Part 3 - Living

You cannot really judge a place by staying there for only two weeks, but I still have loads to say!

THOSE SPOILT KIDS!

I have heard all sorts of stories from papa regarding Saudi boys. Unfortunately, none of them are very pleasing. Since the past three years he has been steadily filling us in with innumerable incidents of kidnapping, delinquency and even rape in the Kingdom. The most repeatedly narrated story is how young boys gather around after their day at school is over, smoke a couple of cigarettes (a fairly common practice), then go racing down the roads in their Audis/BMWs/Mercedes. Now I know that papa has a habit of stretching the truth a bit, but how can I doubt him when there is a school right next to his building, and a window in his house that overlooks its main entrance?

Probably the most shocking story came from the neighbouring ladies who became quite pally with mummy. They told us about this one time they were standing outside the society, waiting to pick up their kids from the school bus, when a couple of Saudi boys standing nearby started throwing Sprite bottles at them. Yes, soft drink bottles. The glass ones.

Something that I personally experienced was in a mall. Not just any random mall, but one of the best in the city. Mummy and I were waiting in the ladies line at the McDonalds counter (yeah, the counter was actually divided into two with a huge board of ply - one side for males and the other for females) when a bunch of boys started throwing themselves at the board, knocking us over on the other side. I decided it was best to remain silent. However after a couple of seconds, they started rattling the whole board and simultaneously started hooting and calling out in Arabic. Whatever they said must have been pretty rude because the hapless cashier turned red and started looked really uncomfortable. The boys refused to quieten down, so after having enough, I went over to their side and stood with my hands on my hips. Out came the choicest expletives in every language I know. They fled. I know it was stupid to react like this, things could have gone out of hand, but I just couldnt stand it.

TidBit - In food courts, there is a separate sitting room for women, couples and families. Single men cannot enter that area.

OF MOSQUES AND PRAYING...

A neighbourhood mosque

I was roaming around in a mall one day when it suddenly got too cold for me. When I reached a little corner, I found the place I was looking for. The door was adorned with a gigantic female head.

At first sight she actually looked like a nun to me, but oh well. I opened the door and expected the usual (taps, sinks, commodes), but was surprised to find myself in a large hall. I thought I had entered the wrong place when I saw a long corridoor on one side of the hall. At the end I could see those little cubicles. Well atleast I was in the right place. But then came the uncomfortable part. There were about twenty women in the hall, all facing a wall and praying. I broke into a sweat, only because I didnt know what to do. Would it be appropriate for me to simply walk ahead, do my business and leave? Somehow the thought of flushing while twenty women prayed did not appeal to me. But what could I do? I had already waited long enough. I slowly walked ahead, my eyes shifting like Homer Simpsons'. I expected to be thrashed soundly while exitting, but thankfully, nothing happened.

Now I know this is pretty surprising for all of you, but its the truth! Every toilet door in that particular mall (I dont know about the others) had "Toilets and Mosque" written on it. Scandalous. I pondered for days together as to how a place of worship could be physically so close to a place which is universally considered to be impure and dirty. Well I finally got my answer while reading 'Does My Head Look Big In This?' by Randa Abdel-Fattah. A Muslim is supposed to perform 'wuduh' (washing and cleaning of hands, feet etc) before every 'salat' (prayer, which is performed five times in a day). Hence the proximity.

Oh, and while we're at it, let me tell you a particularly interesting moment from the book. When Amal, the protagonist of the story, is washing her feet in the school sink, Tia-the-bitch walks in. What follows is an intense verbal duel, but full points to Amal for her repartee, "I wash my feet five times a day. So that means that at any given time of the day, my feet are cleaner than your face." Touché!

For me, the most frustrating moments were when the shops closed down during prayer time (its compulsory). A few minutes before the actual prayer time, an announcement is made through the loudspeakers, requesting everyone to immediately pay and leave. Being in a mall was still tolerable, because atleast we were allowed to sit in the common area. The real pain was being in one of those single shops. We would be forced to get out and stand in the burning heat. It would get really awkward for us because standing in streets where you dont see anyone at all, at any given point of time, is scary.

