Browsing Category

middle east

cultural differences cultural observations day in the life of a saudi expat living in Saudi Arabia Lost in Riyadh-Blog middle east riyadh saudi arabia saudi arabia expat blog

To Adapt, or Not to Adapt, That is the Question

Why would the average person move to Saudi Arabia? For many it is all about the luxuries, such as cheap gasoline, luxurious houses and a good salary. But unfortunately, many of those people don’t think about the differences between this country and the country of their origin. In the end, they realize that in order to have a bearable life here, one must adapt to the local customs and rules. However, by…

Continue Reading

day in the life of a saudi expat living in riyadh living in Saudi Arabia lost in riyadh lost in riyadh blog Lost in Riyadh-Blog middle east

Learn to Dance in the Rain Before You Get on Your Jet Ski

Even though it is only the beginning of March right now, it gets very warm here, especially at midday. I see girls come to school in dresses and skirts and whenever I go outside covered up, I already start feeling uncomfortable temperature wise. Before coming here I, as many other globetrotters, had the issue of what to take with me to Riyadh and what to leave behind. Knowing about how hot it…

Continue Reading

expat expat blog expat blog saudi arabia expat life living abroad living in Saudi Arabia living in saui arabia Lost in Riyadh-Blog middle east photography saudi arabia expat blog souq Souq al-Thumairi souqs saudi arabia student blog student expat blog

The Case of the Saudi Matryoshkas

Riyadh, the city that never sleeps. Somehow I feel like this statement would suit the capital pretty well. There is not much going on here during the day, but once the sun sets, everyone gets out of their fancy or not fancy houses, gets into their fancy or not so fancy cars and turns the streets of Riyadh into a real challenge and hell for most European drivers. But once the highway…

Continue Reading

expat expat blog expat blog saudi arabia expat life living abroad living in Saudi Arabia living in saui arabia Lost in Riyadh-Blog middle east student blog student expat blog taxi drive in riyadh transport in riyadh women and taxis women in saudi arabia

No Woman, No Cab (Unless You’re Lucky)

When I wanted to get from A to B while I lived in the Balkans, I had the choice between walking, taking the bus, hitchhiking (which a lot of peope in Kosovo do, even female KFOR soldiers) and taking a cab. Here in Saudi, there is no such thing as public transportation yet, hitchhiking in this society is probably as unthinkable as the possible invention of a time machine any time soon…

Continue Reading

arabic language expat expat blog expat blog saudi arabia expat life living abroad living in Saudi Arabia living in saui arabia Lost in Riyadh-Blog middle east riyadh saudi arabia expat blog student blog student expat blog

My Attempt On Learning “Survival” Arabic

After learning five languages during my lifetime, at some point I thought that, that should be enough. As I am spending more and more time in Saudi Arabia though, which is the place where I live now, I have realized that staying here for a year without knowing a single word of Arabic would be not only a stupid thing to do but also kind of inpolite towards all the Arabic speaking…

Continue Reading

abaya shopping abayas clothing culture in saudi arabia expat expat blog expat blog saudi arabia expat life kuwaiti soq riyadh living abroad living in Saudi Arabia living in saui arabia Lost in Riyadh-Blog markets in saudi arabia middle east riyadh saudi arabia saudi arabia expat blog sook souk souq student blog student expat blog suk in saudi arabia women's clothes saudi arabia

A Visit to the Souq

For those who get bored by the large and modern malls that are all over Riyadh, I recommend to pay a visit to the Suq (pronounced souk). It’s a mostly open market place with either several market stands or small shops that stand right next to each other. These little shops make me think of the ones I saw in Kosovo. At least just a little bit. There are even local women,…

Continue Reading

beautiful places in riyadh saudi arabia desert in riyadh desert photography desert trips expat expat blog expat blog saudi arabia expat life living abroad living in Saudi Arabia living in saui arabia Lost in Riyadh-Blog middle east photography riyadh saudi arabia saudi arabia expat blog student blog student expat blog things to do in riyadh traveling trips in riyadh

Beautiful Places in Riyadh: A Trip to the Edge of the World

Recently, somebody stumbled upon my blog through the search term “beautiful places in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia”.  As I have been on another quite amazing trip today, I thought of writing about THE most fascinating place in Riyadh in case there are any other people looking for things to do in the kingdom. Today I have visited a place that is called “the edge of the world”. It is not the edge of…

Continue Reading

camels desert trips expat expat blog expat blog saudi arabia expat life living abroad living in Saudi Arabia living in saui arabia Lost in Riyadh-Blog middle east photography saudi camels student blog student expat blog traveling what to do in riyadh

Desert Landscapes, Camel Farms

Even though I planned on staying home over the Hajj break, so I could study the material that I have missed, I could not resist and go on a short trip to the desert, about two hours away from Riyadh. It was more of a stony desert, so I couldn’t find any “desert diamonds”, which are small pieces that look like glass and look like diamonds once polished properly. These can only…

Continue Reading

arabic cuisine arabic food cultural observations expat expat blog expat blog saudi arabia expat life interesting observations living abroad living in Saudi Arabia living in saui arabia Lost in Riyadh-Blog middle east school in saudi arabia shawarma student expat blog

Taste Test Saudi Style

One of the great things about moving countries is that every culture you come across over there, has its own way of doing things. This also seems to apply to my classes at the high school I am attending here. This week, we were doing a so called “Taste Test” in my IB Business and Management Course. This basically means that once the class has split into groups, each group brought in…

Continue Reading

expat expat blog expat blog saudi arabia expat life living abroad living in Saudi Arabia living in saui arabia Lost in Riyadh-Blog middle east riyadh saudi arabia saudi arabia expat blog student blog student expat blog why move to saudi arabia?

Why Did I Move to the Kingdom?

Tonight I started with the first chapter of the book that I may eventually write about my stay in Saudi Arabia. It may not be entirely structured like a blog post but it answers a question that some of the readers of this blog may have as well, so I thought of sharing the following with you: Most of the Western people that will pick up this book and open to this…

Continue Reading