I think it is safe to say that summertime has arrived here in Saudi! The last few weeks have been hotter, and the breeze/wind has changed from a cool one to a warm one. And sadly it's only going to get hotter as summer continues. (To help my American family and friends 'translate' the forecast for this week, our highs will be ranging from 43 C = 109 F to 48 C = 118 F.)
We have been enjoying nice weather for several months now (the picture below of Emily was taken at the beginning of March. . . ) while many of our family and friends back home were shoveling snow and scraping ice, so I guess it's our turn for some nasty weather.
We are very lucky to have not only pools (that are cooled!) in our compound, but also a beach. Since I don't need to wear my black abaya inside the compound, that means I can actually enjoy going to the beach.
When driving past the beaches where the locals hangout, it is not uncommon to see women in their abayas (faces and hair still covered too) wading out into the water. Although, there is a swimsuit option for those who prefer not to wear their abaya to the beach--the burqini:
I had never heard of a burqini before moving here, but apparently they have been the source of some controversy in the past. For example, in 2009 a mayor in northern Italy banned the burqini from pools and beaches saying that "the sight of a 'masked woman' could disturb small children, not to mention problems of hygiene." During the same week in 2009, a Paris pool denied entrance to a woman because they had a "no swimming while clothed" rule.
Another random note. . . we have found it difficult to find sunblock over here. It's gotten a little easier recently, but when I was looking for some back in February and March, I searched and searched, only to find some at one store that cost about 20 USD per bottle! I suppose that there isn't much demand here for sunblock. If you go to the beach like this:
who needs sunblock? (Btw, I didn't take the above picture, but yes, local women really do go to the beaches dressed like this.)
Along these same lines, it is interesting to see how the stores deal with pictures of women who are not covered with either an abaya or a burqini. Most of the swimming related things (pools, pool toys, floatation toys, etc) come from outside the country, so it is entirely possible that they will include a picture of a woman in a swimsuit. To solve this problem, someone actually takes a black marker and colors over the women on each and every box.
Note that it is only the women, not the men or children. Or sometimes they just use these stickers to cover the 'inappropriate' images.
With the temperatures rising, we are looking forward to spending most of the summer with our family in cooler climates back in the States!
I figured sooner or later we would have to make a trip to a doctor. . . and I suppose that being in Saudi for 6 months without needing a doctor isn't too bad. I dread going to the doctor (for myself or the kids) anytime, but the thought of going in a foreign country was even more daunting.
Last week Elizabeth got sick. After a quick look on the internet, I was pretty sure she had strep throat/tonsillitis. Her symptoms lined up exactly, and her throat looked exactly like the pictures online. So now the question. . . go to the pharmacy and pick up a z-pak (yes you can do that here!) or take her to the doctor. I'm not a huge fan of the idea of self-diagnosing and medicating, and I figured maybe it was time anyway to go and meet a local pediatrician. So off we went to the hospital. . .
Over here pretty much anything medical is found at the hospital. You can find anything from pediatricians to psychiatrists to dentists to ophthalmologists at the hospital. The idea of independent offices for a particular type of doctor doesn't really seem to be common practice here. Another major difference is that you don't make appointments (at least at the hospital we went to). You just show up and it's first come, first served.
Now of course Ben was out of town on business, so I was going alone, as a female. Which doesn't seem like a big deal. . . unless you've happened to read THIS recent article which explains that there is now an edict in Saudi which doesn't allow women to visit medical clinics without a male guardian (husband, son, brother, father, uncle, grandson, etc).
I had this in the back of my mind, but decided to go to the doctor anyway and was pretty sure we wouldn't have any problems. (Fortunately we didn't.) If anyone did give us trouble, the plan was to just re-route to the pharmacy, pick up the medicine and go home. There are few reasons I'm not surprised that no one said anything. First, I wasn't going for treatment for myself--I was going for a child. Over here children (even female ones) seem to get more leeway. Also, being an expat seems to give you a little more leeway, well sometimes.
