2 days in Saudi!

Selam Aleykum  - First time in Saudi!

Better late than never! I took my first trip ever to Saudi and what a wonderful experience it was. Guess many people have a specific picture in mind when it comes to Saudi but little do we know. When I was asked to present at HP World 13 in Riyadh I was not sure how this would work – starting with when and how to wear my Abaya all the way to whether I would have a female audience versus mixed etc…So I found out that due to a special permission from the government the whole exhibition and conference could be attended by men and women – including all the presentations and panel discussions. To me one of the most interesting parts of this experience was the time I got to spend with my female colleagues from Saudi.  All are highly educated, forward thinking, and very progressive young women with high aspirations. Many of them have an engineering degree and are off to a great start in their careers. We also were invited to the Al-Khudair family’s house where we got to spend time with many women from the wider family – lots of fun.

And…..at the Riyadh airport I event got my cup of Starbucks before leaving to Dubai at 4am  in the morning!