Why do we celebrate festivals?

In India, religious or not, we all celebrate a few, if not all, festivals. Festivals give a vibrant feel and the energy seem endless. Somehow, during festivals we manage to wake up at 5 am, do some extra cleaning, and load ourselves with work and some more work. Once we are finished and satisfied with our work, we dress up, wear saris or salwar suits, heavy jewelry and flaunt the never-there beauty in front of camera to upload some selfies on Facebook. We buy gifts, sweets and by the end of the celebration, we stand on a weighing machine calculating how many more kilos were contributed by the extra ghee added by our beloved mothers. Extra few kilos or not, there is definitely an extra sense of happiness and joy in our hearts before, during and after the festival period. 

These are few of my realizations as to why we should celebrate festivals -

1. Break from the routine: After college, you probably, start realizing that life revolves between 8 am and 5 pm. It becomes all about sleeping early, waking up early, work pressure, yet-to-be fulfilled commitments and never reachable dreams. Amid all the strange calculations of saving money, building a house, festivals bring a freshness even if it comes every year. It allows us to forget all the "future plannings" and focus our time and energy in decorating the house, preparing delicacies, eating good food and spending quality time with family. Festivals allow us to break free for one day and live a day filled with laughter, joy and love

2. Make the tummy happy: Indians are foodies and as much as we love our family, we love eating yummy food. In India, for every festival there is a special cuisine associated and it is specially cooked during these festivals. In my home town, "moode", "kadbu", "kai holige" etc are prepared during certain festivals (I am drooling now!!!) and eating becomes a celebration by itself. 

3. Meet friends and relatives: In this no-time-for-myself era giving sufficient time for family and friends gets harder with each year. Initially it's about the new job, then about the new wife/husband, then the newborn, then their schools and exams and hell lot of crazy things associated with them. Festivals give us that "day" where we can peacefully meet and greet people we love and do things we love. Take a box filled with sweets and knock your friend's door and say, "Happy Diwali" - don't forget to look at the smiles on their faces. 

4. Go shopping: Women don't need reasons to go shopping. But shopping for special occasions is something we love the most. So, Diwali ho ya Holi, shopping toh karni hai yaar!!! In India, there are a few festivals where we are supposed to wear new clothes (yey!!!), and we buy gold during some festivals which is considered auspicious (how amazing!!!). These festivals give us a reason to go out there and shop to our hearts content and nope, our husbands can't deny.

5. Treat for eyes: Who doesn't like bright colors, lights, decorations??? No matter how many "slum crammed area" pictures you see on google of India, the moment you type the name of festivals you will instantly fall in love with this culturally rich country. No matter how much we litter all through the year, during festivals we clean up and decorate our country so beautifully that India looks like a beautiful bride. I love to see the vibrant colors and joyful faces of people (who normally sulk!!!).

This is why I love the festivals and festival season in India..

What are your reasons????

*** All the above images are downloaded from different sources via google!!!

I am a feminist!!! Are you???

I am not a feminist because I support women, I am not a feminist because I talk about injustice towards women. I am a feminist because I believe men and women are equal. Having said that, I also believe, women can do all the things what men can do; not referring to flashing chests in public (that's what at least bollywood taught us so far). A feminist believes in equal work opportunities, equal rights, equal pay then I wonder why there is an extra dose of politeness and sensitivity towards women? Why can't men and women be treated equal in all regards? Why is it that a man proposes first? Why is it that a man holds the door for a woman? Why is it considered "good manners"? Is it because in the past we termed it "good manners" just to make women feel comfortable in a male dominated society? Is it because men think women are weak and need helping hands at every step? Or is it because men truly believe women are fragile and require a special treatment? Is it because men believe women are sensitive and hence, superior? Why? Why are women treated differently and not like any other guy? Is there a low expectation or a very high one?

Recently, my husband called me a "Super woman" because I was trying to manage certain things on my own, which for whatever reasons my darling husband thought I won't be able to. I felt happy, proud and after two minutes, I felt sad. This is the true image which most men carry about women. They think we are physically weak and need support and the fact is we take advantage of this.

Being polite is so intricately woven in to the system, that men feel the urge to open the door for women, pull the chair, pay hotel bills and the list goes on. Deep inside my heart, I hear a loud scream, "stop this nonsense". I don't need a man to hold my hand to cross the road. I can pull my chair, open my door and I don't mind saying "let's go dutch tonight". Whenever me and my husband go shopping, I feel equally responsible for the goods and I help him unload it and make it a point to lend my hand at every step. This is what feminism truly is.

