Being a lady living in Riyadh

Welcome to the club, I have been in Saudi for a year & have not be able to live the life I was used to it back in the States. But I have to respect the life of this country they have rules & I must adhere to it. I usually go to compound calls Sahara for my shisha, it is a change of scenery, so you are welcome to join us any time.

alina_comanici wrote:

Hello everyone,

My name is Alina, I am new in Riyadh. Coming from an open country, is very difficult for me to be here. Please if anyone can help me with some information about at least a compound where i can kill my free time...i am so depressed, i don t know anyone here..it is horrible.
Please if you cand help me somehow do it

alina_comanici wrote:

Hello everyone,

My name is Alina, I am new in Riyadh. Coming from an open country, is very difficult for me to be here. Please if anyone can help me with some information about at least a compound where i can kill my free time...i am so depressed, i don t know anyone here..it is horrible.
Please if you cand help me somehow do it

I guess there is not much you can do to compare your life in here than the one in Romania (although I know some romanians who do not like it there too)...
I am sure you will socialize with your colleagues at work, just a matter of time and they will invite you to some get together etc. Give it a time and you will enjoy the life here to a certain extent. be buna :-)

Cheers

Welcome to Riyadh,

the city really do not offer so much entertainment and for a woman it might be even harder. Therefore you really should go the compounds. There you can move more freely. It is good to go to Ranco Compound on Wednesdays, but you will need a sponsor. At Nadj Compound there is a restaurant, which is open every day. Unfortunately my compound is nice but small. Therefore there are not so many social events although they have the facilities.  Also you can register at your embassy. Than you might receive invitations to social events. I go to a shisha place at Dammam Road from time to time with some colleagues, but so far I have only seen men there so I think it is not open for woman unless there is a "family" section I have not found yet.

Bests,
Andreas

@Alarabb: You can smoke Shisha at Sahara Compound? Is it good? And where is it?

It is on Olyah road next to the two towers are being build. It is not that hard to find, & for the quality well it is good for been the only place in town.

hey Alina
well being depressed in the beginning is definitely normal trust me but over time you will come to accept the lifestyle and find that it's actually not too bad.
as for entertainment, well, there is none. lol
my only suggestion to making friends is 1. if you work, then get to know your colleagues and slowly but surely they will invite to you every now and again. 2. if you dont work and are here with your husband then they regularly hold 'coffee mornings' and your compound bus takes you to other compounds and lots of women gather and socialise. it may seem daunting at first not knowing anyone on the bus but trust me, its hard not to acquaint yourself with them and you'll be friends with the women in your compound in a matter of minutes!
apart from that there arent many opportunities to know people unless you take the initiative.

i was born in australia but my background is romanian :p and i know a few romanian families here but dont keep in touch that often. but im sure they would be more than happy to get to know  you!.. try ringing the romanian embassy and just ask for the numbers of a few of them

Life in Saudi Arabia..

I keep repeating this line "sun, sand and a lot of Oil!", because well apart from that there is very little else. This desert makes you to adapt and slow down to a totally different rhythm. Things happen at its own pace, and slowly but surely you get used to it. Been in this country for nearly 15 years now, and I still sometimes dont understand how things get done!

Make contacts, because thats the only thing that will help you keep your sanity!

I also would like to meet people here. I have a few friends but it is always a struggle to find something fun to do. We finally had some luck and got into this party at the French Embassy taking place this Thursday....the only way to have fun in this city is through embassy parties, compounds, and desert trips. Anyways I am always down to make friends, read my profile and if you like what you see, add me

ayham.albaghdadi wrote:

We finally had some luck and got into this party at the French Embassy taking place this Thursday....

oh my gosh, i want to go! lol

ayham.albaghdadi wrote:

the only way to have fun in this city is through embassy parties, compounds, and desert trips.

...that sums it up pretty well lol

Alina, you will find slower pace here then around other countries... Just pick up hobby, relax make friends and enjoy some down time as well.  Having been in USA, when I came here i was very bored, but now I am enjoying to free time, slow pace here.. caught up on my reading, meditating and blogging   now looking to meet new people and enjoy the local area.
I did like to visit some compound and enjoy events there, however I am living off compounds now.

yazi.malik wrote:

meditating

KSA is great for this one in particular. I do that too sometimes... at work!

