I must apologize I know it seems like forever since I have kept you posted on things here in Medina. I have no excuse other than the daily routine of my life the unrelenting heat of the desert is draining me. Summer is approaching with no mercy. The heat is one of the many things that for some is very hard to cope with. My 16 year old is one of them. I decided to spend this blog sharing her experience and that of some of her friends. I think it is important for anyone who is considering moving to Medina with older children to understand what hurdles you may or may not encounter moving a teenager to KSA. Deciding on an highschool is the common problem many of us encounter. Highschool for a non arabic speaking teen falls into 2 options a priviate international school that uses an American curriculm and English is the primary language, governement school "public" which is a total emersion into all Arabic or homeschooling which can be a problem if you later decided to place them outside the home. Public or private will not recognize homeschoolers as far as placing them in the correct grades. From a parent's prospective moving a teenager to KSA can be ideal concept for other reasons. The knowledge that your teen will not be in same sex classrooms or even exposed to same sex schools (in most cases) or bombarded with negative images about Muslims. Intermingling that plagues the West and many other countries is almost non existent in KSA. I do not want to give an impression of a perfect or even a flawed society. It is easy to fall into a sense of false security about good and bad in Medina. This is true and I have to admit I am guilty of having these same feelings of protection from the outside world but of course there are always exceptions and teens who rebel no matter how religious the family is or is not. All parents must continue to make dua for their children and remind them that the growing pains of a teenager are just one phase of life. We have met teens who have lived in Medina some a few years others their entire lives. One thing that I have learned is teens (girls in particular) are a universal breed no matter the economic background whether they grew up in a large house or small flat, if they are home schooled, attend public or private school they pretty much enjoy just hanging out with friends, walking the malls and are concerned with all the latest fashions. People are a product of their environment and female teens in Medina are influenced by the culture of this country in many ways. From the way they wear hijab to the way they think about marriage and college.
Within a few months of arriving here and getting settled in my 16 year old expressed that she was bored (as every teenager in the world is) and that her daily routine of homeschooling and Quran class was not enough she wanted to socialize with others her age. Once upon a time being a teenager myself I sympathized, she was right we had just moved thousands of miles from what she knew leaving behind friends that she could only communicated with through emails as well as handling a full 10 grade schedule. I decided to email some of my new friends here in Medina and ask if they new of anyone who had daughters in her age range because unfortunately many of the families we had met their daughters were very young or they lived in other cities. After a few weeks I got a call from a friend telling me about a sister who had 2 daughters almost the same age as mine, the family had been in Medina for several years and their daughters were homeschooling also and we set up a meeting for lunch and the girls alhumdulih hit it off beautifully. Like some many other things here it is important to network and allow yourself to be open to others. Meeting other American families at first seemed difficult at times we felt as if we were the only Americans in Medina.
A family friend and his daughter come to visit sometimes but because they live in another city it is not very often. I have learned so much from this young lady about Saudi culture, education and sometimes racism. I find her very interesting being an American raised in Saudi almost since birth. Her Arabic is as flawless as her English. Also 16 she shares with me that life in Saudi is fun and she enjoys spending time with Americans whenever she gets a chance. Most of her friends are Arab but feels a close relationship with the community of Americans because many of them grew up together attending the same schools or living in the same neighborhoods. Even though she has visited Egypt and Europe she has not returned to the West since she was 3 she admits she has no desire to return but still has memories of several family members, the Flinstones and Brittney Spears lol. Just like some other teens she wants to travel the world attend college and has mixed feeling about getting married. Being only in 9th grade she has plenty of time to reconcile those feelings but her passion for reading fiction books and hanging out with her friends are pretty typical. "I still act very American I think, but that's ok I like who I am. I'm very popular at school because I am American".
My own daughter says " Allah is known for giving rewards, my best reward from him was living in Medina".
Within a few months of arriving here and getting settled in my 16 year old expressed that she was bored (as every teenager in the world is) and that her daily routine of homeschooling and Quran class was not enough she wanted to socialize with others her age. Once upon a time being a teenager myself I sympathized, she was right we had just moved thousands of miles from what she knew leaving behind friends that she could only communicated with through emails as well as handling a full 10 grade schedule. I decided to email some of my new friends here in Medina and ask if they new of anyone who had daughters in her age range because unfortunately many of the families we had met their daughters were very young or they lived in other cities. After a few weeks I got a call from a friend telling me about a sister who had 2 daughters almost the same age as mine, the family had been in Medina for several years and their daughters were homeschooling also and we set up a meeting for lunch and the girls alhumdulih hit it off beautifully. Like some many other things here it is important to network and allow yourself to be open to others. Meeting other American families at first seemed difficult at times we felt as if we were the only Americans in Medina.
A family friend and his daughter come to visit sometimes but because they live in another city it is not very often. I have learned so much from this young lady about Saudi culture, education and sometimes racism. I find her very interesting being an American raised in Saudi almost since birth. Her Arabic is as flawless as her English. Also 16 she shares with me that life in Saudi is fun and she enjoys spending time with Americans whenever she gets a chance. Most of her friends are Arab but feels a close relationship with the community of Americans because many of them grew up together attending the same schools or living in the same neighborhoods. Even though she has visited Egypt and Europe she has not returned to the West since she was 3 she admits she has no desire to return but still has memories of several family members, the Flinstones and Brittney Spears lol. Just like some other teens she wants to travel the world attend college and has mixed feeling about getting married. Being only in 9th grade she has plenty of time to reconcile those feelings but her passion for reading fiction books and hanging out with her friends are pretty typical. "I still act very American I think, but that's ok I like who I am. I'm very popular at school because I am American".
My own daughter says " Allah is known for giving rewards, my best reward from him was living in Medina".
