Roberto, a Mexico

Roberto is frequently mistaken for an Arab and men will start talking to him in Arabic before they realize he isn’t.  The other day he was waiting for the elevator and an older Arab gentleman started talking to him.  When he realized Roberto isn’t Arab, he asked, “Where are you from.”  Playing around, Roberto answered, “I’m from Mexico.”  The Gentleman got very excited and said in his broken English, “Mexico! You from Mexico! You the 1^st Mexico, I meet.”

Fishy Cat

Our compound is overrun with wild cats.  They are everywhere.  Many of the residence leave food out for them so they are not lacking.  A couple of them often sleep in the shade of our back porch.  They are not only on our compound, but all over the city.  About a 30 minute drive from us is a private beach for our compound residence only.  It is the only beach where were can wear western swimsuits, but it has a very nice private cove and includes a club house with an indoor pool and restaurant as well.  We spent an afternoon there a few weeks back and, like everywhere, there were a lot of cats.  This particular cat I chased down to get a photo:

He apparently ordered the catch of the day.

Before it got hot and a little windy, but we had a great day.

 

Where’s the Wedding?

In a land with no addresses it can be difficult to find a place.  There are street names, but no #’s.  Recently, Roberto and I were invited to a tradition Saudi wedding by a co-worker and his fiance.  We were honored to be included and to have the opportunity to see a little more of the culture.  We received the traditional invitation along with a separate information and instruction sheet in English.  The invitation said that the men would be welcome from 8:00 – 10:00 pm during which time they would enjoy a nice dinner. Afterward, they could leave or stay and visit with the groom for a while.  The women meet from 11:00 pm - 1:00 am.  During that time, the women would enjoy dinner.  Like many things here, Saudi wedding celebrations are segregated.

The men dress business casual, but the women dress up in formal gowns with as much bling on them as you can imagine and no concern for modesty since there will be no men.  Around midnight, the women cover up with their abayas (the black robe) and veils and the groom joins them for a short time.  When he leaves, they uncover and depending on the family, the dancing begins.  I was looking forward to seeing it and to meet many women.

Roberto left our home at 7:30 pm with a couple of other men from the office and planned to return to pick me up at 10:00 pm to take me for the ladies event.  He was business casual and I was all dressed up ready for a gala ball.  Around 10:00 pm Roberto called to tell me that they had been driving around for the 2 hours and never found the wedding hall.  What a bummer!!!  They had GPS coordinates that lead them nowhere.  They called for directions and even stopped to ask, but never found the location.

So sad!  All dressed up and nowhere to go.  Roberto was a sweet heart and took me out to dinner at the nice upscale restaurant at the hotel on our compound.  It was a good choice under the circumstances since there I wouldn’t have to cover up with the abaya.