Is US Media Portraying an accurate picture of Saudi Arabia?

Yes...I think what the media portrays for the most part (as much as any news agency can) is accurate.

I've had some question my answer to this question. So...I went to the top 5 news sources and pulled the last 5 news articles written on Saudi Arabia (or even made a reference to Saudi Arabia)...and what may be of surprise to some is that...it's NOT all negative. In fact, a lot of it isn't. However, Saudis (and others) must keep in mind...just like they want to hear and listen to the salacious details of so-called American culture and thereby come to conclusions that all American women are loose, have sex with whomever, and all have boob jobs; Americans are interested is the "juicy" stuff as well and want to read about the young girl forced to marry an old man, or the 75 year old lady sentence to 40 lashes for "mingling" with men. It's not to compare...it's just that everyone seems to just want to hear "the dirt". This is just human nature, unfortunately. So...I think when people listen to the news...they listen to it like it's "gossip", and take from it what they will/want. Trust me...being Black, and American...I too have suffered my share of stereotyping, and false assumptions based on what the news media puts out, so I'm not inexperienced in this matter. With all that stated...check out the links below to the top news organizations in the US...and actually see what is in print versus the tidbits (less than 2 minutes in length) put out by television news. But, then that would require most people to read the news...and unfortunately, most people get their news from television.

Let me apologize in advance if the links don't work. If not...you're a smart person...go to the websites directly and put in "Saudi Arabia" (with the quotes around it). =)

Have a Great Day!!

New York Times:

The Washington Post:

BBC News:

NPR:

CNN:

Taking Pictures....

During my morning walk I took a few pictures to test out my new camera. Along with developing my travel writing skills...I'm upping my travel photo game. That requires a better camera than the cute pink point and shot Sony that I currently have. And, being that I was very good this year ;-) Santa put a new Nikon under my Christmas tree. :-D hehehehehehehe

So...I've taken some preliminary, I'm testing the settings, getting used the the new camera photos. Some are actually pretty decent. All of the flower photos are taken at my house, and the beach photos were taken at the beach (duh), during my morning walk.

Enjoy!!

1 Year Anniversary

Okay....I did it!!! I've lasted 1 year living in Saudi Arabia!! Ohmigod, there was a time I didn't think I would last, and I fantasized about leaving SA at least 5 times during that year. But...here I am...still hangin', and no longer fansizing about my escape. Maybe it's Stockholm Syndrome. LOL...Roland, my husband is Swedish. Anyway...during that time, I've had a lot of questions come my way from family, friends, and from a few of the thousands of people who have watched my videos on YouTube. Today...1 year in...I've answered some of those questions, in the video below.

Anatomy of Firing a Househelper (aka Houseboy)

So...I fired my 2nd Househelper about 2 weeks ago. It was a slow progression starting towards the end of October and culminating on December 14th with me telling him: "Listen...Don't bring your ass over here any more!!" and me slamming down the phone.

Let me take you back...it went something like this:

Monday, October 25th:

After he arrives 30 minutes late, and he's done (his hours are Mondays, Noon - 4:00PM)...I asked Joseph could he come by on Saturday (October 31st) to clean before I left to go on vacation. He told me he could come, but it would be later in the day, because he is in Dhahran on Saturdays. I told him to give me a time, since this isn't our normal schedule, that I would plan my day around what he told me. He said, 1:00PM Cool.

Saturday, October 31st:

I spent time clearing out my office so he could clean the floors in this room (which isn't typical for him to clean). Roland makes plans to be home while I'm at appointments. (I didn't leave him in the house, as I didn't quite trust him yet). Well...when I come home from my nail appointment, Roland tells me that Joseph just showed up. Huh? What?!!! This would make him over an hour late coming to our house, and we had to leave in a little over an hour to run errands in Dhahran before leaving on vacay. Well...the short of the long is...he didn't get to finish half the stuff I wanted done.

So....I go on vacay...had a fabulous time. I come back and his 1st day to be at my house was suppose to be Monday, December 7th. Well...that didn't quite work out. It went something like this:

Monday, December 7th:

Brrrrrrrrrrring...Brrrrrrrrrrrrring (that's my phone ringing @ 11:30AM; he's suppose to be at my house at Noon)

Terri: Hello

Joseph: Hello Mam. I'm sick. I can't come by today...I will come by tomorrow.

