Saturday – Last day of the weekend!

The cupboards could do with another restocking which meant organising a trip to a supermarket.  The is a small supermarket in the compound but I suspect the prices are higher because they have a captive market.  The only way to find out is to shop off the compound. The compound does provide a free shopping bus twice daily, however it only runs Sun-Thu which is when I’m working.  There is no shopping bus on a Friday, but one of the supermarket chains provides a free shopping bus on Saturday.  My plan was to catch this bus and the timetable I’d been given stated the bus was going to Hayar Mall.  A quick check on Google Earth along with an internet search suggested this was a huge mall which also had an adjacent mall (Sahara) of equivalent size.  So I caught the shopping bus only to find I was the only passenger.  My suspicions were aroused.
The bus was quite interesting with curtains over all the windows.  My assumption is this is to provide “privacy” for the ladies travelling on the bus.  It probably also provides some protection from the sun and heat at the height of summer.

When the bus reached its destination we were nowhere near Hayar Mall.  Instead we had arrived at a Tamimi Supermarket adjacent to the Tarir Bookshop.  I’d previously walked to the bookshop from my hotel one evening.  At least I knew where I was.

Note the “Dunkin Donuts” shop.  There are fast food outlets everywhere.
Whilst I didn’t get to wander around a mall I found the time inside the supermarket quite an experience.  I’m sure Jan would love to wander around and see the huge range of products available for sale.  There appears to be a much greater variety that UK supermarkets.  Almost an hour was spent wandering with a trolley filling it with local produce.  I’m attempting to avoid the imported food as it tends to be more expensive. 
There must be a military airbase in the centre of Riyadh as F15 Eagle’s and Tornado fighters were doing circuits overhead as I left the supermarket with my loaded trolley.  The driver helped me load everything into the bus and then told me there would be a 3 minute delay whilst we waited for some ladies.  I glanced out the window and happened to notice yet another of those many hazards the locals seem to leave for the unwitting expat.

My guess is the pole was knocked down by a vehicle and has been removed.  But no one has thought to remove the bolts in the middle of the footpath!
The ladies catching the bus appeared to be either Indonesian or Malays.  The language is almost identical.  The bus driver didn’t take them to a compound.  Instead the alighted outside a large apartment block.  The driver actually spoke quite reasonable english and when I asked him where he from from I was slightly surprised when he replied “Kashmir!”
On arrival back at the unit the shopping was stowed in the pantry or fridge and I then put on another load of laundry and started the dishwasher.  The ironing for the week has been done and I swept the floor.  I’m rather domesticated!  There should be some time for the gym later in the afternoon and then I need to catch up on some work.