We arrived at the hospital and found the non-emergency entrance. After going inside I stopped to ask where I could find the pediatrician. The lady (it's always nice to see women working in Saudi!) answered me, but I didn't understand much of it. Although I thought I heard 'level 5'. So I repeated back 'level 5' and she said 'yes'. (Side note: it is hard to understand women when their faces are covered with a niqab. Before moving here, I never realized how much I relied on watching people's faces to help with understanding.)
So we walked down the hallway in the direction she pointed and got in the elevator only to find that there is only G, 1, and 2. No level 5. Out of the elevator to ask the next person I find behind a desk. We repeat the process of asking and getting lost several times until we were pointed to a waiting room.
I go to the desk in the waiting room and patiently wait and wait. There are two people there working but neither even look my direction. However, other people are coming up to the desk and the ladies are helping them. Finally I notice that someone is holding a ticket with a number on it. Aha! I look around the room and find something that looks like it could give me a ticket. I walk over and find that it has about 6 buttons and no English. I randomly choose a button, get a number, and sit down.
After awhile I notice that not only are there no other children, we are the only females. I look around and notice that there is a female waiting room. Of course--we are in Saudi after all. Our turn comes up and we successfully navigate the check-in process and then sit down again and wait to see the doctor.
After about half and hour they call Elizabeth's name and we go into the doctor--an ENT specialist, not a pediatrician. At this point, oh well. :-) Fortunately he speaks English well enough that everything goes smoothly. He confirms my suspicions, writes us a prescription, gives us a school excuse note and we are off. Although oddly we had to go downstairs to get the school note 'officially stamped' by a different person?
At the end of the appointment I did explain to the doctor that I was trying to find a pediatrician and ended up here. . . he got a good laugh. He was probably wondering if all Americans want their children to see a specialist for such a simple diagnosis. :-)
An interesting difference though--the exam room was also his personal office (or appeared to be). The nurse was in the room the entire time and she sat at what looked like her personal desk doing paper work. This also meant that as soon as we were taken back, we didn't wait for the doctor to come, he was in the room waiting for us. Now that is a difference I could get used to!
The way our insurance works, we just pay cash when we go to the doctor. So as far as the hospital is concerned we aren't using any insurance. What does it cost to see a specialist over here? Seventy SAR, or less than $19. The antibiotics cost about $10. So for approximately the cost of a co-pay in the US, we paid cash for the doctor AND the medicine. This is another difference I could get used to! I also liked that the pharmacy where we picked up the medicine was in the hospital (right next to where we had to get the school note stamped). It got me to thinking, why is it not common in the States to have a pharmacy in the same building as a pediatrician/doctor's office? It seems so obviously convenient!
While we were at the hospital I was a little frazzled by the whole thing. (I didn't even take any pictures! The picture in this post is from the hospital's website.) I think mostly just because I didn't know what to expect, but looking back it wasn't so bad. There are some benefits to being able to just walk in at your convenience and having a one-stop medical experience. How convenient to go from your primary care doctor right to the specialist in the same day if you need to?
On the way out of the hospital, we ran into a friend who was kind enough to show us where the offices for the pediatricians are. So even though this time we saw an ENT to diagnose tonsillitis, next time we will know where to go. :-)
There are several interesting aspects of living in Saudi, but arguably one of the most unique is the fact that I can't drive. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women from driving. Fortunately, the company Ben works for provides cars and drivers. (Ben also doesn't drive over here as the company considers the driving conditions unsafe.)
So if I want to go somewhere, I call the dispatcher and arrange for a ride. It is generally a minimum 20 minute wait for the car to come, although it's best to arrange rides a couple hours ahead of time so that you don't have the unlucky situation of calling and all of the cars are already booked (doesn't happen too often).