Terri: No...you can't come by tomorrow. Just come by next Monday.

Joseph: I can come tomorrow.

Terri: No. Tomorrow doesn't work for me. Come by next Monday.

Joseph: Ok. Mam.

Terri: Thank you

Click (me hanging up the phone)

See...the deal is at this point I'm not liking his ass. For one, he's now inconvenienced me 3 times. And, my feelings are..."you are not going inconvenience me, and it not affect your money". If I had let him come by on Tuesday...his payday at the end of the month would not have been affected (with the exception of the "tip" he wouldn't have received), this way...his money from me would have been a day short. Also...I caught him being mean to my gardner twice, and I don't appreciate that crap...especially since my gardner is exceptional (not one bad word about this guy).

Okay...we're almost there. So...the next week comes. I'm in Al-Khobar running errands and I know I'm going to arrive back about 10 - 15 minutes late. I try to call Joseph twice on his cell. No answer. These cell phones don't have VM. When we get home...he's not here. But...I'm not home 5 minutes before my phone is ringing.

Monday, December 14th:

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring.........Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrring.........

Terri: Hello

Joseph: Mam. How come you didn't answer the door when I came by?

Terri: I wasn't here. I had errands to run. I called you twice.

Joseph: Why didn't you call me?

Terri: (looking at the phone like she can't believe this mutha "u know what") I called you twice. And, there was no answer.

Joseph: I don't answer that phone. You should have called me at home.

Terri: I don't have that number. And, if you're not answering your cell phone, how am I suppose to reach you? What if you're not home?

Joseph: You should have called me yesterday.

*a few more words were said before I finally told him*

Terri: Joseph...Listen here...don't bring your ass over here any more.

CLICK (that's me slamming down the phone)

When I hung up the phone...I was like...In-effing-credible!!!!! Doesn't this MoFo know he's like a penny a dozen and that I can pick up another one of him, like I'm picking weeds out of my yard!!!!?

So...I'm semi-looking again. I'm hoping this time to find someone good, that I like, without an attitude...who appreciates people who appreciate a job well done.

Gawd!!! Good help is truly hard to find!!

Facebook Is Killing My Blog

Facebook is killing my blog...I think. It seems like I spend more time on FB than anything else. I created my blog to keep friends and family back home, up to date, about my move, how I was coping, etc. etc. About 3 - 4 weeks into living in SA, I was told by a friend, "if you're bored, get on Facebook. Everyone is on it". Sure enough, she was right, everyone was on it. Then I got my friends who weren't on it; on it. I got my mom on it, even my son. Now I spend so much time updating them on the most meaningless of things, that I haven't felt like writing in my blog. I think that's about to change. FB is an okay tool to use to stay in touch with people, update them on our lives, even to advertise your latest venture or your blog. But, those short blips, are no substitute for actually sitting down and putting out something that people may want to read, something with a little more substance. So....I've signed off from Facebook for 5 days. That's right...I've signed off, and I'm going to use this time to get back on track with this blog and my travel blog.

Something else that I notice about FB is that it really can give the "illusion" of friendship. But, it's just that...an illusion, a mirage. Because, really, isn't friendship more than just reading someone's blips, and looking at their photos? IDK....but I'm considering establishing the practice of...if I haven't seen you in 2 years, and I haven't talk to you in 3....maybe you shouldn't be on my friend list (because really, these "friends" have access to some personal information). IDK...Is that person I used to party with 10 years ago a friend just because we've "reconnected" on FB? If we were friends, wouldn't we have stayed in touch? Do I really even know this person now? IDK...but this is kinda what I'm thinking.

Anyway....I'm taking a break. That should get me motivated to post my 1 year anniversary video post.

Feeling Like It's Christmas

This is going to be my 1st Christmas in Saudi Arabia. And, I'm totally feeling the spirit of it; this week. But...it took a minute at first. I was in the states until the 3rd of December, and if you've ever been in the states anytime after Halloween you know, you can't not know it's the Christmas season. Now, personally, I refuse to get into Christmas until after Thanksgiving. I mean really, I'm gonna spend some money...no need in trying to rush me out shopping. Anyway...I went to a friends last week and on the ride home I was telling Rolle how I wasn't feeling like it's Christmas. Then I walked through the front door and while I was out socializing, he had put up the Christmas tree, and it's lights were twinkling. I was so happy and thankful for the "kick into the season". See...the deal is....I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Christmas season, and I really want to find myself attending festivities starting with Thanksgiving all the way up until the New Year.

