For the last three years of my high school career, I lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia along with my family. We lived in a compound, which meant we were in a gated community with over one hundred neighbors, all living in a little foreign bubble. My school, the American International School of Jeddah, was conveniently connected to my compound, meaning that every morning, I would be able to take a five-minute bike ride to my first class of the day. Having experienced different environments, whether it was my compound life, my school life, or just Jeddah life in general, I collected common statements that I would hear on a regular basis, here are a few.

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1. "Please let school be canceled tomorrow"

This phrase was tossed around so many times per year whenever there’d be some strange weather incident, whether we’d be experiencing a severe sandstorm or the horrific uproar of light rain. Yes, light rain, because even that would cause a flood to break throughout the city.

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2. “Where do you want to eat?”

Eating was like a sport in Jeddah. Because of certain restrictions, visiting restaurants was the all-time favorite outing among friends. There was never a restaurant we had to visit twice, as the choices were unlimited in places we could go visit. Every week, there’d be a new restaurant to visit with various trends and delicious food.

3. “Whose driver is picking us up?”

If we didn’t have a driver of our own, we’d know someone else who’d have a driver who could take us to our desired destination. Women, until recently, were restricted from driving, meaning that drivers were our main go to when planning outings with friends at different locations.

4. “It’s like I’m living in an oven”

Like many other countries in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia only had one season- eternal summer. While some areas of the Kingdom experienced slightly cold weathers, Jeddah was not one of them and felt like an oven almost all year. On the off days where the weather was reasonable, we would all break out in celebration and would dare to wear one hoodie, as it would finally be time for us to break out our club sweatshirts. Living in Illinois now, I’ve come to appreciate this warmth and yearn for the days of perpetual heat.

5. “Whose compound are we visiting?”

In Jeddah, there are plenty of compounds that became homes to many of us living there. No matter what, at least one of the weekend days was spent at a compound, whether it was for swimming, playing ping pong, or just hanging out with friends to watch a movie. These communities were our safe havens and contributed to the amazing memories spent in Saudi Arabia.