Generally the car that picks us up is a while Toyota Land Cruiser. Saudis seem to have a thing for white cars as there is an abnormally high percentage of white cars (as well as Toyotas) in this country. (See picture.)
In fact, I still remember the first time I went to the grocery store by myself. When I exited I started to panic. . . which white car is mine? And what exactly did my driver look like again? (The drivers generally drop you off at the door and then go park after you walk in.) Fortunately my driver was watching for me and remembered what I looked like!
Living in this country is definitely a mix of benefits and drawbacks. For me, the driving situation is one of the things I don't feel I've totally adjusted to yet. Before I came, I thought it would be weird to always have a driver (ie stranger) in the car. Ironically this hasn't really bothered me. Sometimes it is nice to just ride quietly with someone else thinking about driving. When riding with the kids, it is nice to talk to them and listen with my full attention. (I'm also not allowed to sit in the front passenger seat since I'm not married to the person who is driving.) And on longer drives we've had some nice (although at times heartbreaking) conversations with the drivers and have been able to learn more about their home countries and the families they left behind to come to work in Saudi.
But. . . the part that is hard for me has been the loss of freedom. It is hard for me to not have a car that I can just jump in and go whenever/wherever I'd like. I dislike the feeling of 'asking permission' (ie calling the dispatcher) before I go anywhere. I also miss being able to be a bit more spontaneous. For example, one weekend evening--spur of the moment--we decided it would be fun to go out to eat. We called for a ride only to find that a driver wouldn't be available for 3 hours. Since the kids would be in bed by then, we had to stay in for the evening. While this was certainly a minor inconvenience, it still reminded me that I have lost some freedom by living in this country.
But despite the all of this being said, I am very grateful for the drivers--without them I would be even more home bound!
A couple weeks ago we made a trip down to Khobar--the city about 90 mins away from us. While Jubail does have a decent amount of stores for a small town, if you have specific things you are looking for you are much more likely to find them in Khobar. Khobar feels a little more like home with its big malls (that have some stores with names we actually recognize), Ikea, larger grocery stores, and lots of familiar restaurants. And every once in awhile it is just good to get out of Jubail. :-)
We had several stops planned and were going to finish our outing by eating lunch at Taco Bell. I've probably eaten at Taco Bell less than 5 times in my entire life, but it is strange what feels like 'home' to you when you are far away! Anyway, we cut things a little too close and ending up barely missing getting in the door before prayer started, so we were locked out for about 45 mins. Fortunately we were in a good place to wander around for a bit--the Khobar Corniche.
I wasn't familiar with the term 'corniche' before I came over here, but pretty much all of the coastal towns and cities on the Arabian peninsula seem to have one. From what I can tell, it is basically an area along the beach with a wide sidewalk, parks and grass. If I had to 'translate' the word, I would choose 'boardwalk'.
As we were wandering around we happened upon an open-air mosque. I snapped these two pictures since there wasn't anyone around. But sure enough, people (men) did come over to pray once the 2nd prayer call sounded.
There IS recycling in Saudi!
Here are more pictures that I took of the Corniche (on a previous visit) with my nice camera. This is the first and so far only time I've been brave enough to use my camera over here outside of a compound. I had a large-ish purse with my camera inside and I would wait until no one was around, pull my camera out, snap a picture and then drop it back in my bag--not exactly ideal photography conditions. :-)
It would have been easy to Photoshop the trash out of the picture, but this is SO Saudi that I left it in. Sadly the locals don't seem to be overly concerned with taking care of their country and the parks aren't always that clean, despite the army of low-wage workers who are always working to keep things nice and tidy.
It looks like during warmer weather (a very relative term) these may have water running. We'll have to check it out later in the year. Overall I have always been impressed at how much work this country puts into making Saudi not feel like the desert that it is. Tons of irrigation to keep things green (again a relative term) and colorful.
