Saturday, September 15, 2007

Bye, Bye London

London. The weather is beautiful. Cear, blue skies with a touch of sun now and then, and the occasional clouds moving together every so often. This is the London I know and love. The crisp cool weather and the collectively composed atmosphere in general.

The Khaleejis are gone. Well, the majority at least. Gone to spend their beautiful month of Ramadhan in their home countries, thank goodness. I don’t think I can take more of their loud roaring engines cruising down all the key streets of London. And not to mention the entourage of men and women walking around in all the department store. As if London wasn’t crowded enough!

Now don’t get me wrong. I am a khaleeji, Kuwaiti to be precise, and I’m damn proud of it. But it doesn’t make me any prouder to see these people act in the silliest way ever. Why should I ship my car all the way to another continent, just to park it in front of Harrods? Why should I wear a long floaty abbaya and shailah, if most of my hair is so visible to everyone, and my face is plastered with a scary amount of makeup? And my ultimate peeve is when most of these Khaleejis sit in the same cafes at exactly the same time everyday only to stare at other Khaleejis. You can do that in your own country for God’s sake!

I mean that’s just embarrassing. The same thing happens in Paris, Geneva and Spain. The majority of Europeans probably think that we travel to their countries carrying suitcases of money and credit cards with no limits. It gets to the point where the woman at Immigration (who stamps your passport) in the airport, told me “I’m sure you’re here for the shopping” and I replied “No, I’m here to study”, and she said “and to shop of course! Hahaha..”

This lady is not laughing.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Waaaaaaaaaay I totally know what you mean.. I used to live there.. and it wasn't always like this... they're an embarrasment like you said !!

Anonymous said...

Bo 6bai3 ma yooz 3an 6ab3a. In London or the North Pole, they will always be the same! Sometimes I just have to turn away and pretend that I don't notice them or something because the things some people say or do are just plain weird. It's crazy enough to look like THAT in their own countries, but it's even crazier to see it in a foreign one.

NewQ8 Bride said...

wooooow khaliji people

that`s why i like to travel to pleces that arabs never go there

love your blog and thanks for visiting my blog :)

This Lady said...

Vixen: Theat's what disturbs me. Its because I know it isn't like this.

Sunny: yakhtich il khaleejiyeen ifashloon awqat. lazim we pretend we don't know them.

New bride: Thanks, and I love ur blog too ;)

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Yeah i know what you mean.. I don't mind them being everywhere, hey we are Arabs too lol.. but I just wish they would dress more casual and normal, not like they are going to a party or something lol..

OutOfReach said...

thats why i hate london i dont go there anymore because of the Arabs they ruined it ,,
I agree with (new bride) i also like to travel to places that arabs never go there,,
any way nice blog :)
Regards
btw HAPPY RAMADAN

Yara said...

we have alot in common :) loved ur blog im glad i stumbled into it :)

This Lady said...

welcome Yara. My home is ur home ;)

Khalid said...

I disagree with this interferance. It's obvious that both the khaleejeeen and the khaleejeeat that go there like it that way and if someone doesn't like it, they should go somewhere else and sapre everyone this undue criticism. There must be a good reason why people change when they travel abroad. Everyone has the right to do the things they like to do as long as they don't trample upon the rights of others, especially the others that want to be left alone ;) loool

This Lady said...

Of course we can't ban them from travelling (unfortunately haha)! Its just that they embarass us by doing those - how can i say this - EMBARASSING things!

They make us a laughing stock in front of other more civilized vacationers.

Khalid said...

Not at all. I am not embarrassed whatsoever. Our problems stem from the fact that we criticise each other too much, we try to monitor each other too much, and we imitate each other too much. This is why people become themselves when they are free to do the things they have been deprived from doing for so long. Westerns do not pay too much attention to what khaleejees do and have more tolerance towards our way of thinking and life styles than some of us. It's unfortunate, but hopefully new generations will focus on self-improvement and get rid of the negativities on their own. :)