If you see a man sitting in the bus, the first thought that hits our mind is, "How rude!!! Can't he get up and offer seat to the woman standing next to him?". But, so far we have never thought that the man sitting might be physically weak and tired compared to the woman. The whole agenda of feminism is about equality, right. If we are equal, why can't we stand? Are we implying that we are physically weak?

In the beginning, it was about how men and women were not equal and how men overpowered women. Then came a phase of equality but I don't know when women started acting superior to men. If we are truly feminist then the idea is about equality. Nobody is superior. You (my dear ladies) don't need extra pair of hands for everything. We don't want "the princess" treatment. We asked for equality and we should be extremely happy if it stops at that.

"Madam ko darwaza kholo"

"Madam ko pehle chadne do"

"Arrey madam ji, aap kyo? hum luggage utha lenge"

"Darling, when I am there why do you need to take this trouble?"

"You are the princess of my heart. I will treat you like a delicate flower" (faint!!!)

I don't want men to be polite with me or treat me like a delicate flower!!! I am a strong, independent and level headed woman, who asks nothing more than respect and equal treatment in all domains. As much as I want my husband to help me in the kitchen, I want to help him when he is fixing IKEA furniture.

I have no qualms if a man opens the car door for a woman but all that I am saying is, let her do the same for him without making it an "eye popping out of the socket" scenario for others. Let us feel equal in every regard, let us be equal, because we are!!!

All the images are downloaded from google via different sources.

Owning a website - hiccups and hacks!!!!

I have always been in that emergency zone of walking before crawling and running even before standing. No doubt, I am born to fall, head over heels!!!!

In less than an year, with less than hundred readers on my kitty, instead of writing more often and complaining less about not having the time to vent out my frustrations through words, I decided to buy a domain and give a new home for the gibberish I write. I was all set to give a brand new look for my hobby or passion, whatever you may call, but something stuck me hard - the designing of the website.

What benefits people from para-medical professions get when it comes to technology? Seriously??? None!!!! The "yey I am getting my own domain" bubble busted right on my face, when I realized I didn't even know what html actually meant. I had decided, and even innocently announced it on my fb page about the new website, which then started feeding on my ego. Finally, after all the umpteen futile attempts, I decided to spend some more money on designing a website.

My email to a web designer had a few highlights -

" My blog doesn't make any money" - so, don't empty my pockets!!!!

"I don't know how to write specifications" - Well, do what you can!!!

"I need a blog exactly like this another blog, with some changes which I don't know how to explain"

and some more syntactically correct sentences, with no obvious semantics, whatsoever!!!

I am sure, my web designer was in a dilemma for a few days as to what "this girl" really needs and to be honest, I had a vague image in my head which became more abstract with each day. So, finally when I got my website (which was like two months ago and I am still using blogspot), I was over the moon. My dream of having my own domain had finally come true. With joy clouding my eyes, I loved every design, every line, every word on my new baby. So, once my love at first sight started to become a horrifying reality, I realized the crack in our relationship!!! I wanted a wider post space, sharing buttons, different background, different color - a totally new design for my website. I slowly became disappointed, like always!!!

Changing the complete design would have costed me extra money, which I was not ready to pay. I did not have the time and knowledge to experiment to give a new outlook. I cried in silence as my new found love, my newborn baby was not even crawling, forget about standing without support. But, like they say - life isn't easy, when I thought of accepting reality and start writing on my new website, it started behaving weird. I mean, weird - weird!!!!

It was hacked!!!!

Seriously??? In just three days???

Who the hell wants to hack my blog???

There are hardly anybody reading it nowadays!!!

But nope, once my web designer set everything right,  it was hacked again and again and finally, my password was hacked.

During this process of hacking and resetting, I designed my entire website again. I loved the final outlook (after 6 different trial designs) and finally, like a proud mother, wanted to boast about my creation, but then, my website was hacked again, which by the way is still in the "f*(ha)cked up" state!!!

My web designer's hosting server was not safe guarded and they told me to host it under godaddy.com which again would cost me some money!!! I had paid them for designing my website and had re-designed everything on my own. My husband seemed furious. He knew this wasn't going to give us any earning and this was just a craze. So, when I told him, we had to move the hosting server, he agreed but his eyes told me a different story -

"How many people even read your blog?"