Does anyone else have a hard time coming up with ideas of what to eat for lunch? I am always on the lookout for new ideas, so if you have one please share! The last couple months my new favorite lunch has been hummus, Arabic bread, cucumbers and tomatoes. Or some days carrots and/or bell pepper slices. I love that don't have to make 2 different lunches (and I'm not eating ramen noodles or mac 'n cheese) because Emily loves it too! In fact she has become quite the hummus eater--she even refers to her meals as breakfast, hummus and dinner. :-)
You can see my recipe HERE. Each week I make a double batch (2 cans of chickpeas) and Emily and I enjoy it until it's gone (usually 4 or 5 days). I've been trying some different toppings on the hummus, and in this picture you can see sumac. I wasn't familiar with this spice until recently, but it's cheap over here (a 200 gram bag was 4 SAR--which is about a $1). Sumac has a mild citrus flavor and over here is a common addition to hummus, salads and meat.
Ben sent me this picture of his lunch one day. They have a cafeteria at work where he gets a buffet lunch with fresh, healthy food options for 10 SAR--or less than $3. (Yes, I'm totally jealous.) The salad you see in this picture is a popular one called fattoush (notice it also has sumac).
Cucumbers are very cheap and can be bought individually or in bags or boxes--kind of like you can buy apples or clementines in the States. Emily makes sure that we save 2 cucumbers everyday. . . so that she can relax after lunch and before her nap. This has become an almost-daily ritual. :-)
To be honest, I didn't know that much about Islam before I moved over here--what I did learn about it in World Geography and Cultures class in junior high is long forgotten! And I still don't know a lot, but I've learned a little more about it in an effort to understand the culture over here.
So, some of the things I've learned . . . . The foundation of Muslim life is the Five Pillars of Islam, which are the five basic acts in Islam and are considered mandatory by believers. The five pillars are 1. Shahadah--a declaration of faith concerning God and Muhammad 2. Salat--ritual prayer 5 times a day 3. Sawm--fasting and self-control during the month of Ramadan 4. Zakat--giving 2.5% of savings to the poor and needy 5. Hajj--pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your life.
The pillar that affects daily life the most, not only for the Muslims but also for us living here, is salat or the prayer/worship times. There are 5 daily prayers, and the specific times of the prayers are based on movements of the sun.
1. Fajer--first light of dawn (approx 1 1/2 hours before sunrise)
2. Dhuhr--after mid-day has passed and the sun is starting its downward movement
3. Asr--in the late afternoon (traditionally determined based on shadow lengths)
4. Maghrib--just after sunset
5. Ishaa--night prayer (1 1/2 hours after sunset when it is dark)
Before praying, a Muslim mush perform a ritual washing--called wudu or 'purification'. (HERE is a link that explains the process.) The salat (prayer/worship) is done while facing the direction of Kaaba in Mecca, and the prayer consists of the repetition of prescribed actions (see picture below) and words. The number of obligatory repetitions varies based on time of day and other circumstances.
Although a Muslim may perform their prayer anywhere (for example outside at the park or in their office) it is preferable to pray in the mosque because the mosque allows for fellowship. You don't need to go to a particular mosque for salat; there are mosques everywhere making it easy to go to one no matter where you are in the city. Most are small and simple, although some are large and ornate. Prayer is obligatory for Muslims unless they are disabled, prepubescent, ill, pregnant, lactating, menstruating, elderly or traveling on a long journey. (**See the first comment below for some clarification on this point.**)
Below is a picture of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque that we were able to visit in Abu Dhabi. If you use a magnifying glass, you can see Ben and the kids at the top of the stairs (slightly off-center to the right).
