Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Obviously - and thankfully - I'm not referring to the weather but to the Christmas carol that I had the pleasure to hear in a shop in neighbouring Bahrain. 

Here in Saudi, there's absolutely no hint of Christmas anywhere: no Christmas songs (actually no music at all!) in the shops, no trees, no lights, no chocolate, nothing at all, except for some expat neighbours who have decorated their houses with smuggled tinsels and fairy lights.

In Bahrain Christmas is just another seasonal event, and although it's a discreet one, it was enough to lift our Christmas spirit!

I feel it in my fingers...

I feel it in my toes...

Christmas is all around me...

And so the feeling grows!

Fancy a good laugh at my expense? Keep reading! 

Now picture me on Friday night, coming back from abaya-free Bahrain, stopping at a mall in Al-Khobar (to exchange a clothing item, as usual, since we cannot try clothes on before buying them!), busy writing to a friend on her birthday, when I suddenly cried out: "no mames, mi abaya!" (which could be translated as: "no kidding, my abaya!"). I had indeed forgotten to put on my abaya before stepping out of the car! The minute I realized it I just felt sooo naked! Thanks God we had not entered the mall yet, but we were a good 100 meters away from the car. The worst part is, I was wearing a skirt, heels and a leather jacket... Although in Europe no one would actually have turned and looked at me, in KSA I was feeling like a woman of ill-repute! Thanks God I made it safely back to the car without any mutawa scolding me!