Jeddah: Our Last Trip Ever

Hello friends,

My sister and I will be making our final trip ever, to a city we have come to call our ‘home’--- Jeddah. I may have mentioned it before to you all that my parents are leaving Jeddah in June this year, which means I wont be going to back Jeddah every six months like I have been for the last 12 years. My dad was supposed to leave two years ago, but we all managed to convince him to stay for another year, and then another year. This year, however, he has made his final decision to leave Saudi Arabia.

I don’t know what emotions we all may go through as we realize that we are all there for one last time. It’s like a final family/ friends reunion in Jeddah. Over the so many years of living there, Jeddah has become home to me. I don’t even know where to begin to describe how much affection and love I have for the city of Jeddah.

I remember when Big Mac opened up, which was so popular. There was no McDonalds or any other American fast food, and yet we still loved our way of life. I remember when we would get only Pepsi and no Coke. Oh, what about Americano burger? You cannot get more awesome burgers anywhere else in the world! Atallah, Al-Dewan, Pizza Sheikh, I mean how can I ever forget all these places? Oh, what about the all time favorite food of mine from Jeddah: Al Baik! The best chicken ever..and oh, their garlic sauce is heavenly!

I remember watching movies, sitcoms (remember how heavily censored Full House would be!?) and cartoons (Captain Majid, Grendizer, Simba the White Lion etc etc) on channel 2 (which has now disappeared amid the invasion of satellite channels!) I mean, who can forget the awesome beaches we would go hang out at? All of us would go to Areej beach and we would always have so much fun! The corniche in itself is so amazing, just sitting there amidst the water crashing on the rocks will be one thing I will miss so much. I have seen Jeddah grow over the years, and it has come a long way!

However, having said all that, what I will really miss will be the simplicity and innocence Jeddah had when I was growing up there. I guess that can be true for any city, but growing up in Jeddah has given me so many precious memories.

Sure, the one thing that hits me the hardest is losing the awesome opportunity to go to Makkah whenever I wanted to. I have been going to Makkah for as long as I can remember, and going to Makkah has become such an integral part of my life, it’s like second nature to me. I don’t know how I will feel once I am out of Saudi Arabia. Will I feel hollow and empty? Will I feel the longing to get to Makkah?

More than anything, I will miss my home in Jeddah. Every time I would be traveling back to Jeddah, I would tell my friends I am going home, and they would think either I am going to Pakistan or that I am a Saudi. So I have to clarify that I am a Pakistani at heart who has made Jeddah his home!

I am going through a phase right now where I want to collect all my memories of Jeddah and put them together. I want to do everything related to Saudi Arabia. I want t-shirts with Jeddah written on it. I want maps and books on Jeddah. Recently I was in Starbucks and while browsing through the mugs, I saw one which had Kingdom of Saudi Arabia written on it. I bought that mug purely for emotional reasons. I also have a book on Jeddah called Jeddah: A City of Art. I plan on picking up lots and lots of stuff from Jeddah to bring back with me to Dubai. I also plan on taking pictures of all the familiar places I have been going to for so many years. I want to document and record all my memories. I want to make a huge book filled with all things related to Saudi Arabia. I tell you, I will be one huge ambassador for Jeddah. People scoff at me when I tell them I love Jeddah, and my promise to the Saudis is that I will do my best to portray a positive image of Jeddah, and encourage every person who crosses my path to visit Jeddah!

Mansur