★ whatchu cookin' girl?? ★

any man loves to eat a nice home-cooked meal by his woman -- and that goes double for an Arab.  if y'all can't cook, be ready for his Mamma to look for another wife to make the machboos :-S  

they say the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach and i can swear by that.  in the beginning of my married life, i was such a n00b like frigggg OMG i didn't even know how to make anything besides Mac & Cheese, perogies and tacos.  as for any meal made OUTSIDE of the West, i had noooo idea what to do.  i was really embarrassed by my M-I-L when she said Western girls can't cook (or clean) so i made it my mission to learn how to make Indian and Arabic dishes.   i bought this awesome book covering all kinds of dishes across the Middle East (including Turkey and Iran) and started experimenting.  it took me some time to make the perfect rice for kabsa, bake a shoulder of lamb while keeping it juicy and tender (Pixie can verify that) and getting the right amount of spices for samboosas.  now when i do cook for my Husband or others, i don't feel as freaked out or nervous that something went wrong or it's gonna taste weird ;-)

i've introduced to my Husband my own food recipes i grew up as a girl in the West and needless to say, he refuses to eat anything other than what i prepare for him...  his reaction to any home-cooked foods NOT by me were kinda embarrassing to whoever was hosting LoL :-P

my single girlfriends always ask me to show them how to make something but some people were not meant to be in the kitchen.  whoever said cooking was only the woman's job in the house has mental problems because there are men who love to cook for their wives & families, too *and* are good at it!!  

★ Meeting a Guy HERE vs. Meeting a Guy THERE ★

*HERE = the U.A.E.

*THERE = the West (ie. Canada or America)

i met my Husband back in Canada during a very one-sided courtship and we agreed to marry each other in the end according to the Islamic Shari`a.  there was no dating, being together alone or physical contact prior to that.  (i'm not gonna get into other people's personal affairs so if anyone who is reading this is currently *dating* or in a relationship with a Khaleeji, it's between you and what you believe is right or whatever.  the only reason i am pointing out the history between my Husband and i before we married is to use it as an example in this Post, since i can personally speak from experience.)  in Canada or the West in general, it's very easy to randomly start talking to a stranger from wherever, go into a long conversation, exchange numbers and then meet up again for coffee or a movie.  but try doing that over HERE with a Khaleeji and you will most likely end up getting a nasty label and totally be written off as "suitable" marriage material so if you're a Foreigner, beware:  if a good-looking man (or not so good-looking man) in a long white dress is following you (or stalking you -- as if often the case LOL), saying he loves you and wants to marry you, DON'T FALL FOR IT -- he's just looking for some action or trying to be cool :-/

the majority of Foreign Wives living in the Gulf met their Husbands in the West, either by studying together or, like how i met my Husband, in a random public place.  i think it's rare that couples come together in an arranged match but it *does* happen.  however, the arranged way is done more so over HERE than THERE as the local belief held is if a girl has any kind of communication/relationship between herself and a man, she is a ho and most likely does this with any person.  this kind of mentality makes me angry and is backwards but this will never change among the majority of people.  BUT i do know a few Emarati's who have lived and studied abroad for a long time that believe in a casual relationship before marriage, who do not look at a girl's history believing in the "Past is Past" idea and would marry a woman he's been seeing for a while.  or, there are those who are unexpectedly expecting a little bundle of joy and still want to marry their girlfriend but it happens VERY, VERRRY rarely.  

meeting your potential Husband over THERE, imho, is much easier than meeting him HERE.  believe me, i know ;-)

★ introduction ★

Bismillah

Welcome to my new Blog about being a Foreign Wife/Girl in the Khaleej!!  Why did I start this little virtual adventure?  Ummm well firstly, I am not exactly a new-comer to the Bloggie World as y'all know me from another Blog and another name and so well it's me again AALIA haha :-)   

The idea for this Blog has been on my mind for a long time now but life got busy so Blogging altogether was put on hold.  But i kept getting comments asking me about tips & advice for living in the GUlf, being married to a Khaleeji and how to handle certain situations.  I've been here since 2008 with two trips back to Canada since then but i can say i prefer to live HERE rather than over THERE!

InshaaAllah y'all can find some benefit from this Blog...

Take care xoxo