So, what does all of this mean for us as non-Muslims in Saudi Arabia? Although we don't observe the prayer times by going to the mosque to pray, we do still need to be aware of the prayer times since basically everything closes down during prayer time (banks, hospitals and airports excluded). A few other exceptions. . . Although 'sit-down' restaurants lock their doors during prayer time, as long as you are in the doors before they lock them most restaurants in our area (liberal by Saudi standards) will serve you during prayer (ie you can order and they will bring you food). And yes, they will unlock the doors and let you leave if you finish during prayer time. :-) Fast food restaurants and food courts don't allow you to order food during prayer time, but you can stay and eat if you already have food before they close for prayer. Some grocery stores allow you to stay inside if you are in before they close the doors, although you have to wait until prayer ends before the registers open and you can pay for your food and leave.
Whenever we are talking about going anywhere, the first question is always "when is prayer time?" Because the prayers are based on sun movements, they change by a little bit everyday. So right now (during winter when the days are shorter) the last 4 prayers of the day come pretty close together. . . right now roughly noon, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm). The stores lock their doors to people coming in and start clearing people out approximately 20 mins before prayer starts, and then it lasts for approximately 30 mins, so the stores can be closed for 45 mins to an hour per prayer.
So you have to make sure you time your errands appropriately and it is hard to do lots of errands at once since inevitably you will run into a prayer time and be stuck outside somewhere! Fortunately in the modern day we have apps that can help make planning easier. :-) I think a prayer app that tells you the times for the day based on your location is one of the first things everyone puts on their phone once they get over here.
Trying to go anywhere between those afternoon/evening prayers is crazy since there are a lot of people all trying sneak a little shopping or eating in between prayers. On Fridays (the Muslim holy day), most stores do not open until 4pm, and on Saturdays stores are often closed from noon to 4pm. (Some stores actually close everyday from noon to 4pm.) This helps avoid some of the open/close madness. Restaurants seem to get very busy about 25 to 30 mins before prayer starts since people often like to sit and eat during prayer time.
Other than using your phone, Muslims know to go to a mosque for prayer when they hear the adhan or prayer call. The person doing the prayer call--traditionally from the minaret--is called the muezzin. The prayer call seems to happen about 10 minutes before the prayer time. Then a second called the iqama summons the Muslims to line up for the beginning of the prayers.
Traveling in United Arab Emirates and Oman we only ever noticed hearing the first call to prayer, not the second one. Also, we didn't ever notice any stores, restaurants, museums or attractions closing for prayers. Although if they were closed, it was generally from noon to 4pm and not based on specific prayer times.
Since it is hard to describe what salat sounds like, check out the video (less than a min) to get a small taste of what it is like. The prayer call actually lasts for several minutes. This video was taken from the roof (of our old house) facing east at the maghrib (sunset) prayer time. In the video, the main prayer call you hear is from the mosque closest to us, but you can also hear the calls from other nearby mosques competing a little bit.
The prayer call definitely has a little bit of an eerie sound to it, but it has grown on me over time. There really are mosques everywhere though, (you can spot 5 minarets from the roof) and I don't know that it is possible to be outside somewhere in the city and NOT hear the call to prayer. . . although that's the idea so I guess they are effective. :-)
Ok, I think it is about time I finish up my little series on grocery shopping. Here are Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed them.
On my first trip to the grocery store after moving here, I was SO very grateful to find out that all the labels are in English (and Arabic too of course). My only other experience living in a foreign country was Finland, where labels and signs at the grocery store generally did not include English. It is SO much easier to shop when you can read the signs and labels!! It is also nice that there is a large expat population in our area, so the stores tend to cater to that quite a bit I think since you can find lots of imported goods. It's always nice to find things that make you feel like you have a little bit of 'home'.
Products that are imported usually just have a sticker that translates the necessary info into Arabic. Other labels are like the Campbell's cans that include both languages interspersed. Or you have the cans that have one side in English, one side in Arabic.
All of the cans and boxes have 2 dates, one for the production date, and one for the expiration date. As I am using things, it is interesting to check out the dates. Of course since the dates are 'backwards' to what I'm used to, it some times takes me a second to process. (For example, it may say E: 03-12-2015--meaning it expires December 3rd 2015, not March 12th 2015.) In general I have been surprised to see how quickly things go from production to being on the shelf in a store.
