Have you ever wanted to become the master at singing Supercallifragilisticexpialidocious and felt the need to call for Mary Poppins? Well, if you lived in Saudi Arabia, you very well may be able to find that special pearl. The majority of families with young (and not so young) children have a nanny, or several of them. We probably are among the minority here, living without a nanny or even a maid!
We see nannies daily, dropping and picking up students, shopping at the mall and the supermarket, at the doctor’s office, anywhere you may go as a family, nannies follow. I had been wondering how much those nannies are paid as they are living with their Saudi employer and are at their beck and call. Well, I finally mustered the courage and asked a Lebanese nanny…and I was shocked!
She broke it down for me into two categories of nannies: the Filipinos, who oftentimes have minimum qualifications beside a high school degree; the second group being the educated nannies heralding from Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria and Western countries, who usually have college degrees and may be multilingual.
According to my source, a Filipino nanny can pull about 1250 SR a month (or about 333 USD). Her job has her on call 24/7 for duty, living in a Royal Palace, all meals included and sometimes even includes exotic travel with the children and the family. Now, Mary Poppins would probably not approve of many of their appointments and their salaries, but for many of these Filipino ladies, that salary is way more than they could make back home in the Philippines and enables them to send a huge portion of their wages to their families/children back home.
In the case of this particular Lebanese nanny, her salary is 2000 USD a month and she has the same working conditions as the Filipinos. Because of her previous experiences as a nanny and her qualifications, she was able to negotiate her salary up. Now the way she was describing her job includes being on call all the time, having to be the best hairdresser and fashion consultant for the little girl she takes care of. She also mentioned offering services as a shrink and a nurse. Most of what she earns she saves, although she recognizes that taking a shower and washing her hair feels like she’s stealing time from her employer. Several times she told me that this job in Saudi was better than no job in Lebanon and the current state of the economy did not look promising for a job in Lebanon.
Now, without a doubt, such discrepancies in salary do not make her popular among the other nannies. At the function I met her she sat alone, did not speak with any other nanny, except one from Algeria. According to her, the maids and nannies don’t like her and will try to make life difficult for her, by telling the child in her care bad things and criticism of her work. She also appears to degrade the Filipino nannies and consider them lower than herself. The money may be good for her, but it seems to me like living in a viper’s nest! Mary Poppins would probably not be able to pull herself out of this one with a song!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Camel Crossing
Anytime you think of Saudi Arabia or the desert life here, you are bound to picture Bedouins, traveling with their camels across the vast expanses of the desert. Although times have changed and most of the Saudi population live in cities and towns, you still see camels roaming free, or apparently free, in the desert.
However, some roads do not have fencing on either side and, it came as no surprise to me when we saw the famous “Camel Crossing” signs, which really are not just for show. Only yesterday we had to come to a complete stop twice to let a group of camels stop. It is almost comical, to see the biggest male of the herd standing in the middle of the four lane highway and watching around as the mama camels and baby camels are crossing. It’s such a cool sight: the camels are right there, in front of us, trotting across the road, not a care in the world. They truly are the most beautiful beasts of the desert, so elegant in their walk and so proud in their demeanor!
But the desert itself has changed and is now crisscrossed with paved roads. At first, I kept on wondering why the highways were fenced… Could it be to prevent cars from free driving into the desert? I didn’t take me long to figure out the real reasons for those fences…. Everywhere and each time we’ve been in the desert, we’ve seen camels. They appear friendly and don’t shy away from moving vehicles… So, the fencing keeps them safely away from the roads.
However, some roads do not have fencing on either side and, it came as no surprise to me when we saw the famous “Camel Crossing” signs, which really are not just for show. Only yesterday we had to come to a complete stop twice to let a group of camels stop. It is almost comical, to see the biggest male of the herd standing in the middle of the four lane highway and watching around as the mama camels and baby camels are crossing. It’s such a cool sight: the camels are right there, in front of us, trotting across the road, not a care in the world. They truly are the most beautiful beasts of the desert, so elegant in their walk and so proud in their demeanor! 
