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!
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!
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