Crazy pretty adorable women

It's so difficult to talk about our life in KSA once out of KSA. Starting with describing the kind of friends we have there, they are just so different from the ones we have back home! 

So I thought I'd make a list of the kind of people you're bound to encounter as an expat in KSA:

• the everything-tastes-better-at-home: usually from a rich gastronomic culture (Italy, Latin America, ... France!), she often reminds you of all the wonderful dishes she eats back home, and if she cooks anything from her home country, she'll be sure to state that "it doesn't taste as good as the real thing".


• the groovy grandma: in spite of her age, she is the friend you dream of having, the best shopping buddy you could think of, a great salsa dancer and a wonderful life mentor.


• the cordon bleu: occasionally "everything-tastes-better-at-home", she's the one you want to be invited for dinner at! And also the one you don't want to have to cook for! She could potentially teach you so much about cooking (or that's what your husband keeps telling you!) if only you could be as keen on cooking as you are on eating...


• the paranoid: "terror threat", "Al-Qaida", "Islamists" are words that should never be pronounced in front of the paranoid, unless you want to be reminded - for the umpteenth time - of the terrorist attacks that have occurred in KSA over the last 20 years (with their share of morbid details).


• the young mum who's just dropped her job: the title says it all, she's usually got a stunningly handsome boy / pretty girl to take care of, but struggles in finding her place in her new role.


• the we-can't-do-anything-here-anyway: she's decided that living in Saudi Arabia was a nightmare, so she's just going to live one. Since you don't want to be part of her nightmare, you should just avoid her.


• the overbooked social butterfly: she's as busy as a full-time worker living in a metropolis, so you have to make an appointment to see her. You might also want to attend trendy events (i.e. charities, bingos, breakfasts) to come across her.


• the globetrotter: she's got plenty of amazing anecdotes about her experiences around the world, including some civil wars and emergency evacuations... Therefore the globetrotter is not to meet the paranoid under any circumstances, since the consequences could be disastrous!


• the energetic friend who is always ready to go out and organises activities and outings: she's the one you want to have in your crew!

We're probably all a mix of several of the above, but more important than the category we may fall into is probably our ability to make the best out of this crazy melting-pot! I love the friends I've made in Saudi Arabia, and I love the fact that in other circumstances, I would never have gotten to know such beautiful people.

We may not be as glamorous as them... but we're twice as charming!

From East to West

Yesterday I travelled from KSA to France, where I am going to stay for two weeks. Travelling from Dammam, KSA (while I usually travel from Bahrain), felt like I was literally taken from a world and transfered to a whole different one. Last thing I recall, I was wearing an abbaya, seating at a very austere airport gate, reading a conservative magazine (there were about 3 magazines in English to choose from at the airport). Once on board the plane, I fell asleep, and next thing I know we were landing in Amsterdam. Suddenly all the Saudi ladies covered in black abbayas and niqabs who had boarded the plane with me were gone! They were now very nice ladies dressed in colouful western clothes (but still respecting hijab: head scarf, long sleeves). Oh, and the weather was pretty cold too. And it was pitch dark until 9am... And that's how I noticed I was in Europe!

Yeah, like Alicia Keys would actually wear
a t-shirt and a pair of leggings underneath
her dress... I guess Arab women do think
leggings are in fashion this winter...

These are times where I realize that they're really two completely different worlds, and with time, I sometimes find it difficult to adapt back to my world. Europe is where I was born and raised and lived most of my life, however I sometimes feel that I'm forgetting the social codes: I no longer know what's normal, or acceptable, or rude! For instance I tend to struggle a lot with dresscodes: is my skirt too short? Is it appropriate, is it modest at all? Should I cover these shoulders? When I look back at pictures and see how I used to dress in Mexico, I now find it quite indecent! Or I don't know when it's appropriate to say "hi" anymore: to a neighbour, shop assistant, random guy passing by? Kissing in the street is another one: in KSA we have to refrain from kissing in public, although holding hands is generally accepted. But being in Europe, it's just so much public display of affection all over the place! (just reminds me I had to explain that concept to 6th graders last week: that was fun! - no actually, just nervous giggles)




Anyway I think both worlds have great things to offer, it's just too bad we can't get the best of both. And if I had to choose between here or there, the choice probably wouldn't be as obvious as it seems.
And that's one of the reasons why:

Nantes, a beautiful city, but why the heck does it have to be raining all the time???

Saudi's little Petra

Saudi's National Day (today) gave us a long week-end and the opportunity for us to finally take a trip to Mada'in Saleh, the main archeological site in the country, listed by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site,  located in the province of Al-Madinah. 

We flew to Yanbu', where we visited Richard's brother as well as a couple of friends who used to live in Jubail and recently moved to Yanbu' (and they never liked Jubail as much as the day they discovered Yanbu'!). From Yanbu', it's a 4-hour drive to the town of Al-'Ula, which is quite a long drive, especially since the road is not very wide, and you have to drive through a couple of towns, each welcoming you with some nice speed bumps which are not even painted so that if, like us, you're in the hands of a Bangladeshi driver who's only half awake, you're guaranteed to be in for a rough trip!

Al-'Ula is quite small, but it has a reasonably nice hotel where most tourists stay, and which also arranges permits to visit Mada'in Saleh (issued by the Commission for Tourism and Antiquities in Riyadh) as well as guided tours. In spite of the recent events, and the subsequent fear of travelling in Muslim countries for many Westerners, there were quite many tourists that day: a large group of Japanese, another group of French and some foreign students from China, Mexico, Germany and the US studying at the KAU University in Jeddah.

