Communication

As salaamu Alaikum: Someone once said just because you make hijrah or travel to a Muslim land doesn't mean unhappy things or sad things won't happen to you or affect you. The reality is yes, you will still get sick, you will still have those occasional disagreements with your spouse, your children will still work your nerves (as my mother use to say) and you will still feel sadness when you miss your loved ones. There are mixed emotions when you leave they are a great joy( inshaAllah), nervousness, feelings of excitement learning and exploring things about your new home. Connected to that overtime can also be a sense of home sickness. Leaving family behind can be the hardest thing you have to do when you decided to make hijrah. With Allah's guidance, your intentions to please your Lord, learn his religion and the desire to save you family from the negative effects of a non Islamic environment will become stronger. You will overcome your reluctance and hesitation. I love my family and I do miss them. I love Medina and it has become home for us.
Medina means so much to me because of it's significance and importance in Islamic history but also because it is a peaceful place. Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alihi wa salam) made the hijrah from Mecca to Medina. He made a home for himself and his family now my husband and our family are trying to establish ourselves here following in the footsteps (inshaAllah) of the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alihi wa salam) .
Keeping positive relationships going with family and friends in the West by telephone and email will become important when you start to have those (I miss you) feelings as I like to call them. I do not know what the cost is to call direct to the West from a land line the telephone service here is called Saudi Telcomm. There is also Mobily a popular cell phone provider as well as STC and Zain which I am not familiar. Mobily provides prepaid and contract cell phone service. You can also purchase Mobily to use for your home Internet like a wireless card. I have to admit the service has been great the Internet rarely goes out in Shakr and when it does it is only for a few minutes or so which is very common in the states also. I have Mobily as my cell phone carrier and you will be happy to know we get free incoming calls. We are able to receive most web sites here and I say most. You will find which is in my opinion is a good thing some websites do not meet Saudi standards and will be blocked.
Because the traditional system of writing letters and sending them through Saudi Post is basically obsolete. When trying to keep in touch with family and friends I suggest creating an email account (just in case you are that last person on earth that doesn't have one yet.) then get a web cam and microphone. There are several instant messenger programs like MSN, Yahoo, Gmail etc..you may use to chat or video call. The down side to video call and chatting you are bound to the computer sometimes to often or for long periods of time.
Your next options area services called Skype or Magic Jack for monthly or yearly fees you choice a plan and this allows you to make and receive calls to and from your computer. Magic Jack allows you to receive and make calls by utilizing your computer and home telephone. All the services mentioned require you to have Internet. I have used both and find them to be the most convenient way to keep in touch. The links are provided below.
http://www.magicjack.com/7/index.asp
http://www.skype.com/intl/en/useskype/