I'd say, but not longer.

Pedal to the metal

 

So driving is off limits to women here in Saudi Arabia. I will not go on about the reasoning behind it and will not dwell on how I feel about it. Let me say that it is annoying and makes life a bit inconvenient (understatement of the year...)

 

So tonight I am speeding using a different sort of engine: my sewing machine. What can I say, you take what you can get after a while. Here I'm working away on some doll blankets for my neighbours daughter.

 

I guess I could have used a cutesy, girly fabric, but instead I went with bright, bold and, quite frankly, annoying. This is a pillowcase that is now being repurposed, because I just can not live with a king bed that is covered in this pattern. What you see in this shocking quality photo is actually the least migraine inducing part of the fabric.

 

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Eid Mubarak & Hajj Mabrour

We are back from an experience of a lifetime. We have performed Hajj, alhamdulillah.

I will come back with some pictures and some tales from our week. But right now I am gearing up for a quick trip to Finland to pick up our daughter who has spent the lat fortnight in my parents' care.

Meanwhile we can only hope and pray that our Hajj was accepted, or as they say in Arabic : Hajj Mabrour.

Makkah revisited

Last weekend we spent in Makkah. It was my first visit in nearly two years and it was the first visit for our daughter. It was a great weekend that was over way too soon!

 

 

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Surprise three day weekend

Saudi Arabia has finally come to its senses and decided that weekends will be on Friday and Saturday, rather than Thursday and Friday. It was something that had been speculated about for long, but such changes can take long to put into action. Or not, the change was announced with 6 days notice and just two days before the start of the weekend it was decided that this weekend will be a three day weekend. 

So swift can decision making be when not living in a democratic country!

Welcome June!

Summer is well and truly here. You could also say that the roasting season is on. Yesterday it was 41,5 degrees in the shade!!! And it will get hotter...

Sommaren och grillsäsongen är här! Men här i Saudiarabien får man vara beredd på att själv bli grillad om man rör sej utomhus mitt på dagen. Igår hade vi det 41,5 grader varmt - i skuggan. Och ännu är det inte den hetaste tiden på året!

The 4 hour nap solution

Feed baby, put baby in car seat, take a four hour road trip (in hour case Riyad to Al Khobar). Be amazed and thankful for sudden gift of sleep.

Ponder about that ferris wheel in the middle of the desert halfway between Dammam and Riyad.

Morfadern, babyn och havet

Nu just saknar jag min familj jättemycket och det är i stunder som denna som man undrar varför man tyckte det var en så briljant ide att flytta utomlands. Men jag vet av erfarenhet att känslan kommer att gå över. I väntan på det så dricker jag finskt kaffe och bläddrar igenom fotona jag tog när min familj var här.

At the moment I am missing my family a lot, I find myself wondering (again) why I chose this life as an expat. But this too shall pass. In the meanwhile I am drinking Finnish coffee and browsing the photos taken during my family's visit.

Mina föräldrar fick uppleva strandlivet a la Saudarabien
My parents got to experience beach life Saudi style

Baby Valentine

Personally I do not mark Valentine's day in any specific day. In Saudi Arabia anything Happy Valentine related is forbidden. I have even heard off the religious police snipping off the flowers of a bouquet of roses that a neighbour's husband had bought for her!

But I could not resist this baby onesie from Gap. Let's hope that the religious police do not strip her off her shirt ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful day, whether you celebrate Valentine's Day or not!

Madame Helsinki and Big Boss

These were the nick names given to my parents by the waiter at the restaurant we visited tonight.

Both are enjoying their time here and our warm Saudi winter combined with the pool in our compound is a huge hit!

Victory, even if it's a small one

Dealing with red tape is frustrating in any country, but in Saudi Arabia it is especially challenging. Just before Christmas we lodged the application for my family to come to Saudi Arabia for a visit. Getting this approval can some times be very quick, just a couple of days. But sometimes the process is long, usually for no particular reason at all. Unfortunately my family's application was subject to the latter.

But after having gotten all the right stamps (you need a lot of them over here, the more the better it seems...) in the right places and having resubmitted some of documents (this happens all the time, I guess they just cant be bothered looking for the paper so they ask you to give it to them again) we now have the government issued invitation letter in hand!

So now all that remains is for my family to trot over to the embassy in Finland, submit their applications with a wad of supporting documents, be willing to depart with some money and THEN a visitors visa should be granted. If all goes well they all be here in one months time. Can. Not. Wait.

EY141

Greetings from Toronto! It may "only" be a 14 hour flight from the Middle East, but it does get interesting when you add an infant to the mix. An infant that feels that sleep is unnecessary because she much rather charm the socks of the flight attendants and our fellow passengers.

So we landed in Canada with bloodshot eyes and a broken suitcase. We also rubbed shoulders with some Saudi royals during the flight (my husband quite literally as he was sitting next to the young prince), but they were traveling so low key that we only realized as we were getting off the plane!

Here comes the the rain again

This is the second time in a week that we are getting some rain, that deserves mentioning on the blog! Today's rain was just a drizzle, but it did cause our gardener to abandon our backyard where he had been busy digging his way to China in order to fix a broken pipe.

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Idag kom den andra regnskuren på en vecka, något av ett mirakel i denhär delen av världen. Det var egentligen bara en mycket lätt skur, men likväl ansåg trädgårdsmästaren att det var bäst att avbryta reparationen av det brustna vattenröret.

