Big shopping trip to get things for the house

There are things that we really need, but I haven't been able to get because it is too much to carry on the bus-mixing bowls, casserole dishes, toothbrush holders, pots for a kitchen herb garden, etc, etc.  So, Ken called his driver and Ken, Chris and I went to the mall.  Ken had timed it so that it would be after the noon prayer, so that we would have a lot of time to shop.  We left at noon and got there at 12:30.  It was already so hot.  I had not been out shopping during the middle of the day.  On the drive along this major street, they have these big clamshells (not real) with a big white light bulb that look like pearls.  I love them!  One day, I will be ready to take a picture as we whiz by.  Also, maybe, one day I will see them lit up at night.  When we got to the mall, it was still prayer time so the shops were not open.  We went to the ATM which was actually outside of the mall.  With the black abaya and scarf around my neck and the heat, it was stifling hot.  Anyway, the shops opened and Ken and I went shopping. Chris went and did his own thing.  I found a cute blue chair and table set for our back patio.  It is a pretty blue and will brighten up the back.  We asked a young man to get a set for us from the back.  While waiting for him to come back, I heard an announcement, first in Arabic, then in English, but the only part that I understood was "10 minutes", then the lights dimmed.  I told Ken "I think something is happening.  The lights dimmed.  I think they are closing."  He said, "No, the next prayer time is not for another 2 hours."  Then the manager came up and told us they were closing that we needed to leave. Ken asked why, it was not prayer time.  He said that they always close at 2 pm and re-open at 5:30 pm.  I guess it is like their siesta time.  We went to the checkout but told them we were waiting on our table and chair set.  Everyone else had now checked out and were waiting for us. We were a little conspicuous, 2 carts overflowing with stuff twiddling our thumbs waiting for the set.  Finally, he came and they checked us out and the helpers brought our carts out to the curb outside.  (Oh, and I need to make a correction from a prior posting.  They DO take credit cards here, but often times they don't work, so you need backup cash.)  Our driver was not scheduled to come for another 15 minutes.  It was HOT!  Chris called him and he came a little early.  It was ridiculous fitting all this stuff into his car with the 4 of us.  I should have taken a picture!  Then he took us over to Star Food Market.  I needed pita bread to take the layers apart and make baked tortilla chips for a party that night.  I was making 7 layer Mexican dip and I have not found tortilla chips yet. Chris got his hair cut.  Ken, because he is The Finder was able to find walnuts, which I had not been able to find.  Well, when we got back into the car, I was starting to feel a little faint.  I had not brought water with me in my purse, which I will have to make sure that I do every time I go out.  I just wanted to rip the abaya off to breathe.  I knew that we would be home in about 15-20 minutes.  When we entered the compound,the abaya came off!  Black in the desert is not a very kind thing.  Anyway, the patio set looks so cute on our little patio now!  It makes me happy when I see it.  :) We need to get another set to have 2 more chairs and then use the 2nd table on the patio upstairs.

First trip on the Shuttle bus to the mall and grocery

I am back safely from my bus trip to the mall.  On the bus, I met 2 ladies from South Africa, a lady from Jordan and one from S. Korea.  When I get home every day, I record everyone's names that I met for the day in a computer file, with little notes about them so that if I meet them again, I will know their name.  There are about 800 people living on the compound, but most of them are men.

