Originally posted by Tubby & Peanut's Mom



One last question....when you say "compound" what does that consist of? Is it just your home or are there several homes surrounded by a wall? Kind of like what we would call a "gated community?" It seems on the news they're always talking about "compounds" and I was just wondering what that was.
A compound can range in size. Ours is a small one, with only around 20 houses - all with the same layout. There is an outside wall around all the houses, and a guard at the front gate. We have a communal swimming pool (1/2 olympic size), tennis and squash courts and a gym. Sometimes the compounds have a mixture of different sizes of houses, and even some apartment-type 1-bedroom accomodation, but the common denominator is the perimeter wall and some shared facilities.

The compounds in Saudi are typically much larger, and have more facilities (as women can't drive). They have restaurants, dry cleaners, DVD rental, sports facilities, small shops, playgroups for toddlers etc. The compounds in Saudi also provide buses which run a fixed timetable to and from most of the nearby shopping centers and supermarkets.