5 Things Filipino Jeddah Kids Say

A few years after my most viewed blog about 5 Things People Say to Jeddah Kids in College, I’m back with another Jeddah related blog!

While the first one was about what other people say to us Jeddah kids, I’m going to list below the things we normally say that are deemed unusual to your regular Philippine kids (can’t believe I used those words.)

1. Wala akong iqama!

When you’re planning on going out with friends after school, but you don’t have a photocopy of your iqama with you, so you either live dangerously by attempting to go out anyway without it or sadly say bye to your friends as they get on the car of one your friends’ dads. Sadlyf, sadik.

2. Paano transpo?

If the number one problem of Philippine kids is how to evade their moms’ nagging when they come home late, the number one problem of Jeddah kids is the transportation when going out.

The boys barely say this, as they can always take a taxi and go anywhere, but we can’t say the same for the girls. While you can brave the complexity of riding a taxi to go somewhere as a girl in Jeddah, it is nearly impossible that your parents actually allow you to do that. Sorry, strict parents ih.

When you get lucky though, one of your friends’ dads will be driving all of you to either Serafi Megamall, Ikea, Aziz Mall, Corniche, and other hangout places you love visiting. Just make sure to ring tito to come pick you up!

3. “Exit ka na???” “Oo, visit visit na lang.”

This probably won’t make any freaking sense whatsoever to anyone who has never been to Jeddah, or in any part of the middle east so to speak. But this is an actual conversation that I used to have before with most of my Jeddah friends.

We are actually talking about visas. When one exits (jargon), it means that they are no longer on a resident visa, and will be required to apply for visit visas whenever they want to fly back to Jeddah. It can also mean that they are no longer planning on going back completely, which is sad. 😦

Jeddah kids who graduate from high school (Shoutout to POIS and BADER peeps hello!!!!) either exit straight after graduation to pursue college in the Philippines, or stay in Jeddah to work for a while.

4. Hoy, patayin niyo ‘yang tugtog niyo, salah na!”

(I’m actually giggling writing this part because it’s so true???)

When I was in high school in Jeddah, we used to love blasting music from our phones. We didn’t have iPhones or Samsung Galaxy or any other smart phones back then, just the regular Nokia, LG, Samsung, etc., but we still had the nerve to blast them through either a bluetooth speaker or from the phone speaker itself!

However, when prayer time comes, there’s always that one person who acts like the police and tells everyone to turn off any sound emitting devices in the room, which everyone wholeheartedly obeys. I mean, Jeddah kids might be crazy at times but we know how to obey and respect!

5. ‘Wag po kayong mag-alala. Marunong po akong magtagalog.

That time always comes, when Jeddah kids fly back to Manila and move on with their lives, away from the Arab home they came to love. While some Jeddah kids migrated to Jeddah when they were young, some were actually born in Jeddah! So coming home to the Philippines is a huge adventure, and we always get told that we speak amazing Filipino. Huh?!

“‘Wag po kayong mag-alala, nagtatagalog naman po ako tsaka English hehe.”

I got this a few times when I flew back to Manila, even though I only spent roughly 3 years in Jeddah during high school. 1st day of classes in college was the funniest. I introduced myself and told them I graduated from Pearl of the Orient International School in Jeddah, K.S.A., and I got weird looks and uncomfortable stares. “Ang galing mo naman mag Tagalog!” was probably the most uncomfortable thing people said to me.

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That’s pretty much everything I can remember saying! What are the things you used to say or still say as a Jeddah kid? Let me know in the comments below! x