Saudi Arabia I mean. You know how you watch movies and the country is portrayed as run down buildings, crazy roads and heaps and heaps of sand? Thats it! Before I came here, I googled Saudi Arabia just to have a look what I was in for and the pictures looked alright. Nice modern buildings by the red sea and all that. I wish I could meet the fabricating spin doctor who put those pictures up as a welcoming introduction to SA and pound him into the sand of the beaches at the red sea.
Oh, for those who do not know, I've been posted to Saudi Arabia and yes I haven't blogged in 283365 days but who cares? How's everyone by the way? Hope all is well.
Its been slightly more than a week since I got here and I'm still learning my way around.
Saudi Arabia is a shocking country. Jeddah is supposed to be the most open of the cities in SA, however, its still a culture shock for me. Firstly, all the women are covered up! As a mate of mine would put it, all you see is the letter box slot. Every woman must also be accompanied by their husband or some relative and if they are stopped by the religious police, they gotta produce documents to prove that they are related. So most of the time, I only see MEN. I go to the shops, MEN. In the airport, MEN. When I eat in the restaurants, MEN. There are seperate sections for restaurants, one for single men and the other for families. I shudder to think what would happen to you if you walked through the wrong door. You'd probably be pelted to death by stale bread or something.
Oh and they hold public beheadings in the city square every friday. Also, if you're caught stealing, your hands get chopped off at these sessions as well. Someone offered to bring me to one to have a look but I politely declined.
The heat here is shocking as well. on a good day, its 38 degrees outside. I guess its normal since i'm in the middle of a desert. And this place looks like a desert too. Sand everywhere! And for some reason, it also looks like a warzone. There's always some rubble or demolished building wherever you look. the small roads are in a shocking state while the main roads are barely acceptable. And driving! Thats a whole different adventure in itself. Road rules don't seem to exist here. The Saudis do not follow speed limits or road markings. They swerve and go wherever they want. And they all think they're F1 racers. I can cruise along at 120-130 km/h here without worrying about getting stopped by the traffic police. They don't stop you for road hogging you see. Besides, the saudis will just horn you and then overtake you at 200km/h. I've even seen 2 cars come to a screeching halt in the middle of the freeway just to wind down their windows to talk to each other. They still think they're riding camels out here. Shocking. Doesn't help that I gotta get used to driving on the other side of the road (left hand drive here) and my 1.6 litre Honda civic is a manual with NO AIRBAGS. oh but petrol is about $0.20 a litre here. even water's not that cheap.
Things like food and general shopping here is quite cheap. I can survive on quite little if I wanted to. I hear that sales are really good too. However, I've been warned that counterfeit stuff are pretty common here. even in the so called boutiques and departmental stores. (I've already seen some counterfeit items in the duty free area of the airport) Oh! and if you are shopping in a mall or supermarket during any one of the 5 prayer times during the day, be prepared to be locked in the shop for about 20 mins while the prayers are going on. Sometimes they even turn off the lights so you're just stuck there in the dark contemplating how it is that your life turned out the way it did.
Its really a different world out here. I'm still coming to terms with it but I know that at the end of the day, it'll be a good experience that not many can have. I wonder if I can buy an oil field here?
1 comment:
good to see a post after eons!!!!
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