Today we went out early to catch the shopping bus to the mall so that we could buy Bruce's birthday present. Tomorrow is his birthday and he should be home from the States tonight! We'll surprise him and show him how well we can get along without him and adapt to our new environment.
I drove the car to the main camp, where we caught the shopping bus. These three buses go to different locations.
Reese is tired because she didn't want to get out of bed.
Brooke is enjoying her new library book!
All the women wear their abayas. Only Muslims cover their heads.
It's a very nice, comfortable bus with air conditioning.
We are now leaving the housing area.
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-- Sorry, but this photo was removed --
I had to take a picture of this bus stop, because it was enclosed and even had a drinking fountain in it. They are very careful to have water all around.
Here we are driving by the doctor's clinics and hospital, which are right outside the housing gate.
I love how they trim these bushes into shapes... reminds me of Disneyland!
Now we are leaving the business area.
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You can barely see the fountain.
I'm guessing this is a mosque.
Now we are completely off the compound, and you'll notice how the greenery slowly disappears and everything becomes dry, rocky, and sandy.
An empty building, possibly not finished with construction -- there are many of these along the sides of the roads.
This is the American embassy -- only 5-10 minutes away from the compound.
The American embassy and the high school.
The mall is in the distance -- also only 5-10 minutes from the compound.
Mothers and children out to shop.
The bus has dropped us off and we are walking to the mall. We have approximately 2 hours before we have to be back out here to catch the only bus back! You can tell we're all ex-pats because we have our abayas on, but don't cover our heads. The heat is unbearable in the abaya. The fabric is very light and you would think it would be airy, but it's like sitting in a closed tent in the hot sun!
All we could think about, was getting into the air conditioned mall... the girls were getting cranky; but when we reached it, it was closed. Because of the Eid holiday, the mall opened late, but the company bus still departed at 9am. Here we are rounding the corner of the mall, following everyone else, hoping to find an open door to the air conditioning.
Here are some interesting buildings across the street.
We are finally in the mall and relieved to feel the air conditioning. We can feel the sweat dripping down our backs, but can't do anything about it because we must stay covered. At home, we might try to get some air flow under our clothes, but here, there's nothing you can do... we've got more clothing under the big black tent!
A couple of times I made the mistake of putting something in my pants pocket; only to realize that there's no possible way I can retrieve it from my pocket after my abaya is on... and I can't unsnap it for a moment and reach into my pocket for it. Once it's there, just forget about it!
It's common to blur the faces of women in advertisements, such as this sign hanging from the ceiling in the mall.
Even some very little girls wear abayas. I guess she'll be used to it by the time she's an adult!
This mall is GIANT! I've actually gotten lost in it before. The girls were very disappointed to see how big it was. We walked and walked and walked and walked... looking for a store that didn't sell clothes or shoes or abayas! We also had to remember to catch the bus at door #6.
There is even a Cinnabon -- yum!
Here are some abayas displayed in a store window.
It always amazes us to see the clothes that are displayed in store windows. We can't help but wonder where they wear these clothes, and why the women care what they're wearing if they have to cover it with an abaya.
Here is a doorway to the "family section." All eating establishments used to have a men's section and a family section, because men and women could not eat together unless they were family. But these separated areas are not as common anymore.
We walked and walked through the mall, and finally found a store (Saco World) where we could buy Bruce's present -- but it was closed (it's the only store around that has BBQs, lawn mowers, and tools.) The store was just added on to the mall and everyone is talking about it -- I guess it's as close as we'll get to a Lowe's! We couldn't find any hours posted in the mall, but some other ex-pats started hanging around and we heard that there was a sign on the outside entrance that said they would open at 10am during Eid. It was 10am, so we all waited... and waited.... and finally gave up. I guess they didn't feel like coming to work today.
So instead of wasting the entire morning, we went to the Hyper Panda (the giant grocery store in the mall). I couldn't find ricotta cheese or cottage cheese. Maybe it's not with the cheese, or maybe it's called something else. I forgot my grocery list, so I forgot to buy several things that I needed. A pretty disappointing trip!
I bought the girls ice cream cones at Carvel for the first time because our trip had been so disappointing; but the good news was that the ice cream cones were only $1.33 each!... a nice surprise. There were approximately 20 flavors from which to choose, and although the ice cream was good, it had a strange after taste.
Because I've previously watched the bus drive off while I'm chasing it in my abaya, I know to be at the bus stop good and early. So, when Jordan found a Payless Shoe store, I was afraid to let her look, for fear that we would miss our only bus home. We'll come and look at the shoes next time (when Saco World is open!)
Here is our drive home (not very interesting) -- this is the main highway.
We're ready to get home.
More women on the bus.
Here we are entering the business area of the compound.
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-- Sorry, but this photo was removed --
A guard always boards our bus at the housing entrance where we have to show our company I.D. They're more careful about letting people into the housing area.
Here is a bus stop with a cover over it.
It's only noon and we're exhausted. It's 104 degrees, and shopping this way just isn't fun. Women have to take a bus, a taxi, or hire a driver. Either way, it just feels like an inconvenience. I have two bikes in my garage with flat tires, but there is no way for me to get them to the bike shop. I can't drive the car, I can't put them on the bus, I can't put them in the taxi, and I can't ride them in an abaya! We need to appreciate our freedom and all the comforts we take for granted! I think we'll just rest in the air conditioning for the rest of the day!
Well, I found out that Bruce didn't get a seat on the flight to Dubai last night, so he's stuck at home alone and we're stuck in Saudi without him... too funny. Instead, he flew to Nashville this morning to visit his mother and aunt, and will fly back to Atlanta in the morning. The flights are too full to try again for Dubai until Saturday night, so I guess he'll be spending his birthday home alone. At least we thought this might happen and left him an ice cream birthday cake in the freezer. The girls also left him a birthday treasure hunt. I guess he won't have any home-cooked meals for a few more days... and we can try to get his birthday present once again before he flies back. Eid is over now and everyone will be going back to work on Saturday, so we might try the shopping bus again then.
-- Pattie --