Monday, April 11, 2011
Ushaiger Village
A few months ago, on a flight back from Egypt, I picked up a magazine featuring Ushaiger, a traditional Saudi village having been restored to its former glory, as a way to preserve its heritage and displau relics and pieces from the village in their newly built museum. The photos were so appealing that I kept the article and just found it yesterday. So, since we are all off this week for Spring break, we decided to pack the car, bring our picnic and head to Ushaiger.
A little internet research was necessary though, as we really had no clue where this beautiful spot was. Here are the coordinates 25°20′33″N 45°11′0″E. From Riyadh, count on over 200 kms each way of easy highway. Take Mekkah Road, pass the first checkpoint, go down the escarpment and turn right at the first exit, direction Shaqra (Highway 505). Drive on that highway for a good long while. When you reach the second town, at the roundabout, turn right and continue for 35 kms. At the next roundabout, go straight for 18 kms and, at km 18, you will see the new town of Ushaiger. Turn right on that road, drive to the end of it and you will be able to spot the old traditional village.
So, according to Wikipedia, “ Ushaiger is one of the oldest towns in the Saudi region of Najd and was a major stopping point for pilgrims coming from Kuwait, Iraq and Iran to perform Hajj or Umrah. It was originally known as A’ekel but the name was eventually changed to Ushaiger. It was changed because the town is bordered by a small mountain north of the Village. The mountain is red in color, yet locals said it was blonde simply because red and blonde were used interchangeably in the old days. Ushaiger means the “Small Blonde”, which is a description of that particular mountain. Historical Ushaiger belongs to the Tamim tribe although other tribes lived there as well. It is also the home land to many families in the Arabian Peninsula. Such families are Al-Elsheikh (The family of Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab) and Al-Thani (Rulers of the State of Qatar) originated from Ushaiger.”
According to me, Ushaiger is what I thought Saudi Arabia would look like. Mud and straw houses, with narrow shaded alleyways, surrounded by defense walls and an oasis. What I was not expecting was the intricate irrigation and water collection systems, with a series of wells connected to each other and providing water for people, living and crops. In many ways, these desert folks knew how precious water was and had engineered a whole system to collect the water…if only today’s generations realized how wasteful their water usage is.
We were extremely welcomed in the village, being offered a private tour of the museum, the traditional cup of tea and Arabic coffee (that the boys drank seated in a cosy male only area, while the girls stood around and waited for the boys to be done). Our private guide, an elder whose grandfather used to have a farm in the village, took us around the restored alleys and houses, showed us many wells, his grandfather’s garden with a great irrigation system, still being harvested to this day. He took us to two of the schools in the village and two of the mosqs as well, one outdoors and one still in use.
After our tour of the village, we drove up the mountain and had a picnic in a secluded shaded area, overlooking the entire historical village, with its protecting walls, watchtowers and many palm trees.
Our guide was very proud of his village and we were very complimentary of its renovation. The feel we had was like walking inside a history book. The only missing elements were the people who used to live in the village…. It was so peaceful and quiet, beautiful and serene, historical and humbling. What a great way to spend the day, going back 400 years in history…
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Cars of all shapes, colors and sizes
Saudi Arabia is probably one country with the most variety of cars: if you want it, you can buy it here! All makes and models, from American Ford, GMC and Chevy to European Peugot, Audi, Mercedes, BMW to Asian Toyota, Hundya... One thing I thought I wouldn't get used to are the Mazeratti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Aston Marton, Bentley, Jaguar and Rolls that are all over the place...and although they still hold some mystique, we see them so often that they are loosing some of their myth! Carpool time at school offers a pleasure for the eyes, with all the above brands well represented and just makes me want to get behind the wheel and take off!
But my favorites are the custom cars as they are one of the prefered ways to personalize your ride around here. Again, imagine the best and worst you've seen and we have it. I've seen bubble gum pink hummers, Orange Audi SUV with the racing stripe, bright purple limo, Hummer Stretch Limo...but to date, this is MY favorite... a GOLD BMW, parading around town... Only in Saudi
Friday, April 1, 2011
Quad in the Red Sand Dunes
OMG! We finally rode Quad bikes in the Red Sand Dunes and it was sooooo much fun! This Thursday (our weekend, equivalent to Saturday) we left the compound early and rode in our friend Claude's brand new (to him) Nissan Patrol 4x4 to the desert, with the idea of renting quad bikes and enjoy the dunes.