We went to Mada'in Saleh (23 km from Al-'Ula) with Saïd, our Saudi guide. Mada'in Saleh was the Nabataeans' (the people who carved the city of Petra in Jordan) second city. It is also believed to have been inhabited by the tribe of Thamud as early as in the 3rd millenium BC, while the Nabataeans settled there in the 1st century CE. The archeological site is home to 131 tombs carved out of the sandstone outcrops, their size and style depending on the status of their owners. 

In the surroundings of Al-'Ula

Elephant rock, Al-'Ula

Elephant rock, Al-'Ula

A tomb in Mada'in Saleh
The stairs at the top of the carving represent the stairs to Heaven 

The view from the top of an outcrop

On the right, an unfinished tomb

The eagle above the tomb's door represents a divinity taking the soul to Heaven

The variety of the shapes of the outcrops lets imagination bloom. Here, a human profile on the right.

A place where sheeps used to be sacrificed

Ad-Diwan, a place for religious gatherings

Rock paintings: monkeys

Inside a tomb

A tomb on top of an outcrop, probably that of someone important, for it is isolated and close to the sky.

Let's enjoy the Indian summer

I've been back from my holidays for over 10 days now, it's about time I got back to writing. Truth is, I've been putting it off because I didn't know where to start... And I still don't! So I'll just recap the summer as I remember it:

The beginning of July was a bit boring as everybody left to their summer destination, and I was probably one of the last leaving on July 14th. Arriving in France on its national day, I was welcomed by fireworks! And dull weather, which felt nice and fresh anyway. After that we had a lovely sunny week, during which we received some visit and toured around the West region (Pornic, Nantes, Saumur) as well as Paris. We also attended a couple of weddings in Vendée. 

And when Richard's holiday was over, and he flew back to Saudi Arabia, mine wasn't over yet, and I headed to Mexico City. I spent a rainy week there, enjoying the food and the mood, and assisted to a very dear friend's wedding, which was a great party. 

Pornic

Pornic

Nantes

Nantes - Carrousel

Noirmoutier

Paris - Montmartre

Paris

Paris from the Eiffel Tower

Paris - Louvre

Paris - Notre Dame

Disneyland Paris

And before I knew it (although I had a 36-hour trip to realize), I was back in good ol' Al-Jubail! Most of the people were still away though, so I had an extended holiday/vegetation/lazy/boring time, which is now coming to an end (thanks God!), since next Saturday is back-to-school at the International School. 

Last week-end we took a quick trip to Kuwait, which was nice, even though I didn't like it as much as the first time we went. Probably because coming back from Europe, the differences were just too obvious, and also because it struck me that this "culture" based on extreme consumerism, showing off luxury clothes, handbags and cars and pretending people are only worth what they own is just so wrong, and I wonder how the next generations are going to turn out. 

For instance I couldn't believe that in all three malls we went, it was impossible to find a single bookstore! There used to be a Virgin Megastore but it closed at the beginning of this year, and apparently it hasn't been replaced by any other store of this kind, so I don't know where/if Kuwaitis buy DVDs, CDs, books, magazines, etc. 

When we went to the movies, we noticed that there is only one movie theater company, which has huge cinemas with a lot of screens, but all over the city there were no more than 12 movies to choose from, 2 of which were in Telugu (spoken in India), 1 in Tamil, 1 in Hindi, 1 in Arabic, so we were left with: Batman, Spiderman, Expandables, Interview with a hitman, Brave, and Madagascar. It basically means that, either because it's the only kind of movies that Kuwaitis like, or because the country doesn't want them to see anything else, there's a possibility that they don't know anything else than these American blockbusters: mass culture at its finest!

Anyways, we still had a nice weekend, and Richard had an incredible Flight Experience, practising taking-off, flying and landing a Boeing 747 in a flight simulator.

In Kuwait, you gotta get used to the good stuff from a very young age

Six Starbucks and zero bookstore in a mall: Kuwaiti logic

Only the finest (which happens to be French!)

Richard's flight experience

In the middle of a cloud

And now, even if school is starting, we're lucky that the temperatures remain high, so we're just going to enjoy our Indian summer!

Good luck coming back to school / work / business as usual ;)

The West end(s) in Bahrain

Last Friday we attended another event of Bahrain Summer festival: we saw the musical "The Sound of Music", a very old one which I had never heard of before, even though it was made into a movie in the 60's, which won quite many awards at the time. 

It's based on the story of Maria von Trapp, a young Austrian orphan who enters a monastery to become a nun, and then is sent to work as a tutor for the 7 children of a widowed naval commander, and she teaches the children how to sing (and live) and she falls in love with their father and they get married (sorry for the spoiler!). The background story is that of the Anschluss, or how Austria was annexed by Hitler in 1938.

As to the performance itself, it was great, probably as good as if we'd seen it in the West end. The performers were excellent, the sets looked beautiful, and this time the auditorium was full, so I didn't have to feel bad about the artists (which I do otherwise...). 

The musical opening on a scene of nuns singing in a convent: we're definitely on the right side of the causeway!

Maria in her mountains

Mr. Von Trapp

The Von Trapp children

As the Bahrain Summer festival was over, it was time for me to take off to my French summer! Check out what I had for brunch last Sunday:

Appetizers...

... and main!

Wishing you a wonderful holiday, Ramadan Kareem to the muslims, I'll be making the most of the French summer, attending weddings, going for walks, sightseeing, and having croissants for breakfast every day!