"we need to be cautious with money; we have to build a house, travel"

"Why can't you just give a new out look to your blog"

"How does having an own domain makes any difference to you"

But he said, YES!!!

After all the hassles, hacking and hosting issues, I decided to keep writing till my baby is born again. Yes, I will be getting my own DOMAIN (no more yey.. thinking about what I have to go through next) but till then, my blogspot is the safest zone.

Two months of waiting made me realize how much I love writing and how much I missed it. Once again, back on my foot, to start my unending journey of words.

***All images are downloaded from different sources via google!!!

Am I a speech therapist????

When people, with so much added curiosity and appreciation, ask me why did I choose such a noble occupation, I often tell,

"I didn't choose anything. I just stumbled upon it"

Let me rewind -

Before I begin my story, I want to tell you three things :

1. I am born and brought up in India, that too South India, that too in an educational town called, Manipal, where everybody believes in studying hard and scoring hundred out of hundred.

2. I was a very hard working and studious person, who never scored less than 90% in school days

3. I got 62% in 12th!!!!!!!

Now, you guys can imagine the life of a girl who was considered to be one of the toppers in school gets just two more extra percentages to belong to a category of "first class". The same "first class" which, if my dad had scored during his school days, he would have been our village hero but it only brought shame to my family. The useless people (who have nothing better to do) called my home continuously in disbelief and also, to show their sadness over my failure (In reality, they just wanted to insult us).

Questions like,

"This is what happens when you give unwanted freedom to your daughter" to my parents and "how can you bring shame to your family" to me, became the breakfast and dinner for us. Had I not been a strong woman, I would committed suicide during those months. I was concerned about my low score but I was more depressed by the words of those people who once respected my father and had great admiration towards me.

I was broken, to be honest!!! I was an 18 year old teenager, who just lost her battle of exams to a bunch of stupids in her class!!! I lost my confidence, my hope of having a better future and also, some privileges like a new mobile phone!!!

When I got a call from one of the "good" engineering colleges in our town, my dad said he will not be able to pay the huge donation as I didn't get a merit seat. My dream of building a bigger house next to my dad's house collapsed right in front of my eyes. I had such low self esteem during those days, I started believing I couldn't do anything better in life and hence, engineering was completely out of the question.

Now I needed a "course"!!! That's it. I wanted to do my graduation and started looking for options.

1. I went to Alva's college to apply for physiotherapy and even paid six thousand rupees as down-payment.

2. I applied for BBM, when the application dates had crossed the deadline, with the help of some people known to the college principle.

3. I applied for Journalism with my mom's influence as once again I had crossed the application deadline.

4. I applied for occupational therapy in Manipal College of allied health sciences (MCOAHS).

So, yes, speech therapy was not even on my list!!!!

I was keen on getting into journalism and the only reason I am speech therapist today is because I slept off on the orientation day and my mom felt insulted to approach the same people again to get me a seat.

"Your daughter forgets to submit application form on time and now she forgets the orientation date. Why don't you get your daughter married and make sure she doesn't forget her wedding date!!!!"

Nobody said anything like this and I thank mom for not approaching them again.

Now you guys definitely know, how lost I was back then.

So, finally, there came the big day. I had my fingers crossed for more than five hours that day just to get a seat in occupational therapy. MCOAHS had a reputation and being a loser, I wanted to be a part of it. During the orientation, people were called based on their math rank or biology rank. I hated biology and it was almost 100 ranks behind my math rank. Hence, I opted for math rank for obvious reasons.

It was my turn next...

Me - "Hello"

He - "Hello.. So, Shruthi tell me which course do you want to opt for"

Me, with confidence - "occupational therapy"

He - "I am so sorry Shruthi. For people who come through maths rank there are only two options available. Speech and hearing or optometry."

Immediately, I thought, what the hell is optometry but was familiar with speech and hearing as my neighbour had studied it.

He - "if you don't want either, you can go back and submit your biology rank and come back again"

I had a minute to decide. I was worried as my biology rank was poor and I was unsure of my possibilities of getting into any course through my biology rank.

Exactly after ten seconds, I said,

"How about you give me a seat in speech and hearing and here's your fees".

It seemed more like buying vegetables -

"ah.. ok.. so if you don't have potatoes, how about you give me some eggplant??"

This is how I entered into the vast field of speech language pathology and audiology which I hated throughout my six years of education and three years of work!!!

