When you visit Saudi Arabia

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

When you go to Saudi Arabia....

King Fahad bridge which connects between Bahrain and the East coast of KSA

so excited about changing scene..and looking forward to doing some shopping..and more window-shopping..

border takes around half an hour when no crowd is there, but at weekends if you risk going to KSA or coming to Kingdom of Bahrain you might take 2-3 hours :O

As you are so concentrated in one of the shops in a mall, beside trying to keep your children under your eyesight and control....

yes you can't see those faces..

suddenly, you are asked in a polite way to leave the shop, as they will be closing in few seconds for the prayer time...

So you find somewhere to sit and wait...and the roaming-non-praying guys enjoy staring at your uncovered face...

and you wait....

pictures of faces were not taken to protect mommy's identity and to remain anonymous to some degree (lol)

and wait....

and wait....

till you are rescued by one of the shopkeepers who finished off praying (or just smoking a cigarette which is so popular as it seems)..and opens the shop.....

and you are back...just make it fast so you won't be caught in the situation again...:D

Don't get me wrong, I love the principle behind stopping any work at prayer time...this also gives us shoppers the break to go and pray and remember our Creator...it is wonderful in general...I have to ramble about what I have experienced many many time..

And You still get cafes open and some restaurants to sit in if you are non-Muslim or just can't pray or will pray when you are back home during these closing hours..

I hate one thing; shops being opened at 10 am..and closed by 11:30 pm..and opened again at 4-4:30 pm..I can't see the sense behind the closing hours in the afternoon..I don't like shopping at night,,simply because my kids sleep early,, plus I don't like the over-crowded malls at night....

In general, I love the Saudi Market, so vast, contains everything of both West and East,, you can't leave there without finding what you want and even better than what you wanted..you can find anything you want whether you are looking for the cheap, moderate, or expensive designer products...Home/house designs and retailers are great as well...night gowns/party dresses are another thing...I can go on and on about the shopping there...

Moreover, the same shops can be in Bahrain or Oman or Dubai,, but well in Saudi their collection/stock is just different and other places' collection are way behind what you find there...!...So till my next visit to Dammam/khobar...etc...have a nice day :)

When I am thirty..

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم..

I am already thirty, I was thirty few days ago..a nice number but strange for me as I say goodbye to twenties..and hello to the decade of maturity and beauty..:)

That's why I thought, ONE post to write about myself. I still can remember when I was 21, 24, 25...I still feel young, and lucky I am as so many people say; I look young alhamdulilah..:), which of course as all women makes me feel good..:)

Ok...

I am Omani, from the beautiful Sultanate of Oman. I was born there, lived all my life there till the moment I received a scholarship to study abroad, and so just before I was eighteen, I went to Lovely Scotland. I spent 6 years there, Long time.I fall in Love with Scotland.

I've been married for a little more than 5 years alhamdulilah. I adore my hubby, and adore my kids, a boy and a girl. May Allah bless my family and all your families.

I am a qualified speech and language therapist, employed in Oman. I am passionate about my job, as I am with everything I love.I specifically enjoy (and good at) working with children.

I am an MBA (Masters in business administration) student at the moment , it has widened my thoughts and world alhamdulilah.

I am currently on a supposed long holiday but it is soon to finish. So I am in Bahrain with my family. I like the quiet life I have here.

I love reading. I am a real bookworm , have always been from a very young age.

I write a lot in Arabic, I write on everything and can write short stories alhamdulilah (in Arabic which is my first language and am passionate about this great language)

I am passionate about handcrafts, has always been but haven't done much to improve a once talent.

I am passionate about baking, specially since I had my first child.

I love my family so much, I miss living close by them. I think if you can you should better be close to your all loved once, we only live this life once.

I have many goals to achieve, I want to be my own boss and don't want to continue working for a sector. If I was able to achieve a goal I have, I'll tell you about it inshallah.

I speak besides Arabic and English, Swahili :)

I love travelling so much.

I can analyse to some extend personalities of people I meet.

