Hello Everyone

saisarobinson wrote:

Hi! My name is S'Aisa and I will be moving from America to teach in Jeddah at the end if this month. Reading the forums have been very informative. I have questions about day to day life in Jeddah. 1. Are there spas of salons available for women? 2. How can you get on list for American Embassy events? 3. Are there any athletic clubs available to women? 4. What are some of the fun things that can be done on weekends?

Hi dear,
I hope you have a safe trip to Ksa.
To answer your questions, it depends where you will live. If you will be located in a compound your life will not be much different than the one in the US, except the fact that when you're out of it you gotta respect the Saudi rules. But Jeddah is a very open city, you can walk around without head cover, the abayas(long dress that Saudi women wear) are now in different colors and designs that it doesn't make it so problematic to wear it anymore.
If you live in the city, do not worry you find everything you desire, except alcohol , pork and some other stuff which are sinful to muslims.
You can find spa's , hair saloons , gyms for women all around the city, most of them are very fancy.
I cannot answer about the embassy events list because I am not American, but maybe you can take it right from the embassy.
There are many ways to have fun in Jeddah, I think is the only city where u can have fun, but the "quiet" type of fun as I call it, no alcohol, clubs involved. There's a fun park called Al  Shalal where you can find from roller coasters to bowling,biliards,ice skating,etc, Al FAKEH Aquarium is very beautiful, malls I cant even count how many, the beach full of caffee's, art galleries , family clubs with pools and all kind of activities for kids, restaurants all kinds, Tahlia street for the lovers of high end shopping,plus there you can find lots of American restaurants and cafeterias(IHOP, Cheesecake factory etc).
I hope I've been helpful.

A good salon in on Tahlia called Toni and Guy though definitely always verify time of appointment and operating hours.

As for American Embassy I have tried to get on the "list" for a year. It is all in who you know whether you are American or not. Unfortunately for me my husband's job doesn't put us in with "those people" so we have not had any luck. Where as my Spanish neighbors do and are at an event at the American Consulate monthly...

Women's gyms are a little hard to find and expensive. Though if you do end up in a compound they may have a gym you can use and may offer different types of classes.

Thank you so much for the great advice! I'll be staying in Saudia City so hopefully they will have a gym that's useful. I'm creative with an outgoing personality so I'm sure I'll find something to do!

I know of another American who moved into that compound last spring. I have to look her name up on facebook, but will pm you her name.

Hi S'Aisa

Good luck with your move to KSA. what will you be working as if you don't mind me asking.

Thanks. It's in the original message lol but I will be a teacher.

Ahhh lol. I apologise. I have selective reading skills lol. What subject will u be teaching?

All subjects. It's Primary level. So Reading, Math, and Science.  It's ok. We all suffer from it at times.

Oh right. Well u got a good post if they're putting you on a compound.

I'm thinking about moving to Saudi myself but to teach ESL.