From Melbourne With Love

The soft feel and unforgettable taste of another woman's sweet lips on my mouth, now that's something I absolutely cannot get enough of. My name is Afaf Ahmed, and I'm a young Muslim woman of Saudi Arabian descent living in the City of Melbourne, Australia. I was born in the City of Dammam, eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. My passport says Saudi Arabian but as an educated woman, I consider myself a citizen of the world. Aren't we all human at the end of the day?

My parents, Ali and Mariam Ahmed work for various Saudi Arabian businesses abroad, and thanks to that, I've had the privilege of living in places like the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, and now, Australia. This world of ours is quite beautiful and since I'm a friendly and easygoing gal, I make friends wherever I go. Best way to go through life, I think. We Saudis are famous for that.

These days, I'm studying chemistry at Victoria University. Oh, and I'm surreptitiously exploring my fondness for the ladies as well. Do my words surprise you, dear reader? In truth, they really shouldn't. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where I was born, women and men spend a lot of time apart because of the Wahabi-inspired Islamic rules that govern the country. This makes for an interesting dynamic, this separation of the sexes.

Even though homosexuality and lesbianism are considered haram or strictly forbidden in Saudi Arabia, I know lots of Saudi men who sleep with men and even more Saudi Arabian women who sleep with women. What's a guy or gal to do when they're sexually frustrated and members of the opposite sex aren't around? My thoughts exactly. I've been exploring my fondness for girls for years, and I see no reason to stop now.

The woman of my dreams is Adina Djalu, a six-foot-tall, curvy and gorgeous young Aboriginal Australian woman. Born in Gosford, New South Wales, to an Aboriginal Australian father and a white mother, Adina is simply one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. The first time I laid eyes on Adina while walking around the Victoria University library, she took my breath away.

Tall and curvy, with light brown skin, long black hair and light brown eyes, Adina Djalu seems like a Primeval Goddess come to life. I've seen beautiful women with skin and features like her when I visited Ethiopia with my parents ages ago but Adina is in a class by herself. I decided right then and there that I wanted this cutie for myself. Believe me, nobody's more seductive than a Saudi Arabian lesbian. Nobody sees us coming until it's too late.

If you saw me coming, you would look at me and see someone disturbingly ordinary. I'm five-foot-seven, curvy, with light bronze skin, dark brown eyes and long black hair. Most of the time I wear the Hijab but sometimes I don't. In Australia, I can do whatever I want. I live and study in Melbourne and my parents do business in Sydney, so I'm completely free since I live far from them. That's exactly how I like it, ladies and gentlemen.

Anyhow, where was I? Oh yes, I was telling you about Adina Djalu, the gorgeous Aboriginal Australian woman who stole my heart. I approached Adina under the pretext of needing some help with an English assignment, and that's how we met and added each other on Facebook....and subsequently exchanged phone numbers.

As luck would have it, Adina Djalu and I had a lot in common. Far more than you would have imagined from looking at the two of us. At first glance at least. We were the only brown girls in our mostly white and mostly male science courses, and bonded partly because of that. The more I got to know Adina, the more I became convinced that my favorite brown-skinned Aboriginal Australian Amazon was like me, a woman who loves women.

We hung out, going to Hoyts Melbourne Central Cinema to watch movies together and also hanging out at restaurants and spas. Just two girls hanging out and enjoying each other's company, or so I'd like everyone to think. I find myself growing really fond of Adina Djalu, and discovering the City of Melbourne with her by my side is something I consider myself privileged to do. Melbourne is a lovely town and Adina knows it like the back of her hand.

As beautiful as the City of Melbourne is, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that there is an ugly other side to it. Australia is full of racists, some of them subtle, others quite loud and boastful. The country is changing, demographically speaking, thanks to an influx of Indian, Chinese, Filipino and Arab immigrants. Also, there is a growing number of African immigrants in Australia. I've seen Somalis, Ethiopians, Sudanese and Nigerians on the streets of Melbourne, Victoria and Sydney. As a Saudi Arabian citizen, and a proud Muslim, I'm glad to see members of the Ummah in Australia, but I know what they face up here.

What do I mean by that? Please allow me to explain, ladies and gentlemen. Historically, Australia hasn't been friendly to people of color. The white Australians continue to treat Aboriginal Australians like shit, and it's truly a sad thing to behold. Up until recently, the White Australia Policy dictated that Australia would only accept immigrants from Europe. The policy got changed, and migrant workers and settlers of all hues came to Australia's shores. Not everyone in the white population of Australia is okay with that.

Walking through the streets of Melbourne with Adina, I was saddened to see how white Australians looked at her. The fact that lots of Aboriginal Australians are going to college/university and starting to function properly in Australian society irks a lot of white Australians. Seriously, lots of white Australians, even today, hate aboriginal Australians the way the U.S. government hates African-Americans and the way the Canadian government hates Native Canadians. Sad but true.

Adina Djalu is tall and strong, and the gal has a sharp mind, that much is evident from the way she dominates classroom debates in our classes at Victoria University. Lots of white students, especially the males, find Adina intimidating because of her beauty and intellect. Hell, some of the professors, middle-aged white males one and all, also hate her. I see the defiance in Adina's eyes as she glares back at her haters, but I can also tell that it hurts her.

That's why I try to be there for Adina, for I know that even strong women struggle in this world. I have fallen in love with her, you see. For Adina, trust doesn't come easily because of what she's gone through. I had to be really patient with her. Fortunately, Adina could tell that I was sincere. The happiest day of my existence is the day Adina and I kissed.

We were sitting inside the Flower Drum, a nice little Cantonese restaurant located at the heart of Melbourne. Clad in a red tank top, blue jeans and sneakers, Adina Djalu looked absolutely stunning. I looked okay myself in a long-sleeved blue T-shirt, traditional long black skirt and sky-blue Hijab. Adina and I sat across from each other, talking while eating some delicious Cantonese food.

For a moment, I looked up and saw Adina Djalu smiling at me. Tentatively I reached for her hand, took it into mine and kissed it. Adina giggled softly, and once again I was mesmerized by her pretty face, her sparkly brown eyes and her almost angelic appearance. With my heart thundering in my chest, I drew closer to her. Adina smiled, and then took my face into her hands. We looked into each other's eyes, and then she kissed me.

It's often been said that the first kiss is the most memorable, for any couple. I am going to have to agree because I will never forget being kissed by Adina Djalu until the day I die. If I go to Jannah ( paradise ) after the Day of Judgement, I will sing that woman's praises, I swear. Hand in hand, smiling like lovebirds, Adina and I left the restaurant and headed back to my place. Thus we embarked on a life-changing relationship.

Now, I am a romantic gal but I am no fool. I know what we're up against. I'm a Saudi Arabian Muslim woman, and I'm studying at Victoria University on a visa. When my studies conclude, I will have to vacate Australia. What Fate awaits me there? Arranged marriage to some man I don't want or need. Such is the fate of all Saudi women. Adina Djalu and I come from different worlds. What a pair we make, seriously. An Aboriginal Australian woman and a Saudi chick, lesbian lovers in Melbourne! Wish us luck, dear reader, for we are definitely going to need it.