After nearly 5 (!!!!!!) years in Saudi, I have come to appreciate many things about the culture. The food, the music, the traditional dress… and the attention to detail regarding parties and gatherings. If I am being honest, I didn’t always appreciate this. My sisters-in-law used to drive me insane with how carefully and…
Tag: university
Girls Only: Inside a Female Only Campus
One thing that often draws foreigners to Saudi Arabia is how secretive everything is. Until recently, there were no visitor visas issued so no tourists came here. Public photography wasn’t legal, so you didn’t see a lot of pictures from here. The culture in itself is also a bit private and secretive, so it’s not…
Kendra in USA
My year in Saudi working for Al-Khaleej Training and Education has finally concluded, and I am safely home in the states. But that doesn’t mean I’m not returning to Saudi. I plan on returning this fall but working as a direct hire for a different university. Did I want to leave Al-Khaleej? Honestly, no. The company…
Cooking roosters
I’ve avoided this topic as long as I possibly could. I guess it was just naive of me to expect I could avoid it forever. But today was the day it finally happened. My students at Qassim university, located in one of the most conservative cities in the world, asked me the difference between “cook”…
Counting
Alhamdulillah, I can’t even begin to explain how blessed I am. I am so happy in my life and I have been given so many amazing opportunities and I’ve lived so many amazing experiences. But I have to say, whenever I count my blessings, I really have to count my students twice. They really are…
Al Khaleej Training and Education
DEAR READER: PLEASE NOTE THAT I DO NOT WORK FOR ALKHALEEJ TRAINING AND EDUCATION ANYMORE. Please read the following as a reference, but do not expect me to answer any questions about the company. Whenever I got the job offer from Al Khaleej Training and Education back in June, I almost didn’t believe it…
Yesterday I gave my class a writing prompt. I asked “If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you want to live? Why?” One of my students answered “For me I want to live in USA. It has Hollywood and Justin Beiber is there.” What?
My first day of classes
When I arrived at the compound around 9pm Tuesday, they said “we’ll see you at 7AM in the morning for your first day.” I was a little worried I would have difficulties waking up that early considering I was so tired from all the traveling and moving, however I ended up waking up at 3 am…
US Politics
I really found it adorable yesterday when one of my 18 year old freshmen told me that she feels sad that Donald Trump is a presidential candidate, and how amused she is by the fact that he hates immigrants yet he’s been married to two. Bless that girl.
Kendra in KSA 