Wednesday, September 7, 2016

A new beginning



A new beginning

For the past 2 years I’ve been searching for work in Saudi Arabia, you would think that it would be a brainer to score a decent job as an American even if you don’t have a degree but that’s far from the case. Things are changing here the demands in hiring more Saudis is in the rise so decreasing the demand of foreign workers which isn’t a bad thing at all its good I just wish that Saudis would get the same benefits as foreign workers especially the ones who bust their asses going to other countries to study for their hard earned major, it’s not impossible to find a job here if your foreign but some places  if you don’t have a degree or a certain amount of experience the hunt can be challenging along with finding a decent salary to live in the community if you choose to not live in a compound let alone paying for a driver if the company you work for does not provide you with one…  

Many people would think that for me being American it would easy to find a job I’m a native English speaker but here is where it gets harder for me it may have been easier a few years ago but with the demands of hiring natives here it’s not as easy and when many companies think “American” they think “High salary, paid tickets to go back home, Compound living etc” so it’s a struggle. Being married to a Saudi has made things a little easier at the same time has also made things a bit shady as well, Why you say?  Once employers know that you’re married to a Saudi if it’s not a big known company like Alshaya they’ll treat you as a Saudi because you’re married to a Saudi which means you don’t get your benefits as a “foreign employee”.

 I’ve applied for several positions and since everyone has insisted I try teaching I looked at some schools I had one school I went to they said they didn’t go by any particular curriculum and whatever I had in mind they would help me set it up, and said since you’re married to a Saudi we are offering a salary of 2,000sr that’s around “600 American dollars” and no iqama transfer to them. I’ve been trying to get into Alshaya for a long time since their contracted with a lot of companies like Victoria’s secret (which is the one I’m trying to get into) I’ve applied for so many positions and they finally called me I was ecstatic but they wanted me in Kuwait and offered promising benefits and other things which was very tempting but my family are all in Saudi and told her I’d have to decline since it was in Kuwait she mentioned that they were opening a store in Riyadh she seemed to be impressed with my experience and sent my papers to Riyadh and I waited for them to call unfortunately they never called back.

So it was back to the drawing board of job searching I had scored an interview with one company which I will not mention to prevent any problems, I had went to the interview and it was for an Administration assistant position I had no experience but he was very kind and willing to pay for my training or anything that I needed I was a little shy for the fact when I came in for the interview he reached to shake my hand and for me and as all Muslims you’re not supposed to shake the hands or touch someone who is not your guardian so I held my hand down to my side and slightly bowed to him kind of like a Japanese greeting, and he felt a little shocked and said you scare me lol but after talking to him he seemed fine I would had accepted the offer but for the fact he had offered me a “private dinner in Bahrain” I declined his offer and felt my dignity was more important than the job offer and decided to keep on looking for the right job.

The last promising offer I had was as a store manager for “Lush Cosmetics” they were ready to sign a contract with me than they had asked me are you a Saudi citizen? I said no but I am a resident and I am married to a Saudi, the politely apologized and said unfortunately we are looking for Saudi lady for this position but we’ll keep your information on file for future opportunities I was seriously crushed because I know I can do it I have the ability to manage the store and to take care of customers and my employees it was honestly a very depressing moment because I thought I’m not going to find anything and I only have two certificates one for public safety and one for Law enforcement two certificates that have no benefit here unless I decided to become a certified EMT but the classes for that where hard to find.

I’ve spent so much time searching Linkedin.com also bayt.com which are really good places to search for jobs if anyone is looking because I had uploaded my cv’s my experience and had some other calls and offers some where just not meeting up to my expectations and to them I wasn’t fitting as they expected since “I’m not a Saudi”  I just felt like giving up to be honest with all the searching and the interviews and the low salaries I’m like I’m going to be stuck where I’m at but Alhumdullilah finally I found work… does it offer the best salary? Not really but it’s for starter only and I’ve signed a temporarily contract for a few months so I can learn from them and to see if it’s the job I want to stay with and also for them to see if they like my performance and if we both like how things are I will sign a permanent contract.