I am thin, I have been thin since the age of four when I started to lose my childhood fat

I am a reflector, I can stay at night thinking of so many things, I can sit alone and just think

I am ambitious, but cautious

No one knows the real me till they talk to me, people judge me when they first see me in a way that is so different from the real me.

I love contemporary decoration/furniture

I am simple in my costumes

I love bukhour (Arabic incence?), henna (hand and feet painting), body creams and lotions and kohl (eye liners?).

I love sharing information with others.

I love exercising

I make lots of grammatical mistakes when I write a post in English, but I can cope better when I write an assignment, is it about the technical language I was initially introduced to when learning English!!

I can't think of anything else....except that I am thirty...:)..

Why do we read?

بسم الله الرحمــن الرحيم

Why do we enjoy reading what others write?

Why do we prefer some writing styles over others?

Why does our reading preferences defer depending on our moods/ what we are passing through/ our life stage?

I personally feel that we read because we can relate to our own experience/ our feelings and what we might not be able to express vocally or we need to know that there is someone like us. Sometimes we read a post/ article and we get emotionally so involved as if whatever is written there is directed towards us only. The happiness and sorrow in the written words touch us to the extend we cry or laugh.

We might be in distress or just came out of a devastated situation/relation or happily in love and so we get too attached to similar kind of stories or articles written by others.

We might be reading something out of a great passion of the specific issue/ subject/ matter, and so we don't notice any other books/articles/posts/stories

We might be reading on issues specific to the stage we are passing through. So for example if "A" is getting married soon she'll be reading anything to do with wedding preparations/ taking care of her skin or hair/ how to establish a successful life with your partner etc. If she is expecting a baby all her focus will be on pregnancy related issues. If a person is thinking of visiting a specific country he/she will be looking on information/books related to this issue. If a person was told at a hospital that he/she has some kind of problem, than he/she will be diving into information related to that condition.

If a person though is taking reading as one of his favourite hobbies, than reading will be part of his daily life when it is possible and reading might extend into different issues and topics.

To know each other

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

"O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female; and We have made you into tribes and sub-tribes that you may recognize one another. Verily, the most honourable among you, in the sight of Allah, is he who is the most righteous among you. Surely, Allah is All-knowing, All-Aware" (49-14).

Random thoughts

I've mixed feelings, feelings of guilt that I am not doing enough of everything I should do, sometimes I am not sure what I should do next.

I am a perfectionist I should admit, and this can be torture.

I can't even express how I feel exactly..

La Ilaha Ila Allah....

Some Respect IS appreciated

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم..

I have to take this out of my chest, it is annoying me.

I am talking about women, ladies who I see on daily basis when I go out here and almost all Middle Eastern Countries (well except Saudi Arabia) who have forgotten that they are in a still-conservative culture and Islamic country BUT still wear almost nothing to cover their bodies!!!!..

I am not talking about the normal thing that almost all women in the world wear, I am talking about seeing women dressed in shorts that barley cover their *** and transparent clothes that you know exactly how their underwear look like and you can tell the pattern on it!!..

I know that each person has the freedom to wear what they like , but respect is needed in any society. National women here don't alway cover from head to toe, actually most of them I noticed don't, but at least they put on clothing that you won't feel embarrassed looking at them.

I remember I saw signs in Dubai with a woman who had a cloth knee length, and in Oman I read once a book for tourists which encouraged them to wear something that won't go above their knees, but who is bothering to do so!!...

However, visit a mall or a market, and you'd see things that you wouldn't like your kids to look at, and when I take my boy to the school or pick him up and being an international school, I see different body shapes which leaves nothing for imagination.

We demand some respect of our religion, culture and tradition. Moreover, this might be considered cool in some cultures and lovely, but you don't know how bad a person wearing almost nothing can be seen in our culture. People won't wait to get to know the woman's personality and judge her on that!!!

Is it only me?

Do you feel sometimes you can do more than what you are doing, but something is keeping you away from doing so?

Do you stay up at night thinking about so many things, about your life, about how things can be or have been, about what you can do better..etc?

Do you plan on so many things, but just few of your goals are achieved..?

Do you always think of making a better YOU, a better surrounding, a better WORLD?

or is it only me??