Something else I've found interesting is that milk seems to be the same price, no matter where you go--and it hasn't changed or gone on sale since we've been here. It is always 7 SAR (little less than $2) for 2 liters or 10 SAR for 3 liters. Even the little grocery store inside our compound has the same price for milk as the larger grocery stores. The milk is fresh (no preservatives) and we think it tastes just a little different than milk in the States--although in a good way.
Random info: eggs don't come in dozens, they come in 6, 15 or 30. And each egg is stamped with its production date and expiry date (3 months after the production date).
We have really enjoyed the selection of fruit juices and flavored milks over here. I didn't buy a lot of juice in the States (even for the kids) but now we generally have some sort of juice in our fridge. My personal favorite is to mix some of the strawberry juice (almost closer to pureed strawberries than actual 'juice') with the mint lemon juice. Yum!
My kids love cereal, and we buy a lot of it. The non-imported cereals taste a little different (even if they are the same brand/type/name/packaging as what you would find in the US). They seem to have a coating (of sugar?) on the outside of the cereal pieces but at the same time are a little less sweet tasting, crunchier and more cardboard like. To be honest it is a little weird. I've stopped buying most non-imported cereals since my kids won't eat them. Since we stick to mostly imported cereals (the ones with the stickers!), it is always anybody's guess what we will find since it is very random. Two cereals that do always seem to be available are the muilti-grain Cheerios and Frosted Flakes (called Frosties over here). Even though those ones are not imported cereals, they (fortunately) taste like what you would expect.
I always think it is interesting to look at things that are packaged 'locally' (somewhere in the Middle East, but generally not Saudi) and see how the culture influences the packaging. For example, you'll notice the mother has her hair covered, and the boy on the milk box is wearing more 'traditional' clothing.
Anyway, that's probably way more that you ever wanted to know about grocery shopping in Jubail. :-) If you do have questions though, leave me a comment or send me an email and I'll be happy to respond.
Note: If you missed Part 1 of the grocery shopping post, you can see it HERE.
The layout of the grocery store here is similar to what you often see in the States, so you naturally go through the produce section first. The first time I went to the grocery store over here I started looking at the fruit and veggies and seeing prices like 6.95, 12.95, 17.95 and even more. Yikes! Although 1 USD converts to roughly 4 SAR, so you can divide the prices by 4. But even then the produce seemed expensive. That is until I remembered that they use kilos, not pounds. :-) In general, the produce over here is good quality and cheap--especially considering we are in the middle of winter right now. I am excited to see what summer will bring.
Apples, bananas, cucumbers, garlic, and fresh herbs are some of the items that are particularly cheap. 'Practically free' as Ben puts it. Last time I went to the store a large bundle of fresh herbs was about 6 cents, bananas were 30 cents per pound, and apples were 75 cents per pound. Oranges and cucumbers were about 50 cents per pound. Some of the more expensive items are celery (about $4 per bunch of celery), onions, avocados (about $ 2.50 each), strawberries, grapes, and blueberries.
One thing I find interesting is that the price signs for the produce generally include which country it comes from (usually places around the Middle East or Africa, although I've seen a few things from Mexico). And sometimes there will be the same food available from multiple countries--for example there always seems to be several types of mango available, each from a different country.
The most unusual thing about the grocery store here is that you need to get your produce weighed and stickered at the weigh station. You bag your own produce, take it to the station, and place it on the counter where someone will weigh it and put the appropriate sticker on the bag. And these guys are amazingly fast at punching in the different codes! And remember those mangos from different countries? No problem for these guys. I've checked up on them multiple times. . . not out of a sense of trying to catch them in a mistake, but rather out of fascination for how accurate they are. . . . and I have never seen them make a mistake and put the wrong kind of label on.
