Friday, September 24, 2010

Desert Encounter













Yesterday, on Saudi National day, we decided to go for a hike in the desert and convoyed with the Fantastic family. Trying to find a good place, we found ourselves on a gravel trail. It was pretty nice and we thought that we would be able to naviguate it without too much difficulty. Mr F however decided to leave his car behind at the beginning of the trail as he did not have high enough clearance.

So, here we are, all in the GMC Envoy, fresh out of the garage...actually almost first time out since we got it back. It is so much fun and the desert is beautiful, not sandy but rather hilly, rocky and gravely!

Those gravels did turn into a trap when the car started sliding, the wheels slipping out of control and eventually we got stuck in the gravel! Now, we are alone, just the two families, in the middle of the desert! None of our cellphones have reception, the "can you hear me now" guy should start working in the Kingdom. On the way there, not too far actually, we did see a bedouin camp, with a couple of tents and camels. So, in real case of emergency, we could always go ask them for help!



We do a quick water check: the camel pack is full, we also have 4 little bottles and another thermos full, so enough for a while. So, the guys dig around the wheel and decide to manouver to get the car out of its current predicament. The moms and the kids decide to explore around, climbing the nearby hills and looking around. Eventually, the car is freed from the gravel and decision is made to go back toward Riyadh, enough adventures for the day.



Guys get in the car and drive back to the Fantastic car which had been left not even a mile away while the kids and moms walk back. We spotted some of the desert gourds that pop up once in a while in the desert. Those are always popular with the kids who pick up the yellow ones and love to crush them! We believe they are not edible, as the animals do not seem to care for them, not even the camels.



Despite the turn of the events, we also were lucky to spot several herds: two of goats and one of camels, that one with their sheppard (I'm not sure how to call the guy working with camels, so sheppard he is today).  The man seemed genuinely happy to see people.  We greeted him in Arabic, asked him how he was doing.  He offered us to taste some camel milk.  Obviously, that meant to milk some of his camels as he was not carrying any with him....and my spirit of adventures had had enough for the day.  We did thank him very nicely in Arabic and he waved and smilled very nicely.  This bedouin would have given us milk if we had accepted, I am convinced of that! 

We also found a discarded camel harness that I picked up and brought home. It did not smell too god, but it's really cool to have one.  If you look at the camel picture you can see that some of them are wearing one. 



A little further we saw a victim of the desert!  A poor little goat seemingly had gotten stuck in wires and fell into a crevace.  Surprisingly it was not covered with maggots and flies, which made us think that it had happened quite recently.  I guess all that watching of CSI has educated me on the process of maggots growing on cadavers!  It did not even smell bad, yet!




 We also discovered another "fruit" we had not seen before: it looked like a giant lima bean, all soft and mushy.  Alex was desperate to pick it but I told him that the animals of the desert were eating those and that it was better to leave it hanging in the tree, so it would be freshly picked whenever an animal would find it! 

 
Despite the stress of getting "stuck" this desert walk that did not really happen was full of adventures and discoveries.  I can't wait for the next one...but with no gravel or inside a 4x4 vehicle!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Saudi Mobility

One of the more familiar aspects of living in Saudi Arabia is the necessity of owning a car. Public transportation is nonexistent, so it is necessary to own a car. Most Saudi families own multiple cars for their husband, wife(wives), and children. I would almost be willing to put money on the idea that there are almost as many cars in Riyadh as there are people in the city. So the roads are crowded and the driving here is unlike any driving that you would ever encounter in the worst driving cities in the United States. We no longer get excited to see cars running red lights as traffic flows, driving against traffic on 6 lane highways, and cars on fire scarcely get more than a nod of notice from us.


However, I can tell you that we do notice not having a car. For the last seven day we have been sans transportation. Our car would not crank up after we returned from the States. Chris , our neighbor/banker Sammi and the compound employees managed to get the car cranked up and when I returned it still worked. A week ago this past Sunday, I went to do some errands and came home. Our car had been making a high pitched humming noise that indicated an electrical issue since last April but we waited until we returned to attempt to have it fixed since it was not interfering with the operation of the car. Claude, a colleague and neighbor needed us to take him to a car shop because he had an issue with his car when lo and behold, our car wouldn’t crank again. I figured the car wouldn’t crank due to some reason associated with that noise. We couldn’t get the car started that evening so we tried again the next day and drove around. That Tuesday I dropped the car at the dealership to have it worked on. Mind you, the delay in bringing it to the shop had to do with the Muslim Eid holiday. That delay on the front end was being met with the holiday on Wednesday for Saudi national day. Had I not picked the car up today, we would have had another four days without a car. This would have been a problem because we need school supplies and provisions.

