Bored, skint and missing their moms JEDDAH – Students from outside Jeddah studying at King Abdulaziz University are finding the bachelor's life monotonous and intrusive, and struggle to make ends meet and bring order to their lives in the face of mounting domestic chores. “I didn't have much choice but to come to university in Jeddah,” says 21-year-old Murtadha Al-Nakhli from Madina. “My life at the moment, quite frankly, is in a bit of a shambles and I'm struggling to adapt.” Part of the problem, says Murtadha, is finding affordable accommodation, and his application for rooms at the university residence has not been met with success. “As everyone knows, rents in Jeddah are on the rise, and the university just tells you to wait. I'd be surprised if I actually get something before I finish my degree,” he says. “I get SR900 a month from the university, but I pay 1,000 in rent, and that's in a shared apartment where you get no privacy at all.” Boredom is a factor students repeatedly mention. With lectures only two days a week, Murtadha has signed up for English classes at a private language school. “But the rest of the week I've got nothing to do, it's boring and monotonous,” he says. Mother boys Twenty-year-old Amjad Al-Malki finds plenty to do, but being 300 km away from his home in Adham is still a struggle. “My lectures are from 4 to 8 or 9 P.M., but the rest of the day is mine. I play football with university friends and others from outside,” Amjad says. “I also often go to Makkah at the weekend. But what's tough is being away from home and family. At the moment I have two cousins staying with me, but I still miss my family and often get lonely. I am used to a warm family atmosphere which I don't have here.” “As for food, we rely on the restaurants on the main road opposite the university. We've given them the nickname ‘our mothers',” Amjad says. Yousef Al-Zeila'i, 21 and from Madina, is just as homesick. “When I came to Jeddah two years ago I was really lonely and longed to go home to my family. I'm a bit better now but still not completely used to being away from them, and I still take every chance I get to go back to Madina, even if it's just for the day,” he says. Living in a small, shared room, Yousef says he sometimes feels trapped and bored. “When we get bored we go out to get some fresh air, and also because most of the other people living here smoke shisha which fills the air in the building.” Yousef gets SR850 per month from the university. “I'm in the same situation as my colleagues. We're waiting and hoping we'll be given university residence accommodation so we can save a small amount of what we're given. My expenses amount to more than four times the 850 I get. We need money for food, accommodation, textbooks and clothes,” Yousef says.
