Moving to Riyadh

I have no personal experience but this blog could be useful for you. A bit of a sarcastic take on living in Saudi from a woman's perspective... I spent hours reading the various posts and I think it gives a quite a good picture of how life in KSA can be for a woman. http://blueabaya.blogspot.co.uk/ I forgot about this one...thanks for sharing again, I am hooked on reading it. Brilliant!

[b'>Try Arabian Homes too![/b'> The additional ( and very important) advantage of living on a compound is that there is some semblance of a normal life and that there is an organised schedule of events which include in the case of AH, buses out and about to various malls, etc on a daily schedule. Women go out in these buses and you instantly have other people to go with and no need to use taxis!

Hi there. We lived in Riyadh from 2000-2004 and until the bombings started in 2003, I loved it. Living the last year in fear of when and where the next bomb would be going off and having the national guard with rifles ride on the school bus with my kids was no fun though, so we left. Having been away for over 8 years now, my info may be a bit outdated, but the larger compounds were always very nice, with a small grocery shop, restaurant(s), pools, game rooms for the kids, etc. I know that the military-related ones also had very nice bars and regular "nights out." In Riyadh, you really won't find many expats living among the local folks, both by choice and generally also by necessity. There are single family homes available in the DQ (Diplomatic Quarter) if you want that sort of thing, but being on the compound gave me the freedom that I think I would have missed if we lived outside the gates. I could drive our SUV down to the shop or pool area and got a kick out of watching the gardeners eyes get big when I dared to do it! To be honest, I miss Riyadh and would go back for a visit or even an extended stay now that it's relatively safe again. By the way, if you are looking at compound life, I'd try to get into Al Hamra, Kingdom City or Arizona. We lived on Villas Rosas Al Waha, but I've heard that it was opened up to the Arab community when so many of the expats were told to leave in '04. Good Luck with the move.

I lived there for a year and our compound had quite the pool, amazing gym, small grocery store, restaurant, florist and hair/nail salon. Friday BBq's at the restaurant/pool were nice. Coffee morning in the gymnasium once a month where women from other compounds came to buy crafts, bread, local trinkets etc. Starbucks even showed up! Also once or twice a year the "bar" at the compound hosted a pretty big party with home made booze and name brand types as well. The shopping mall were very good but only men worked in the shops...even la senza! There are a few malls with women only floors that women work at. those floors have frosted glass around the perimeter so no one can creep you from the higher or lower floors. Having a driver was great! Drop off service at the door and there to pick you up when finished. No waiting or looking for parking stalls. We embraced those sorts of things. Grocery stores were plentiful and very cheap! It'll be an interesting experience. I find people love it or hate it. EnjoyN

I lived in Jeddah back in the 90's. Jeddah was a little 'freer' than Riyadh. I was in a slightly unusual situation in that I didn't live in a compound. It gave us more freedom but on the other hand I missed compound life ie we had no pool or gym and nowhere to go running etc. Women are not allowed to drive although within the larger compounds many of my friends did drive within the confines of their compound. Compounds varied from huge ones which were like small towns with shops, schools etc to small compounds with just a few villas/apartments. I did take taxis independently but many of my married friends who lived in compounds did not take taxis and relied on their husbands coming home from work to take them out. Socially back then, i would say there were 3 or 4 options: 1. Rugby club - they had a huge social element with lots of parties. 2. Hash House Harriers..meet once a week for a desert run generally followed by a bit of a social. 3. Drama societies were big. 4. Natural History Society. I'm not sure if it's changed but british Consul used to run a cinema club once a week...projected straight onto the white wall. If i were to return now (and i'm not sure i would as my daughters are 9 and 11) I would only entertain going to one of the larger compounds where I would have the freedom to run, cycle, walk etc within the compound. I'm unsure re job options for you but probably your only real options would be either working in a school or in a medical facility. i wore an abaya all the time i was out but i only carried a head scarf. I was not married so if I was anywhere with a man I had my head scarf ready to put on if challenged (to avoid any trouble because i was unmarried). When out with female friends i never wore headscarf. Restaurants have family sections where women eat. If their husbands are with them the men eat in the family section as well, otherwise the guys must eat in the men's section. it may have changed now but when i lived there it was only males who worked in shops..a bit strange going clothes shopping. Prayer time was the other difference from Dubai. In Jeddah the shops etc closed for prayers and the shutters came down so effectively you could find yourself locked inside the equivalent of C4 for 20 plus mins. I'm sorry i can't help more but it's been a long time and I'm also aware that Jeddah was very different from Riyadh. Good luck and keep an open mind.

I have no personal experience but this blog could be useful for you. A bit of a sarcastic take on living in Saudi from a woman's perspective... I spent hours reading the various posts and I think it gives a quite a good picture of how life in KSA can be for a woman.