to be fair though, there were positive aspect to living there, and in a number of ways I do cherish memories of time spent with friends--especially at Eid invitations and also with friends I made at school. It's a shame though that I wasn't able to maintain contact with many of them since returning to the US.

gosh, i remember hearing stories about Mutawwas--in Riyadh! As for my own personal experience: I didn't appreciate too much the way they walked around town carrying canes proding people about prayer.

Though I've heard in more recent years that the authorities have cracked down on them b/c of the tendency of their actions to reflect poorly on the country.

Its the better way..

Have had some great cherished moments out there...learnt a lot.. still is 'home' for me somehow and I love the kingdom anyways.

THE END.

its the better thing to do...

have some great cherished memories down there..learnt a lot.. still is 'home' somehow and I love the kingdom anyways...

THE END.

Its just another part of the world, we have towns here where the people are per person fatter than American towns! So we take the good where we see it and leave the bad, thats about it for me :P

you are very pursasive...i hope you are not planning on joining the Dept of Justice...

the other thing big in the kingdom that i dont miss is the need for a referance

you want to get into a school ...its big if you have the referance from some official/ a royal

you want/ need to avail some expensive, rare medical facility from the Hospital (the one run by the health ministry) you need a letter from a prince / the king himself...

a job...
apart from the expats, it affects the average saudis life soo much.. no big connection so no big you.period. even if you excell in academics or whatever. oh ofcourse unless you have the american/british passport...it works like a charm!
blah blah blah
and how about some expat rights?

ok enough ranting bout the kingdom from my end...

I still think my scissors plan is much faster ;)

hmm.. scissors!!!

i mentioned the shirk in connection with the muttawas

scissors.. !!!??? hmm.. hmmmm...

its shirk al asghar... the shirk involves those religious actions which are done to gain worldly claim or as in a sham/hypocrisy... not done to please Allah swt...

May Allah save us from shirk. Ameen.

(scissors....!? hmm...hmm ... Allah is the best judge and disposer of all affairs.
May He forgive us all.

Better yet, may Allah Almighty arm some people with scissors so when those mutawaeen fools are sleeping their beards can be trimmed off and their only source of pride can be reduced to relfect their bigoted attitudes and pathetic interpretation of Islam, amen - and Allah knows best.

yes, it is a sad state of affairs...and i know very very few men who keep good with that hadith you mentioned.

the sad part is apart from the average male you have some of the people who sport long beards, and the typical "mutauva" look ...people whose get up screams out to you that they keep up their religion, standing in the street and doing the stare thing. ..humph...i dont mean to stearotype anybody out there.. but thats what i have noticed and it has also been the experience of many i know.
May Allah help them and may we have the incite to help ourselves to islam, by keeping the covenent.

Its quite sad, the male stare - and its not just the men there its the men in many Muslim countries - bunch of perverts.

Hadith about diverting the eyes refers to perverts like them, not to everyday people doing everyday things!

or maybe i just stop going to the mall and go shopping in the stores in the market/souks

hmm..yea..true..but i have been looking for the place where i leave my heart behind...however, i seem to be carrying mine around everywhere i go.. along with my scarf ;) ...except for a short period post 9/11...thats a different story though...

as for what i dont miss about saudi ....is the men some of themm arghhhh!! even if you have your face covered...(of which i am not a big fan...i girls gotta breath!!) they stare at your eyes, or your shoes.. i mean whats the deal with that huh!!! i mean getta life dorks...perverted morons!!..makes me ask the question: is this what happens when there is so much of segregation from the other sex... is this one of the causative factors of what happened in Iran in the 70's ...does hijab defeat its purpose here.. i mean whats the deall!!!
i go to the mall i see these girls.. teenagers dressed is *body hugging* abbays, clutching cell phones, face covered..HEAVVVYYY eye make up ....!!! clearly checking out the guys/ waitin for thier guy to turn up..Modesty ? fehh!! ... or its just that these poor girls are just looking for good time?.. going fishing.. who do you blame.. the all imposing system or the girls, or their parents..who?
this is not unusuall in the west.. or any other non-muslim country as a matter of fact any where in the world.. its the typical mall picture...teenagers hanging around.. checking each other out....the differance is they do it and doesnt matter.. here its an undercover op, behind the scenes kinda of a thing...May Allah Help us...!! and the Young in restricted, bounded, "we will not grant you freedom of expression " 'Islamic' nations who just dont have the nerve to stand up against thier enemies.. or against atrocities against muslims.. but will impose laws... May Allah guide us..

Home is where you leave yout hat, or in your case, scarf :P

Totally!!! wish the saudis realized that ... where my parents live, the easetern province... Dammam, Al-Khobar.. its becoming the Mall country.. there is one or the other coming up every other month..!!

yea... you do get to the see the humble saudi in his guthra.. pulling his car to the curb to help a stranger..
wish they incorporate humility...wish they would hold on thier culture...

My parents still live there.. with my kid sis.. so i go down every year... alhamdulillah.. its good to go there...but everytime i am back at school i wonder...where is home?

i dont miss the fact that i had to be driven around by my dad everywhere i went...or accompanied by my brother

I dont miss the heat.