 I felt finally someone is going to give me a chance and insha’allah I’ll be working as a marketer for (www.goodlivelihood.net) the manager he is very kind and very open minded and the boss I’ll be working with she’s amazing and like a sister and insha’allah I’ll get to travel to different countries for my work such as Thailand, Philippines, Japan hopefully if I can influence them I hope they’ll contract with South Korea but I’m really excited and hope to learn from them and help build their company and hope to build my future to be a better one insha’allah.


For all of those who have helped me in finding work and listening to me vent about my struggles wallah I am beyond grateful to you all I could have not made it this far without the support and encouragement from those who have helped me and who have stood by my side during all of my struggles this is dedicated to all those who have helped me and I hope and pray to Allah that he grants you all the best in this life can give you....

How I met him



How I met him

The question that is always asked, how did you meet your husband? I normally tell them I met him in school which is the truth but my journey in meeting him is another story a long story so if you’re interested in reading about my past relationships and drama then please read on…

First marriage:
Is my husband now my first husband? No. He is my 3rd husband!  My first husband was an Egyptian who was a very good man and a religious man masha’allah who was the one who helped me grow as a Muslim in teaching me how to pray how to recite qur’an. Prior meeting my first husband I had dated a Saudi man “yes he was the start of my Saudi obsession” but he was a good man also but we were just not fit to be together but we were not fit for each other so in the end we ended up ending our relationship so I thought the easiest way of getting over the Saudi boyfriend was to get married and at that time I met the Egyptian man and accepted his proposal thinking that it would make me forget my ex it didn’t I learned a valuable lesson in why dating is haram!

 As time went by in my new marriage with the Egyptian I still loved the Saudi guy and I felt it was unfair to my husband to be married to him and still in love with someone else and I really didn’t know what to do I was young and I remember going to the Imam of the masjid asking for his advice I remember him telling me “if you divorce your husband for this man Allah will not make that relationship easy” I ignored his advice and followed and we ended up divorcing to be honest it was a mistake on my end because he was a good man the Egyptian man but me I was young and stupid.

Engagement to Saudi guy:
I ended up getting engaged to the Saudi guy. You think I would be so happy? I was ecstatic but the Saudi guy we ended up fighting about everything and he had said he had done things that made my feelings for him not as strong as it used to but still loved him but I didn’t know what to do at this point, I remember talking to an old friend he advised me since Ramadan was coming up he told me for the entire Ramadan don’t talk to him and ask Allah if it’s meant to be than let it be with no problem if it’s not than let me forget him, and throughout the Ramadan my feelings no longer were strong enough to build our relationship so as soon as Ramadan ended he had called me and said what do you want to do? I told him I love you and always will but I don’t think it will work out and I wish you all the best in your life.

Second marriage:
Finally I felt ready to find a suitable husband to marry I wanted to marry a Saudi specifically so I joined a Muslim single site to hopefully find the right man for me, I had many offers as a second wife which I almost accepted one who lived in Saudi but felt it wasn’t the right step for me just yet then a man he had messaged me he said. I’m from Saudi Arabia and I am interested in meeting you, I accepted his request in meeting him I lived maybe 30 minutes away from him he had come to my work I met him we talked with each other than later on he had met my family my mom and sisters and he ended up coming to family events with me he was nice he may not had been that attractive to others but his kindness at that time was what I was looking for and he was good to my family so he had asked me to marry him I accepted I loved him and we got married in Cleveland Ohio. 

