Renad Ghanem Saudi Gazette Millions of expatriates who have been living in the Kingdom for several years feel homesick yet find it extremely difficult to leave the Kingdom for a final time. In fact, those who have left often admit that they too felt homesick before leaving but then felt something was amiss once they had left and yearned to return to the Kingdom once more. Ahmed Abouldahal is an Egyptian who lived in the Kingdom with his parents for 15 years. Like many expatriates, he yearned to return to his country of origin and so left for Egypt. He now feels uneasy and wishes to return to the Kingdom. “We face this kind of reality shock when we return back to our home country. We believe that we won't miss Saudi and that we only feel homesick because we are living abroad. But once we get home, we find that our daily routine has changed and that we are living different lives to how we lived in Saudi Arabia. We then start to feel homesick in our country and wish we could return,” he said. Ahmed used to live in Jeddah and left for Egypt six years ago. “I lived most of my life in Saudi Arabia. I have fond childhood memories and remember the good times with my family in the Kingdom. When I was in Saudi Arabia, I used to hope to return to Egypt because of the many friends I have. However, I now miss Jeddah and feel homesick,” he said. Soha Rizk is a Lebanese who lived in the Kingdom for five years along with her husband. She presently lives in Lebanon but wishes to return to Saudi Arabia. “When I first came to Saudi I felt very sad and homesick. I forced my husband to resign from his job and we made a final departure for Lebanon. I now regret this. I feel homesick for Saudi Arabia. I miss everything there. Many of my friends who left told me not to leave Saudi because I would regret it. I didn't believe them because I was feeling homesick,” she said. Soha said many of her friends are afraid to leave the Kingdom because of this very reason. “My friends usually say that they want to leave the Kingdom, but they are afraid of leaving and worry they will miss Saudi Arabia,” said Soha. Soufian is a Moroccan who used to live in Jeddah and then left for his home country after seven years. He has been in Morocco now for two years. “I left because I felt homesick. Now it's been two years and I'm planning to go back to Saudi Arabia. I miss Saudi,” he said. “Before leaving Saudi, I never expected I would feel so much yearning for the Kingdom. Most of us feel homesick when we are in Saudi Arabia, but then it happens again once we leave and we feel sick for Saudi. I'm now planning to return,” he said. “Most of my friends who left Saudi have the same feeling. We are left shocked when we leave. The truth is that when you're in the Kingdom you have few friends and relatives. We think we're missing out on our social lives, but the fact is you're not really missing much,” he added.
