My friend, T, wanted to organize an outing to Fuddrucker's one last time before she leaves Yanbu to go back to Canada. A Fuddrucker's has opened and it has been quite the attraction. Often for group outings, ladies, who have drivers, have been kind enough to organize cars for those of us who don't. It makes things so much easier when you have a big group going out to a restaurant. But this time, it wasn't possible. So, at first, we thought that we would just get cabs. Well, we know of three cabs, at least we know of three cabs that we have used before. But there were 10 of us. Women are not supposed to sit up front with the cab driver. So that means that each cab could fit three people in the back. If we have three cabs, that is 9 people. What about the 10th person?
Well, then we thought that maybe our compound bus driver would take us if he wasn't bringing people shopping or picking up kids from the school. T, contacted the compound management in the office and the outing was blessed. We could use an alternate bus with an alternate driver.
Now, there was the question as to what time to get there. In Saudi Arabia, you have to worry about the timing of prayer. For stores and restaurants, you are supposed to be finished and out before prayer begins.
Prayer time is 6 times per day. Today, it is at:
5:05 am
6:23
12:33
4:00 pm
6:43
8:13
When a group went to Fuddruckers a few weeks ago, they were asked to leave for prayer when they were not quite finished. So, this time, T wanted to find out what time we should get there so that we would not have any problems. She called Fuddruckers several times to clarify. On the last call, speaking to the manager, she told him that she wanted to speak to him about his "prayer policy". He said "Prayer policy, prayer policy, what do you mean by prayer policy?". She explained about our dilemma in deciding when to tell the bus driver that he needed to get us to the restaurant so that we could order and eat before they closed for prayer. So, he understood and told us to be there for 11 am because we needed to have ordered, eaten and pay before 12:30.
It worked beautifully. The bus picked us up at 10:30 am and we arrived at 11 am. When we walked in, the manager asked how many we were so that he could seat us, as if he didn't remember that 15 western women (others were meeting us after their coffee at another place) were coming that day. T reminded him that she had called about this. He scrunched up his face, obviously searching his memory. She said, "Yes, you remember, I asked you what time we should get here because of your prayer policy?". Well, when she said that, his face lit up, he smiled and he said, "Oh yes, I remember you-prayer policy!". Then, he and his assistant went about arranging tables for us to be seated. So, we were seated, ordered quickly, ate leisurely, paid, and the bus was there to pick us up before prayer time. They told us that they had been visited by the Mutawa (Religious Police) several times checking to make sure that they adhered to closing before prayers. Therefore, it was then obvious why they kept to the times so rigidly. Thanks to T, it all went very smoothly.
Here are the happy diners, less two who had gone off to the bathroom and those who had not arrived yet from their coffee.
Well, then we thought that maybe our compound bus driver would take us if he wasn't bringing people shopping or picking up kids from the school. T, contacted the compound management in the office and the outing was blessed. We could use an alternate bus with an alternate driver.
Now, there was the question as to what time to get there. In Saudi Arabia, you have to worry about the timing of prayer. For stores and restaurants, you are supposed to be finished and out before prayer begins.
Prayer time is 6 times per day. Today, it is at:
5:05 am
6:23
12:33
4:00 pm
6:43
8:13
When a group went to Fuddruckers a few weeks ago, they were asked to leave for prayer when they were not quite finished. So, this time, T wanted to find out what time we should get there so that we would not have any problems. She called Fuddruckers several times to clarify. On the last call, speaking to the manager, she told him that she wanted to speak to him about his "prayer policy". He said "Prayer policy, prayer policy, what do you mean by prayer policy?". She explained about our dilemma in deciding when to tell the bus driver that he needed to get us to the restaurant so that we could order and eat before they closed for prayer. So, he understood and told us to be there for 11 am because we needed to have ordered, eaten and pay before 12:30.
It worked beautifully. The bus picked us up at 10:30 am and we arrived at 11 am. When we walked in, the manager asked how many we were so that he could seat us, as if he didn't remember that 15 western women (others were meeting us after their coffee at another place) were coming that day. T reminded him that she had called about this. He scrunched up his face, obviously searching his memory. She said, "Yes, you remember, I asked you what time we should get here because of your prayer policy?". Well, when she said that, his face lit up, he smiled and he said, "Oh yes, I remember you-prayer policy!". Then, he and his assistant went about arranging tables for us to be seated. So, we were seated, ordered quickly, ate leisurely, paid, and the bus was there to pick us up before prayer time. They told us that they had been visited by the Mutawa (Religious Police) several times checking to make sure that they adhered to closing before prayers. Therefore, it was then obvious why they kept to the times so rigidly. Thanks to T, it all went very smoothly.
Here are the happy diners, less two who had gone off to the bathroom and those who had not arrived yet from their coffee.
The point of this blog is if we had been back home, an outing to Fuddrucker's would have been a very easy thing to do. Call or email everyone to say let's meet at Fuddrucker's at whatever time we wanted. That would be it. But here, it took T several days to get this organized. Here, you must learn patience.
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