Ooh. Another funny story. Mummy and I were grocery-shopping when all of a sudden these intimidating , uniformed men came and started shouting at us in Arabic. I looked here and there and saw that all the people around us had suddenly vanished! I was nearly in tears, thinking that I was going to get arrested, when one of the men started screaming "Salat! Salat!". OH! We ran out.

TidBit - The airport has its own mosque!

This is it, the airport mosque

WHAT TO WEAR?

Well this actually deserves to be right at the top, but oh well. Sad that women cant display their pretty clothes in public, because they have to be in their 'abaya' at all times. What is an 'abaya'? Well the black cloak worn over the body, covering the arms, legs and tordo is called an 'abaya'. Foreign women have to wear it as well. The native women have to even cover their head (with a 'hijab') and face (with a 'niqab'). As far as men are concerned, I dont think they have any restrictions. Although most of the natives I saw wore their traditional white robes with the white and red chequered cloth on their heads (sorry I dont know what all that is called, you can Google it if you're interested), I also saw others who wore clothes like trousers and shirts. So I guess it isnt compulsory for them. (In fact, I saw scores of foreigners wearing sleeveless tops and the shortest shorts without generating stares from anyone, so they dont have any dress code either!) Its sad that while the men get to lounge about in their cool white robes, the women sweat it out in jet blackness!

Waiting for hubbies to pick them up

Taxi!

Anyway, I was really mesmerised by the beautiful display of womens clothes in the stores. Clothes that can make the biggest fashionista of the world hang her head in shame. From plunging necklines to no necklines at all to skyscraper heels and tiny thongs, I was floored. There was this one outlet where an entire wall was devoted to the highest quality fashion jewellery in all colours imaginable. Naturally, mummy and I went crazy and came out with bagfuls of chains, bracelets and whatnot. Women have a tendency to do that many times and with me, it happens quite often!

STREETS, BUILDINGS, MALLS...

Kingdom Tower, the tallest building, from our window

Kingdom Tower by night

Prettier at night

The Ministry of Interior or Defence Ministry, like a diamond

Al Faisaliyah Tower by day. The golden sphere is a restaurant!

Al Faisaliyah tower by night

Sorry for the blured images, but they were all clicked from a moving car

As I mentioned earlier, its goddamn hot in Riyadh in the summers and because of this very reason the streets of the city appear ghostlike most of the times. The only street activity I witnessed was i) people roaming about around the park area ii) people sitting outside shops, waiting for them to reopen after prayer time. The city by itself looks kinda neat during the day, but its during night that its in full bloom. The centre has many tall and impressive buildings while the rest of the city has pretty simple residences, sprinkled with beautiful mosques of course. The malls cant get any bigger. My legs actually ached after all that walking.

A random street

Date palms!

We were out one night, absorbing the sights and sounds of the city centre when we came across a medical complex not unlike AIIMS, only larger. We drove on and on and got fed up because the place just refused to end!

The best bookstore ever! It was HUGE! I guess you can make out from this pic. I got loads of books at disount prices, not to mention several paintbrushes. There were many raunchy books on the shelves, so I guess they arent prudes after all!

Anyway, the desert mausam of Riyadh doesnt give much scope for greenery. However, the effort put in to make the city look as green as possible is commendable. Every single road is lined with date palms and there are certain spots that are beautified with bright, colourful flowers as well. There was this beautiful fountain at a round-about which I didnt have the chance to photograph, that completely transformed the whole area into a lush, tropical paradise. Missed it!

I love this one

Oh dear, I am so tired after writing all this! I have basically told you EVERYTHING I could without boring you with the unnecessary details! There are still some things that must be shared with you guys, but I'll reserve it for the next post. Wait for it!

Coming up next -

The little things I missed, Flying in the sky

(click on the pics to enlarge them)