Irrespective of my constant complaints, I had a beautiful journey and if it wasn't for department of speech and hearing and my lovely friends, I would have been lost forever.

By the way, no matter how much I say I hate this profession, deep down I have a high regard for what we do and after getting into a school set up, I really love my job.

Maybe god knew I would come to Saudi Arabia eventually, and hence prevented me from opting any profession, where women are not allowed to work in Saudi.

All is well that ends well!!!

The man in the house!!!!

Of course, all the women are familiar with the man in the house, could be a father or husband or that lazy brother who has forgotten his route to the kitchen or your all grown up son flaunting his new found attitude. Being from venus, I myself find it very difficult to understand their 'mars'ness. After years of contemplating, I found myself a sweetheart. I have wondered many a times if I truly deserve this man (not being sarcastic here, if I minus certain aspects he is a true gem). My husband or shall I say, hubby darling, has often surprised me with his words and attitude and without a doubt, I credit it to the 'mars'ness. 

source

About relaxing on weekends - 

He: Let's watch a movie together. Weekdays are always so busy and we never get enough time. So, from here on, on weekends let's not waste time on cooking and cleaning. Let's just eat out or cook something simple. 

Me: I don't get enough time to cook something nice during weekdays. When will I cook all these exotic dishes which I learn on the internet after hours of research?

He: Let's try and do it on weekdays

After two hours,

Me: What do you want for lunch?

He: How about vegetable pulav?

Me: OK!!!!!

"Did somebody talk about relaxing on weekends?" 

By the way, after a chocolate cake with banana cream on top and a tava fried cutlet with toasted bread, Pulav was the third item on his request list within 24 hours!!!

On equality -

My hubby darling believes in equality in the house, which I am sure is a great thing. Indian men (at least most) don't believe in this word at all. So, I was quite impressed when he spoke about this the first time before marriage. WOW!!! The lucky me, I thought. But what happens when equality becomes an obsession?

He: Come on, I can see there is less milk in your glass

Me: It's fine. Just one sip, that's all

He: NO!!! It needs to be equal. 

And in the process of transferring two tea spoons of milk, he drops one at the least!!!

So, after two years of marriage,

Me: You know what, I am done with equality. You can have more coffee or extra roti. I don't care

Today morning,

Me: I have been working endlessly in the kitchen. You told me since we both work, household works would be divided equally.

He: You know what, I am done with equality

Me: Oh, Crap!!!!!

The movie conflict - 

My hubby darling believes that at least during weekends we need to spend time together, which no doubt is a good thing. But the problem is he never lets me do anything else and wants me to be a part of his plans. If he wants to watch a movie, he insists I do the same, along with him. 

He: Let's watch a movie together

Me: I really want to write on my blog. I haven't updated it since a month

He: why can't you do it during weekdays? Come on...

Then I agree to demands and we both start looking for a good movie online.

Not-so-surprisingly, he ends up liking a Tamil movie which I don't watch. 

He: Let's watch this Tamil movie. It has Vijay in it (yeah that's his reason for liking a movie)

Me: I don't understand a thing and it doesn't have any subtitles. Let's watch something else.

He: Why don't you write? After all you haven't updated your blog since a month!!!!

Marriage is not a difficult thing at all, if you ask me. But living with a man is!!!! 

Nobody talks about the man in the house, who switches to a sports channel while we are watching a movie on TV, who makes the bathroom dirty just after 2 minutes of cleaning, who leaves the wet towel on the bed irrespective of telling it zillion times, who leaves the cupboard door always open (welcoming the cockroaches) and who then blames us for the bad smell, who hates doing dishes and who doesn't know to cook (they escape so easily), who doesn't know how to console us when we cry but wants us to speak the right words when they are sad!!!

And they send jokes about women and hormones on what'sapp and we, women, shamelessly forward them!!!!

Independence day resolution

Firstly, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY…

I understand we all have some memories associated with Independence Day. After all we have studied extensively about Bhagat Singh to Gandhiji to Chandra Shekhar Azad in our history classes. We by hearted the Jallianwala Bagh massacre to Dandi March cribbing about the dates and numbers for our history exams. As a kid, I loved Independence Day mainly because we got to do something different on that day. Who likes boring classes any ways!!! It would be a half day with flag hoisting and march past and of course, how can I forget the yummy laddoos!!!