On our way to the Red Sands, we stopped at a gaz station/convenience store/garage/mosque/tire reseller. It's always nice to see what there is to discover in those stores, as they are way more stocked than what you would expect to find in your typical Exxon/On the Run in the US. This one was pretty cool: we found all the camping gear, desert coats, head scarfs, camel bells and ropes, sheep lined sleeping bags, firewood, kettles, all kinds of dairy products, nuts.. for those in the Felicianas' think of a souped-up Saudi version of the F.S. Williams Store Saudi. We really did not need anything, but ended up purchasing 3 head scarfs (a pair for me to make pants out of and one for the desert), gum and candy for the road. The scarves did end up being used on the very same day! More about that later!
So, as we finally reached our destination, we got caught in an mild sandstorm...not too bad, but enough to prevent us from leaving the comfort of the car and getting exposed on the quad bikes. Instead, we decided to wait it out and go exploring in the dunes; with a 4x4 vehicle, it's always more fun! Once the wind calmed down, we went back and found several quad bikes rental places. Don't expect rental cabins, with all the gimmics. This is just us, pulling next to a few quads, a Saudi looking like what I would expect a bedouin to look like, tells us the price, in Arabic. We haggle a bit, he draws his final price in the sand and we say OK! Deal is done, money is exchanged, quads are started.
On our way to the Red Sands, we stopped at a gaz station/convenience store/garage/mosque/tire reseller. It's always nice to see what there is to discover in those stores, as they are way more stocked than what you would expect to find in your typical Exxon/On the Run in the US. This one was pretty cool: we found all the camping gear, desert coats, head scarfs, camel bells and ropes, sheep lined sleeping bags, firewood, kettles, all kinds of dairy products, nuts.. for those in the Felicianas' think of a souped-up Saudi version of the F.S. Williams Store Saudi. We really did not need anything, but ended up purchasing 3 head scarfs (a pair for me to make pants out of and one for the desert), gum and candy for the road. The scarves did end up being used on the very same day! More about that later!
So, as we finally reached our destination, we got caught in an mild sandstorm...not too bad, but enough to prevent us from leaving the comfort of the car and getting exposed on the quad bikes. Instead, we decided to wait it out and go exploring in the dunes; with a 4x4 vehicle, it's always more fun! Once the wind calmed down, we went back and found several quad bikes rental places. Don't expect rental cabins, with all the gimmics. This is just us, pulling next to a few quads, a Saudi looking like what I would expect a bedouin to look like, tells us the price, in Arabic. We haggle a bit, he draws his final price in the sand and we say OK! Deal is done, money is exchanged, quads are started.
We all climb our vehicles and we are off. No waiver to sign, no ID cards, no insurance, no tutorial on how to use the machine, or how to brake. It's actualy quite scary, come to think of it, that the guy rents to us, doesn't really check that we can drive them, have my two kids take off without helmets.. I decide to take off my abaya in the car, before getting on the back. Not sure if it was allowed, but I did it... Couldn't have driven one of those with an abaya! Actually, not even sure if I was allowed to drive the quad...but the guy didn't say a thing when he saw me get on the bike and go!
We did, however, cover our hair and faces, as it was still windy and we had just purchased these beautiful scarves.. would have been a scame not to use them! And man, did we look cool...
The children thoroughly loved it. We could hardly keep up with them and even thought we'd lost one for a while. She wasn't too far, but nonetheless, it scared me. The dunes looked all the same and it would have been easy to loose our bearings if we hadn't had a huge mesa helping us direct ourselves. Both children were natural, taking to those bikes like they'd done it all their lives, when in truth it was their second time driving one, even if they've ridden with an adult a bunch of times in the Louisiana countryside!
