Article #4 in the ESL Student Life Story Project, by Alaa from Saudi Arabia, age 26.
Alaa's amazing dream house in Jeddah!
I felt like a princess in her palace! What a huge home! Everything was new and shining, and all lights were turned on. A heavenly smell wafted from the bouquet of white and pink roses at the entrance.
I was fifteen years old when we moved to my family’s current house in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and it was an unforgettable day. Every member of my family was so happy to at last leave our old apartment for our new dream house.
I grew up in a four bedroom apartment, but that didn’t mean I had a lot of space to myself! My three sisters and I shared one bedroom, another room was for my parents, and the other two rooms were guests’ rooms because in Saudi Arabia, inviting guests is so important. As a result, I was always dreaming of having my own room.
Wow! What a house!
I was five years old when my dad first brought up the idea of moving to new house. All at once, I started imagining.
How would it look? What would be the color of my room? When we went by any house I liked, I squealed to my father, “I want our house to be like this!”
My dad would smile at me as he always does from under his white ghotra head covering and say, “You will get everything you want, Allo.” That made me dream a lot.
But unfortunately, building a new house in Saudi Arabia costs a lot of money. It takes countless steps: buying a piece of land, making the house’s plans, building the house, acquiring the furnishing, and more!
These stairs truly look like they belong in a palace!
All of these steps cost a lot of money. Therefore, it took from when I was five years old to when I was fifteen for my family to at last achieve my childhood dream.
My dad is a civil engineer in Jeddah. To save for our house, my father worked full time in the morning, then went straight to engineering consulting office work until late each evening.
At the same time, my mother took care of us and cooked us tasty food while my father was so busy.
Finally, after ten long years, my dream was at last achieved when the new house was completed and we moved in!
The small details of the house are beautiful
Let me take you on a tour. The home has two floors. The first floor contains three guests’ rooms, one dining room, two bathrooms, and a kitchen. The second floor contains a master bedroom, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, and a maid’s room.
My bedroom was purple, which is my favorite color! When I got there, I couldn’t resist jumping on the bed. Wow! Having your own private room is such an exciting feeling!
Year after year, my family always remembers that day we moved into our dream house. I think we feel so grateful because my father really worked hard to get us our new home. If we had gotten our home easily, we wouldn’t know how important is it. We wouldn’t appreciate it as much.
I lived in my family’s dream house until I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. Then, in May of 2010, I flew across the ocean to the U.S. to pursue my Master’s degree in Computer Science for the next three years. Even though I love America, you can imagine how much I miss my home!
Aren't you tempted to run into the photo and sit down?
But just as my father helped me to achieve my childhood dream of having a beautiful house, I believe I can achieve my current dream of earning an advanced degree from a university in America.
My father worked long and hard to make our dreams come true, and so will I.
Lillie’s Note: First, let’s celebrate how cool Alaa is for having a B.A. in the intense field of Mathematics… and for being such a kind, reflective person! Then, let’s leave her a comment on her fascinating article, stating geographical location. Hopefully you’re not too jealous to type!
My teacher use to say that hard work pays off. Now I know what my teacher means. I think that her father is a good father. He knew that his children were uncomfortable. He decided to work hard for a bigger house. There should be more fathers in the world like this one.
Alaa is a very lucky student to have Lillie as a teacher. I am so happy and proud to see such a student.
I wish Alaa the best
Ohood
Saudi Student in Boston
the steps look like an entrance to a bath house, the living room looks like a waiting area at a station, the hallway looks like an entrance at a museum
That is a really pretty house! Those stairs look so magical. I thought they only had these settings in like movies and fairytails. Waiting 10 years for a house like that is so worth it. I want to see how her purple room looks like!
Great Article! I can really relate to it alot because I remember when I was little about 5 years old I had always dreamed of having my own room. Then when I was 13 my parents had got me my own room and they painted the same color as Alaa’s which was purple! Which is my favorite color too! Now I’m so happy that I finally have my own room! I’m glad Alaa has finally pursued her dreams! Just like Alaa’s father said she can get anything she wants! Now she is getting her masters in mathematics and computer science! Wait to go Alaa! I guess this really shows dreams do come true.
Hi Ms. Marshall,
Wow! Alaa’s house is so big, I wish I had a house like that. It is a true moral that working hard will always get to whatever you wanted. I will never have patience like her to wait to move in to a dream house. Her dad worked so hard for ten years to just earn enouh money to build a dream house. If my dad worked that hard to get me a dream house, I will be very happy and be proud of my dad!
- Huabao
I thought your dream was to be an astronaut? My dream is to stay at home and make trillions and trillions of dollars. If that doesn’t work out I want to be a NBA player and retire at the age of 24. If that doesn’t work out then I don’t know what else to do.
I love your enthusiasm towards getting your dream house! I would’ve gotten a little impatient. 10 years is a LONG time! I live in the United States, and we are waiting for home renovations, and you inspired me to be more patient. Thanks Alaa!!!
haha….dear Alaa,,I’v read through ur article. Im so happy that u can have ur dream coming true! If I can visit ur country,I’ll ask u to show ur purple dream room!
Dreams coming true is so happy. Your family gave a big present to your life. Desire and pursue your dreams! You will be on your road.
Wow Alaa, This is a great post! I admire you passion for things in life and for the way you focus on them to finally achieve them, no matter how long it might take. What you say its true; the things that are harder for us to accomplish are the ones that we value the most, and the ones we desire to achieve even more. That’s what makes you a driven person and will eventually bring you the success you want in life. Congratulations on your B.A. in Mathematics. Keep looking to the future.
Cheers!
Norbert
From Puerto Rico, living in New York
Alaa,, what a great story and wonderful house:) , If you can believe it, you can achieve it,,and we can never appreciate our parents enough for what they’ve done for us ,, may god bless them for you , and of course you are so cool mathematics girl;)
Fatima a Saudian living in Boston
Dear Alaa,
That is an amazing house! It just goes to show that when you put in the effort you can achieve any dream. It took so many years of hard work, but your family still kept going. I know what it is like to share a room. For 14 years I shared a room with my brother and my grandmother. Finally when my family moved to New Jersey I got my own room! Lots of my friends didn’t understand my excitement because they had always had their own rooms. It is truly a great feeling to have a private space just for yourself. Keep up the great writing, I could really relate to your story!
-Danae, an American in Germany
That is a very beautiful house! It should make you appreciate your father because he worked so hard to pay for the house and your mother because she took care of your family. I think if you posted more pictures of your house, your friends would love to visit so I hope you have many guest rooms!
Nick
Chicago