Our car got an oil change, changed the idle speed relay, a fan bearing replaced, had an A/C issue fixed, needed a new battery, had the cabin air filter cleaned and the rear door hinges replaced. Some of these things may have been covered by our cars extended warranty. When we got a car I was keen on buying a nearly new car since a warranty would fix any issues we had. This idea was validated by the fact that Claude, Josh and Rick all bought quite used cars and have lost a great deal of time and money on repairs. That’s not to say that they haven’t been good cars for them but I can confirm transmission and engine replacements as just some of the repairs.

We got quite lucky and the warranty covered most of the repairs. We lost the car for the week but all of the repairs I talked about cost less than 1,200 SR, roughly $346. Sure we paid a little more for the car, but it has really been quite worth it.

We have the car back, with the wheel and seat wrapped in plastic for protection!  Alex had a grand time taking it all off!

Saudi National Day

Tomorrow has been decreed a National Holiday by King Abdullah, the reigning monarch of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Holy Mosques.  In his honor and to celebrate the anniversary of Saudi, I researched a bit about Saudi Arabia history and am giving you my take on the Modern History of the Kingdom. 
Remember the breathtaking vistas from Lawrence of Arabia, vast expanses of desert, uninterrupted by anything beside the occasional camel? From that movie, you know that Saudi Arabia is a huge country occupying most of the Arabian peninsula. It currently has a population of about 22,000,000, including about five million foreigners. Earlier this year, we even became a part of the statistics when we filled in the Saudi Arabian Census form. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam, has Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities of Islam, and sees millions of Muslim pilgrims flock to Mecca and Medina yearly for the Haj.

From an economic perspective, Saudi has the world's largest reserve of oil, right below its surface, making it cheap to be retrieved and processed. Worth actually just filled up our GMC Envoy for the whopping amount of $9.00 for 74 liters, or 19.5 gallons!

Saudi Arabia has maintained good relationships with the USA, as all the photographs of the various US presidents meeting the Kings of Saudi Arabia hanging within the US Embassy here in Riyadh bear witness. There is a long history of political and economical bonds between the two countries that was put to a test when it turned out that many of the hijackers of September 11th attacks had Saudi passports and that their leader, Osama Bin Laden, came from a very wealthy Saudi family involved in the construction business. He has been stripped from his citizenship and is persona non grata in the Kingdom, although it’s quite daunting to see the Construction sites at the Kind Saud university protected by huge fences all bearing the Bin Laden Enterprises Name.

Saudi Arabia is a monarchy governed under strict Islamic laws of the Wahhabi sect, which regulate public behavior, especially for women and foreigners. Women cannot drive cars and have numerous other restrictions imposed on them.

From a historical perspective, various cultures have lived in the peninsula for over 5,000 years. But, except for a few major cities and oases, the harsh climate prevented much settlement of the Peninsula. Nomadic tribes always lived in the north and center, while the southern tribes were mostly sedentary. Oases made a sedentary way of life possible and provided stops on caravan routes.

The nomadic way of life and tribal organization of the interior of north and central Arabia made it difficult to form large stable political organizations. Already around 1500, one tribe seemed to take over the land; The Saud family was established in Ad Diriyah, in the center of Najd, near the modern capital of Riyadh. The family’s rise to power was also linked to an acceptance of the Wahhabi, one group within Islam and extended their power over most the center of the Peninsula. They advanced all the way to Mecca and Medina but lost the area to other tribes. In 1824 Riyadh and the vast territory around became the Saud capital. However, rivalry within the family weakened the Sauds and, overpowered by another tribal ruler, the Saud family fled to Kuwait.


In 1902, Abdul Aziz ibn Saud fought back for his family’s hold of Riyadh. Over the next 20 years, his tribe advanced all over the peninsula, including Mecca in 1924 and Medina in 1925. In 1932 he renamed his Kingdom Saudi Arabia, the Arabia of the Sauds! He did fight opposition from the religious group of Wahhabists who had no tolerance for necessary twentieth century innovations, including all machines and telegraph as well as the presence of non-Muslims in Saudi Arabia, forbidden by tradition and ended up defeating them in 1929. However, ever since, the Kingdom has seen internal battles between the most extreme forces in Wahhabism and the more pragmatic strain with suspicion cast on all new inventions. For example, the radio was first opposed but was later accepted when the King showed how it could be used to broadcast the Qu’ran. Wahhabi rule does remain strict in Saudi Arabia. No foreigners can become citizens. Women cannot get drivers licenses and cannot perform legal and financial procedures on their own. Alcohol is forbidden in the kingdom. The internet was outlawed for a while and is still government censured.

Shortly after becoming a kingdom, oil was discovered and transformed the face of the desert nation. Oil revenues have contributed to the wealth and fortunes of the Saud family, but unlike some other Gulf countries, this wealth has not brought on social changes and economic development like in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, UAE.

