My Trip to Jeddah

Hello,
2 days and a few hours was certainly not enough! Who knew that life away from Khamis -Mushayt was so liberal, western and different... A breath of fresh air after being locked away on a compound in little, remote, and extremely conservative Khamis for 3 months... We traveled to Jeddah with our good friends and next-door neighbors, Christopher, Christelle, and their, son Gabin. The driving on the way down to Jeddah (especially down the escarpment) was crazy but not any different than we expected. When you live in the Kingdom you learn to close your eyes, expect anything but what you would expect if you were back on planet Western Civilization, and be ready to die at every corner... Some people think they know but you will never understand unless you come to Saudi and see with your own eyes... I cannot begin to describe how bazaar it is simply driving to the Hyper Panda (a huge Super Target or Walmart like grocery chain.)
In Saudi Arabia most gas stations look like Vegas Hotels. They are completely tiled in beautiful designs and often in amazing formations. The actual pumps are nothing spectacular and would be way out of date if plopped into the States. However the gas, as expected, is extremely cheap. In the States, to fill up our Suburban it would cost around 70 dollars, here to fill are car (slightly smaller than a Suburban) it costs 20 SR or about 5 dollars... WOW! Another strange custom in Saudi is that connected to most gas stations there will be a Mosque... Why not? Anyway at one particular gas station on the way to Jeddah there was a little tub/sink, exactly like the one I have in my basement back home in Indiana... hanging from the tub was a little plastic tea cup. It had obviously not been washed in over 10 years and was filthy. While we were filling up several groups of boys arrived. They were on their way to go play a bit of soccer at the field of dust and dirt across the street. One group of boys walked up and two more came- driven by a boy somewhere between the age of 7 and 12. We watched as each of the boys went up to "the cup" (as we had begun calling it) and took a drink. We cringed every time someone took a sip, and uttered “eww's” and “grose's.” Eventually, we moved on and spotted a oh so common (not sarcastic) filthy old mattress on a wire bed sitting in the dirt that we suspected was used for relaxation like a hammock. Anyway, we stopped for dinner at a little beach and then we continued on to Jeddah.

Jeddah is defiantly different from Khamis-Mushayt.... It is a lot hotter for one thing. And there are a ton of Western restaurants. For example, AppleBees, Burger King, TGIFridays, and several others. We went first to the hotel's breakfast buffet that included hot breakfast as well as fruit and pastries. Then we would go to the private beach owned by the hotel. There we were able to take of our abayas and feel like we were at a normal beach. We would order lunch and head back to the hotel at 2:00 to shower up and then go shopping. The first day we went to IKEA... My favorite store in the whole world. There, I purchased a throw blanket for the end of my bed, some lucky bamboo, a comforter cover, a clock, a vase (for the lucky bamboo), and my mom and dad bought me a huge mural on canvas of the Flat Iron Building in New York. When we were done at IKEA we went to a beautiful Italian restaurant we ate late like Europeans and didn't start dinner until about 9:00. Tatum, Tadhg, and Cam all fell asleep during dinner and were carried off by waiters. The waiters put them on couches located in the lobby and brought them pillows. The next day it was the same routine. But instead of IKEA, Mom, Christelle, Christopher, Gabin, and I went to the mall. We came home and dad had already taken the kids to eat at Burger King and then taken them for ice cream. Gabin, the adults, and I went to the hotel’s dinner buffet and then got to bed at midnight. The next morning was our last. We went to the breakfast buffet and then went back to our bungalow to pack. Christelle and Gabin would not be returning with our family and Christopher. They would be staying on the Jeddah compound with another friend who lives on our compound.

Lately, I have been more homesick as ever... I have also been a real slacker when it comes to blogging. I promise that I will try to be consistent once again...

Keenan