By Mohammed Mirza
When you decided to go to college abroad you felt so good, so adventurous, so spirited. But now that you are there, maybe things were not as you expected them to be and you start missing the life you had back home.
Here are some of the struggles Saudi students living abroad regularly face.
1. Domestic Helper
Gone are the days when you had your food, laundry and room cleaning done for you. Now it’s your turn to get your hands dirty.
2. Halal Food
You start missing the fact that you could go to any restaurant and have any food you like. Now you’re even forced to check the ingredients list whenever you shop from your neighborhood grocery store.
3. Mosques
They are just so far from your house or workplace. Those days of walking to the mosque after hearing the adan (call to prayer) is what you miss badly.
4. Time Difference
Skype is a great blessing, but time difference always comes in the way. By the time you’re back from college, it’s well past bedtime back home.
5. Assignments
They become the biggest struggle of your life and you soon realize that no matter how much effort you put something or the other always remains missing in it. Plus, they just don’t seem to stop coming one after the other.
6. Public Toilets
Can’t they have a bidet spray or faucet? You are literally tired of having to buy a water bottle every time you use a public toilet.
7. Friends and Family
Sometimes you just can’t wait for summer break so you can rush back home and see your family and childhood friends.
8. Oil Prices
It forces you to start considering public transport.
9. Cold Weather
Our bodies which have adapted to desert climate over the years and have a tough time in adjusting to the cold weather – the winters especially. Snow only looks good until you witness one!
