Do and don't in Saudi Arabia

Abel54 wrote:

but there is a gay Saudi prince! why do I have to hide my gayness?! does he?!!

Have you got as much money as him?
Money = Power.

Personally couldn't care less if you're gay or not, you could always show your gayness in public just to see what happens, test the water and all that!

Abel54 wrote:

lol its not about money. its about islam.  they are busy enforcing absurd moral codes and are supposedly "Custodian of two holy mosques " while doing whatever they want. one rule for them, another for us commoners.

Speak for yourself (commoners) 

I think you'll find the "then stay at home" brigade  coming out to play.

mustafasd1 wrote:

Also, rules here are classified between Muslims and non Muslims, for example Muslim women should commit with Hejab, and Muslims should commit with praying times and avoid walking in the street while prayer times, however, non Muslims are not obligated to do, the religious police (Hayaa) or Mutawwa not investigate with them in most cases.

This is mostly false.  When the mutawwas are roaming around in malls (a rare event), they ask all women they encounter to cover their hair, regardless of their religion, even white Western women.  At the same time, many Muslim women can be seen without their hair covered in fancy malls.

As for praying, again, false.  No one forces you to pray.  The mutawwas just yell out in the malls exhorting everybody to go pray, but they don't direct their yells at individual people or force people to go pray.  The malls and streets are full of Muslims strolling around during prayer time, I mean, after all, this is a Muslim majority country even taking all expats into account.  So, what you are saying is that the streets should be mostly empty during prayer time.  The reality is far from it.

saimans wrote:

longstebe wrote:

What's the deal when going the beach, can you whip your top off?

Read the forum for complete insight about KSA. But to answer you in short its a STRICT NO !!

saimans, longstebe is male.  Are you saying he can't take his shirt off at the beach?  So you have never been to the beach, whether the private ones or the public ones?

Trapezius wrote:

saimans wrote:

longstebe wrote:

What's the deal when going the beach, can you whip your top off?

Read the forum for complete insight about KSA. But to answer you in short its a STRICT NO !!

saimans, longstebe is male.

The avtaar Got changed in a day

Trapezius wrote:

So you have never been to the beach, whether the private ones or the public ones?

Good at pretending logics

Robert is dat you?

I agree. Being a different part of the world, things are interesting in their own ways. It may take time for some and others might start loving the place and getting busy with things within the first week of their arrival. For me it is a great place even if I do not have much to do during the day.... personal preference =]

The topics are slowly drifting away from the main idea of the forum. Lets not make it personal and discuss the do's and dont's in the country for the sake of spreading awareness of the country for those wishing to learn and not turn it into a thread open to arguments... unless I misunderstood the tone in the last part of the forum.
Regards

Well maybe you can give your opinion on taking your top off on a beach.
Whilst we're on the subject, what about non Muslim women wearing a bikini at a compound swimming pool?

At compound swimming pools, all women wear bathing suits (monokinis and bikinis) regardless of their religion.  Inside compounds, there is no restriction based on religion on what Muslims can do as opposed to non-Muslims.

And the beaches?

"Something draws you back to Saudi"?? I don't think any expat is drawn back to Saudi for any other reason than money. Once the money dries up all the expats will leave and the locals will return to ride their camels and live in their tents in the desert. As the saying goes; you can take the bedouin out of the desert but you can't take the desert out of the bedouin. Most of the Saudi youngsters are f....... up in their mind as they are all bored to death, if they can they run to Bahrain with any opportunity they can get to get shit faced and pay for girls, the ones who can't go to Bahrain drive themselves and/ or others to death.

longstebe wrote:

And the beaches?

Well, at public beaches women still have to be covered in abayas, and you just might come across women in abayas venturing knee depth into the water!  Google has some pics!

As for the private beaches (walled off beaches owned by rich dudes), depends if it is the type where most of the visitors are Saudis or Westerners/Lebanese.  If the former, then no, no bathing suits for women out in the open (they usually have women's only covered pools).  If the latter, then yes, women can and do wear bikinis out in the open.

longstebe wrote:

And the beaches?

At ARAMCO beach on Half Moon Bay you can !!

Well it's not that hard to adjust here as some might say and at the end it depends on your lifestyle that u used to live and how much it's close or far from life here

Well, I think we r here to earn money so no faida to talk about their culture, dressing, this is their country whatever they do that is correct...

Assalamu aleykum, are there anyone can find me work in Saudi Arabia, I want to talk with some one else who has ability to find me a job, I will pay for his service. I am not lying, as long as I am muslim. Thanks very much.

You couldn't have said that better!

NidalM wrote:

It's not as boring in Saudi Arabia as some might think. though usually you need to stay in the country for a longer time to get introduced to everything going on.

As you might understand, alot of what goes on is on the fringes of legality.

You couldn't have said that any better!

saimans wrote:

longstebe wrote:

What's the deal when going the beach, can you whip your top off?

