Guest Post: Haitham Al-Sheeshany

It's been sometime since i have invited Haitham to a guest post and it's finally arrived :)

For those who don't know Haitham -i suspect that though- he is an amazing blogger with two blogs.

( Observation of a tired soul - and -  تأملات غير آملة )

Thanks to Haitham ,i have been introduced to a lot of Jordanian bloggers whom i am so proud to know. 

Haitham lived in Saudi Arabia for a few years and he decided to write about his experience in Saudi Arabia in this post. 

I hope you will enjoy the post as much as i did :) 

Haitham, thanks a lot for accepting my invitation and thanks for being you , the supportive, the generous and the amazing friend we all happy to know :)

P.S: If anyone is interested in writing a guest post whether you are a blogger or non, on any topic you wish. i would love to hear from you on  ( museerato2002@gmail.com)

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It`s my last week in Saudi Arabia!

It`s been quiet a journey for me/us here, 3.5 years of full adventure ,, in more ways than one :)

We resided in the southern province, a city called Khamees Mushait

It`s nearly 2200 meters above sea-level, the weather is cool and it rains almost all year round , we don`t use AC's, would you believe :)

My family already left and I`m finalizing matters, it feels funny to be…. leaving! This is the only place I`ve/we`ve been out side my home country.

Our daughter, now almost five, lived most of her life here :)

We have so many memories, both good and bad.

I will never forget this city

All through the first apartment, the very first car, first "major" accident, first Umra "small pilgrimage" , the Hajj " pilgrimage", the minor accident with the water tank vehicle

,, my students and their endless stories,,, all of it is an eternal interwoven part of me now,

I`m going to try to capture some of that "all"

In this city you will not find taxis!

Yep, none… this was a shocker when we 1^st came as we had no car yet, the 

only means of transportation is this

"صورة دبّاب" 

:)

There are a few buses but sadly unreliable

Driving here is a mess [in lack of a better word]

I used to be "used to!" a much better driver but now I`m a semi-reckless one, I think it grows on ya!

I guess if women are allowed to drive in this city it would be messier! Don`t get me wrong now ladies, I`m just referring to the # of accidents, not saying females cannot drive :)

Some of the things I hated here is the enormous quantity of water bottles thrown EVERYWHERE!

Also, people spit a lot! They simply open their car doors and spit!

It IS a phenomena

I also hate how many many people, especially youth, treat certain nationalities whom are here to make a decent living.

It`s just not right! I have been in countless situations where I fiercely reacted to such incidents, people come to this country with specific expectations and sadly a lot of those get distorted by the way Saudis treat them (not all of course)

 I think that`s why every once and a while you hear stories that reflect a kind of reaction to this mistreatment (cockroaches in coffee cups, kidnapping of youngsters, strangling of employers , …) I used to think that these stories are mere exaggerations but I lived to see that they are not!

I saw more snow in these 3.5 years than I have in my country! I had to slot that info in, yes :)

I loved how the mosques smell on Fridays, loved how I learned to use the Siwak [I hope I carry that habit on!]

Elderly  people looking behind them once the prayers r over always made me confused! Later on I discovered they were looking for the kids and whether they came to the prayers or not :)

May be the single most important thing I "really" learned while here was the ability to NOT judge based on appearances! It`s twofold actually, as some large portion of people here do fall into that fallacy and many others -also-

teach you to look into souls and judge by that, not superficialities, I can`t explain it even if I wanted to! No examples can illustrate it in writing, u just have to live it!

Certainly, the Abaya is something not to be missed here, I never tried it on [disclaimer :P] but through convos with my wife I believe Abaya enhances communication skills; in ways that it forces you to concentrate on reading the "other" in a different way - without the visual cues, hairdo, gestures, … you begin to shift your attention towards eye

contact-it`s all what you got!-

you listen "more", with empathy, you have no covert distractions

it`s interesting to say the least and I`m going to stop right here regarding this :)

Had many confrontations here and there, with police, al-Hay`ah, colleagues, students, strangers, yooooooooooooooooou name it :D

but all in all I think I did good! Not going to claim I made a real difference, even in my tight circle while here, but I`d dare to say that I was a more beneficial person than not!

  Going to cut the way right here and assert that these are MY reflections, not passing judgments or making generalizations, and I know my thoughts are unorganized but I just wanted to write as the flow goes without editing nor rephrasing

:)

I`d love to end with my own Saudi-Jordanian dictionary,,, here`s some jargonY education for you  [in Arabic]

:DDD

أحلّق = أقص "الشعر"

شُعور = شعَر

عوائل = جمع عائلة "و هي صيغة جمع صحيحة بالمناسبة"

عُزّاب = جمع أعزب

أخبار علوم = شو في ما في

أفّاااااااااااااا = و لو! / أكيد

دراهم = مصاري / نقود

مسموح = مسامحك

وِرِع أو بِزِر= ولد / طفل

حذيان = حذاء  "أكرمكم الله"

أُقرُب = اقترب

شِلّه ْ = شيله / خذه

باقي = لسه؟

موتور = سيارة

سوا سوا = لا أدري ما مكافئها! لأن لها "استخدامات" متعددة

100 100 = مي هميه = إنو ممتاز و عال العال

بتحلّم = أحلم

أرحمك = أحس معك / أتعاطف معك

حُكُم = بالضبط  (كأن تقول ألقاك الساعة السادسة حكم) :)

على خشمي = على راسي أو عيني

ما يحتاج = يعني مثل: بس بلاااااااااااش

أوصال = شقف "اللحمة" :)  و السقف عندهم هنا = كوكتيل مع قطع فواكه بداخله :)

لَيْ = بربيش

أبغى = أريد / بدّي

يمديني؟ = بلحّق؟

جبّوع = طاقية

ثلوث = الثلاثاء

ربوع = الأربعاء

كلمات و عبارات أحببتها و متداولة بكثرة هنا:

بيّض الله وجهك

تم و ما تاكل هم = بمعنى أبشر / و لا يهمّك

هيّا

ما أدري + ما دريت

يرحم والديك

زفاف

زواج

أذكر الله = زي  "بالله عليك" عنا :)

غفر الله لك

الله يكتب أجرك

إجلس

أرقد = أنام

الله يسلّم ذا الوجه

و الله إني صادق = ما إلكو علي يمين :)