Qassasa

Freedom of Mobility......Challenged  It is so frustrating living here, very frustrating. I live in a spot where females are not permitted to drive. I will state few of the implications on me as a female as a result: 1- I have to use taxis 2- I can't take taxi by standing on street, otherwise, I will be sexually harassed by all sorts of cars stopping, men whistling, verbal flirting, phone numbers on papers thrown at me. I learned this the hard way, in my country I used to that but when I did it here few times and consulted with locals about what I face, they looked at me with dropped jaws saying " in here, "decent" females don't wait for a taxi on street, they have door to door car, so if you stand like that, it only means you are asking for ....pick up" Thank you for the cultural orientation. well noted. 3- This also means I have to wait on street for average of 5-10 minutes in a country where summer temperature reaches 43C 5- The other altern...

Management challenges Today I started my first role as a manager of a team. As described by my director, my biggest objective is to motivate a demotivated team, find a recognition system and improve their performance.   The biggest challenge in my view is the "demotivated" members, they have been here for ages doing the same tasks, they are bored and comfortable, and some are older than me. If I managed to motivate and engage and retain them, this will be the key to improvement. This is my first managerial role I could say, I take it as a learning opportunity for me as well as for them.  I remember the times when I was a trainer, I recall I was liked and popular and I had most if not all class liking and following me. I remember there were resisting persons every now and then, but I remember that the over all class always ended in success and alignment. This gives me a push of confidence that I can do it. End of the day people are different but their keys are ...

I don't know if it is me  or the women here do nothing and think of nothing more than reproduction. I mean, women here are either having babies, waiting for babies, trying to make babies. Just by the time we give compliments for the arrival of a baby, we get the news some other woman is pregnant, and by the time that same lady is few months pregnant, we get the news some other woman is pregnant too!! I started feeling odd that almost everyone is like that, it kind of sets pressure on me, it is this feeling of doubts whether I'm making the right choice or not. I don't say it is wrong, but I just question the value of life, because it seems here like it revolves around eating and reproducing. Why everyone is pregnant or thinking to be? by everybody I don't mean to generalize, I just think I'm surrounded may be by this circle. Surprisingly, they are not locals of  Saudi, but rather foreigners from Europe, North America as well as Arabs. This makes it sound like a...