Anyone from Abu-Dhabi?

[Aryob]

Tor khan i will pm you.

[Admin Khan]

Tor_Khan,
Did you find Minnesota boring?

[Iqra]

tor khan, canada ta rasa pa dagha zhamay kih!

yo tso khalag pa ham pukhla keh

[al-arab]

jeddah in the 70s was a construction site. the main roads were dug up, they were laying pipes, big pipes. the cars were all 70s chevys, GMCs buicks etc and plenty of 50s automotive americana rusting away. from the centre, 10km out was a place called 'ashra kilo' (original!) and it was an amusement park, zoo etc, we as kids loved it.
there was this huge souk, real souk, not a modern contruction made to look like a souk where syrians would sell water to shoppers, from big samovars attached to their back and pouring water into small metal chinese style cups. there was another souk for women were unmarried guys were not permitted. in the souks there were matawin walking with little canes reminding women to cover, checking shops observed salah closing and just keeping an eye on unislamic activity (unlike here in liberal dubai, english women walk arounf half naked, english men walking around red faced from alcohol fest night before, jordanian/palistinian and egyptians even worse than english trying to be european in their immodest dresses, no shop keeper shows respect to salah times, etc)

the road to makkah and to taif was single lane highway. often we stopped by small homes and saudi families would invite you for tea, water, dates on their outside majlis under a shade of a canopy.

taif was really heavenly village in the granite mountains. the drive ot taif, you would see wild monkies (baboons) on the mountains.

the adhan is uniquely beautiful, and true then it was often a muezzin calling prayers without speaker. even today adhan grips me and shakes my soul to move to the masjid

beautiful times. you have evoked my amazing memories. in my innocence before knowing what is wahabi or saudi religious politics, i loved 'mumlakatal al arabiya al saudia', now i just love some of my saudi friends, the land and the islamic history this land has witnessed. if you drive from jeddah to riyadh, a few hundren kilometers east, there are more beautiful villages south side of the highway.

I love Saudi Arabia (Hijaz) and fell at home as in every other Arab country but especially Saudi Arabia for obvious reasons (my descent) and the resemblance to Iraq.

My only problem is as well only the "Royals".

Yes, I love all those ares you mention. Very beautiful indeed. I feel a special charm with Hijaz that I only fell with Iraq. The landscape, culture, the people, food, weather, cities, villages, adhan, muaddin's, masjid's etc. It also helps having ancestry from Hijaz and a wife from there. (not only Saudi Arabian but still)

Very interesting to here how it was when you were young. I already can see that it has changed enourmesly since your time. That is also what I have been told. About the baboons. They are still there but not that many.

But as I remember saying about UAE. Some has changed for the good and some for the worse. When I say worse you probably now what I mean. (Too many skyscrapers etc.) It still has the charm but I imagine it was better 30-40 years ago.

Thor-Khan:

I can highly recommend UAE and especially Hijaz. The only problem in Arab countries, as Torkham has mentioned in another thread is that it is difficult for foreigners in terms of settling down for real because of the unfavourable rules. You do not face the same problems if you are an Arab from nearby countries.

UAE is more liberal than Saudi Arabia and to an extent Qatar. I have never lived in Bahrain or Kuwait so I do not know how it is there to live and work. Another option could be Oman. I have only heard good things about the country and there are a lot of Pashtuns there and Baloch. Not far from Afghanistan/Pakistan as well.

You get more security for work in Saudi Arabia than elsewhere in the Middle East. But you need to know that it is less liberal than in other countries although Jeddah is the most liberal city. But to make it short, Hijaz is a marvelous place.

Aryob:

I do not know how hot it can be in Afghanistan during the summer (probably 35-40 I imagine and a bit warmer in Kandahar) but in Hijaz and the Gulf temperatures often reach 40-50 degrees of celcius. In Jeddah and the two holy cities the temperature is never below 20 degrees of celcius in the winter. Normal temperature in winter is 27-30 degrees. So ideal climate. I have lived in warm places all my life (Iraq, UAE, Qatar and Hijaz) so I am used to it. But it can be tough for newcomers to get through the summer. Sometimes it is too hot for me as well. But the warmest temperatures in the summer are found in Southern Iraq and Kuwait. Maybe, brother Mohannad can tell you more about a Kuwaiti/Souther Iraqi summer.