Oh, and if you forget to label your food--or didn't know to do it--the guys at the register are really nice about it and the bagger will run your produce over to the weigh station for you and then bring it back labeled. Ask me how I know. . . . :-)
Over here they don't have a lot of sales; each week there may be just a handful of items on sale. One week there was a sale on garlic (I don't remember the price) but I do remember that there was a sign saying that there was a 2 kilo limit (or about 4 1/2 lbs). That's a lot of garlic! Interestingly, that is the only time I have ever seen a sign limiting how much product you can purchase.
Apparently I have quite a bit to say about grocery shopping, so I'm going to break it up into a few different blog posts. There are 2 main grocery stores in our city where the expats shop--Tamimi and Panda. Tamimi is actually a Safeway store (the same company as Vons, Randall's and others) so there are many brands and products that we recognize. They even have some Kirkland Signature (Costco) brand items! The HyperPanda does have a few things in addition to food, kind of like a Super-Walmart, although the section of non-grocery items is much smaller.
Other than anything that contains alcohol (such as extracts and vanilla) or pork products of any kind I have been able to find almost anything that we've wanted. If you buy local brands, the groceries are cheaper than what they would be in the States, but even buying imported/American brands generally isn't much more expensive (surprisingly) than it would be in the States. One exception to that is anything that is cold/frozen and imported--then it is VERY expensive. We actually saw Bluebell brand ice cream (a Texas brand) at the store once, but it was almost $15! (We didn't buy it.)
The grocery stores are open 24/7, other than during prayer time. While most stores close and require everyone to leave during prayer, the larger grocery stores generally let you continue shopping if you are already in the doors before they close them for prayer. Although during prayers there aren't any workers, meaning the registers are closed, and no one is at the produce weigh station, meat or cheese counters, etc.
One thing we've noticed is that quality control on the local brands doesn't seem to be as tight here as we would expect to see in the states. A couple examples. . . they have a mango juice with pulp that we love. The 'pulp' is actually small cubes of mango, and sometimes you have mango cubes with a little juice and other times you get mango juice with a few cubes. It's always the same packaging, so it just appears to be random, but either way it is delicious!
Another example is the Arabic bread (like pita bread only a little thinner and softer). It comes in bags like tortillas would, and a bag is only 1 SAR, or about 25 cents. The bags aren't labeled with how many are inside, and sometimes it will be 7, and the next time it will be 11. So you aren't ever quite sure how many you get until you open the bag, but it's so cheap that it's hard to complain. :-)
The stores are also a little unpredictable. You can't always count on a particular item being stocked. This definitely applies to the imported goods, but includes the local products as well. For example, they haven't had sour cream (local brand) the last 2 times I've been to the store. Cereal availability is particularly random--I learned quickly that if I see a cereal that our family likes I always grab at least one box.
A couple notes about checking out--The baggers here are excellent! I know it may seem like a weird thing to notice, but I always hate to come home and find, for example, that my raw meats or eggs are in the same bag as my produce. (Yes, I'm a little OCD at times.) Here they are meticulous about only putting like-type items in the same bag. Yay! If you happen to come to a checkout station with no one in line ahead of you, the bagger will come and unload your cart for you onto the belt for the checker.
Also, it is standard for the bagger to walk you out to your car and load the groceries into the car for you--especially when I am by myself. If Ben is with me, they will usually ask if we would like help. It is customary to tip the bagger--anywhere from 3-10 SAR (about $0.80 to almost $3) depending on how many groceries you have.
In Saudi eating at a restaurant has a few peculiarities. The first thing to be aware of is which door you enter through. There are separate entrances for 'singles' (meaning men) and 'families' (meaning women, children, and men who are with their family). Most restaurants serve both singles and families, although you will occasionally run into one that serves only singles or only families.
Ben covertly snapped this picture outside of Burger King while we were waiting for prayer to end and the restaurant to open. I am wearing my abaya (black dress) that I am required to wear whenever I leave the compound.
