Daily life in KSA

I have finally made a few purchases of clothing for work. I needed long pants and short sleeve shirts as that seems to be the coverage necessary to fulfill the modest and conservative guidelines for attire.  I was hesitant to purchase clothing as it is a bit of a hassle. Stores do not have fitting rooms here so one must purchase everything in multiple sizes and then walk to the ladies room to use the fitting room, then return everything that doesn't fit.  I would hate my life if I was in retail clothing sales here. I told the sales guy not to bother folding it nicely as I was going to go try it on and mess it all up but he folded everything beautifully, anyhow.

So, I take my nicely packaged clothing to the ladies, which is tucked away at the end of hallway, close the completely full length door (wouldn't want any chance of an ankle or shoulder to peek out,) try everything on while sweating to death as there aren't any AC vents in there, and then just dump all the returns back in the bag so I can get the door open as quickly as possible. I thought clothing shopping was less than lovely in the states...whew, there is no joy here! I got fed up after the pants affair and started pulling shirts on over my abaya in the stores. I got a few odd looks so I put on a headscarf. I still got noticed but at least no one will recognize me!

Literally, full length. No air moving in there at all!

Additionally, I managed to not finish my shopping before prayer time (this one was Maghrib, there are five per day) which means that I had to leave everything in the store, exit the store and hang around in the mall common area until everything re-opened. They actually pull the gates down and lock up for about 20 minutes. People were kneeling and praying in the common areas, I just milled about trying not to be impatient with something that I knew would happen and hadn't timed correctly.  The most frustrating part is that most of the store employees aren't Muslims and don't pray but they like the break time so they often drag it on for longer than necessary. The store I wanted to get back into re-opened a full 12 minutes after all the stores surrounding it.

Prayer time

I have a few random things that I want to share that have been adding up. None of them make a post on their own so I thought I would just put in a few miscellaneous things. Some observations I have made and photos I have taken. 

• Arabic often seems to only be a functional form of communication when implemented at top volume.  It often sounds as if my colleagues or driver are shouting whilst on the phone to each other. In person conversations are better but it still tends to be hectic with people repeating themselves and each other and speaking over each other. 

• Malls and buildings here are exceptionally clean, but the outdoors is generally filthy.  Garbage is everywhere in the streets and even in the desert.

• While buildings are often fairly luxurious, many things within them are jury-rigged or not as functional as one would expect from a place that appears to be have all the mod cons.  An example is my kitchen faucet. Firstly, it has two knobs, which is a giant pain in the neck for a kitchen tap. I took for granted having one handle that you just pushed side to side to adjust the temperature until I didn't have it anymore. It is a giant pain in the behind. Second to this is that the two knobs turn on in opposite directions from each other. Suffice it to say, I often scald my hands! 

• A feature that is aesthetically unattractive but is somewhat handy is the individual hot water heaters in every room that requires hot water. My villa has four of them, one in the kitchen and one in each of three bathrooms.  The one in the kitchen stopped working the other day but I was still able to have a hot shower while I waited for the maintenance crew to replace it. 

• Most air conditioning systems are not central air...I have units hanging up near the ceiling in every room, not window units, I don't know what they are called. (Ched you may know) Also not aesthetically too pleasing but if your central air went out here and you couldn't get it repaired immediately, you would have to move out, I think.  So, these are useful.

• There is some sort of drain in all of the wet room floors (bathrooms, kitchens) that may or may not have a cover over it. Covers are a necessity, fortunately mine all came with them. I have friends who have resorted to putting duct tape over theirs. Anyway, the drains are connected to the plumbing system and don't have elbows like toilets and sinks so there can be a significant odor problem if your drains aren't covered. Public restrooms tend to be stinky despite always being very clean and when I asked a friend why, I learned about the drains.  

• Stores don't always have things that you would expect to be common place and this doesn't seem to bother anyone. For example, I went to a Jarir Bookstore which is like a Staples or Office Depot but with a book section as well. Big store. Anyway, I wanted a pocket calendar for my client. When I asked where they were located, I was told that the 2015 calendars weren't in yet. I said that is ok, I am looking for a 2014 one. He then told me those are all gone. I asked when they would be getting more. He said in a few months when the 2015 ones arrive. He didn't seem as if this was strange. Apparently nothing worth noting happens between August and December...

• The abaya isn't as restrictive as I expected it to be. As a matter of fact, it can be very freeing in some respects. Other than the fact that it is HOT for the few moments that you are out of doors this time of year, it is almost like wearing a uniform. You don't have to worry about what you put on to go out in public. Leggings or shorts and a t-shirt, do your hair and make-up, pop the abaya over the whole thing and you are out the door. If you covered your hair and face, it would be even less work. That being said, I lived most of my life with the option of not having to wear this so I imagine it would be very different for the women who have never had the choice.  

A shot at the mall. Women look very similar while wearing abayas and niqabs. I am not sure how they recognize each other but have noticed that you can tell when someone is smiling even when only her eyes are showing. 