The Quad driving in the sand dunes, up and down, over and under, was just amazing! I took many photos and even a little movie of what it actually felt like. While in the desert, everybody should have that experience of driving on the sand dunes. It's truly an unforgettable experience! What a rush! What beauty!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Festival de la Francophonie
A l'occasion de la francophophonie, plusieurs ambassades ont organises des evenements culturels; ainsi nous sommmes alles a la residence de l'ambassadeur de Belgique pour la projection du film "Soeur Sourire" et a la residence de l'ambassadeur Suisse pour le film "petites vacances a Knokke Le Zoutte". C'est toujours agreable de participer a des evenements culturels, beaucoup plus calmes que certaines soirees dans Le quartier diplomatique, et tres relax. Hier soir, nous avons fait la rencontre d'un couple Suisse en voyage d'affaires de 3 jours a Riyad qui avait toutes les questions de nouveaux arrivants et beaucoup des prejudices et misconceptions de l'Arabie Saoudite. C'etait chouette de leur parler, je leur ai meme donne l'adresse du blog, pour qu'ils puissant lire un peu plus sur ce que c'est de vivre ici!
Un autre avantage de ces soirees sont les buffets. Nous avons eu droit a la traditionelle raclette du Valais Suisse. Je pense que la derniere fois que j'en ai mangee je devais avoir 12 ans, aux sports d'hiver a Leysin! Quel delice!
Comme quoi on ne s'ennuie pas au Royaume Magique! J'ai impatience d'aller au bazar de la francophonie Le weekend prochain!
Un autre avantage de ces soirees sont les buffets. Nous avons eu droit a la traditionelle raclette du Valais Suisse. Je pense que la derniere fois que j'en ai mangee je devais avoir 12 ans, aux sports d'hiver a Leysin! Quel delice!
Comme quoi on ne s'ennuie pas au Royaume Magique! J'ai impatience d'aller au bazar de la francophonie Le weekend prochain!
Friday, March 18, 2011
What a sandstorm feels like...
One of the dangers of living in the desert is the sandstorm since we are completely surrounded by sand hundreds of miles around. However, since we’ve been in Riyadh, we have not been in a sandstorm of epic proportion, when you SEE the wall of sand moving forward and engulfing everything. Check out this video of a major sandstorm that hit downtown Riyadh in early 2009 in which you will see the wall moving forward from total visibility to nothing is distinguishable…Worst sandstorm in Riyadh
We have been caught in sandstorms; one was at the bottom of a wadi, driving back from the desert. We heard the wind coming, saw the lightning all around and soon we could hardly see in front of us. We knew the pillars of the bridge were close so we were looking for them, but only saw them when we were about 5 meters from them. Good thing we were hardly moving!
When a sandstorm blows through, expect sand all over. If you are outside, which I don’t recommend, cover your mouth and nose as quickly as possible, as the sand will get everywhere and get inside! My husband and two friends were playing golf last year when one hit suddenly. The three guys kept on playing…not the smartest move! When they came back to the compound, they had a thin layer of sand caked on their faces and their hair was blond, as sand has attached itself all over! For the next couple of months after that golf outing, all three were coughing and had respitory infections…since they did not cover their mouths and noses! So, my ad-vice is not to stay outside if you can avoid it.
When you are inside the safety of your house, listen to the wind and the sand hitting the windows. Expect sand to seep in under the doors, around the windows and be prepared to dust your house! You will see all furniture covered with a thin layer of “dust”, more sand than anything else. This is true on a daily basis. I could dust everywhere daily as it seems there is always sand deposit on the furniture.
When I vacuum or mop the floors, sand is what is mostly picked up. The bottom of the bucket is always full of sand, no matter that I vacuum the floors before washing them! So, yeah, living here you can’t forget that you are in the desert and that sand is all around.
For more information, read this article on How to Survive a Sandstorm
We have been caught in sandstorms; one was at the bottom of a wadi, driving back from the desert. We heard the wind coming, saw the lightning all around and soon we could hardly see in front of us. We knew the pillars of the bridge were close so we were looking for them, but only saw them when we were about 5 meters from them. Good thing we were hardly moving!
When a sandstorm blows through, expect sand all over. If you are outside, which I don’t recommend, cover your mouth and nose as quickly as possible, as the sand will get everywhere and get inside! My husband and two friends were playing golf last year when one hit suddenly. The three guys kept on playing…not the smartest move! When they came back to the compound, they had a thin layer of sand caked on their faces and their hair was blond, as sand has attached itself all over! For the next couple of months after that golf outing, all three were coughing and had respitory infections…since they did not cover their mouths and noses! So, my ad-vice is not to stay outside if you can avoid it.
