Morrocan Maids:Magicians or Man Magnets? From a Saudi Women's perspective

Recently, there has been a bit of an uproar amoung Saudi women, and no, its got nothing to do with driving; Saudi women have been protesting the import of Morrocan women as domestic helpers in lieu of Indonesian and Phillipine women.

Previously, most domestic helpers were from either Indonesia and the Philipines and after a growing number cases of unpaid wages and abuse these two countries decided to put a ban on sending their domestic workers to Saudi Arabia, and I think other Gulf countires until a better wages and rights for their workers. The governments were n't able to come ot an agreement and there has been a shortage of maids ever since, with families struggling to find help, and having to do without in Ramadan (when there is a high demand for maids as ironically cooking and parties increase).

So, when it was announced that Saudi Arabia would getting maids from Morrocco, you would think Saudi women would breathe a collective sigh of relief. Instead, this was received like a stab in the back, a sprinkling of salt on the wound.

Why, you may ask? Well, it is a well known fact that Saudi men, tend to vacation in Morroco-alone. It is how should I put it politely... considered an adult playground. I once went to a travel agent with a sibling to plan our summer vacations, we'd been thinking of Tunisia/Morocoo/Jordan and wanted more information so that we could decide. You should've seen the travel agent's face when my brother asked about Morroco, he first froze, glanced  slightly in my direction, then looked back at my bro, and as my bro was still looking at him naively for an answer -quietly said its not appropriate for families. Needless to say, we were very embarassed and almost afraid to ask about any other country in case we made a similar mistake!

That's not all, Saudi women feel threatened due the unfortunate reputation the country has developed for practising Black Magic (as Muslims we believe in it to be real and it uses Jinns(spirits) to cast spells), and often Saudi men are said to have been deceived into marrying them. It helps that they are considered pretty and full of feminine qualities and 'know the way to Saudi man's heart'.

Some Saudi women have threatened to quit their jobs and stay at home to do the housework if the alternative is to hire Morrocan maids-or they could continue working and do the housework as well like women all over the world. And what about those who don't work but cannot even fetch a glass of water without a maid let alone take care of their kids? I think its a devilish plan concocted by Saudi men, its a win-win situation for them, if their wives don't hire the maids they will save the salary spent on the maid, and if they do-at least they will have some one pretty and sweet to look at :-). It would be funny, if this step ended up turning many Saudi women into domesticated and caring non-creepy version of Stepford wives.

Personally, I don't like the idea of live-in help unless absolutely crucial, as it creates numerous problems regardless of nationality. Would you be willing to hire a live in Morrocan maid?

Summer Holidays in Saudi

I think I am one of the few people who don't particularly like summer holidays, I think they are much too long. This time the summer holidays in Saudi Arabia have been combined with Ramadan holidays which will result in a three and half month holiday. Woe to all teachers! Although the Ramadan holiday will be nice especially as it will be quite hot this year, I think they should have extended the school year to make up for the time that will be lost next year.

I think once the initial excitement wears off and you catch up on sleep and errands you get bored. Well, that's the case with me. I have had a few rather unpleasant summers..usually August ..so thats a time of year I can never quite feel comfortable with.


Optimist that I am ..and try to be, I will try and make this summer worthwhile instead of just letting the time slip through my fingers. I'm feeling quite restless so just may have enough motivation to get stuff done.

Mainly, I 'm dreading being stuck at home for the better part of three months. I really do need to arrange for a driver. (Women cannot drive in Saudi Arabia, my pet peeve with this country).

I'm Back

Hi
In case anyone has been wondering, I stopped blogging due to a very bad internet connection, due to a previous;y unheard of problem with the network card installed on my computer apparently it automatically changed the settings and this resulted in only the first page of any website being able to load if at all. Very strange. Anyways that took some time get fixed and by then I had obviously lost my newly developed blogging habit.
Well as the academic year draws to an end and I go on holiday, and will probably have more spare time on my hands I'll be blogging a lot more. I'm trying to at least get one letter publish in one of the local newspapers. need to actually sit down and write an email and compose before the topic becomes to out of date!

Queen of procrastination is another label that would suit me quite well besides being a dreamer.

I have always wanted to write a book,( 25 years old and I use always with such ease)and blogging was always a way to foray into the territory of literary accomplishment. To hone my writing skills and see what exactly I can write about well. After having read some chic-lits (yes its my guilty pleasure)I feel that I could do better job. Hmm alas maybe the critics or audience wont think so as I probably will shy away from references to sex etc. It would be chic-lit for the global market maybe target at young women living in the middle east/ south Asia brought up more conservatively but still having their own girlie enjoyments and pleasures.--Nothing like 'behind the veil' or whatever it was called ... It would be a breath of fresh air as most of the fiction or dramatized fact titles based on the middle east are banned and not something you would want to read if you were brought up here.Here I am generalizing about the majority.