If you can zoom in on this photo, please do. These are real, and huge and stunning!  And things very similar are pretty common in jewelry store displays in the malls here.  I don't believe I have ever seen jewelry like this outside of the Tower of London. The one on the left is emeralds and diamonds, center is all diamonds and the one on the right is rubies and diamonds.  I haven't gotten up the nerve to try things on and scout prices yet but it is on the list!

This mural is on our classroom wall. It reminds me of home and pleases me immensely to work in this space.  

This is a rambutan, it is similar to a lychee. It is a fruit grown in Southeast Asia and the name is derived from the Malay word for hair. I ate some the other night. You cut open this seed pod part and eat the inside which is a whitish ball that has a pit. They are not going to be my new favorite fruit.  They don't taste like much but have a really weird texture. It is kind of gummy and slippery. 

These funny little plastic key tags are very popular here. This guy is driving an E-Class Mercedes and this is his key chain. Every key at my villa has these attached and the same with my friend's house keys. 

Haven't tried to determine what these are yet but they are in the garden at my client's villa and they smell divine! Plus they are so pretty. They are growing on a tree. I tried to get the leaves in the photo for identification purposes. Anyone know what this is?

No words. Sights like this are not uncommon. I think I have mentioned the interesting motoring conditions here in an earlier post. 

Camel Trail

I had another incredible hiking trip over the weekend.  We went to an old trail that was used to walk camels down into the valley. It was built many centuries ago and has been well maintained and is an easy hike other than the elevation gain and fairly steep grade. But, it is absolutely gorgeous! It reminds me of Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon in scope. Hard to imagine until you have seen it.  Additionally, the scope is hard to represent in photographs without some form of reference so I made sure to get people in as many photos as possible. You will see that I have circled some of  them in red in the photos because they are so small, relative to the scale of the landscape, that you would have difficulty spotting them otherwise.

Papa B there are geocaches here! I am so disappointed that I don't have a good gps. May purchase one while in London so I can hunt when I return. Please make recommendations on one for me, thanks!

It is as steep as it looks

Hard to understand the size of this wall but you will see it in its entirety in  later photo

Can you find waldo at the top middle?

He's a bit easier to see in this one

And zoomed in a bit more

I am dreaming of climbing in this chimney

Top of the chimney, looking straight up

This was dizzying to look down on

Waldo is circled in red on this one

And again, this provides some idea of perspective

Mariyah Center

I finally scheduled a hair cut and color in Riyadh! I had it done shortly before I left South Florida but was more than overdue. I was hesitating due to nerves about not being able to find someone who knew how to do my very blond hair. I had dreams of ending up with orange hair or, worse, no hair at all! As I leave for London on Sunday, I decided that, worst case scenario, I could rock a head scarf for a few days and get it remedied there!

I googled around for recommendations and found two places that sounded promising. I then spoke with a colleague of mine whose wife is from Canada and she frequents one of the places that I was considering. I thought that was a good sign and booked an appointment at the Mariyah Center.

I was pleased but a bit leery when they had openings the day immediately following my phone call. I made an appointment for 11:30 this morning. This was to be courteous to my driver as I am currently sharing him with a male colleague who hasn't gotten his vehicle situated yet and he had to be somewhere at 11.  We had an appointment at 10 at the bank to open our accounts and would travel on from there.  The driver arrived at five minutes past ten and my colleague wasn't ready. So we don't arrive at the bank until half past ten but I get my account situated by 11. My colleague is still screwing around with his at quarter past so I call to push back my hair appointment. I am now more nervous as they have no problem delaying the appointment by a half hour and, actually, tell me to come whenever. Yikes!

Back to the colleague...he has propped his laptop on the bank employee's desk (I never once needed my computer for this transaction!) and is filling out a second set of paperwork.  I look at my driver who rolls his eyes and says "I don't know what takes him so long!" For the life of me I can't figure out why it is such a process for him but he is now 15 minutes late for work with no end in sight. Apparently he decided to open two bank accounts despite being on shared time. I recommended that he call the staff and say that he would be late and I left with my driver in order to make it to my appointment. Apparently he didn't make it to work until quite late. I find it embarrassing to be associated with that level of unprofessionalism. I feel that he should have done his second account on his own time rather than mine and especially our client's but there isn't much I can do about it but hope I am not associated too closely with his choices. I am pleased that I didn't wait around for that time wasting operation.

Back to the hair appointment.  My driver had never been to this place and Riyadh doesn't really have street addresses. You just give directions based on landmarks or used lat/long coordinates on a map.  The Mariyah Center provides this map:

which didn't do a whole lot for my driver who doesn't speak much English. I called to get directions but no one there spoke Arabic. So, I mapped it using the lat/long coordinates and showed him the map that had the streets labeled in Arabic. He found it without issue.

The front door was quite pretty, as are many doors here (I will probably end up posting a lot of photos of doors) and the sign outside was amusing. So nice to not have children in a salon. Nothing worse than someone who drags along their child to impose on everybody else's relaxation time. 