When you are inside the safety of your house, listen to the wind and the sand hitting the windows. Expect sand to seep in under the doors, around the windows and be prepared to dust your house! You will see all furniture covered with a thin layer of “dust”, more sand than anything else. This is true on a daily basis. I could dust everywhere daily as it seems there is always sand deposit on the furniture.
When I vacuum or mop the floors, sand is what is mostly picked up. The bottom of the bucket is always full of sand, no matter that I vacuum the floors before washing them! So, yeah, living here you can’t forget that you are in the desert and that sand is all around.
For more information, read this article on How to Survive a Sandstorm
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Thunderstorm in the desert
As my Facebook status today I posted “Thunderstorm in the Desert” and immediately was asked if I meant it figuratively? Yes, Isa, you get mentionned ;-)! Although the atmosphere has been tense in the Middle East and this past weekend in Saudi Arabia, I really meant we were having a thunderstorm, with thunder, rain, lightning and the whole shebang! The weather these past few days has been weird… Thursday night we had a full blown sandstorm, with sands seeping all over the house and making it difficult to breath, followed with about enough raindrops to totally wreck the layer of sand on your car. Friday (our Sunday) I took the kids to the pool and the sky was so overcast the sun could not peak through. Perfect temperature and no sun meant it was not too hot, but no sunbathing. Friday night we had a major hailstorm that must have lasted over 10-15 minutes and dropped hail about the size of small marbles. Yesterday Monday, back at work, it was so hot and humid we turned on the AC in all the buildings and finished the afternoon with dark skies. And today, we started with some grey sky and had intermittent showers throughout the day. This evening, it’s raining again, rather steadily, making the streets of the compound wet and flooding our poorly irrigated yards. Oh well, guess I’ll have to take my umbrella tomorrow… and YES, I am still in the middle of the Arabian desert!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Camel Souk visit
This past Thursday we visited the Camel Souk, a huge market on the outskirts of Riyadh where merchants are offering camels of all shapes and sizes for sale. Obviously we were not in the market to purchase a new camel to add to our herd, but more to show the camel souk to my sister-in-law visiting us for a week. At first, the children were not too keen on going there, as they don't appreciate the pungent smell of camels, but they were good sports for their aunt and came along, not like they had much of a choice, as we were all going. Along for the ride came another family from the compound, with their three daughters, for whom it was the first time coming up close with camels. The children were fascinated by the camels, offering their hands to come closer to the enormous beasts.
The enclosures where the camels stand are higher than the dirt road. The only explanation I can gather would be after years and years, layers after layers of straw, sand and poos have accumulated, rising the bottom level and making the already pretty tall camels look even taller and more impressive. While my two chidlren were stand-offish, the three little girls were all into the camels: getting real close to them, touching them and giving them blades of grass growing around the enclosures.
As much as we were interested in the camels, the camel owners/workers were even more interested in us, as not many tourists come by the camel souk. All three women had covered their hair, in order to not attract even more attention with our flowing blondish locks and also by respect for the local customs. The workers there greeted us, in Arabic, as they didn’t seem to speak English. With gestures they made us understand it was OK to look at their camels or that we had to leave, as we were disturbing camel mothers and their offspring. One even offered to carry one of the children so she could get closer to the camels.
In moments like these, we get to see real Saudis, hardworking and living in less than humble adobes but they tolerated us, or at least didn’t chase us away. Some were curious as far as our nationalities were concerned… I could hear them say “Americana” but I was quick to say that we were from “Belgica”, which really was the truth as 8 out of 10 of us were Belgian passport holders. Funnily enough we used English to speak to each other, as my Dutch is a little rusty and my compound neighbors are Dutch speakers from the North of Belgium while I'm a French speaker from the South of the country.
So, our Camel souk visit was interesting. Each time I've seen a camel up close, I'm just fascinated by how beautiful they are. Machala, camels have the most amazing eyelashes! And they are so gracious when they move. They remind me of the Death Walkers from the Star Wars movies, as they always look like they're going to fall but they move steadily and sure-footed every time! Their coats come in a variety of colors: some are beige, brown, dark brown and even most surprisingly black. And their hair sometimes is curly or straighter, but I’ve yet to see a straight haired camel. We had the best time observing one chewing his food, with his jaw going left to right and back the other way. Imagine a cow chewing on grass, but with the mouth open. That camel had to have the coolest teeth I've seen in a camel...