When King Abdul Aziz died in 1953, his son Saud accessed the throne. Every since, all the kings have been sons of Kind Abdul Aziz, all half-brothers, born from his wives. In 1964, King Saud was forced to abdicate because of criticism of his outrageous spending! His half-brother Prince Faisal became King, naming his half-brother Khalid his successor.

King Faisal was a frugal and observant monarch, raised in the Wahhabi. He introduced innovations such as television, inciting the opposition of conservative elements in the kingdom. Faisal is credited with abolishing slavery in Saudi Arabia in 1962. He was also active in foreign affairs. In 1973, he initiated an oil embargo following the Yom Kippur war, causing a sharp increase (tripled and quadrupled) the price of oil… Those growing up in the 70s remember how poor we were!!! But Saudi Arabia, as the world's largest exporter of oil, benefited from newfound prosperity. However, Faisal was assassinated in 1975 by his nephew, and Khalid became king.

King Khalid continued the process of modernization and under his rule Saudi Arabia initiated several foreign policy initiatives through Crown Prince Fahd. This moving forward was not appreciated by all and in 1979 fundamentalist Sunni riots in the Grand Mosque in Mecca were initiated by those who felt the kingdom had become too liberal and that the royal family had become steeped in corruption, ostentation, and imitation of the West. The rioters shot and killed a guard in the Grand Mosque, a holy place, where bloodshed is punishable by crucifixion. Only a fatwa, religious decree, allowed bloodshed to dislodge them by force.

King Khalid died in 1982 and was succeeded by Fahd, who designated Abdullah as crown prince. Saudi Arabia cooperated with the United States in keeping oil prices low in the 80s in order to hurt Soviet energy trade and bring down the Soviet economy. During Desert Storm in 1991, the kingdom accepted large numbers of US troops, and was a base for US operations against Iraq that remained after the conflict was over, angering traditionalists.

The Saudi Regime was rocked in 2003 by al-Qaeda attacks in Riyadh in May and November. Riots demanding reform by both traditionalists and democratic reformers also took place. Some of these attacks were directed on expat compounds (ours was hit) and aimed at hurting the Saudi Government. The unrest was met with arrests and force, but also with promises of reform.

King Fahd died in July 2005. His half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah became king. He had been acting as regent after King Fahad had a incapacitating stroke in January 1996 and took care of all day-to-day affairs. Abdullah is the fifth son (out of 37 sons) of King Abdulasis bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, , the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, to ascend to the throne.

As you see, Saudi Arabia, in its 78 years of existence, has been torn by opposition, seen riches, family conflicts, attacks on its visiting workers, the end of slavery, a rise to modernity and has many years ahead to look forward.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Grocery Shopping

It's funny to confess this, but one of my guilty pleasures is grocery shopping at Carrefour on a Thursday morning,the first day of the weekend here!  Riyadh has three Carrefour grocery stores run by the French chain, selling all the best France has to offer.  All their upper level managers are imported from France as well as many of their customers!  It's what I call "expat central" on that weekend morning.
It is the place to buy your cheeses, delicacies, prepared food, fruits, vegetables and fresh dairy products imported directly from France and arriving on the shelves on Thursday morning. Many of their products are also the Carrefour store brand that you came to rely on for their price and quality. 
And, as I found out yesterday morning, their receipt is even printed in English, a big plus from the Arabic receipts from last year.  I can review the prices after purchasing all my goods and wonder how my total bill is always around the same amount, with 5 or 10 or 15 grocery bags filling my grocery cart!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Batha Souk

Today will/should be the last day of Ramadan, when at Iftar the Eid Mubarak will start, the most celebrated holiday of the Muslim year.  Families and friends will get together, eat and be merry and the children will receive gift envelopes with money.  So, as you can imagine, people all over Riyadh are antsy to finish Ramadan and their fast.  Since this is a holiday, all services in the compound will be suspended for the next 5 days, so might as well get out while we can!  This morning, Imy daughter Emma and I took the compound bus to go to the Souk.  The driver was supposed to take us to the Dirah Souk, where you can find rugs, decorations, appliances, and abayas...  Instead he dropped us at the Batha Souk, mostly a textile souk.  Emma accompanied me as she needed a new abaya to start school, since it is school policy that all girls grade 4 through 12 wear an abaya to arrive on school campus, to cross the street for PE classes and to leave in the afternoon. 