As time went by I started working and he had started applying for green card at this time I never thought anything of it and was happy to help him get it never questioned his intentions because I thought he was being honest with me in the end he sat me down and said “sahar I need to talk to you about something” I said okay what is it? He told me please I need you to promise me to not to be angry at me I said okay than what is it he told me that I was born and raised in Saudi Arabia but I’m not Saudi but my family is from Eritrea, he assured me that it wouldn’t be any problem for us to come to Saudi Arabia I was upset because he lied to me later on I thought okay it’s not a problem if we could still go to Saudi.

I had than started going to school to study in the criminal justice *law enforcement*  he supported me and at this moment I met a Saudi man he was nice we sat and talked all the time in the computer lab he was studying the same thing as my husband was so I felt I comfortable with him and he was also a good listener. As time progressed between me and my husband at the time I felt alone he didn’t want to spend time with me and was always out of the home after he had gotten his green card he had stopped doing anything for me from driving me to school to even answering my phone calls and I didn’t know what to do and one night he was talking to me and he had told me  he said back home in Saudi Arabia I had a lot of gay friends and one man he knows he’s married and he could never go to bed with his wife until he slept with a man I thought okay whatever until one day he came to one of my work places and I worked with a gay man and he met my husband when my husband left my friend he asked me “is your husband gay’’ I said no why? He said because we kind of know each other but I’ll find out for you and sure enough my gay friend confirmed that my husband was indeed gay so In the end I married a man who lied about from where he was from and also I married a gay man I never questioned it and was married to him for 2 years he had painted such a good image to get his green card so he can work freely in the US.

After learning all of the things of the man I was married to I tried everything I could to make things work in the end he wasn’t interested in me to begin with he had asked me to sign a document to confirm he didn’t marry me for citizenship I ripped up the paper and said no! since I knew that my marriage wasn’t going anywhere I decided to ask for a divorce at this time I started talking to my Saudi friend for advice he said if you’re not happy than you’re not forced to stay and it takes hands to clap you can’t clap with just one hand so in the end I ended up divorcing my gay husband and I made the mistake in jumping into another relationship I was lonely for so long and just got out of a marriage that was based on betrayal that was the wrong thing to do…

A new beginning 3rd marriage:
Getting out of a 2 year marriage that was based on betrayal was one of the hardest things to deal with someone I loved used me my family loved him I loved him in the end he didn’t! only to get what he wanted as time went by I quickly decided to get married again  which was with the Saudi man that I talked to all the time in the computer lab he was a good listener and he paid attention to me I fell for it… I accepted his proposal without giving myself time to heal from the 2 years of hell so when we did get married it was not so smooth we fought I was angry a lot of it had to deal with the fact that I was lied to and used and hurt so much that I was taking it out on my husband but he didn’t know how to deal with it “due to cultural” and common sense on his part of understanding! It wasn’t a happy marriage at all to begin with before marrying him I had many people telling me to not to marry him I prayed Istakara before marrying him and the signs I now recognize I wish I had seen them beforehand  because so many people told me not to marry him he asked me to stop things that I loved doing from going to Islamic conferences he would say “I don’t want my wife going to another city for 3 days mixing with guys” I told him I’m going to learn about Islam not sit with guys and were separated guys on one side women on the other he had also made me quit my jobs and would not help me to drive me to school which caused me to stop going to finish my criminal justice degree all these things now I wish I had seen!

I know I probably didn’t make it easy as we were married but I just wish my husband now would understand the hurt and betrayal that I had been through to make me feel the way I did I thought it was my fault to think how I was being maybe it was maybe it wasn’t but what I was looking for was compassion but in the end I couldn’t find it. I had quickly gotten pregnant after we gotten married for most women it’s the happiest moment in their life for me not so much instead I was blamed for not stopping it and threatened that he would leave me and forget me and my baby he put so much stress on me that I ended up miscarrying the baby you would think that he would had shown a little sympathy but no he said it’s much better this way I was crushed and needed his love instead I got his wrath of anger…