The mall was a decent size.  It had a few American stores:  McDonald's in the food court (of course), Cinnabon (which was a surprise) and a GNC store.  I don't know quite how you do McDonald's if you are there without your husband because there were only men at the counter and the women were seated behind the screen in the "family area" of the food court.  For the clothing shops, women cannot try on clothes if the shopkeepers are men, and they usually are.  And in some stores, there is a separate checkout for women.  You have to look for the signs.  For household goods, there are a lot of products with gold.  (I am sure not real gold, but very elaborate and decorative.)  The first time that I went to the grocery store in the evening with Ken and Chris by cab, it was a little overwhelming.  Of course, all the products are titled in Arabic.  Many have an English translation on the back.  I bought something that I thought was romaine lettuce, but when I unwrapped it, looked different.  We ate it for a salad when we had Chris over.  Today, at the store, I saw the tag on this one and it was titled celery, which sort of explains the strange rib that went down the center, but the leaves were different from our celery leaves.  Well, we didn't get sick.  And when I was with Ken, we had to hurry to get finished before prayer time.  Otherwise, we would have to just hang out for another 25-30 minutes until it was done to check out.  So, this time, it was better.  I had more time to look at the products and produce, etc.  They don't take credit cards or debit cards, so you have to mentally tabulate what you have, so that you have enough cash.  While there today, I also had to get some things for the kitchen.  It was amazing what Ken got by on in the kitchen.  No bowls or baking dishes, a freezer filled with things that Tammy baked for him-bread, cookies, muffins and then bags of Cheeto's to keep them fresh.  In the pantry there was peanut butter and popcorn.  He was definitely living the bachelor life.  I am sure that he feels that a tornado swept in because everything is changing-the freezer is cleaned out, pantry is re-organized with actual food. He has a crazy contraption in the living room to do his back exercises from a piece of exercise equipment he bought, 2 dining room chairs and 2 surfboards.  I told him that is not staying.  We are going to buy the appropriate equipment.  He had a cup of dryer lint in the pantry.  I looked at him and said, "Ken...really?  Are you saving lint now?"  But it turned out to be for a mystery experiment for the students.  So, the lint stays.

Anyway, you roll your basket out of the mall to where the shuttle bus is waiting and load your purchases on the bus.  Then, the bus drops you off right in front of your door on the way back.  But when we got on the bus, the lady from Jordan said, Wait a minute.  One person is missing.  That was my fear that I would be left and the only phone number I have is Ken's and I think he turns his phone off when he is in class.  The lady from S. Africa told me that she had a religious policeman say to her today "Lady, cover your head!".  She ignored him because Western women are not supposed to have to cover their heads, only wear the abaya.  If I were left by myself, I can just imagine my luck of having a religious policeman following me around until I could get in touch with someone. 
Anyway, first trip to the store on the shuttle bus was a success!  

Ladies trip to the gold souk and brass shop

Yesterday, I was invited to go to the gold souks with some friends.  The jewelry was beautiful and very elaborate.  I had decided that I would not buy anything this trip, that I should wait until I learned a little more about the various shops, etc.  I got my first lessons in bargaining.  When I lived in Belgium, I had a little experience with bargaining at the brocante markets.  But these ladies in Yanbu seem to be masters at it.  One lady, who will be leaving soon, was buying jewelry to bring back to her nieces.  They had bracelets that you could buy charms to put on, like camels, palm trees, Saudi coffee pots, etc.  When my friend would counter the shop keepers offer, the shopkeeper would say, "Sister.....I can't do that."  When he would walk off, she would call him back saying "Friend, friend, come back."  The rest of us went off to other shops and came back probably 45 minutes later and they were still bargaining!  Finally, she got him to reduce the price of the purchase of 4 bracelets by about $500!  When we went into the brass shop, I found two very cute candle holders that would hold a small votive candle.  There were cutouts on the outside of camels and palm trees where the light shines through.  They were priced at 55 riyals each.  My friends said that I must negotiate, but this shopkeeper only negotiated a little, that I should try to get them for 100 riyals, but ask for 80.  I did and we settled on 90.  My negotiation lasted for 30 seconds and that was plenty enough for me! 

Later we went to the abaya shop.  The variety of abayas was amazing!  Not just the black ones, but colorful ones that I guess are worn inside the home or at private family parties.  Two of the ladies of our group needed another abaya and were hesitant to negotiate too much, but we had another master negotiator with us.  She negotiates with an adorable smile and I don't think that the shopkeepers can resist her.  She had them chuckling even though I don't think they spoke much English.  Of course, she got them to come down near her price.  This will take a LOT of practice or observing for me.