I enter to a modern salon with no customers other than myself in sight. The staff was comprised of Filipino women and they were a stylish and attractive group. I felt much better after seeing them! My stylist was named Dina and I was told she is good with blond dye jobs.  I asked her to match my current color and give my hair a solid trim but follow the lines of the cut as I am pleased with it. 

I decided to get a paraffin hand treatment while my hair was cooking and it was a fabulous decision. They slather on a coconut oil lotion and then dip your hands in melted paraffin. They then slip them into plastic bags and padded mitts. It was really warm and soothing but the best part was upon removal.  The woman sets a timer and does a five minute massage on each hand. Divine...for 20 riyals...which is just over 5 USD! Only complaint was I didn't have them do my feet, as well.  

After applying my hair color, the stylist asked if I would like coffee or tea and when I said yes to coffee she offered a cappuccino. I said that sounded lovely and it arrived on a tray with a muffin and a funny weeble wobble sugar shaker. The service here is above and beyond, yet again.

My sexy foil covered look in the mirror behind the tray!

I picked up a gossip magazine to read and laughed a bit as it was from the UK and I didn't recognize even one person on the cover. Despite that, trashy reading is trashy reading and it was equally as entertaining as it would have been had I know any of them.  I think I most enjoyed the writing as British English is quite different from American English in style and word usage.

Overall, the experience was quite pleasant and the cut and color are as I hoped they would be. I think I have found my salon for the duration of my stay here. To finish an enjoyable morning, the cost of the cut, color, deep conditioning treatment and paraffin for my hands was 475 SR which is the equivalent to $126 USD. Cheaper than home and when I asked about tipping I was told to tip whatever I wanted. I explained that I was new to salon services in Riyadh (new to the country, in fact) and could she recommend an amount or a percentage. She said no, it is whatever I want. I went with 20% and she made big eyes at me so I think I was generous. I tip a lot of people here but am starting to think that it isn't a "requirement" like it is in the States. It is certainly done but I don't think so officially.  

I am pretty certain that I over tip a lot. People are usually pretty pleased after I tip them. Especially the guys at the grocery markets. But the amount that I give them is not very much and they do a lot of work. I haven't pushed a grocery wagon more than two or three times since my arrival and I rarely touch the groceries. Guys unload my stuff onto the belt, bag and reload it and then push the wagon to the car and load the bags into the trunk. Sometimes I wave them away as I feel like a chump...but generally I let them do it...it is a nice perk. 

Senior citizen's bus trip

My compound provides shopping buses for ladies. Two to three times a day the buses go out to the local malls and every day a different local grocery store sends a bus to our compound. I took one today and felt as if I was riding the estuary council bus! My gram and I had a good laugh about it on the phone this afternoon.  

One of our buses. 

The mall I went to was the Sahara Mall and it is pretty big. 180 stores and a huge food court.  I only spent about an hour as I had a few things I needed to pick up but didn't really feel like exploring today. I took a few photos but will get back for more detail at a later date. 

Many of the stores were familiar from home and the prices are similar. I passed an Express, Victoria's Secret, Gap and MAC cosmetics to name a few.  A few funny things, the Victoria's Secret had all of the makeup and perfumes in the front as opposed to the undies but yet, many stores had very interesting undergarments displayed right up front. (See photo below)

This is a rack of bras...yes, they consist of chain and fake diamonds and not much else...there were knickers to match but I felt kind of odd taking photos so I snapped it and hustled out!

Then there was the guy walking around peddling helium balloons...of Spongebob, no less.

I went to the mall for a few specific items, a new handbag and a bottle of perfume.  My current perfume is almost gone and I was told that perfume is a big deal here so I thought it would be a fun thing to purchase. It is incredible, there are multiple shops dedicated solely to perfume. So you get a lot of help and the salesmen (almost all guys) are very knowledgeable about the scents that they have. I told him about the two most recent perfumes that I have been wearing and he immediately pulled down eight different ones for me to try. All but one of which I found appealing and I am pretty picky about perfume. I was so conflicted between two of them that I left to go try handbags and came back for another round of sniffing.  

Just a shot in the mall

                                                   

My abaya shadow

I didn't have the chance to stroll through the Jewelry Market section of the mall but it is on the list for next time

        

I thought that Women's Secret with all the head to toe jammies in the window was fairly amusing

The other item on my list, a handbag, was due to my new lifestyle requirements here in Riyadh. I have always carried tiny little purses or even just wristlets. If I could fit my phone, keys and a lip gloss in, I was good to go. In college I used to say my bags had to pass the MILK test (money, ID, lipstick and keys.) Mobile phones were still pretty new then so I have added that to my list but not much else.  I wasn't aware of how handy having a car can be until I had to start schlepping my stuff. My bag now needs to hold (in addition to my money, phone, lip gloss and keys) a headscarf (just in case,) a bottle of water, my camera, sunglasses case and a pocket pack of tissues as not all public restrooms have paper. Some just have the not so handy sprayer. So, I treated myself to a beautiful, giant bag. I think my sister is going to end up with this beauty when I move back to the states as it is much more her size preference than mine.

My giant, very posh DKNY hand bag