There are a multitude of blogs out in the blogosphere about Saudi Arabia. I try to follow the ones which are written in English so I can see what is the focus, readership and how often do these bloggers posts. Some of them I believe are excellent and merit positions in the Saudi bloggers “Hall of Fame” while others are simply out there but seem to lack direction, purpose or discipline. Among my favorites are included:
Crossroads Arabia: Crossroads Arabia is a well-established blog written for a retired foreign service officer, John Burgess, who had two tours of duty in the Kingdom. Better yet, our paths crossed when we were both briefly posted at the same time in New Delhi. John provides a well balanced perspective and analysis of Saudi Arabia ranging from politics, economics, literature, social issues and so much more. He has a mature following whose comments add further substance to the issue under discussion.
Saudi Jeans: Saudi Jeans is written in English by pharmacological student, Ahmed Al Omran. Ahmed shares his views, perceptions and impressions on a variety of issues pertaining to the life in Saudi Arabia. He is not shy when selecting his words and sometimes his posts can result in lively discussions. I’m pleased and honored to call Ahmed among my friends. His is also another stable blog. It has been up for several years and he posts regularly taking on a multitude of issues for discussion.
The above two blogs are the ones I will click on each day as they are most likely to have new and informative information. Now I’m going to relate a few other blogs which are interesting, Saudi oriented but I still feel need to mature in various aspects:
Susie’s Big Adventure: Susie is off to a good start on sharing her views, perspectives and experiences about relocating to the Kingdom and now making her home in Jeddah. Sometimes her posts are naïve or perhaps slightly insensitive to the customs and cultures with the tradition of the Kingdom. However I am sure she means no offense and is still learning about life in KSA. She candidly shares her views and experiences, perhaps sometimes a little too candidly when taking into account how many families here like to preserve their privacy. I commend the way she has designed her blog and interspersed it with interesting photos. I wish her all the best on her new life in the Kingdom.
In the Making: I thoroughly enjoy In the Making since Aysha is a Saudi woman who has chosen to blog and blog in English. She writes very well and candidly shares her views and experiences. Aysha began her blog while she was a Masters student in the States. Now she has returned to the Kingdom and she is continuing her blog and sharing her experiences on adapting back to life in KSA.
When active, Saudi Stepford Wife is quite an enjoyable read. Unfortunately her blog has not been stable for more than six months now so one must simply check periodically to see if she has chosen to resume posting. However some of her old posts are worth reading.
Working in Saudi Arabia is an excellent blog and reference tool for the expat in the Kingdom. This blogger will respond quickly and promptly with answers and always writes on key timely subjects. He is providing an excellent public service for expats in the Kingdom.
There will be a number of blogs usually maintained by western women (like myself) who have started blogs sharing their experiences and views. Many of them seem focused on their lives, their children and experience with housemaids. Some blogs started out very good with solid information about the Kingdom but then started to go off-track onto unrelated subjects. As a result, I have chosen not to include those blogs in this review post. However if you as a reader have time, I do encourage you to click one-by-one on all the blogs I have listed in my blog roll. I may not cited each of them individually but I still tend to peruse them for various reasons.
If you are also aware of other Saudi oriented blogs which post regularly, please in turn share those links with us.
Filed under: Saudi blogs
Do you know of any good Saudi (or other Gulf Arab) photoblogs showing daily life in the country?
I am so pleased to be part of a ”mature following”!
Thank you for this wonderful list!
Salaams Sis:
Daisy (SSW) had a death in the family and is now real busy with the kids being out of school for the summer.
I particularly like Umm Adam’s blog!
AA Safiyyah,
Thanks for the update on Daisy. Insh’Allah she doesn’t keep us hanging too much longer. I can hardly stand it!
Aafke,
LOL!!! Just about choked on my lemonade!!! ; )
I love the way the net opens up borders to people that would otherwise never leave their couch…or rather computer table. I enjoy reading all those blogs…just remove Saudi and put Bahrain there and you get pretty much the same result.
I agree with Aafke…nice to be hanging out with the cool kids…lol.
Abid,
Susie of Arabia (htto://susieofarabia.wordpress.com) is a daily photoblog of life in Jeddah. And yes, this is the same Susie as Susie’s Big Adventure.
Saffiyah,
I saw Daisy a few weeks ago. She was kind enough to come from al Hassa and visit while I was convalescing. We hope she will be back online soon.
Umm Adam has an entertaining blog focused more on her daily life and children but certainly worth checking out.
And again, I encourage everyone to click through all the blogs on my blogroll. I focus on Saudi Arabia but there’s a few under my general blogroll not Saudi oriented but very entertaining!
Gee, Carol, I feel honored to be mentioned on your list. I have always been the first one to admit how naive I am about things here, despite feeling that I knew much of what to expect when we moved to Jeddah almost a year ago. But, OUCH! Insensitive? OK, there have been times when I was blindsided by the reactions a few of my posts have triggered because I just don’t think the same way this culture does. I try my best to avoid really controversial topics, but just when I think I am posting something totally benign … YIKES!
I guess I prefer the word “naive” to “insensitive” and I still have a lot to learn over here!!!
Thanks again.
PS – If I have any doubts about future posts, do you mind if I run things by you first? You are always so politically correct and astute!
Hi Susie,
Please I do not mean offense by any words I have chosen and do recommend that your blog be followed for those interested in life and customs here. I believe there is a fine line between naive and insensitive. You are always welcome to run any posts or ideas through me at any time. And, hey, I’m not always politically correct and astute either! (smile)
Carol,
Thanks for the list and your comments on them.
(Once while “googling”,I found one of the blogs you mentioned in the list.i dont remember exactly which is the one,but i guess it was stepfordwife.From there only,i reached to your blog and afterwards, i am a regular visitor of crossroads and american bedu)
Thanks for commenting AbuMarjaan and it is also useul to hear how you found American Bedu!
I look forward to more of your comments.
Regards,
Carol
I’m still in the process of migrating over a 100 blog posts from my old http://www.minjid.com blog… it’s proving to be a tedious task… but will get it done… by clicking on my name you can see my blog relating to life in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia… enjoy
Ali
Salam,
Thank you for sharing these blogs, and for your prolific posts. Such a richness in diversity! I am an expat living in Madinah, and thus blog with a focus on being here, along with visits and developments in Makkah. I realize this may have limited appeal to many, but I share many photos, information that highlight the uniqueness of these places.
May all be blessed with health and happiness.
Umm Bilal
Ali, Umm Bilal,
Thank you both very much for your comments and for learning about your own KSA blogs. I will certainly be checking them out.
Regards,
Carol
[...] Bedu, an American living in Saudi Arabia, reviews some Saudi blogs written in English in this post. Posted by Ayesha Saldanha Print Version Share [...]
Nice review! It’s great that you have highlighted the strictly Saudi blogs. Sometimes a reader wants a very focused blog, which is hard to find, since most blogs (mine, too) evolve into other areas.
A Saudi photo blog (in addition to Susie’s nice one!) would be well received.
Please note I have added Ali and Umm Bilal’s blogs to the blogroll and they do have some photos too!
I’m always into discussions on anything organic, so this read made me feel at home.
I’ll bookmark the site and subscribe to the feed!
Reuters picked up this post recently:
http://www.reuters.com/article/blogBurst/entertainment?bbPostId=B6kcqoGH9Pf8Bzn7nRZ5sNNoBBakpcd3L1XxCzCeveVELgJ0P
nice site. Keep up the good work. Im going to add you to my rss feed.
[...] enjoy recommending what I think are other good blogs which have an emphasis on Saudi Arabia and in fact, have written previous posts about blogs in [...]