Bismillah,
In a short answer: everywhere!!!
Let me expand. Since I last posted on my blog, it seems as if my life here in KSA got slightly hectic and interesting! Well, to be more accurate, you can say that I actually have a bit of a social life now, and just since last week, I seem to have landed myself a job as well. So Alhamdulillah things are moving forward in the right direction!
In a short answer: everywhere!!!
Let me expand. Since I last posted on my blog, it seems as if my life here in KSA got slightly hectic and interesting! Well, to be more accurate, you can say that I actually have a bit of a social life now, and just since last week, I seem to have landed myself a job as well. So Alhamdulillah things are moving forward in the right direction!
I've been travelling a little this past month. It all started with a road trip (YAY!)
I luv road trips, especially those that involve me being in the driver's seat for a while. So this road trip was my first "official" vacation as a married woman, n lemme tell u, it was AWESOME! Alhamdulilah.
My husband had a 1 week spring break holiday in the last week of April, so we decided we would drive down to Oman, via UAE.
We started off driving East, through Riyadh until we reached the Saudi-UAE border, which took about 5 hours. At the border we switched places and I got behind the wheel (much to the horror of all the other Saudi cars in my vicinity!), we set off then, heading straight for Dubai. After reaching Dubai, which must've taken another 3 hours approximately, we checked into a hotel, freshened up, and then navigated our way (via our handy GPS) to Dubai Mall for some long needed chilling/lounging. At the mall, we ate, drank coffee in a NON-segregated Second Cup (i luv lounging in those couches) and then walked around the place to check out the swanky stores. Of course, we had to check out the Aquarium and the wildlife center, which was lots of fun. The next day we took a quick tour of the Palm Jumeira, Ibn Battuta, and in the evening ended up at Mall of the Emirates where we caught dinner and a movie on the big screen.
The next day, we set off, bright and early in the direction of Oman. We reached Oman in about an hour, but then the drive from the border to Muscat took about 4 more hours. We reached my parents' place in time for lunch, and after a quick reunion we fell asleep there. In the evening, my parents took us out for a bit of shopping and dinner. The next day my mom, sis, husband and I went to the Muscat Marina and took a speed boat out for some dolphin watching, which i must say, was absolutely amazing. Subhanallah, I've never seen such friendly and adorable sea life. The next day we went on a private tour of the Interior of Oman - mainly the Nizwa area, and we also drove up the tallest mountain in Oman - Jebal Shams. It was truly spectacular and awe inspiring. We saw some old ruins, falaj (irrigation) systems that were originally invented by Omanis and we also visited an old Fort in Nizwa. That trip took up most of the day and we were pretty exhausted by the time we got home. We left Oman at the end of the week and headed back through the UAE. This time we decided we'd drive through Abu Dhabi instead of Dubai, so we could check out the city. We did see quite a lot, although there was a dust storm blowing through so our visibility was reduced. We spent the night there and the next day, began the drive back to KSA. I remember not wanting to give up the wheel to my husband, so I drove right up to the UAE - Saudi Border and waited to see if someone would say anything... No one did, but i did get some angry glares from Saudi bound cars that were behind me in the line. I had to give up my spot after the border crossing, but by then I was tired so I fell asleep on the drive home.
When I got back, I received a halaqa invitation, which was lots of fun and it allowed me to meet a lot of sisters, mainly reverts, who've been living in KSA for a very long time. It was through them that last week, I received an email about a teaching position. When I called to inquire about it, I was promptly called in for an interview at the school, and was then given the job of teaching Grade 9 and 10 Physics for the American high school diploma program. Alhamdulilah its going quite well so far and Inshallah I hope to continue in the school next academic year, probably teaching other subjects as well as Physics.
Last weekend, my husband surprised me by booking 2 tickets fr Jeddah, for our long awaited Umrah trip. And so we set off on Wednesday night and flew to Jeddah, then drove to Makkah. Masha'allah it was the most amazing trip ever, especially since this was my first Umrah as an adult, and it was really the most spiritually uplifting experience I've ever had. We spent the entire weekend in Makkah, mainly in the Haram area, just sitting, reading Quran, making dua, dhikr and salah. I've never been so happy and so content before. I felt like i could just sit and stare at the Ka'ba all day long... subhanallah I can't wait to go back. Alhamdulilah we completed our Umrah and we returned to Riyadh on Friday night.
So I'm back! And now we're planning for our summer vacation, which will be commencing in the first week of July. Insha'allah we're planning a trip to Canada, via a week's stay in Morocco, so it should be good.
I have tons of pictures to post, of both trips so Insha'allaah you can see for yourself.
I do apologise for the delay in this post, I've just been busy, unpacking, packing and planning... and now working along side my normal household stuff.
I also know that there are a lot of comments that I haven't replied to, Insha'allah now that I'm back on track, I can get back to everyone whose been commenting on my blog.
Asalaamu `alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakato!!
Subhan Allah, I was wondering what you were up to!!! Mashaa'Allah -- sounds like uu had an awesome time :-D
May Allah ta`ala bless your adventures, ameen <3
sounds like tons of fun.. when you back in CA? did you check out the skiing in Dubai? funny sentence eh lol.. I look forward to some pics.. and may Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) accept your umrah insha'allah. miss ya