The heat is crazy here! Yesterday, in the middle of the day, the temperature got up to 47 degrees Celsius, which is about 117 degrees Fahrenheit! I can understand why shops would close in the middle of the day. A couple of ladies went out shopping yesterday at mid day and came back not feeling very well, nauseous, high blood pressure, etc. It was the heat. They tell me it will be better in the fall. I don't mind it in the evening. Of course, it is a little cooler, but there always seems to be a wind at night, when Ken and I walk around the compound. It is a bit eerie if we walk at night during prayer time, because you have the warm wind and there are four minarets each sending out the prayer call.
It is interesting walking around the compound. Sometimes, it feels like a ghost town. I can understand it during the day, but I would think that everyone would be out at night, at the park or on their patios, especially in the pools, etc. I have asked my new friends, "Where are all the people?". They think that a lot of the men have long schedules, so they go to bed early.
At the Monday afternoon tea, I met two ladies, one, from Venezuela, has been here for awhile, but is leaving soon, and the wife of the replacement for the former's husband. She is from Canada (and before that India). When I met them at the tea and asked if they had drivers, they told me no. So, I asked if they would tell me the next time that they were taking the bus shuttle so that I could go with them. They said that I could come with them tomorrow (which is today), that they were going to a Market to look for Indian foods for the new lady and for the Venezuelan lady to look for these towels that are used by men during the Hajj (which she thought were a great quality to have something made out of them). I called my friend from The Netherlands to see if she wanted to join us, which she did. So, I met them this morning. We could not find the towels that my friend was looking for, but we did find the market. It seemed like more of a local market than the grocery stores we have been going to. I found a greater variety of vegetables that I was looking for. The bakery was interesting. There was a man putting the bread into the long brick oven. I asked if I could take a picture and was told yes.
It is interesting walking around the compound. Sometimes, it feels like a ghost town. I can understand it during the day, but I would think that everyone would be out at night, at the park or on their patios, especially in the pools, etc. I have asked my new friends, "Where are all the people?". They think that a lot of the men have long schedules, so they go to bed early.
At the Monday afternoon tea, I met two ladies, one, from Venezuela, has been here for awhile, but is leaving soon, and the wife of the replacement for the former's husband. She is from Canada (and before that India). When I met them at the tea and asked if they had drivers, they told me no. So, I asked if they would tell me the next time that they were taking the bus shuttle so that I could go with them. They said that I could come with them tomorrow (which is today), that they were going to a Market to look for Indian foods for the new lady and for the Venezuelan lady to look for these towels that are used by men during the Hajj (which she thought were a great quality to have something made out of them). I called my friend from The Netherlands to see if she wanted to join us, which she did. So, I met them this morning. We could not find the towels that my friend was looking for, but we did find the market. It seemed like more of a local market than the grocery stores we have been going to. I found a greater variety of vegetables that I was looking for. The bakery was interesting. There was a man putting the bread into the long brick oven. I asked if I could take a picture and was told yes.
Then, in the bakery section they had all of these prepared desserts, often packaged, as if to take for presents. They had spun pastry to look like bird nests with two almonds in it to look like bird nests and lots of interesting looking things. I bought some pastry stuffed with chopped dates and something called Arabian Sweets, that tastes something like a cream cheese fudge. This will be our dessert tonight.
The shuttle bus driver picked us up and took us to the Gold Souks. We looked at a few shops, but finished much earlier than the time that we asked the driver to return. The Venezuelan lady thought that she spotted a chocolate shop, but it turned out to be a perfume/cologne/incense shop. Many of the perfumes were in BEAUTIFUL intricate bottles. The shopkeeper was spraying samples on cards for us to smell. He had a dish of ground coffee for us to smell to clear the smells away before trying a new perfume. He emphasized that these were Arabic perfumes, not French. It was nice to see his pride in that. I bought one that was lightly scented, but not in a gorgeous bottle. Maybe another time.
Anyway, it was a nice day with a few new experiences.
What do the guards do at prayer time?
ReplyDeleteI actually haven't seen anyone do anything during prayer time, except our compound grocery shop keeper. He just went off to the side of the grocery. I know they close up shops. In the mall, there are prayer rooms (one for men and one for women) that some people must go to. But I have seen lots of people just sitting around in the mall waiting for prayer time to be over and the shops to be open. If you are talking about the compound guards, I have never been entering or exiting during prayer time.
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