Well, I am off on my first trip on the shuttle bus to the mall with a lady from the Netherlands.  I have been trying to find someone to go with me the first time.  The Exxon ladies have drivers so they don't have to worry about taking the bus.  I am afraid of doing it the first time by myself, in case I get left behind or dropped off at the wrong place etc.  Wish me luck!

Shopping at the Gold Souk and the Brass shop

Today, I was invited to go to

Yesterday was an interesting day for me.  It was my first day off the compound after arriving here.  I was invited by some Exxon ladies to go to Zumba at the other compound, The Cove.  (Exxon ladies have personal drivers.)  So, we met at the bus stop, donned our abayas and were picked up by the drivers.  The drive was interesting because this is the first time that I saw the Red Sea.  It was very blue.  :)  The other compound is very different from mine.  It is beautiful with lagoons, but only 1 big pool.  My compound seems more "neighborly".  The villas are arranged around many different pools.  Anyway, the Zumba was more of an African dance than what I am used to, but fun. 

Later that day was the weekly Exxon ladies tea at the Exxon villa.  These ladies are crazy (in a good way).  One of the ladies had just finished taking a course at the University in learning Arabic.  Also, she had just finished having her bathroom re-done, after many problems.  So, there was a graduation/bathroom finished party.  One of the ladies made a toilet paper cake, another made a graduation cap for her and she was given an abaya to wear so it looked like a graduation gown.  Another lady made a diploma in Arabic.  We all hummed the graduation song as she came out of the kitchen to our applause.  It was fun!

One of the funny things was that I saw a latin lady and her mother that were on the plane when Ken and I arrived in Yanbu.  A funny thing had happened.  When we were in customs, I noticed that her mother was having the same problems with fingerprinting that I was having.  The customs agent kept having her do it again and I could see that she was getting nervous, just like me.  Afterwards, when they came into baggage claim, they started laughing loudly and then crying loudly.  I couldn't tell if it was happy crying or sad crying.  Everyone was looking at them, because it is very quiet and solemn with the Saudi's.  They were speaking Spanish so I did not go up to them.  But I wondered what was happening.  When I saw her at the tea, I told her that I saw her at baggage claim laughing/crying.  She is hilarious!  She said that her mom was so nervous and so relieved to be through customs that they started laughing and couldn't stop and then it was happy crying.  They realized that everyone was staring at them, but they didn't care.  So then another lady from Canada said let me tell you about my first experience going through customs.  The agent held up his hands showing just four fingers (with the thumb folded inside the palm).  She thought that he was saying hello, Saudi style, so she started waving hello and smiling at him.  He became angry and finally got across that she was to put her fingers on the screen.  After she got it and did that, he held up his two thumbs.  She thought that he was saying "Good job", so she gave him the thumbs up sign.  Of course, he was not happy with that, he wanted to get her thumb print!  So, I guess my experience at customs control was not so odd.  :)

TEST

This is a test.  My last post didn't seem to publish.  If anyone gets this, please email me and let me know if you got this and the prior one entitled "And so it begins"  (something like that).

And so it begins....

Ken met me in Istanbul and we began our great adventure!  Istanbul is just wonderful.  The people could not be more warm and charming.  They seem to be always smiling and are great salesmen.  They gently lure you into interesting conversation and then try to lead you to their or their relatives shop to sell you something.  No matter what you want, they have a cousin who has a shop.  After they have talked to you about their cousin in Florida or how they think that Texas is so big, that it must be its own country, they subtly guide you to the topic of shopping.  Even when you say no, you are just going out to eat, they have a relative who has a restaurant.  Still, if you resist, they say OK, tomorrow, you come see me, with a smile.  And they remember you the next day.  The owner at the Hookah bar remembered from two days before that Ken likes Mojitos.  They are masterful.  And the food is just amazing!  It turns out that Turkey is on two continents-Europe and Asia.  From Istanbul, you can take a ferry ride to the Asian side.  There are interesting ancient buildings to see and some cisterns that I think were in one of the James Bond movies, possibly The Spy who Loved me.  It is a huge city-20 million people!  Most of the women in Istanbul did not wear abayas or veils.  They either wore regular Western clothes or a headscarf and modest clothing (like a light coat over their clothes and long skirts).  I heard my first call to prayer from competing minarets.  No one stopped their activities in the least.  It was interesting!

