National blog posting month is over! They say it takes 3 weeks of doing something continuously before it becomes a habit. After 30 days of daily posting let’s see if my daily blogging will continue. Of course I will be taking a week off for Hajj when I won’t have email access at all- my [...]
Posts from ‘November, 2008’
Pedestrian right of way
The way people around here cross the street says a lot about them. Generally speaking:
Arabs (especially in thobes) will saunter across the street and expect traffic to stop for them
Desis (Indian, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis) scurry across streets ensuring they do not get hit
Asians (Philippino, Malaysians, Indonesians) wait for traffic to pass before they walk across roads
The [...]
Qutb
Saudi Arabia recently removed two books related to Qutb from it’s school libraries. One is written by him, and one is apparently about him. Extremist ideas and deviant ideology is the given reason. IT’S ABOUT TIME SOMEONE PAID ATTENTION!!
Many Muslims consider Qutb’s writings to be the bastion of Islam without care or worry. They encourage [...]
sanctity of marriage
In today’s crazy world of changing standards, double standards and no standards marriage as an institution has come under “attack”. The following two articles in yesterday’s news made my head spin. Both stories are about the same action, one done for lack of love, and the other one done for the sake of love.
Links to [...]
Arab music videos
While channel surfing through our free line-up (we do not have cable) I discovered Melody Arabia. I have not seen music videos for more than 15 years (not since high school, with the exception of “fix you” by coldplay on youtube 2 years ago). Let me just say it has been a surprise… no a [...]
Saudi Royalty- 2
Saudi nationals are very protective of their King and tend to treat the royalty with a lot of reverence. My disclaimer up front is that I am NOT doing any royal-bashing, I am simply trying to get a handle on the governance structure of this place (and history).
The next table lists the wives of King [...]
of gold and glitter- 2
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
by J.R.R. Tolkien
The most common complaints that one hears from expats are the following:
Nothing to do but shopping
Nothing to do but socializing
Inability to drive
Censorship of materials
Being forced to wear [...]
of gold and glitter – 1
All that glisters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath sold
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms enfold.
by William Shakespeare
The middle east as a whole is infamous for work environments that are toxic, highly political and ethically challenged. KSA is no exception. The money draws people in and [...]
Typealyzer
For all the Myers- Brigg fans and critics amongst us, the Typealyzer web-site analyzes the author of a blog based on their writing.
The results for my blog (not at all what Myers- Brigg says I am on regular tests):
The analysis indicates that the author of http://ruhsa.wordpress.com is of the type:
ISTP – The Mechanics
The independent and [...]
Questionnaire
I received this questionnaire on my blog yesterday. It would be great if everyone could help out. Responses should be sent to n.alrajhi(at)gmx(dot)com
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A westerners experience in Saudi Arabia is a research project I’m doing for my ENG writing class as a investigative report at my Uni in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I was hoping you can [...]