As I grew up, I studied more science and less history but strangely, every event/person associated with history began to leave a mark on me. I read more about freedom fighters during my college days when I was supposed to study the cross-sectional diagram of limbic system. I felt more connected with the lives of freedom fighters and as a person, who cried for not having born in the US, started developing an extreme attachment towards India. Whenever I heard patriotic songs, my eyes would moisten and a strange feeling of doing something for the country arose. It's been at least six years since the birth of that strange dose of patriotism but guilty me, I haven't done anything for my country apart from showing love and respect through my words.

After my marriage, I realized I don't really have to join army or politics or donate money to contribute towards the betterment of my nation. I modified my lifestyle and I stopped littering in public which I would do very often before. Now whatever I eat, I normally dump the remains in my handbag and throw it in to a dustbin. I would like to do few more lifestyle changes before I go back to India, so that I feel proud of contributing something towards the welfare my nation and I request all the Indians to do the same. Every bit counts!!!!

- I urge everyone to stop littering in public. Of course, there have been campaigns and rallies spreading awareness but I don't know why people just don't stop. In our school Independence Day celebration accumulated more wrappers and papers and balloons and we littered more!!!! So, today I make a resolution to avoid littering and try to pass on this habit to everyone I know.

- My next resolution is to plant more trees whenever possible. I hate gardening, in general. But I have decided to spread more greenery in and around my house once I go back to India. After living in KSA, I have realized a dry country feels lifeless. I was so depressed when an entire kundel kadu (a small forest) was cut down in my home town. I can't stop such havoc but I can try and plant more trees.

- I use a lot of water for my household works. I waste water and electricity profusely. My third resolution is to use water and electricity wisely and avoid any kind of wastage.

- My fourth and last resolution of this year is to make the next generation understand the real meaning of Independence Day. It is not just a holiday. It is a day because of which we can breathe freely in our own country. I feel the present generation kids have not understood the real value of this day. So, it becomes our responsibility to carry forward the tales and messages. After all, they are the ones to lead our nation in the future.

New Year resolution toh bahut suna hai... So what is your Independence Day resolution? Are you trying to help your country by doing your bit? Share your ideas as to how we can make our country a better place to live in our own small ways…

**** Images are downloaded from google via different sources.

"So, what do you do?"

In this era of doctors and engineers and surrounded by relatives who made statements such as, "there is no course better than engineering" maybe because their kids are engineers, opting for a profession which people hardly knew became very difficult. Even I didn't know what Speech, Language Pathology and Audiology was all about. But yes, I had the basic idea about it. In the past eleven years people have asked bizarre and stupid questions, some of them I find extremely funny, some annoying and some insulting. 

I am sure after reading this post people in my profession will be able to relate well to the situations, people outside my profession will have a good laugh and people who still have no idea about what we actually do will stop asking irrelevant questions or acting smart!!!!

1. He - "So, what do you do?"

Me - "I am a Speech, language Pathologist and Audiologist"

He - Is it engineering?

Me - No

He - Is it a part of MBBS?

Me - NO

He - Then why are you doing it? 

I smiled and thought "Because life is beyond engineering and medical"

2. She - "Hey, long time.. So what do you do now?"

Me - "I am a Speech, language Pathologist and Audiologist"

She (trying to be a smart one) - Oh!!! Is it? Lovely. I have see the news for deaf and dumb. It must be interesting to do sign language.

Me - ****facepalm****

My profession is way beyond sign language and interestingly we don't even use it. We try other modalities of communication in case if you didn't know.

3. He - "So, what did you study after PUC?"

Me - I did my masters in Speech, language Pathology and Audiology

He - so what are you called as? Doctor?

Me- No. We are not doctors. We are called as Speech, language therapists and audiologists

He - That is too long. I am asking what people call you? Doctor?

Me - facepalm + clenched fists!!!!

4. She - So children who come to you gets cured completely?

Me - First of all, we are here to help gifted children. We help them to be independent and improve their quality of life.

She - Oh!!!!! Then what is the whole point if you can't cure them?

Me - Did you just hear what I explained????????

5. He - You profession is like a social service. Isn't it?

Me - Yeah, in a way

He - Then you should give therapy for free

Me - I would if I could survive just on air!!!

6. There are some over smart people also in this world!!!

He - I know what you do. Autism, ADHD. I know everything about your profession. Given a chance even I could do what you do 

Tells me a person who has done his BCom!!!!

