In one of the earlier posts I mentioned how the shops in Riyadh tend to co-locate by type. The fast food outlets (kebarbs) are together. Next it’s the sports shops and then the optical stores, etc. Walking around last night I came upon wedding dress street. Shop after shop full of wedding dresses. All the dresses were white and off the shoulder. There were some beautiful dresses but what amused me the most was the sales staff were all male. Women can’t work! So how does a potential bride get measured for her wedding dress. The shop assistants can’t touch her and she can’t remove her abyaha or veil….. It’s a puzzle? Adjacent to the wedding dress stores was a row of shops selling ball gowns. Many of them were too “glittery” for me being covered in sequins. But there are no public “Balls” in Saudi Arabia. There aren’t even any cinemas, theatres, or art galleries, etc. A husband certainly wouldn’t allow his wife to be seen in public in one of these dresses. I guess she buys it and only wears the thing at home either for his personal viewing or to show immediate female family member.
Last night’s dinner was <you guessed it> kebarb! This time it was a vegetarian kebarb with what I think was crumbed chickpea vegetarian meatballs as a filling covered in mayo, cheese and tomato. It came as a sandwich that was toasted. So I am now into a three day routine of meat kebarb, vegetarian kebarb and ‘Golden Arches’. The latter being the most expensive. On the way back to my room I stopped at the small supermarket run by the Bangladeshi to by some water, date filled biscuits and orange juice. He smiled and threw a small stick of chewing gum into the plastic bag as a ‘gift’. I guess that means I’m a good customer and have been paying him too much!
The internet connection at work isn’t functioning as I write this. Actually it hasn’t been working since I arrived this morning and I spent an hour fault finding with this new laptop thinking it was my setup that was the problem. Everyone else appeared to be working which led me to believe I was the only one with an issue. I guess they were all writing their own blog posts offline!
An opportunity arose to visit another western compound. This time it was via an agent/broker who gets a 5% commission if he can place someone in a rental apartment of compound. Mohammed was originally from the Sudan and has spent the last 16 years in Riyadh. He had all the sale patter along with the usual expensive looking vehicle. “Everyone knows me I can get you onto any compound. I know all the managers!” The compound he took me to had some sleepy looking bored National Guard soldiers at the checkpoint along with a tired looking HUMMV topped with a 50cal machine gun. There was no one manning the gun and given the last attack on a compound occurred a decade ago I strongly suspect the guards aren’t the “pick of the bunch”. I will have to produce my own risk management and evasion plan rather than rely on these fellows to protect me. The compound I’d prefer to be housed on has a considerably longer approach road, although the Saudi National Guard personnel look just as bored. The gate security staff supplied by the compound management look more alert. However they are probably paid a pittance and I can’t envisage them placing their lives on the line for some “fat cat” western in the event the compound were to be attacked.
Night 3 in the cycle – Must be Golden Arches for dinner! :-)
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