A Taste of Humble Pie

Soon we will be making a trip to St Lucia for a family wedding. It will be the 30th country I've visited, each one with it's own beauty and each with it's own struggles. I am amazed at how differently people from varying backgrounds and cultures see things. We all want good things for our families and our children, but we often have differing ideas about what is good and/or how best to achieve our desired goals.  Living in any foreign culture, especially one with such a different world view can be rewarding, but also a humbling experience.  The following are 2 such examples from here in KSA:

We American gals are not used to some of the restrictions here that greatly effect our daily lives.  The inability for women to drive is an big example with many implications.  How to get what I need from the grocery store, from the garden center, from the pharmacy, etc., takes some planning.  There are several errands I could run this afternoon, but the grocery store run on today's compound bus/van schedule is not for the store where I like to shop and the compound bus/van does not go to a pharmacy or to a garden center.  Even if it did, I would have to choose one place to go, not all three even though they are not very far from each other.  With 24 hours advance notice I can book a ride for one drop off and pick-up to a location not on the schedule, but needless to say, I didn't schedule anything yesterday.  In the end, I will get the things I want or need, just not in the time or with the ease to which I am accustom.

Another example was an eye opener for me.  It was my belief that every restaurant had a family entrance and seating area for families and for single women dining together, as well as a separate entrance and seating area for single men without their families.  The purpose is to prevent inappropriate fraternizing. The other day, Roberto and I were out and about and looking for a place to stop for dinner when he saw a restaurant he had been to with some of his co-workers.  It took a while to find parking and we had to walk a distance to get there, but Roberto said the food was good so I was game.  Once we got to the restaurant we couldn't find the family door.  Roberto started to open the one door to go in and ask when he realized he saw no women inside at all.  He went to the window, got the attention of a waiter, and pointed to me.  The waiter quickly responded with a strong shake of his head and a wave of his finger indicating that I would not be allowed to enter.  The restaurant was for men only. 

A Lesson From the Chinese

With Last names like Lee and Kim, I am thinking the Chinese and the Korean have a point.  I imagine if there is list somewhere of the worlds longest street names, several streets in Saudi are probably at the top of the list. For one thing, every Prince, and there are thousands, has as street named after him.  As a result there are many streets such as:

Prince Hamoud Bin Abdulaziz Street

Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz Street

Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Road

Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Road

 You get the idea.  Then there are streets that give a message such as:

Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques Road

Teaching Hospital Street

And other names that for some reason are important enough for an extra long street sign:

Makkah Al Mukarramah

Salaheddin Al Ayoubi Street

Imam Mohammad Bin Saud Street

 Abu Al Mudahfar Al Samaany

Of course every street sign is in both Arabic and in English so with such long names the signs are not little.

While it doesn't happen often, there is sometimes snow in the North.

The local Hyper Panda Grocery Store. Now that's a shopping cart.  It serves as a great landmark.

Little Bites

While having dinner at an Indian restaurant called Maharajah, enjoying delicious food, and the company of an Indian colleague and his wife, Roberto asked for napkins.  The waiter looked at him with a puzzled look and said, Sir, they are right there, pointing to the Kleenex tissue box in front of us on the table.

Our compound offers a private beach cove with nice facilities and a restaurant about a 30 minute drive from the compound. It's great to have a beach area for compound families where we can lounge and play in western swimwear.

Went with a colleague to visit a Church service in Bahrain and afterward to lunch at a nice restaurant on the beach.

Enjoyed a ladies brunch with lots of friends, but this South African lady is special.

Yesterday, my friend Lydia and I spent the afternoon with a precious Saudi women at Lydia's Villa.  Their daughters met at the mall and connected bringing the mom's together.  We enjoyed the visit and are invited to her home next week.  I am especially looking forward to learning more from her about Saudi culture.  From our short visit I am reminded that reading about a culture doesn't necessarily give you a true picture and often doesn't apply to most people you meet. It takes spending time with people to learn and opportunities here are not always easy to find so we are blessed to have this one.  I look forward to seeing her again and to my 1st visit to a Saudi home.