Anyone have experience living in Jeddah Saudi Arabia?

[lynn]

Tell me about it.   Where do you find the proper clothing to be able to leave the American compound?  Do women and girl have to be completely covered or just the head?  

 

The info I am finding just shows life on the compoung and they have a library,  a swimming pool, and if I read the right blog a starbucks so I'm good with it.  Waiting for dh to come home with other info and website to research.

 

Can you order thing from Amazon or does family have to send things?  Are the schools good on American Compounds or should I continue  homeschooling?

 

 

[lynn]

good gravy

 

That sounds like it would be quite an adventure.

 

I don't think we'll go.  Just wondering if we do decide to what about.....

 

 

 I wish it were Australia or England or Brazil

[prairiewindmomma]

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[Kate in Arabia]

My in-laws lived there for 30+ years, and I visited regularly (at least once a year) for the past ten years.  They aren't American, so they didn't live in an American compound nor did dh and his sisters go to American schools, so I can't help you there.  An aside, my youngest sil dropped out of her high school there one year in and completed her diploma at home using the American School; she eventually went to a grad school in London, so that path worked for her.  Just fyi. :)

 

About going around the city, it was not terribly unusual to see western women wearing an abaya but not a headscarf.  My feeling of Jeddah is that it is more open than other cities.  If you're talking about books, there is a major bookstore chain (al-Jarir) that carries a good amount of English books and also craft supplies, etc.  I also know of an education supplies store in Jeddah, if you end up there let me know and I'll get you the info. 

 

I don't have extensive knowledge, but I do know there are some expat groups and if they are anything like the ones I'm involved with here, if you can get hooked into one (most have online group pages) you can find a lot of things -- books, furniture, etc. -- that people are selling; there tends to be a good amount of fluctuation in expat communities, people constantly coming and going.  Just yesterday I bought a carload of garden pots for a good price that someone was selling because they're moving next month, kwim?

 

We can get Amazon shipped here, but the shipping costs are generally prohibitive (to me).  I use eBooks where I can, there are a couple of international online bookstores that I hear ship for free, but I have never used them and don't know for sure they deliver to KSA.

 

Really, your best bet imo (assuming it moves forward) is to scout out online expat groups for Jeddah...

 

hth!

[Firefly]

Riyadh, not Jeddah, but I can answer some of your questions.  I lived there from 1982-1989 so it is going back a while.  Western women wore long dresses (mumu-esque ;)) over regular clothes.  The dresses covered ankles and wrists.  Wearing hair up was encouraged, but no we didn't have to be completely covered up.  The dresses were actually very pretty, in lots of different Indian print/batik patterns, and available at various shops around the city.

 

There is one large school in Riyadh (RICS- Riyadh International Community School)... that's where all the Western kids went, whether they were from the US or Sweden or anywhere else-- didn't matter.  It only went up to 9th grade, and after that most kids went off to boarding school (I went to one in London).  We'd come home for holidays and summer break.  I'm not sure what the situation is like with schools in Jeddah though.

 

I can't help with the Amazon thing, since it didn't exist back then. ;)

 

I wouldn't trade my experiences living there for anything in the world.  It is a beautiful place, with warm, hospitable people who are eager to share their culture with Westerners.  And that culture is so different from our own.  Yes there were things about it I didn't like, but overall it was an extremely positive experience.  

 

Good luck with your adventure!