Driving in the Kingdom

View of the outside of our villa

Bill warned me that driving in Saudi Arabia is a little chaotic. Maybe it's good that I don't readily translate kilometers per hour to miles per hour yet, but what's clear is that everyone drives very fast and weaves in and out a lot. You can rent a car and drive yourself if you have the nerve and can navigate well in the city. If you are not going fast enough in the left lane, drivers will flash their lights, and if you don't get over fast enough, they will pass on the shoulder going probably over 100 mph.

In order to drive here, you must be male. In local news, apparently a local woman is facing charges for driving a car to the hospital for medical attention for her husband who was having a heart attack. We will have to wait and see what the outcome is in this case, but even though I am still not used to the idea of women being prohibited from driving, it is quite serious here.

Me at Goodies at the dried goods display

I can report that we had a good time at the consulate party. I almost left the villa without my abaya but luckily our friends reminded me. What a rookie mistake that would have been! After an hour and a half ride, with everyone riding his brakes, cutting in front of other drivers, and nearly missing pedestrians and bikers, we arrived at our destination. From the security line outside, I would have thought there must have been a thousand people there, but after 45 minutes at the checkpoint and a stretch limo ride, there were probably only a couple hundred attendees inside the secure compound. No cameras, no phones allowed, so sorry but I don't have any photos. In any case, we were starving at 10:30 at night so we got in line right away for dinner. They had a buffet and tables set up outside, so we sat and ate and watched the people. I probably haven't been in the country long enough to truly appreciate the contrast between people inside and outside the compound (or at KAUST for that matter), but since all of the women had to wear abayas while in line, it was a distinct difference after we all hung our black covers on coat racks. You might wonder how you would tell one hundred long, black garments apart, but there are usually decorative designs on each abaya. Beading, sparkly jewels, colored stitching or other details. Western women don't have to wear the head cover, and so far I haven't. I've seen lots of other Western women without head covers or veils, and reportedly Jeddah is more liberal than other parts of the country. I have also seen lots of women with only their eyes visible, and some without even their eyes visible. Their veils must be designed so they can see out, but no one can see even their eyes or bridge of their nose. I did see the very fancy shoes of the particular woman I am thinking of: clear shoes with heels and silver straps, but not a bit of her face showing. I don't think I wear the abaya as gracefully as the locals do. Sometimes you see women walking with the robes swooshing dramatically at their sides. I will be content simply to follow the rule of wearing it, possibly without as much drama.

Campus mosque

I understand that the New Year's party was originally supposed to take place poolside, but because of the flooding from all of the rain, the dancing was relegated to a smallish building inside the courtyard. At the stroke of midnight, there was much well-wishing and celebration among new friends as we launched into 2011. It was definitely the latest night I have had in a while since we did not get home and to bed until about 3:30. New Year's Day is not a holiday here so Bill had to work in the morning (Saturday, Jan. 1).

Weekends here are Thursday and Friday (Thaturday and Funday, we are saying). Wednesday night is like Friday night back home. TGIW. Bill says he is getting used to it.
Yesterday was my first trip to Jeddah during the day. We passed a lot of empty desert, which looked a lot like Nevada, saw goats, a chicken farm, some camels, a fish restaurant, a couple of roadside amusement parks with large ferris wheels, and several housing developments before reaching Jeddah. Around here, the pronunciation of the city's name is with two sort, clipped syllables, fast together: "Jed Duh."

Our first stop was IKEA for household things like rugs, kitchen organizing tools, a bigger garbage can, and laundry drying rack. Distinctly not-exciting things (except maybe the rugs). All of the floors are stone tile, and it is a relief to have a few rugs. I would really like to find an anti-fatigue runner mat for the kitchen. Just walking around the house all day on these hard floors has made my knees sore.


We also stopped at Saco World (Home Depot) and found a lot of the items on our list: organizers for the bathroom, cleaning supplies, screws and bolts. We got stuck during prayer time, which means that if you are in the store, you can continue to shop around, but most of the employees will be praying for 30-45 minutes. Bill has an app on his iPhone called iPray (I think that is the name) that helps you know at what time prayers will be called 5 times a day so you can try to adjust your schedule so you aren't stymied. On our trip yesterday we waited twice during prayers, but both times we were in the stores so it wasn't really that bad.



Fish counter at Goodies

The first prayer time delay occurred just as we arrived at a grocery-deli-restaurant called Goodies. They have an incredible deli of pre-cooked, ready to eat selections of everything from kebabs to every kind of middle eastern specialty I have ever seen (and many I haven't), beautiful fish with shrimp skewer garnish on a bed of sauteed vegetables, rolled and stuffed chicken, beef with mushroom sauce, every kind of pasta, salads... it was almost too much to believe. We wandered around the store as we waited and perused the meat counter where they had lamb, beef, and veal in almost any form you would want: legs of lamb, flattened medallions of veal, ground meats, loins trimmed to any size you want, cubes, deboned meat. They carry poultry of many descriptions, from whole chickens to tiny birds packaged about 30 to a package. They looked like sparrows and I'm not sure whether they were gutted, but they were plucked except for a few heads that perhaps could be used as garnish...? The chickens here are a lot more normal-looking in terms of size compared to the mega chickens we have in the states. I bet the ones here are half the size, and what I've tasted so far, a lot more chickeny flavor. I have made a tandoori-style marinated chicken at home once now and found it much more tasty. Maybe it is the bone to meat ratio, or maybe they are raised in a different method... they must be genetically different from the chickens I have always seen back home.

Middle Eastern specialties at Goodies

The fish counter, the fresh-baked pastries counter, olive and pickles counter and the juice bar were all amazingly over the top. You can purchase the pre-made food "to go" or eat it there in the restaurant. We very nearly sat down in the men's section on the main floor next to the deli cases when our friend reminded us we had to go upstairs to the "family" section. We sat down upstairs, ordered fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice, and the waiter arrived soon after with my kebabs (3 different ones: ground lamb with chilies, with pistachios, and with cilantro). Bill had rolled, stuffed chicken and a layered mashed potato/vegetable sort of side that was topped with melted cheese. Our friend got chicken parmesan with pasta alfredo, which also looked good. I smelled like garlic sauce the rest of the day, and I can't wait to go back and try some of the other selections.