Read the forum for complete insight about KSA. But to answer you in short its a STRICT NO !!

LOL!!!

saimans wrote:

longstebe wrote:

And the beaches?

At ARAMCO beach on Half Moon Bay you can !!

Yeah did that a few years back.

saimans wrote:

longstebe wrote:

And the beaches?

At ARAMCO beach on Half Moon Bay you can !!

How do i become a member? Do they offer Water Sports?
I've only been here for a few weeks. I work at the British International School.
Many thanks.

Doodle wrote:

saimans wrote:

longstebe wrote:

And the beaches?

At ARAMCO beach on Half Moon Bay you can !!

How do i become a member? Do they offer Water Sports?
I've only been here for a few weeks. I work at the British International School.
Many thanks.

Well so sorry to disappoint you but that was a few years back and I never actually worked there in ARAMCO but just went down for a one off dip. I hope to go again for some fun.

And by the way, I wish I was staying in some big Villa all alone, then we could all once in a while wipe our tops off, LOL!!!!!!!!

I heard you can rent some top class private hotel rooms with their own swimming pools, that would be great fun! I aint do this for years, but wouldn't mind it, just need to find someone to go with, or it's just not fun, LOL! Of course in private, not in public.

I wish i lived in a big villa too!

Do you have to pay to get on this " half moon bay"?
Can anyone walz down there?

There is tons of beach resorts in Jeddah, i have attended many for diving classes, mostly to enter you have to be married couple or western couple, and for singles you have to be western. fees varies from SR80 to SR200 to spend the day at the beach only not including renting a room/resort etc..

Moe47 wrote:

There is tons of beach resorts in Jeddah, i have attended many for diving classes, mostly to enter you have to be married couple or western couple, and for singles you have to be western. fees varies from SR80 to SR200 to spend the day at the beach only not including renting a room/resort etc..

Can you recommend a resort where they do/teach Windsurfing?
Many thanks.

longstebe wrote:

Do you have to pay to get on this " half moon bay"?
Can anyone walz down there?

Can I Tango instead?

Please Please if you are in the south of KSA then do not mix a lot with Saudis as they are backwards and racist, last night we just drove out on their national day and they did not like us so one of them stoned our window to pieces! Now if that was in the UK, you would find at least some natives catching that Brit and hold him down whilst his friends run off or disown him! Glad I intend to  move to Jeddah. And live hopefully in a compound!

Enache Marian wrote:

Hello my friends, i'm in Jubail by 2 days, tell what u know about tattoos because i have a big one from my shoulder to my forearm, so this 2 days i kinda hidden it, i've asking like 3 person about this problem, they sayd if it's not religios, it's no problem....BUT I WANNA BE SURE. Thnks

Hi,hope you are fine.
I don't think you will have any problem with tattoos.My brother also got a big one on his arm but he covers it when going to religious places or mutawwa/religious police favourite places...lol

fastnfurious wrote:

Please Please if you are in the south of KSA then do not mix a lot with Saudis as they are backwards and racist, last night we just drove out on their national day and they did not like us so one of them stoned our window to pieces! Now if that was in the UK, you would find at least some natives catching that Brit and hold him down whilst his friends run off or disown him! Glad I intend to  move to Jeddah. And live hopefully in a compound!

Agree with what you said!

I must say after travelling to nearby countries, I realized living in Riyadh is not that bad. They are still organized and competent compared to others and they speak English. i was surprised when  I was in Morocco, that English is not spoken much..  I kinda miss Saudi and was thankful to be back..it doesn't matter if I sound pathetic but Saudi is starting to grow in me..lol ,

yes saudi is very racist ! im black and whites are given more respect. its only when they realise that im proficient in english then get a respective smile!

leaving soon will never MISS THIS PLACE ITS HELL!! good luck

the truth of the matter is "its not a friendly place" people behave worse than the animals in the serengeti ! Rude , thick headed , would not take external advice , yak!
the list goes on as you attempt to conceal it. let the truth be known

faymoyo1 wrote:

leaving soon will never MISS THIS PLACE ITS HELL!! good luck

Didn't you just say Saudi was growing on you and its not that bad?

What can say? I used to feel lonely and out of place , especially coming from Vegas. But like the famous quote " Life is what you make it," I make sure, I will not let Saudi affect me or dampen my spirits. Just follow the rules, stay out trouble and look forward to trips outside KSA.. Cheer up people, after all, we all have one thing in common., to make money.. Find beauty and goodness in people. Just an opinion, I must say.

Good description of our situation

I really liked all the ideas i read in this forum especially from non saudi views. I admit that there are a lot of negative ideas on the country but i really liked the way of thinking that its adventure. I hope in the end of the adventure all the negative views will be understandable and see it by the same person as positive. I hope you will enjoy and learn positive ideas here in my country.