Once you enter the restaurant you order at a counter just like you would at any fast food restaurant in the States. The only difference is that the counter has a wall down the middle, so that the singles are ordering on one side, and the families are ordering on the other side.
The eating areas are definitely completely separated--at Burger King the singles eat downstairs and the families eat upstairs. We happened to be the first ones upstairs so I took the opportunity to snap a couple pictures.
You can see that in the family section there are separate booths that each have their own curtain. The kids think the curtains are tons of fun. :-) In the singles section the tables are just open seating--no booths or curtains.
The booths with the curtains (and the covered windows) allow more privacy--especially for the Saudi women. They then have the option of taking off their face covering (niqab) to make eating easier while still remaining 'modest'.
The food is basically the same as we would expect. Although surprisingly the hamburgers are bigger (especially at McDonald's) and often have a type of white Saudi cheese instead of American cheese. (Not a bad thing, although the cheese has a richer taste so between that and the larger size I have a hard time eating a whole hamburger.)
One interesting thing we've noticed is that the kids meal toys often seem to be old toys--ie having to do with movies that came out quite a while ago. Although since they don't have movie theaters in Saudi, none of the locals would know the difference. :-)
What the hamburger is to the American, the shawarma is to the Saudi. (Note: this is not official information, but just based on my observations.)
Hamburger--the first thing that come to mind in fast food, but it is more than that. We sometimes make our own at home (think summer grilling) and it has many variations that generally includes adding different toppings (avocado, blue cheese, onion rings, bacon, etc) or sometimes adding ingredients to the meat. Even 'fancy' restaurants will sometimes serve a variation of a hamburger. And last but not least, we generally think of a eating fries with our hamburger.
The shawarma is pretty much the same--you can get them at busy fast food joints (prepared while you wait), but Saudis (and other countries) will also make their own versions at home and there are many variations. There are 'fancy' shawarma restaurants, and, last but not least, you can order a side of fries with your shawarma. The fries come with both ketchup and garlic mayonnaise for dipping. Yum!
So what exactly is a shawarma? Sometimes shawarma refers just to the meat that is cooked on a spit, rotisserie style (see below) and then carved off--although generally it refers to the whole wrap. In Saudi the default meat is chicken, although other meats are available on occasion. The bread is similar to a pita bread, although a little thinner and softer. Inside the shawarma, depending on where you are eating, different things will accompany the meat--french fries, lettuce, cucumbers, or onions for example.
The shawarma shown above is from a place close to our house--it has chicken, onions, garlic mayonnaise sauce, and french fries (top right of shawarma). I read somewhere that the fries are used inside the shawarma because they soak up the meat and vegetable juices and sauces--keeping them inside the wrap, instead of dripping out.
Note: Even Erik liked these enough to eat them 'as is.' In other words, he didn't have to pull them apart and separate the different ingredients into piles before eating them. I consider that a win!
The drink you see in the picture is a mint lemonade--lemon juice with finely chopped fresh mint mixed in. It seems to be a popular--or at least widely available--drink here. I love both lemon and mint, so this is a treat for me! I've tried this drink a couple places and some of them are pretty tart--I'm not sure that they added any sugar to the lemon juice!
It's always interesting seeing things through the eyes of children. Before we moved, we of course talked quite a bit about Saudi and some of the things the kids could expect, what would be different, what would be the same, new rules, etc.
1. After watching a promotional video about Saudi that a friend lent us, Erik--with total sincerity--said "Mom, that is so cool that you get to dress like a Ninja!!"
As a quick side note, as a non-Muslim foreigner I don't actually have to cover my face or hair. So I don't 'get' to wear the whole 'Ninja' outfit. However, I do have to wear the black dress--called abaya--when I am out in public.
2. After Ben arrived in Saudi, he took pictures of what would soon be our new home so that the kids and I could see it. Elizabeth's comment? (Unfamiliar with what a beday is. . . ) "Mom, why are their sinks so short?"