We had to leave for the Istanbul airport at 12:30 in the morning for a 3:30 am flight.  When we were checking in at the ticket counter, the family included a mother who was FULLY veiled in black, the preferred color in Saudi Arabia.  She had the scarf covering the lower part of her face, but her head veil was placed so low that it covered her eyes.  She had on long black gloves and her abaya flowed around her on the floor so that there was no chance that you could even see a hint of ankle.  She didn't interact with anyone even though her children were running around her.  She held herself very well and seemed to just glide when she walked down toward the gate.  Lots of people turned to glance at her.  I wondered how she felt about it.  With the other veiled ladies, you can at least see their eyes and get a good idea of their reactions to things. 
Anyway, we were called up to the counter right next to them.  I had my completely filled and fat backpack on my back.  When I moved to get my passport, my backpack brushed their skycart and all of these metal rods came tumbling off the cart.  Clang, clang, clang!!!!  I looked at the husband and his eyes became wide.  I was already at a high level of tension because I did not know when I was supposed to put on the abaya, how I would be treated, etc.  So when this happened, I thought that I might have a heart attack.  I expected that he might start screaming at me.  I quickly said I was sorry and he just nodded his acceptance.  But I would have loved to see the veiled lady's reaction.  Anyway, we finally get to our gate and all the ladies there already have their abayas on.  Of course, at that point, they were all Saudis.  Ken suggested that maybe that would be the time to put it on.  He said that he wanted to take a picture.  I told him to be ready when I came out because I was not going to model it in front of all these very serious looking people.  Of course, when I come out in my abaya, he  is not ready and wants me to back up so that he could get a good picture.  Now, I have everyone's attention.  I thought that if we looked that were making fun of having to wear the abaya with the pictures and laughing, that they might not be too happy.  So, the pictures are not very good. 

The part that I most dreaded was going through passport control.  I kept thinking of the part in the movie Argo when they were trying to leave Iran, it was such an arduous process.  I expected to have a very mean officer.  He was a young man who did not speak English, so when he wanted to get my fingerprints, it was a bit of a comedy.  The screen had a physical division going right down the center.  He wanted my four fingers at one time.  My sense of order said that my four fingers should be on one side of the division or the other.  So, each time that I did a combination of fingers and he shook his head, I was getting a little nervous because I just wanted this part over.  Finally, he started smiling and showed me two and two.  It was done!  And our Irish compound manager was there to meet us and bring us to the compound.  The part of the trip that I dreaded was over!

While driving through the town of Yanbu, the buildings have the aura of being unfinished.  I could not tell if they were still in the process of being built or if they had been abandoned. And of course,it is all desert. When we got to the entrance of the compound, there were a series of intimidating security measures to go through:  policmen with guns, a guy checking with mirrors for bombs under the car, weaving barriers and a machine gun in a tower mounted on a tripod.  And the compound is surrounded by a tall wall with concertina wire on the top.

Once inside, it was like DisneyLand without the rides.  :)  Everything is so clean and pristine.  At the little grocery store, elevator music is playing, there are many trees and colorful flowering bushes, landscaped park, tennis courts, soccer fields, rec center, hair salon, etc.  There weren't many people out at that time.  Patrick, the manager, told me that the temperature was around 110 degrees F that day.  People come out in the late afternoon.  We came home crashed for a few hours and then had our first dinner invitation!  They had wanted to go into town, but after having been up for about 30 hours, I suggested we eat at the restaurant on the compound.  It was a lovely dinner.  Good ending to a stressful day.  All I needed was a big glass of Cabernet, which wasn't happening.  :)