We just looove how much social media is starting to uplift the image of Saudi Arabia over the last year, and recently, a new duo has come around the information block, slowly establishing themselves as one of the (if not the only) pioneer podcasts that talks about expats in Riyadh and life in the city in general. Everyone, say hello to Grant and Amanda Wilson -- the brains and voices behind the Saudi Expat Podcast.
For the uninitiated, podcasts are downloadable digital media usually composed of audio/video which is broadcast on a periodical basis. They actually took the world by storm when the early iPods came out and has now been a steady refuge for those with a passion for the good ol' days of radio broadcasting and even, audio learning. Nowadays, podcasts can also be downloaded and listened to in Android phones.
Now, the inventive idea of this American husband-and-wife couple was to tie up their love of talk with their new life together here and helping others learn about Saudi Arabia as well through the power of a podcast. As they wanted to broaden the scope of their episodes, they later on chanced upon The Pink Tarha blog and asked us if we can do a podcast with them.
Leave it to Sundrenched to be the shy type and Shoegarfreeruby to be the dutiful wife, Sampaguita Pride and I, being the Toastmasters from the group, were sent for the assignment of meeting Grant and Amanda for the podcast recording. We then arrived to their far-flung compound to find a fancy set-up of their "studio" right in the middle of their dining area. It looked fairly professional with all the gadgets and electronics involved so we knew from there that these two were serious about engineering a podcast.
Before starting, we got to know Grant and Amanda a little better. Grant is a photography enthusiast and an auto drifting aficionado (he's modified a couple of powerful cars himself and a regular judge for the Saudi Drift Racing Championship) while Amanda, who is actually half-Filipina, is currently new in Saudi Arabia and has taken on a liking to home-baking (much to Grant's benefit, hehe).
An hour later, armed with pizza, cupcakes and a list of guide questions, our "interview" with the Saudi Expat Podcast turned into a fun, hearty and sometimes-diverted-but-gets-back-on-track conversation. And when I mentioned earlier that this couple loves to talk, that was no understatement. And, mind you, pair that up with a set of equally talkative girls (points to me and SP), then what you get is a three-hour podcast. Yes, you read that right, we talked on and on for almost THREE HOURS! Time sure flies when you're having fun. Thus, Grant had to cut them out into three episodes. :P We managed to talk about the early beginnings of The Pink Tarha, a little about ourselves and the other Pink Tarha Ladies, various issues in and about Saudi Arabia, and plans for the blog's future activities.
The podcast episodes came up one by one on the iTunes site and we were all excited to hear what we were like on air. If you want to hear all three episodes while you're doodling on your computer or playing Candy Crush Saga on your iPad, visit these links below:
Please subscribe to their podcast via iTunes and they also have a website that they regularly update with the recent episodes and more. Visit them at: www.saudiexpatpodcast.com. They're also looking for more contributions from you, guys! They're looking for people, businesses, restaurants, and services that can benefit the expat community to be in their podcast. So if you feel you can contribute or know of anything/anyone who would like to contribute their ideas, experiences, thoughts, and events on a podcast episode, contact Grant at saudiexpatpodcast@gmail.com.
Again, it's just really great that another avenue is being expounded to help expats have a better idea of what Saudi Arabia is like. Thank you Grant and Amanda and we wish more power to the Saudi Expat Podcast!
Cheers!
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