Last week we had our entire life packed up into a shipping container. Our little family of four then hopped on a flight from Heathrow to land 6 hours later at King Khalid International Airport shortly after midnight.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t the toddler or the baby who took the journey the hardest - it was me. Somehow, I managed to live in denial of us actually leaving London after nearly a decade until we actually arrived and the desert heat hit me like a boulder.
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I have discovered the wonderful world of abayas and modest clothing. Since entering my thirties, and especially after having children, I have taken a more minimalistic approach to dressing up. Think white t-shirts and mom-jeans combo and an embarrassing amount of midi shirt dresses.
The day before our flight to Saudi Arabia, I quickly panic-bought an abaya to be able to cover myself up when leaving the DQ, and make sure I am not committing a fashion faux pas, or worse, offending anyone by wondering around in my usual uniform.
Instead of the more traditional black, I opted for a deep green, beaded abaya and it instantly became one of my new favourite pieces. Wearing it makes me feel effortlessly glamorous and also helps feeling less of an outsider. While it of course isn’t the primary function of the garment, I take it as an added bonus. Over the past week I have taken a deep dive into abaya trends and have acquired a lovely linen set as well. I will update as I continue to tweak my wardrobe for the weather and the dress code.
We are all, especially the toddler, amazed by the local soft play centres. Husband started immediately working the day after we landed, so it’s now solely up to me to entertain the kids until we move in to our permanent accommodation in a compound and find a nanny. (The nanny-hunt itself deserves its own post!) I found out that there are entertainment areas in every single shopping centre, and there’s one of those on pretty much every corner in Riyadh. We have tried a few, since there wasn't much else I could entertain and tire out the toddler with while we wait for a spot in the compound's nursery. So far our favourite is Adventura in The Zone Mall. It’s perfect for 1-4 year olds as it’s not overwhelmingly large, but still has a few different areas such as soft play with slides, a ball pit, sandpit, and my 2 year old’s personal favourite, the ride on toys.
Everywhere we travel, I'm always fascinated by local grocery stores and markets and I love wandering around looking at the variety of products and compare prices. I'm overwhelmed by the hyperconsumtion and choice of products in the local shops. We have so far been to two Danube stores and a Lulu hypermarket. They stock absolutely everything one can think of. My personal favourite was the variety in the rice isle. We aren't even that keen on rice, but I still got us a 5kg sack of Thai hom mali rice, which is always pricey and often out of stock in our local Sainsbury's in London.
We found a lot of the usual brands we know from home, although the prices for these imported goods are steep for our budget, so I’m on a mission to find good alternatives.
I mean, the equivalent of £7 for a small jar of peanut butter I can order for less than half price from Ocado?! The few things I don’t want to compromise on are the toddler’s favourite snacks and baby’s fruit pouches, so I'm glad we now have enough rice to get us through the next few months.
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