The enclosures where the camels stand are higher than the dirt road. The only explanation I can gather would be after years and years, layers after layers of straw, sand and poos have accumulated, rising the bottom level and making the already pretty tall camels look even taller and more impressive. While my two chidlren were stand-offish, the three little girls were all into the camels: getting real close to them, touching them and giving them blades of grass growing around the enclosures.
As much as we were interested in the camels, the camel owners/workers were even more interested in us, as not many tourists come by the camel souk. All three women had covered their hair, in order to not attract even more attention with our flowing blondish locks and also by respect for the local customs. The workers there greeted us, in Arabic, as they didn’t seem to speak English. With gestures they made us understand it was OK to look at their camels or that we had to leave, as we were disturbing camel mothers and their offspring. One even offered to carry one of the children so she could get closer to the camels.
In moments like these, we get to see real Saudis, hardworking and living in less than humble adobes but they tolerated us, or at least didn’t chase us away. Some were curious as far as our nationalities were concerned… I could hear them say “Americana” but I was quick to say that we were from “Belgica”, which really was the truth as 8 out of 10 of us were Belgian passport holders. Funnily enough we used English to speak to each other, as my Dutch is a little rusty and my compound neighbors are Dutch speakers from the North of Belgium while I'm a French speaker from the South of the country.
So, our Camel souk visit was interesting. Each time I've seen a camel up close, I'm just fascinated by how beautiful they are. Machala, camels have the most amazing eyelashes! And they are so gracious when they move. They remind me of the Death Walkers from the Star Wars movies, as they always look like they're going to fall but they move steadily and sure-footed every time! Their coats come in a variety of colors: some are beige, brown, dark brown and even most surprisingly black. And their hair sometimes is curly or straighter, but I’ve yet to see a straight haired camel. We had the best time observing one chewing his food, with his jaw going left to right and back the other way. Imagine a cow chewing on grass, but with the mouth open. That camel had to have the coolest teeth I've seen in a camel...
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Guest Blogger 2: Groceries and Mall
Second Blog entry written by my sister in law, visiting us for a week...
Yesterday was my first full day in Saudi Arabia. Worth, Chris, and the kids all had to go to school, so I was in the villa on my own. As I indicated in my comments yesterday, I decided to take the van to the mall to get an abaya rather than try to wear one with a giant hole in the back. So, at 9 o'clock, I went to catch the van provided by the compound for the women during the day. (Remember, women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia.) I was told it was for "villa residents only, so I couldn't ride. Chris happened to call at just that moment, and I wasn't back in the villa for 3 minutes when I got a call from the Compound inviting me to come ride the bus. Go Chris! At that poing, I was really hoping that I'd meet a nice lady on the bus who'd take me under her wing. Sure enough, I did! Chris's friend Sarika from Thailand was also in the van that morning and agreed to let me tag along with her.
The drive itself was a bit harrowing (the lines in the road are apprently just a suggestion) and I was quite queasy by the time we got to the mall. Fortunately, that subsided quickly, and we wandered around a bit doing some window shopping. It was truly amazing to see the number of shops that catered to women. There was shop after shop after shop after shop of fancy-dress establishments, with gowns fit for the Oscars! Yet no one would ever see them but their husbands or other women. What a shame! I was also surprised by the number of women in veils. I expected the abayas (black robes) and the hijabs (head scarves), but was not expecting to see women's faces veiled, with only their eyes showing. I even saw one woman in a full burqa!
The mall does have a smaller number of shops selling nothing but abayas, though not nearly as many as sold fancy dresses. I was able to get one that fit (see blog #1 about the problems with borrowed abayas), though it's not particularly attractive. Some are very elaborate with gems and embroidery; mine is of a nice fabric, but it simply has some braided ribbon around the sleeves. Oh, but those sleeves are about 18-24 inches around, which is much nicer than the tight sleeves of the borrowed abaya. They're so dang hot. I'm hot natured normally. Just a few degrees above my comfort zone and I'm sweating like a pig. Anyway, I nearly caused a diplomatic incident when the male clerk told me to try it on. I asked "here?" He said yes. So I started to take off the abaya I was wearing to try on the new one, when both clerks & Sarika yelled "NO!" I was supposed to try it on *over* the Abaya. Oops. I guess I'm just too damned American. When we went to a different mall today, I noticed that in the ladies' restroom, there are dressing rooms. Apparently, you have to buy the clothes, take them to a dressing room, try them on, and either take them home or return them to the store. It's a really good thing Sarika was with me when I was buying my abaya; she's so nice and helpful, and I'm glad she was there. She talked them down from 400 SR to 200SR, and they hemmed it to length in the 10 minutes we had to wait. Sarika's a natural at haggling!