MadMaz wrote:

KSA is great for this one in particular. I do that too sometimes... at work!

i will be passing this information onto your boss

Simona L wrote:

MadMaz wrote:

KSA is great for this one in particular. I do that too sometimes... at work!

i will be passing this information onto your boss

actually the work is the perfect place here to meditate.... there's not much to do there  hahaha

Simona L wrote:

i will be passing this information onto your boss

No candy for you Simona! bad bad girl

Trust me Embassy parties are the only entertainment available where you will feel like in your homeland.

ayham.albaghdadi wrote:

We finally had some luck and got into this party at the French Embassy taking place this Thursday....

You are lucky!!! Have some fun! My boss these days got invited to the german embassy but I think someone will notice that I am not him *g*

MadMaz wrote:

No candy for you Simona! bad bad girl

my mum told me to never talk and accept candy from strangers. so, your candy is none of my concern mr..

yazi.malik wrote:

actually the work is the perfect place here to meditate.... there's not much to do there  hahaha

dont worry, ill find you and MadMaz a more appropriate job then since meditating seems to be a bother for you :p

This thread is going , can you return on the initial topic discussion please.

Yud wrote:

This thread is going , can you return on the initial topic discussion please.

noone is stopping you from initiating discussion about the topic rather than insisting it be discussed yud.

@simona: you wouldnt want to p*ss yud off now?

@yud: Alina who initiated this thread has disappeared!! guess that means we can have all the fun!

@all: entertainment in saudi arabia for those without embassy party passes-- I am drawing a blank.

maybe someone can set up some party.  I remember when I was living in Saudi City Compound in Jeddah, we use to hold one dish parties at the pool.  I don't knw if anything like this goes on around here.
We use to have some music, musical chairs game and few other fun activities...

Simona L wrote:

yazi.malik wrote:

actually the work is the perfect place here to meditate.... there's not much to do there  hahaha

dont worry, ill find you and MadMaz a more appropriate job then since meditating seems to be a bother for you :p

actually if you do come across any good opportunity that will also sponcer, holla at me 

@yazi: pool parties in Saudi? hmm...

yazi, the best way to ensure that you get to a pool party is to organise one yourself.
Because I can only invite 10 people onto my compound at once I would rather invite the people that I have met.

Enjoy.

Simona L wrote:

Yud wrote:

This thread is going , can you return on the initial topic discussion please.

noone is stopping you from initiating discussion about the topic rather than insisting it be discussed yud.

Whoa, Simona, that's a strike 1 for sure! Yud was correct to caution the 'off topic' and RedGoblin's approach much more appropriate in response. There is no need to:nothappy: be hostile here:)

thanks gowiththeflowUK for keeping up with the forum strike tally and clearing that up....

Take it easy guys... Don't you know I love you all?!

This is to Simona.. you are such trouble maker, i would like you from your side to start MF group in Riyadh for social events. You are so good at it second of all I posted a reply to " Being a lady living in Riyadh" I think if I am not mistaken this post was created by a men under the primitive of been a women.

gowiththeflowUK wrote:

Simona L wrote:

Yud wrote:

This thread is going , can you return on the initial topic discussion please.

noone is stopping you from initiating discussion about the topic rather than insisting it be discussed yud.

Whoa, Simona, that's a strike 1 for sure! Yud was correct to caution the 'off topic' and RedGoblin's approach much more appropriate in response. There is no need to:nothappy: be hostile here:)

But a general question: Why is it considered by the to be a problem if a discussion changes the direction? I do not see the point. (and this might be off-topic too So just to be on the secure side let me add, the activity I would recommend for today would be a swimming outside *g*)

@Alarabb1: No need to diss mate. Take it all in good humor.

@simona: Trouble maker? hehehe.. Does he know something I dont?

@yud: You have to check alarabb1 up mate. something is just not right.

@gowwiththeflowuk: The topic has become kinda redundant, since the initiator disappeared