Well...here we are it's the 21st, 4 days out. Today, I've been listening to Christmas music all day (everything from Classic to Pop, from Hip-Hop, to Elvis), wrapping gifts, and making sweet treats. I make this family fudge that I've been making for over 30 years, and about 4 years ago I added a newbie, a really good friend's family recipe for Peanut Brittle. This stuff is off the chain, ohmigod...i just hope I don't eat it before I deliver it. I've got 4 Christmas parties/gatherings that I'm going to this week...and the fun starts tomorrow. So....It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!!

My Favorite Christmas Songs:

Joy To The World - Whitney Houston

All I Want For Christmas - Mariah Carey

This Christmas - Patti Labelle

Santa Baby - Kylie Minogue

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - Jackson 5

Wishing U Peace, Love, & Happiness this Holiday Season & Always!!

Good 2 B Home

It feels soooo good to be home and to not be living out of my suitcase. We've been on the road for 5 weeks which is the reason I haven't posted anything in over 6 weeks. LOL. We started out in Seattle, stayed there for 10 days...then we went on a road trip to San Diego (pictured), stayed there for 2.5 weeks, during that time drove up to

Los Angeles twice, flew back to Seattle, stayed there a day, then it was back to

Saudi. We did SO MUCH stuff, it was awesome. We went to concerts, historical tours, amusement parks, the beach, shopped, hung out and celebrated Thanksgiving with family and friends. We went to the American Music Awards!!! I could hardly believe I was there. That shi*t was crazy! crazy!! I have a lot to share, but since I'm trying to be a "travel writer", and I have to work on my story telling skills...

I'm going to use this past trip to write a few travel articles. In fact, I have 4 planned articles from this trip. They will be posted on my travel blog, Black Chick On Tour.

Even with all of that...I was ready to come home, and settle down. The thing is, I've been back 6 days and I feel "normal". Not like, "I'm back in Saudi"; as I have in the past. That's cool. The jet lag is still getting me, but that will pass. Now...the funny thing is...I'm

still living out of suitcases...Hehehehehehehehehe....

P.S. In celebration of what will be my 1 year "Living in Saudi Arabia" anniversary that's coming up in a few weeks, I'm working on a video post in which I answer some of the questions that I have received over this year from family, friends, and people who have viewed my videos and have stopped by my blog. =) So stop back by in a coupla weeks to check that out.

Peace!!

Airport Security - Saudi Style

When you leave SA for any destination, you have to go through immigration or security...where they check your passport, and "other stuff". Well...in them checking the "other stuff"...they found a problem with my passport. Well...really it wasn't a problem, but it meant I had to wait while the guy got a supervisor to correct the problem, blah blah blah blah *eye roll*. Apparently the problem was that I went to Bahrain the weekend before, and my passport is registered as leaving SA, but not that I ever returned; which clearly was not true, since here I was at 2:00AM in the airport trying to get on a plane to Amsterdam/Seattle.

I wasn't too surprised that there was a problem, since most things don't seem to run smoothly in SA, but what was surprising was the really nice airport immigration security dude. He joked with my husband and I about Roland getting a 2nd wife...I just laughed, as Roland told him, "yea, no thank you. one is enough". The other security dude loved that, him and Roland high fived (i think I just made this word up) in agreement. After all of this banter, we were asked to "have a seat over there"...gawd...the worst words in the world when it's 2:00AM, and you just want to get to the freakin' gate. Well...as we were having a seat and waiting, the security dudes started offering us food, little snacks. I was completely surprised. It felt good. I tend to view the Saudi security people (all of them, regardless of where they're located) as stern and harsh. And, here you have this young man (who is on wife #1, but he can get another one in 2 years; apparently you have to wait 3 years in between getting another wife, IDK) serving us up food. We'd politely accept, eat that, and then he was coming out, offering a different plate of snacks. We were like, Wow; now this is the way to send people off, and it shows that just because you have a semi-serious job doesn't mean you can't be nice.

Can you imagine TSA, giving you some snacks while you wait? Yea...I didn't think so.