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What is the consensus of the most difficult transition for expat women moving to Saudi and living there?

Public Comments

1. sexual harassment. If you are light skinned, wear gloves. I've seen women literally getting followed, sexual remarks yelled from cars and worst of all a Masjid al haraam cop grab a palestinian womans butt and give her an evil smile. Mintee, nice fake answer. And what will you say to her when she does see how perverted men are here? What will you say if she actually gets harmed due to you telling her lies? You going to admit to her that you're a liar and trying to make Saudi look like jannah?
2. I completely disagree with ME's answer.. I am a white skinned green eyed american-saudi.. and Ive never been harrassed ANY time here.... In fact.. I have a couple of gal pals that are african americans married to saudi's and they seem to get more attention than I.. When they go out not veiled like normal saudis, people assume cause of their dark skin they are arab and fuss at them for not covering, till they open their mouths and fuss back that they are american... ... I dont wear a face veil... I tend to wear just a light scarf.. I dont like the whole cover garb that traditionals wear.. but no one bothers me.. I think its all in how you conduct yourself and the persona you give off while in public.. I dont flaunt myself when out.. but back to the question at hand.. My only problem ive ever had, is learning to live with out driving.. Sure ive really had no problem hailing a taxi, taking a bus, or finding a driver.. There has always been someone to take me where I want.. but I miss the time when i lived in USA that if i had a mexican craving at midnight, I could hop in my own car, run to the store and get what I wanted at my own whim.. that I do miss.. ... Although when i was pregnant here in Saudi, my husband was a dream.. he did do a couple of midnight runs for me just to keep me happy!... ^_^
3. it depends on you actually. and your cultural values. i know alot of blond, white skinned blue eyes women who were not harrased before here in SA. and it also depends, where u wanna go? who ur hanging out with? and mostly, what do u do? speaking of reality, any one in any country who act funny will be treated funny no matter how u look or dress like. also, any one in any country who acts respectful, humble and cheerful will always be treated the same regardless of look, gender or dress. Saudi arabia is a peaceful country. its a place to settle. pick an urban city to live in, pick your neighbors and be happy. as for cultural differences, u'll get used to them. sure this country has loads of problems. but then again, i dont believe there is a place that doesnt have problems.
4. i'm an american woman living in saudi. i haven't had any major problems, except with egyptian men who get too flirtatious with me when they find out my nationality. i don't cover my face, and i never get any rude comments about it. unlike the other female who answered... i don't mind not driving a car here. drivers in saudi either do not care about basic traffic laws, or they just don't know how to drive. the roads here are a nightmare. the biggest headache for me was going through the visa and iqama process. after that, everything was fine.
5. yo sup LMAO those answers based on skin color and eye-color are funny, even tho i never been there i would suggest u not to pay attention to those ridiculous claims.. if ur married to a saudi i dont think there are much problems moving there. but as i said before and i will say again u wont be expecting to live a normal life there.(if ur a normal lady) but even if u choose to move there, the hardest tthing will probably be adapting to radical islamic culture which can be impossible(unless u turn into a radical urself)....pretty surprised nobody here mentioned that... peace out!@
6. hi! i dont find women safety hre in saudi.atleast not in riyadh-the capital city. i've to lower my gaze all the time coz' i find men wink a lot hre when they see women. i completely follow purdah(veil) but i find men touching me many times wantedly. ALLAH IS WATCHING EVERTHING & PEOPLE R SURELY GON'NA PAY BACK FOR WHAT THEY DO ON THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT. all r not bad & vice versa.be it saudi or any other place in the world.women r not safe
7. depends if you ask a muslim or a non-muslim. For a non-muslim, covering is probably hard. Also, they may feel out of place and get stared at by everyone. I wear niqab, but my eyes are blue, and I know some people keep looking at my eyes (men and women), and my baby looks 100% saudi, so I think they're really confused, lol. I honestly don't mind people staring at me, but I am covered, so they aren't going to see much anyway. People also look at us because we speak in English, but I am covered like a Saudi. I've never been harassed or touched by any men. I do feel uncomfortable when shopping in some stores because the workers are all men, and sometimes they follow you around the store and it's a little freaky...especially when you want to look at undergarments. I think most women miss driving. Sometimes I miss driving, but it's not that bad.