Christmas Shopping!

Ok, it's the day after Christmas.  But I wrote this shortly before leaving the Kingdom for the holidays...


Got my Tilley.  Got my list.  Got my sack pack.  I’m good to go!

Ok, so…  (Or as Shannon would say – Oh Queso... )  The camp I live in is named Dhahran.  It’s only a few miles from an actual city, named Khobar.  Khobar has around 165,000 residents, which is about 50K more than all of Provo.  When people want to get out of the camp, they usually go to Khobar.  In fact, Aramco has a free bus system that I can just hop on and go straight to many frequented sites.   They have at least two large shopping malls as well as the area known as the Alyssa Souqs – which was my destination last Saturday.

The walkway to the Souqs.
Gross and disgusting and only 4 years old

You may be wondering what a souq is.  Well, I think “souq” is translated as “market” or something like that.  In this case there are many city blocks dedicated to the various souqs.  Probably about 30 blocks or so.  They organize like shops with like shops.  So you have the clothing area, the jewelry area, the gifts/souveniers area, etc.  It’s sort of like a very large outlet mall, only much bigger, and way more run down, and the shops are much smaller.

Traffic in the Souqs

As far as traffic is concerned, there are no stop signs.  None.  You sort of take your life into your own hands every time you cross the street.  In fact, last night I saw a narrow one way street with cars parked bumper to bumper on both sides of the street.  And running down the center was the single traffic lane.  Only at this moment, three taxis were blocking that traffic lane (single file), and none of them had any occupants.  The traffic behind them had to back up/turn around and muscle their way onto a different block!  It’s much better to walk.

I talked with several shop owners that day.  It was funny: every one of them I met was so hospitable.  They would invite me in, insist on my putting my bags down on the floor.  Then they would (I’m not kidding) steal a glance at what I had already purchased.  If it was something that they stock in their store, they would act hurt and wonder why I got it at the other place, and “what price did you pay?”

Inside a Souq

Souq owner dude - No idea
why he chose this particular
facial expression!

But they all were very nice, in spite of the hard sale.  “You like that thobe?  60 riyals.  But for you 50 riyals.  But if you buy two, only 40 riyals each. Only one?  Ok.  How about a nice hat to go with it.  Here, try it on.  Nice.  You get?  No?  How about these gloves – tree sizes.  Tree (holds up three fingers).  No?  Then this scarf…”

And, interestingly enough, they ALL had top of the line stuff.  The real deal.  The genuine article.  Much better than the guy next door…  Every one of them.  Pretty amazing!

Anyway, my expedition was successful, and now I have to figure out how to get it all into my suitcase!

Remember those lovely photos of the nice landscaping within the camp?  Well, here are some pictures of Khobar taken from a moving vehicle on my way back to camp.  I’m sitting on a lovely air conditioned bus made by Mercedes.  

The camp is primarily for foreigners.  

This is the sort of thing the locals get.

12/19/2013

It has been a long 3 1/2 months...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4aA_K2MF5E

We dun gots cultuer ‘ere in Arabby!

So, I joined a choir.  They started practicing back in September.  When I first asked about it, I was told that the rehearsals were on Sunday.  My brain was still getting used to the Sabbath being on Friday.  So, when I was told Sunday, I thought I would have a conflict.  So I decided not to join.

I’m sure the fact that our first event was going to be a madrigals dinner, where the choir members were all going to dress up in costume – I’m sure that didn’t contribute to my decision at all…

Did I mention that costumes aren’t really my thing?

Two Tenors.  Mark's the guy who brought the real wassail to the second show and passed it around to whoever wanted it...

Anyway, a couple of months later, I was talking with some friends.  They strongly encouraged me to join.  So, I bowed to the peer pressure (because I really wanted to sing).  But then there were various reasons why I wasn’t able to attend the rehearsals.  I finally went to one, but then had to wait two or three weeks before attending the second one.  The third rehearsal I attended was the dress rehearsal with the performance being the following two days.  On top of that, the madrigals we were learning were pretty challenging, and some of it had to be memorized.

No pressure – right?

Well, it wasn’t perfect, but it turned out ok.  And guess what!  I actually had fun – in spite of my sweaty costume.

Me posing with a couple from my branch

They are saying that this was likely the last year for the Madrigal Dinner.  Next year we will probably prepare and perform the Messiah.  Yeaaaa!  No costumes.

Director Deb and Madrigal Me

But I think my attendance will need to be a bit more consistent…

2013 Madrigal Choir

A Photo-tour

Well, I’ve been neglecting this blog long enough.  Sorry about the delay in services!

I’m going to try a new strategy - shorter posts.  Maybe that way I can post more regular-like.

I am fortunate that I get to walk to and from work every day.  I have two options to choose from.  One is longer, but prettier than the other.  I figure you might be interested in seeing what I look at on a daily basis.  Many of these photos I had to take on the sly.  They don’t like people taking pictures of things inside the fence.

This is one of the 36 or so security gates (I’m not kidding) located around campus.  This shot was taken not long after a pretty good rainstorm.  But look at the sky - no clouds.  Yes, we get rain sometimes.  But it clears up pretty fast.

This is the building where I work.  It’s one of the newest buildings on the campus.  It’s a pretty nice facility that was sort of shoddily constructed.  Just sayin’…

They have done a nice job of making things look nice - at least, nicer than the desert.  They truck people in here from other, poorer, countries, such as the Philippines.   Unfortunately, the locals have a definite pecking order in the respect they show to foreigners.  Being an American, I’m sort of at the top of the food chain.  But I’m told that it is a completely different world for the poor workers who come here and make the grounds look like this.

There are at least two, maybe three, mosques on or next to camp.  This one happens to be the closest to my building.

The building in the back is the commissary.  It’s like a small grocery store.  

This fountain sits across the street from where I live.  At night they illuminate the hole in the middle with various colors of neon light.  Go figure!

I walk down this road whenever I want to go anywhere that isn’t work.  

The theatre here shows two movies a day, 5 days a week, and they are usually about 4 months behind when those movies would be playing in the states.  For instance, they are currently showing the recent iteration of The Great Gatsby.

  

This is my home…  Not the whole thing, silly!  It’s the building I live in.  It’s named after the guy who first discovered oil here - Max Steineke.  It’s a lot like a very modest hotel.

And this is a picture of me, taking a picture of my room to which I retreat when I’m done slaying dragons for the day.

Well, I’m not sure it was shorter, but at least you can envision a bit of the environment I’m in.  It’s actually pretty nice - much nicer than the harsh desert on the outside of camp.  I am truly blessed to live in, and feel pretty safe in, one of the nicest communities around.

Peace…