As time went by I had gotten pregnant again same thing blamed for not stopping it I ended up staying with my mom because I couldn’t handle how he was dealing with me I mean what’s the point of marriage if you’re not going to accept the things that come with marriage that includes “having babies” and I shouldn’t had been the one that had to prevent it, Anyways… I ended up having my first son It was a happy moment for me and my husband he started to change a little but not a huge change I felt okay maybe it’s because he’s a student and he’s just under a lot of pressure so I kept letting his behavior towards me slide and I’m not going to lie I have my moments like any other woman but a woman needs someone who is going to be soft with her not hard with her like a man this is not how you deal with your wife and same time he didn’t really pay much attention to me he paid a lot of attention to his electronics but has not put much effort in understanding his wife.  

My son had gotten older and at that time my husband started working with a hospital and I honestly wanted another baby he didn’t but I did and sure enough I ended up pregnant with my second child same thing blamed for not stopping it. there has always been a huge lack of support in all of my pregnancies which puts a lot on a woman who really needs all the support and encouragement she can get to help her feel good about herself and I never got that I was grateful for the friends around me at that time to help me to be honest they helped a lot by visiting me and bringing me food after my recovering delivering my baby but my husband’s towards me has always been harsh I remember the first time I had gotten pregnant he said to me “If you have my baby I will make life hard and will be harsh with you” and he has been the entire time we’ve been married I thought he would eventually change and same time I loved him he was the father of my children and he helps provides for the home but for me I was missing something very important to any woman… “compassion, encouragement, support, Respect, sensitive, Attention, and love” I’ve never been the type of wife that always demanded money even though islamicly it is my right I’ve never been this type I’m always the type that I want the things money can’t buy but are the simplest things to give…

When we moved to Saudi Arabia it was the happiest moment in my life honestly I’ve been trying to come here for so long and finally it was coming to reality and thought maybe being back home my husband would change and be better, WRONG!!!! It got much worse there where some minor issues with his work that needed fixed and I thought once they were all ironed out that he would treat me better his brother even begged me to be patient with him and I said okay your right I will be more patient with him but after things were fixed my husband’s harsh attitude and treatment towards me still remained the same.

 It was my first year in a new country and he expected me to know and how to understand everything when he never took the time to explain anything to me I was honestly really hoping for a happy life with him when I came to Saudi Arabia I had all the plans in my mind to build a happy life and happy family with him but how can I build a happy life with someone who has such a negative mind and an envious personality??? Do I love him? No do I hate him?  I hate how he is with me and how he can’t admit to his mistakes even more when he blames me for all the mistakes in our relationship and he takes no credit… 

I’m not a perfect wife I will never claim to be one but I also will never deny my mistakes and I will always try to fix them things though have gotten so bad I don’t know where it will end up, will it end up in divorce? More than likely… did I try everything? I think I did many tell me to stay for my kids but to be honest abuse isn’t just physical it’s also verbal and mentally and I will never get the things I need as a wife from my husband now so sadly it will more than likely end up in divorce is it what I wanted? Not at all but what I’m dealing with I never wish it on anyone because trying to destroy someone to get them to do what you want is not the way to live your life, will I get married again? I don’t know from my point now? No! and I don’t want to get married again I just want to live In Saudi Arabia and work to be with my kids only my kids are the most important thing in my life and their all that matter and Insha’allah I’ll have a happy ending in a happy loving relationship because every man and woman deserves to be happy and to be with someone who understand them and supports them in the end my husband and I we are far from each other our differences causes us to fight and I'm expected to understand his view point but he isn't open to understand mine.


I know some who may read this and think I thought she’s happy and Saudis are not acting like this! Firstly not everyone is the same the fingers on your hand are not the same and nether are all the Saudis just because I got a bad apple doesn’t mean that I can’t find a Golden apple that will change my life and will make my life that I deserve no matter what happens in my relationship now my views of Saudis will never change because I know in my heart there are a lot of good men in Saudi Arabia and insha’allah I’ll find the right one and if I don’t Alhumdullilah for everything.