The Weeks are Flying by…….

Well we have been here for nearly 4 weeks now and in many ways it seems like years but overall we still have to get so much. Huge culture shock to move in with nothing but what we could fit in our luggage. All I can say is I am so looking forward to pay day so I can buy a toaster – I am so looking forward to having my first piece of toast, as it has been my staple brekkie for as long as I can remember. Jesse is constantly being amazed by my ability to adapt and make do with what is there like fry pan toasted cheese sandwiches – All I can say is it is a matter of survival :) lol

We went on a day trip about 2 weeks in, to a cultural centre/museum that one of the professors at the uni (this word is purely Aussie slang as I used it and the blank faces looking back at me from every culture was something to see) had organised. We had 2 Nissan buses that ferried us there and all I can say is their aircon works really good :) – Thank Allah :) lol……. Jesse has the photos on his hard disc and hasn’t put to my computer yet, so when he does I will post late pics for everyone so that they can get a good idea of what it looked like. I will try to explain as best I can.

We drove into the front entrance and I held my breath as the driveway opening was so narrow that I thought the sides of the bus would scrape the 3 story high kerosene lantern on one side & bus shelter the other – but we made it thorugh with no catastrophe :) – As I was looking around as one does in a new country, I was amazed that outside this cultural heritage centre there was a drive through 24 hour atm machine at window height and positioned in such a way that you never have to leave the comfort of your airconditioned vehicle – These are a standard feature everywhere, sometimes placed without any reasoning or thought.

We then made our way inside and my first impression was the beautiful very large courtyard pond (more like mini lake) complete with platform covered in rugs, cushions, arm rest & low table for dining all very well done and 2 or 3 very large white plastic swans complete with plastic swan babies on back floating around (I know that they are called cygnets) I certainly would have thought it was a wonderful thing as a child. We then looked in all the rooms that had cushions on floor and arm rests to lean on and lovely carpets on floor – Jesse made me not very gracefully lower myself down to take a pic and luckily it wasn’t the camcorder as it was a sight to see me hoisting myself back up of the floor. He proceeded to do this in every room (there were about 20) and in the last room i had to duck to 1/2 my height to get in and he didn’t like where i was sitting so made me shift and when I sat down my butt caught the edge of a very very hard piece of concrete and the yelp I let out followed by the child like limping and moaning and holding of the butt that followed had him feeling, as intended, a lot of remorse :)

We were then shepherded up to the top level by lift (for 2 only) to the gift shop and it was amazing at what they had – over the shoulder gun holsters, that I might add one or two of our lebanese or pakistani friends tried on :), and I fell in love with a large basket complete with leather bottom & leather lid which I thought would be great for my knitting, so Jesse being the obliging & loving gentleman that he is ferried this large basket around for the rest of the day :) I haven’t put my knitting in yet because when I got it home I realised that they hadn’t cleaned whatever straw they had made it with and it was full of little black dead bug things – I have banged it on the outside verandah rail and the amount of these bugs that came out was amazing, but will still wait until i get some plastic to line it before use – needless to say it won’t be coming back home with me.

They then herded us into 2 private dining rooms (did I mention it was a restaurant as well) and imagine my dismay at seeing a table that was no higher than my ankles. We folded our large frames down onto the cushions and the feast that awaited was actually really good. There were huge silver tagine dishes about 3 foot across with rice & 1/2 chickens and the most delicious puffed mini Lebanese type bread that were cooked in their own bakery section. The dessert was a really strange stringy gluggy bread pudding that nearly made me gag when it hit my mouth – needless to say that wasn’t eaten.

Once we were back on the bus and pulling out of the equally narrow exit, Jesse & I were amused to see on every vacant block a couple of workers picking up any stray piece of paper & sweeping them – keep in mind that these vacant blocks are very unkempt looking with piles of rubble and sand – makes you wonder why they would bother to sweep them. So that was our first group outing – and a very enjoyable day apart from the big butt bruise that made it’s appearance.

Our Next major outing was on Thursday just gone and it was down to the very happening & must go to place at weekends – the Corniche which is a very large park on the sea front. We had the taxi drop us off at the only Safeway store (called Tamimi Market) in Khobar and Jesse’s very determined purpose was to find where we were told we could purchase art supplies. Our friend from our first night here told us where we could find as his mother is an artist – so off we set and about 4 very warm blocks later filled with uneven pavement, broken pipes sticking up, rubble in piles that you had to dodge around we turned where he said, and there was the only craft shop in Khobar – 3 stories of any craft you can imagine – swarvoksi crystals (their spelling) even a very limited supply of rough coarse wool. I was so excited to find some pins after combing every shop in every mall so you can imagine my dismay as soon as I found them that they announced were closing for prayer – I flew down 3 flights of stairs so quickly to make the registers before closing it was a wonder I didn’t break my neck :)

We then found the overpass to get across to the corniche – no hope of getting across the road without it – I haven’t seen such a constant stream of non stop cars going in one direction. It really is a lovely place full of restaurants, GRASS, train rides, kiddie play grounds and a very very very long walk along the seaside which Jesse keeps reminding me is the Persian Gulf. It was lovely to stand right on the path edge and have such a refreshing breeze blowing, even though it was a very warm breeze. It was then the big decision what to eat – we opted for TGI Friday and it was surprisingly good although their idea of a cappucino is American drip style coffee with a frothy something on top and dusted with some really bad tasting cinnamon type of spice. REALLY REALLY BAD – undrinkable.

It was then back to Safeway to get some groceries – and I was surprised at the range of things available I bought a really tacky outdoor mat with coloured reindeer for front door and they also have individual shops inside that sell things like replica watches, clocks, prayer beads etc. I am really surprised at what crappy junk is only available for decorating the home – I really thought they would have top quality things like Egyptian cotton towels etc, but no - all towels I have found so far are made in Pakistan and when you wash them the amount of fluff and crap that comes out of them is unbelievable. I am so glad I have a sense of humour.

All the supermarkets have booths inside them that have big bins of any herb or spice or chocolates you can imagine to buy in bulk. The amount of different things they do with dates here is amazing – they sell stuffed with almonds and all sorts of things – and they are all shapes & sizes not like you see at home. They actually have date shops :) which I haven’t been to yet as the time we have to shop when bus that takes us each night to our local supermarket centre is getting shorter & shorter as the days are getting shorter – Keep in mind that everything here closes for prayer time – nothing is available in this 20-30 minute frame – with the days getting shorter for the winter months – the prayers are getting earlier as they are timed for when the dawn & when the dusk arrives. It is such a mad flurry to get around to get food for the following day – but it is a free service provided daily so it doesn’t really matter.

Well you will be all sick of reading this by now so will update again soon – hope you are still enjoying the posts :) Love & Miss you all