The other big experience that morning was going to the grocery store. But the mundane term "grocery store" doesn't do this place justice. It's called Danube, and it's probably equivalent to a Central Market in Texas, or maybe a Whole Foods. Not organic, necessarily, but beautiful and well kept. The bread section was at least 50 yards long. The fruits and vegetables were arranged with an artistic flair. There was a whole section--bigger than the fruit & veg section back home--devoted *entirely* to dates. Yep. Dates. Shrink-wrapped; dried; paste; suitable-for-gift-giving-tinned. If it's associated with dates, you name it, they had it in that corner. Worth said they produce something like 500 or 600 different varieties of dates in K.S.A. alone.
When in foregin grocery stores, I always love to look at the chips aisle. The flavors are usually ... well, ... different? In Japan, for example, there's shrimp-flavored chips. In Australia, they make chicken-flavored chips. The tempting flavor here was "French Cheese" Lay's. Judging by the picture, it's apparently Swiss cheese. But oh my, I have a new favorite flavor!!! Naturally, I bought a bag of something so unusually named. I also bought a couple cans of ginger ale to settle my tummy, and a bottle of water. Unfortunately, I had not picked up a basket, and this is what led to my "freak out" experience that I mentioned yesterday.
I had my arms full of stuff and a young man kept pointing to a basket that no one was using. I wouldn't take it b/c it had some stuff in there, but he just emptied it for me and gave it to me. So I put my stuff in, smiled, and said "thank you." Oops. Apparently, you're not supposed to smile at men here. I'm just too damned American, I guess. Anyway, I went about my business, went around the corner of an aisle, and there he was again. I thought that was kinda funny, & he was smiling, so I smiled and said "hey." Oops. Apparently, you're not supposed to say "hey" to men here. I'm just too damned American, I guess. A few minutes later, I ran into him again. By this time, I was feeling awkward, and in my typical way of dealing with an awkard situation, I smiled real big and said hey again. Oops again. (See oops #1 and oops #2.) At this point he walked past me, quite closely to me, actually, which I deliberately ignored. Then he passed behind me again, said "very beautiful" and grabbed my butt! ! ! ! I was floored! Gobsmacked! Stunned! BUT NOT speechless. I whipped around and yelled "Stop it! NO! NO!" with a very stern face and a finger waggle. Turned out that the first pass was a brush-by, not a siple accident due to lack of concern about personal space. I guess I'm just too damned American.
I had to self medicate after that. With two -- count 'em -- TWO scoops of ice cream. Kiwi and Passion fruit. 10:30 a.m. is not too early for ice cream after you've been practically assaulted, is it?
Yesterday was my first full day in Saudi Arabia. Worth, Chris, and the kids all had to go to school, so I was in the villa on my own. As I indicated in my comments yesterday, I decided to take the van to the mall to get an abaya rather than try to wear one with a giant hole in the back. So, at 9 o'clock, I went to catch the van provided by the compound for the women during the day. (Remember, women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia.) I was told it was for "villa residents only, so I couldn't ride. Chris happened to call at just that moment, and I wasn't back in the villa for 3 minutes when I got a call from the Compound inviting me to come ride the bus. Go Chris! At that poing, I was really hoping that I'd meet a nice lady on the bus who'd take me under her wing. Sure enough, I did! Chris's friend Sarika from Thailand was also in the van that morning and agreed to let me tag along with her.