Reality bites

Ever since our daughter was born (and before that even) I have had the privilege of being surrounded by family, both my in-laws as well as my own parents. needless to say that they have helped tremendously with cooking, laundering, nappy changing, cleaning, baby sitting. Whatever I have asked for, they have been there to help.

Now I am back in Saudi Arabia you could say that reality is kicking in with a vengeance. Not only is the family support gone, but I have also become a part time single mother. Let me explain why.

My husband is working on a large scale project here in Saudi Arabia and his primary place of work is located some three hours drive from where we live. Up until now my husbands office has been located off site, which meant that he only had to drive 10 minutes to get to work! But now all that has changed and my husband is now living part time in the middle of the Saudi desert. He will be home for 3 or 4 nights a week, but it goes without saying that getting used to this new living arrangement will take some time to get used to.

Meanwhile I am grateful for all the help that I have received so far, thank you all for all that you have done!

Jag är nyss hemkommen till Saudiarabien och måste erkänna att det känns som om jag är tvungen att acklimatisera mej på nytt igen. Under de senaste sex månaderna har jag haft så gott som konstant sällskap omkring mej i form av min svärfamilj och mina egna föräldrar. Dom har alla hjälpt mej otroligt med allt som kan tänkas, tvätt, matlagning, städning, blöjbyten, barnvaktning och en massa annat. Närhelst jag har behövt det har hjälpen funnits till hands!

Nu är det andra bullar som gäller, jag har nämligen blivit ensamstående mamma på deltid. Innan nån nu börjar undra, så ska jag förklara vad jag menar.

Min man jobbar nämligen med ett storskaligt projekt som betyder att hans huvudsakliga arbetsplats ligger mitt i öknen, tre timmars bilväg från var vi bor. Hittills har hans kontor tillfälligt funnits bara ett par kilometer från vårt hem, men det gäller alltså inte mera. Min man kommer att vara hemma 3 eller fyra nätter i veckan, men resten av tiden så kommer jag och lilltjejen att vara på tumis. Jag håller fortfarande på att vänja mej vid själva tanken, förhoppningsvis så vänjer jag mej så småningom när man börjat komma in i nån sorts rutin med vardagen.

Samtidigt tänker jag med tacksamhet på all den hjälp som har erbjudits mej hittills, tusen tack alla!

Translating Arabic English to English

I am on the phone with the appointment desk at our hospital, making an appointment for our daughter's 4 month check up. We have already settled on the date and the time when the person on the oder end says "Forfakseen?". From the tone I can hear that it is a question, but I am struggling to understand, so I ask him to repeat it. "For fakseen?" he says, now I know he says "for" something, but what on earth is a fakseen?! My puzzlement is obvious, because without asking he says "For fakseen or just check up?" That's when the light in my head finally switches on "Yes, it is for her vaccines" I say.

Although I lived over here for well over a year and I dealt with persons of Arabic origin for years before that, the accent when they speak English is still something that I am struggling with sometimes!

Parking the camel

You know the expression "driving like a woman" (I hate it, many women drive better than men I think), it should be replaced with "driving like a Saudi". Seriously, these guys don't even know how to park their camels cars!

En Saudi chaufför visar upp hur man parkerar en kamel bil. Det lokala sättet att köra lämnar mycket att önska, dethär är det minst trafikvådliga överseendet... Uttrycket "kvinna vid ratten" (som jag för övrigt hatar) skulle kunna ersättas med "saudier vid ratten" !

Passport update

Since a few weeks ago we have in our possession this, our daughter's Australian passport. We have also gotten her Saudi residency permit as well as exit & re-entry visa (yes, over here you need a separate visa in order to leave and re-enter the country...) sorted so we are most definitely good to go!

As you might remember, the passport photo caused some headache, you can read about that here. In the end I managed to get a bunch of decent photos of our little girl, but I was still worried that the Australian authorities might find something to complain about... I breathed a huge sigh of relief when we received the passport!

Not much longer until it's time to pack the bags!

Vi har haft framgång med vår dotters passansökan, vi har faktiskt haft hennes pass i några veckor ren. Under den tiden har vi dessutom fått hennes uppehållstillstånd och ut- och inresevisum för Saudiarabien beviljade. De älskar all sorts byråkrati här, och för att göra livet lite svårare för alla utlänningar krävs ett skilt in- och utresevisum för att man ska kunna lämna landet...

Själva passfotot orsakade lite huvudbry, jag berättade om det här, men till slut så lyckades jag få ett antal vettiga foton tagna. Men man vet ju aldrig hur dom australiensiska myndigheterna tänker, så jag drog en stor lättnadens suck när vi äntligen fick passet i handen!

Nu är det snart dags att börja packa väskorna! Jag som älskar att hata allt som har med packande att göra!

Madina

I find Madina to be a magical city, there is some sort of serenity in the air that gives peace to both mind and soul. I feel very blessed to have been able to visit this holy city. Never mind that I always fall sick whenever I travel there. Here are some photos of our visit during Ramadan and Eid.

För mej är Medina en magisk stad, det ligger en sorts lugn över staden och det stillar både själ och hjärta. Att kunna besöka Medina är ett otroligt privilegium, men jag har en tendens att alltid bli sjuk under min vistelse (så också denhär gången). Här är några bilder från vårt senaste besök under Ramadan och Eid.

I have a thing for minarets
Jag älskar minareter

One of the doors to the Prophet's Mosque
En av dörrarna till Profetens Moske

Midnight
Midnatt

A duo that turned a lot of heads
Domhär två drog till sej många blickar

Eid prayers - us and a million others
Eid-bönen - vi och en miljon andra människor