You may think that abaya shopping would be pretty quick, right....how many models of black abaya could exist...but you are so wrong!  The souk was just opening up when we arrived, lights turned on and merchandises were being displayed.  At first, we could not see many abaya shops.  After wandering around and checking out those that were opened, they just seemed to multiply.  Everywhere we looked you could see an abaya shop.  Emma is pretty picky (already, for age 9) for any piece of clothes..so imagine her choosing a black abaya.  We knew the length she needed and she wanted one with pink!  Of course, all the ones displayed had blue, green, orange, red or yellow stiched decorations...so those did not fit the bill! Eventually, at the 10th shop (or more, as I quit counting) she saw one that she liked with interesting looking sleeves, some rhinestones details and a cool design in the back...We had a winner!!!  To my surprise, her chosen abaya does not have any pink in it, but I did not say anything as to not have her change her mind!  After some bartering, just a matter of principle since we are at the souk after all, I paid the man and Emma immediately put on her new abaya and removed the too short old one she was wearing, without showing an inch of skin!  She's very quickly adapting to the "no show" rules of the Kingdom.

Two of my freshly arrived colleagues were accompaning us on this shopping trip.  It was their first time in a Riyadh souk and they did not know what to look at, sensory overload.  Since they are new, they are still looking for necessities and ended up buying shower gels, shampoos, lotion and hairdryer.  Throw in some cashewnuts, almonds and even a new abaya for one of them and it was a successful trip!  It was interesting to see it through their eyes.  They were interested in everything and asking me if the quoted prices were reasonable.  I felt like the oldtimer, which is kind of funny since I haven't been here a year!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Ramadan and Iftar

Right now, Muslims around the world are living Ramadan, the ninth month of their lunar calendar.  During this entire month, they fast and do not eat or drink from dawn until sunset.  The act of fasting is to teach Muslims about patience, humility, and spirituality. They pray more than usual during Ramadan and ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds. In a way, you could compare this to the period of lent that Catholics live every year between Ash Wednesday and Easter.  However, unlike the Catholic lent, Ramadan is based on the lunar calendar and changes dates each year, moving backwards about eleven days each year depending on the moon. Because of that, we are not 100 % sure when the Ramadan will finish, as it depends on the sighting of a full moon, which may not happen if the sky is covered that night.. Prayer, which usually numbers five daily for about 5 minutes each time, are longer and in the last ten days of Ramadan, are very important.  In the evening, two hours after Iftar, the break of fast, we have been hearing prayers around town, for about 90 minutes.  There is another added prayer, in the middle of the night, around 1:00 am, which again lasts for 90 minutes.  I woke up last night, thank you jetlag, and heard the night prayers from the closest mosk.

 Now, during this whole Ramadan period, life for non-Muslims is also different if you live in Saudi.  It is extremely recommended to abstain from eating and drinking, laughing or behaving extravagantly in public.  Modesty in dress code should again be followed more strictly.  All in all, these are considerations for the respect of those fasting. 
What does it really mean to us?  Well, being in a workplace where many of our colleagues are Muslims, we do not eat or drink in front of them.  Today was our first day back and breakfast and lunch were offered, in a separate room.  We could see that some of our colleagues were fasting, from the low level of energy and the pale faces.  You have to understand that the sun rise around 4:30 am and set after 6:30 pm, which means 14 hours without water, while living in very high temperature in the middle of an arid desert!  I've considered not eating, but couldn't fantom not drinking.  I'm really feeling sympathy and respect for my colleagues and for Muslims around.  It's also interesting that until moving to Saudi, I really had never thought about the hardship of the fast.

At sunset Iftar or the break of fast happens by first eating one date and drinking a glass of water, then on to prayers.  It is after all important to eat nutritious and healthy foods after fasting all day.  Imagine the best of middle eastern food every night! Stuffed grape leaves, hummus, falaflel, pita,  baba ganouj, fattoush salad, tabouleh, lentil salad, fresh fruits and many many others!  Last Thursday I was invited to an Iftar banquet...what celebration!  Everybody was gathered, a prayer was said, dates were eaten by all, then more prayers, then off to a buffet with all kinds of great tasting food...  You can't live in the Middle East without having some favorites, of course and was really happy to have them again, after two months of western food fare.  I had not realized that I had missed it!

One of my colleagues was actually explaining all this to me and when asked what she missed the most during Ramadan she said coffee!  At Iftar, the first thing she has are TWO cups of black coffee...and somehow feels all that sudden a burst of energy.  Only then does she sits down and enjoy foods..and here I am, worried about all of them not drinking water during the day!

At the Iftar banquet, a man was pouring date juice from a special carafe...it was probably one of the best juices ever, a mix of what I think was rose water and date juice...Another man was going around pouring coffee as no self-respecting meal would be complete without cardamon coffee and Arabic sweets!

Bon Appetit, or more appropriately,  بالهناء والشفاء / بالهنا والشفا (bil-hanā' wa ash-shifā')