The drive itself was a bit harrowing (the lines in the road are apprently just a suggestion) and I was quite queasy by the time we got to the mall. Fortunately, that subsided quickly, and we wandered around a bit doing some window shopping. It was truly amazing to see the number of shops that catered to women. There was shop after shop after shop after shop of fancy-dress establishments, with gowns fit for the Oscars! Yet no one would ever see them but their husbands or other women. What a shame! I was also surprised by the number of women in veils. I expected the abayas (black robes) and the hijabs (head scarves), but was not expecting to see women's faces veiled, with only their eyes showing. I even saw one woman in a full burqa!
The mall does have a smaller number of shops selling nothing but abayas, though not nearly as many as sold fancy dresses. I was able to get one that fit (see blog #1 about the problems with borrowed abayas), though it's not particularly attractive. Some are very elaborate with gems and embroidery; mine is of a nice fabric, but it simply has some braided ribbon around the sleeves. Oh, but those sleeves are about 18-24 inches around, which is much nicer than the tight sleeves of the borrowed abaya. They're so dang hot. I'm hot natured normally. Just a few degrees above my comfort zone and I'm sweating like a pig. Anyway, I nearly caused a diplomatic incident when the male clerk told me to try it on. I asked "here?" He said yes. So I started to take off the abaya I was wearing to try on the new one, when both clerks & Sarika yelled "NO!" I was supposed to try it on *over* the Abaya. Oops. I guess I'm just too damned American. When we went to a different mall today, I noticed that in the ladies' restroom, there are dressing rooms. Apparently, you have to buy the clothes, take them to a dressing room, try them on, and either take them home or return them to the store. It's a really good thing Sarika was with me when I was buying my abaya; she's so nice and helpful, and I'm glad she was there. She talked them down from 400 SR to 200SR, and they hemmed it to length in the 10 minutes we had to wait. Sarika's a natural at haggling!
The other big experience that morning was going to the grocery store. But the mundane term "grocery store" doesn't do this place justice. It's called Danube, and it's probably equivalent to a Central Market in Texas, or maybe a Whole Foods. Not organic, necessarily, but beautiful and well kept. The bread section was at least 50 yards long. The fruits and vegetables were arranged with an artistic flair. There was a whole section--bigger than the fruit & veg section back home--devoted *entirely* to dates. Yep. Dates. Shrink-wrapped; dried; paste; suitable-for-gift-giving-tinned. If it's associated with dates, you name it, they had it in that corner. Worth said they produce something like 500 or 600 different varieties of dates in K.S.A. alone.
When in foregin grocery stores, I always love to look at the chips aisle. The flavors are usually ... well, ... different? In Japan, for example, there's shrimp-flavored chips. In Australia, they make chicken-flavored chips. The tempting flavor here was "French Cheese" Lay's. Judging by the picture, it's apparently Swiss cheese. But oh my, I have a new favorite flavor!!! Naturally, I bought a bag of something so unusually named. I also bought a couple cans of ginger ale to settle my tummy, and a bottle of water. Unfortunately, I had not picked up a basket, and this is what led to my "freak out" experience that I mentioned yesterday.
I had my arms full of stuff and a young man kept pointing to a basket that no one was using. I wouldn't take it b/c it had some stuff in there, but he just emptied it for me and gave it to me. So I put my stuff in, smiled, and said "thank you." Oops. Apparently, you're not supposed to smile at men here. I'm just too damned American, I guess. Anyway, I went about my business, went around the corner of an aisle, and there he was again. I thought that was kinda funny, & he was smiling, so I smiled and said "hey." Oops. Apparently, you're not supposed to say "hey" to men here. I'm just too damned American, I guess. A few minutes later, I ran into him again. By this time, I was feeling awkward, and in my typical way of dealing with an awkard situation, I smiled real big and said hey again. Oops again. (See oops #1 and oops #2.) At this point he walked past me, quite closely to me, actually, which I deliberately ignored. Then he passed behind me again, said "very beautiful" and grabbed my butt! ! ! ! I was floored! Gobsmacked! Stunned! BUT NOT speechless. I whipped around and yelled "Stop it! NO! NO!" with a very stern face and a finger waggle. Turned out that the first pass was a brush-by, not a siple accident due to lack of concern about personal space. I guess I'm just too damned American.
I had to self medicate after that. With two -- count 'em -- TWO scoops of ice cream. Kiwi and Passion fruit. 10:30 a.m. is not too early for ice cream after you've been practically assaulted, is it?
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