Me - Oh is it? That's great. I have a kid with severe dysphagia. Could you please help me out in preparing a therapy plan?

He - Dysphagia? what is that?

Me - That is something you didn't know!!!!

7. This is my favourite of the lot.

She - "Do you work in a spectacle shop?"

Me - Hell, NO!!!

She - But I thought opticians sell hearing aids. Could you please explain what you do exactly.

Me - Double facepalm!!!

Now if anybody asks me what do you do? I ask them if they have watched the following movies - Black, tare zameen par, The king's speech and I tell them I help these kinds of individuals. I even deal with stroke patients like Hritik Roshan in Guzarish or maybe autistic kid like Jhilmil and hearing impaired kid like Murfi from the movie Barfi. After all the bollywood explanation, I normally receive a different kind of regard. People have often told me, "wow, you do something incredible" and no doubt, it does feel good.

But, the problem arose when I proudly listed all the movie names and one guy said, "sorry, I don't watch movies. Could you please explain what you do?

 "Ah! Not again. Kill me!!!". 

Jeddah to Europe - Visa application process

What is the first thing you do after booking your tickets to go on a long vacation of 16 days? 

Scream!!!

Ok, yeah, what do you after screaming? 

In my case, the day we decided about taking this long vacation, I started planning. Of course, when you are going on a long vacation that to if it's an exotic location like Europe that too during summer peak time, you gotta be really concerned about expenses. Everybody says, book in advance but if your husband is in a consulting, travelling firm then things are never hundred percent sure. Funny part is people suggested us to book six months in advance and we didn't even book six weeks in advance!!! We ended up booking our local travel and stay just ten days early (yeah, we just finished it on 10th and we are leaving on this 20th).

Source

When you are already living in a foreign country, every system and procedure is new. We were kind of lost during the visa application. In spite of doing a lot of research on this area, we were sent back not once but twice at the Etimad center. 

Here are few information you need to know about applying for Europe visa from Jeddah -

1. Check this Etimad website for all the documents required and visa fees http://www.aletimad.com/italy_jeddah_document.html 

2. Especially for expats, you need a letter from your sponsor (more like a no objection letter)

"Original employment letter with chamber stamp address to Italian consulate Jeddah. Employment letter should furnish the details of Name, Nationality, passport number, salary, Designation, Joining Date and Purpose of travel of the applicant. Employment letter should also have a visa request"

This is what is mentioned on the Etimad website, and we actually took the original employment letter with us the first time. Hence, we were sent back to get a no objection letter. But yes, even that letter needs to have chamber stamp!!! 

You can follow this format if you like, 

To,

The Honorable Consul General,

Italian Consulate,

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

We would like to inform you that our staff with details as below,

NAME
PASSPORT NO.
IQAMA NO.
NATIONALITY
DESIGNATION
EMPLOYMENT START DATE
MONTHLY SALARY (SR)

desires to visit your country on vacation from _________ till _________in Italy (mention the country to which you are visiting first or spending more days in).

We do not have any objection.

We request you to kindly issue the necessary VISA for his travel.

Thanking you

Regards

Chairman

3. If you have recently moved to Jeddah, then you can't travel to Europe as you need minimum six months’ salary slip or bank account statement. This was one more reason why our visa application was not accepted the first time as we had four months bank statement of KSA and two months of India's bank statement. 

At Etimad, they are very particular about every single document and so, follow the guidelines properly or be ready to accept a rejection!!!

We applied for our visa on Monday and we got our visa on next Sunday, in one week's time. Entire visa application process to Italy costs about 350 riyals per person!!!

Just near the entrance of Etimad building, there is another visa application center called Vega. They charge 50 riyals extra per head and take about 15 days for visa approval. But, if you are not getting through Etimad, then you can always try out this option. 

If you have recently shifted your house or moved from a different place in KSA to Jeddah then have a copy of your house rental agreement in ENGLISH. They are very specific about it being in English!!!

The entire process easily took us two months (including the time needed to prepare an employment letter and to get the stamp of chamber of commerce) and at the end, we were literally praying to get our visas as we had already booked our flights out of excitement and to get a better deal on money. 

Finally, all is well that ends well. After all the struggle and running around we got our visas done!!!! And the last two weeks have been crazy as we were finalizing on the plan, booking trains, hotels and trying to look for the best deals to save money!!!

I will keep you guys updated about my longest and most happening trip of my life (hopefully, it will help you all to plan yours)

See ya till then!!!