Personal Narrative: My Life In Saudi Arabia

How? Because of my 15 years in Jeddah my dad taught me the basics and it helped me survive any intercultural communication with Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, Lebanese, Syrians, and other foreign people that speak Arabic. Any OFW that works in Saudi Arabia know the basics in the ArabicGrowing Up in Saudi Arabia as a Filipino

“It’s good that you can speak Tagalog” “Do Arabs or Arabians really have bad odor?” “What food do you eat there?” “Do you speak their Language?” These are some of the questions that I have answered from people I encounter whenever I tell them I grew up in Saudi Arabia. Whenever people ask me why I lived in Saudi Arabia instead of living in the Philippines, my answer would be “as if I had a choice”. Why is that my answer? It’s because my parents chose to migrate to another country. Why? It’s because there are several reasons why

I got to build strong bonds with people I met from the country and they are also Filipinos as we used to be classmates back then. We tell ourselves every time we see each other how good it would be to go back to Jeddah. We also feel thankful because we got to meet each other even for a brief time. Me and my fellow Jeddah kids are proud that we grew up in a country that has a fascinating culture, wonderful people, delicious food, and stunning places. If I had one word to describe Jeddah it would be mudhil or amazing in Arabic. The main key in living in Saudi Arabia is simply respecting and accepting their culture. Some say that living in Jeddah feels like a modern prison but no this is completely wrong because eventually you’ll end up adjusting to the lifestyle. Living in a foreign country might seem so hard but it’s actually a good thing because you get to identify the differences and similarities between two cultures. I am thankful because I got the chance to spend my 15 years in Saudi