It has been 9 days since we arrived in Jeddah.  I have had every emotion and feeling possible since we got here. I have been excited, scared, lonely, sad, happy, amazed, disgusted just to name a few – you name it I have felt it. I reluctantly admit that in the first 48 hours  I wanted to get back on the plane and go straight back to Australia.

To say Jeddah has been a culture shock is a massive under estimation.  I will admit if I had come here on a holiday I don’t think I would have come back.  However we are here now and I am doing my best to make the most of it.  But day 9 is better than day 2 so as my sister Ann-Louise said, imagine how day 30 will feel!

A few things I can tell you about Jeddah so far.

·         There is no such thing as winter. The day we arrived was 32 degrees and humid. I am not looking forward to summer. Its milder today (only 28 degrees).  I guess we will need to go on holidays to Europe!

·         It’s flat and dusty. There are hardly any trees (except date palms) and no grass outside places like the compound.

·         The compound is another world though. It is green and the gardens, pools; playgrounds are incredibly well cared for.  The villa we live in is much bigger than I expected and quite comfortable. It still doesn’t feel like home though, more like a place you stay on holidays.

·         Only the traffic in Saudi is fast.  I still don’t have my residency pass for the village live so that means the kids and I are still somewhat restricted on where we can go.  For example we can’t go on the bus to the private beach without Troy however we can go to the shopping malls.   Our shipping boxes were supposed to arrive after 12 days. Its 17 days and we are still waiting.  We still don’t have a spot for the kids at school. Every thing here is a waiting game. Apparently that is the status quo here.

·         As for the traffic. It is insane. Every time we get in the car I feel like we are in a car race. They drive like maniacs here and although I miss the independence of getting in the car and driving (it is illegal for women to drive here) I am kind of glad I don’t have to. I would have been in and caused an accident or ten by now.  I am worried Troy will have an ulcer from the stress by the time we leave here.

·         The Abaya is annoying. I don’t really like wearing it however in some ways I get more freedom than Sophie as I can be wearing shorts and a singlet top and all I have to do is throw it over my clothes. Sophie however can wear normal clothes but she needs to ensure he legs to her knees and arms to her elbows are covered. No more cut off shorts or singlets for her when we go out in public.  Good news is I don’t have to cover my hair in Jeddah.

·         We miss our friends and family. We know we will make friends here but for now it is just us and we are all a bit sick of each other. Well the kids and I are anyway.

The big upside is, we are together. We see Troy every day and he sees us. That’s the most important thing after all.