Saudi Post

 

We have used the postal services in KSA a few times. The success rates are pretty erratic. Some postcards have not reached their destinations but some have. Most of the mail that has been sent to us has never reached us or has reached us after some considerable delays. The other day when T was leaving KSA for the weekend he decided to take his chances at the King Khalid International Airport and buy some stamps for postcards. The first step in this process was to wake the guy behind the counter up. After the business had been conducted successfully (stamps had been received and paid for) he received some pretty interesting literature (without specifically asking for it). Here’s a picture:

This made us wonder if the true purpose of the post office is something else than carrying mail from place A to place B?

Christmas gift ideas part II

If authentic Iranian rugs are not your thing, how about reading some world literature classics this Christmas?

This particular classic was on promotion at the Jeddah airport. Too bad I had to hurry to catch my flight so I guess I will be postponing the start of my Arabic language studies once again.

Fancy a Rug?

A Christmas gift idea… authentic rugs from Iran and apparently Afghanistan are available at Mubarakiya Souq. Check it out.

If someone wants one lemme know and maybe we can come to an agreement of some sort.

Parking Saudi style

In this photo you see an ordinary 2-lane street in a business district of Riyadh's downtown. Cars not parked (i.e. the ones that are using the street for its original purpose) are highlighted in the picture.

P.S. One might wonder what to do if you find yourself "boxed in"? You just sit tight and honk the horn until the idiot shows up.

Self-portrait

Just wanted to share this self-portrait with the world. Taken in Dubai last weekend, at what I guess could be called an almost authentic beduin camp that offers tourists the wonderful experience of seeing an eastern European (we are guessing here, but definitely not Arabic) girl belly dancing. They also offered us the opportunity to try on Arabic clothes, get henna tattoos and try camel riding. No one was brave enough to try the camels but we sure had fun trying on the Arabic clothes.