Surviving the Sandbox: On the Procurement of Sustenance

On of my favourite things about being in a new place, is checking out the local supermarkets.  I love the fact that such an everyday sort of activity can actually become an adventure, or a complicated and frustrating affair.  Riyadh, in this way, does not disappoint.

Grocery shopping in Riyadh is a family affair - couples come together along with all of their children and more than likely, their nanny.  Which means the grocery store is frequently no less than utter chaos!  Add to this the fact that the shopping carts aren't unidirectional and people don't have a problem pushing you out of the way to get what they want and you have complete pandemonium!

The best way to avoid this uncomfortable shopping experience is to expertly time your shopping to coincide with prayer time.  Saudi Arabia is (I think) unique in the middle east in that they actually enforce store closures during salat (the five prayer times throughout the day).  Now although prayer really only takes 5-10min the stores often close for more than 45 min.  Often you can see the store workers (who are likely expats and just as likely, not muslim) chatting at the tills while the store is closed - infuriating if you just want to get your Starbucks and go about your business.

But back to grocery shopping... if you can time it exactly right you can get into the grocery store just as they are closing for prayer and then do your shopping during the relative calm of salat.  The trick is getting in right on time and having a long enough list to sufficiently occupy yourself for the 45min (because no cashiers will take you until salat is finished).

If you get trapped in the store when you only wanted to grab milk, too bad!  But no worries, you can always entertain yourself with your camera phone...

For example:  Want to get your thobes their whitest and your abaayas their blackest?  New abaaya and thobe wash!

Or this one:  Culturally appropriate breakfast cereal!

As far as what you can buy in Riyadh there really isn't much difference from home.  Many Saudi's have lived in America, Canada or Great Britain at some point and come to appreciate brands from these places.  Also the large number of Western Expats in Saudi means that there is a market for most Western brands.  Tamimi (which is owned by Safeway) will import anything that Safeway carries overseas (I never actually put this to the test but I hear it's true).  Lulu prided itself on it's large number of imports and the manager often stalked us in the aisles to ask us if there were any products we would like him to start importing.  Case in point: before Christmas I was looking for molasses, the stock boy, after offering me cane syrup and bean paste (I don't think he really knew what molasses was) sadly told me they did not have it.  Two weeks later (after Christmas) I found a whole shelf of molasses marked with a large sign, "Just in from UK"!  

Surviving the Sandbox

I am not, it turns out, a very consistent blogger.  I alway knew this, but the last year seems to have thrown that into stark focus.  My efforts to blog about my time in the Middle East were quickly cut short by a most surprising revelation - I became paranoid about internet censorship.  Coming of course from Canada where we take for granted our ability to simply say what we think when we think it (at least before Stephen Harper became the grand poo-bah), I had never really considered what it would be like to be censored.  But then I arrived in Saudi Arabia and internet censorship was obvious and I started to think about what I was saying.  Then I realized that my blog was being read inside the kingdom and I started to become mildly paranoid.  And without much warning I found myself completely unable to write anything for fear that it might insult or incriminate.

Now safely out of the kingdom, I feel like I want to write about what that year was like from my perspective and about the things I learned as I lived, worked and traveled.  I'll admit that the paranoia was probably an overreaction (I'm probably not on anybody's radar) but it was nevertheless an interesting consequence of plunking myself down in such an extremely foreign culture.  So without promising a consistent, concise or even chronological blog, I am hereby undertaking to start chronicling my time in Saudi Arabia - semi-affectionately dubbed "The Sandbox".

Hopefully you will enjoy my musings!

Christina and I at a Saudi festival during our first month in Riyadh... I just like this picture, I think we look like we are conspiring (as roommate Amy pointed out, I often look like I am conspiring).

Boston is all in!

I arrived in Boston a little over a week ago, and from the moment I landed it became obvious - this is a city on the move. Running is a not just an activity here, it is a lifestyle and a mode of transport and a full out obsession. I arrived just in time for Marathon Weekend too which meant the whole city was buzzing with marathon madness... naturally I had to join in!

Just kidding! I am by no means a marathoner! I did however run the 5k race the day before the marathon and finished with a personal best time of 30:06! Definitely not world class but I was thrilled nonetheless. They even gave me a t-shirt and a finishers' medal - I was like a kid at Christmas!

The marathon itself was a great day too. It was literally 26.2 miles of street partying - people came out in droves to cheer on those crazy enough to run in the blistering heat (30 degrees Celsius at midday!) Boston really was all in. The sense of community was wonderfully conspicuous - people were cheering like mad for strangers, holding up signs of encouragement and making all kinds of noise as each wave of runners came by. I watched as two little sisters (reminding me of little Jessie and Kelsey) stood by the side of the road tenaciously holding out orange slices for the runners. When one runner finally took a slice from the older sister she literally squealed with excitement! There were also people who live along the marathon route who set up their own sprinklers next to the road so the runners could run through some refreshing cold water. I also heard that runners running for charity raised over $150 000 000 for various charities this year! Just wonderful!

We joined in all the excitement down the street from our house at mile 23. Standing among all that reverie, strawberry daiquiri in hand, I couldn't help but think of all the things going on that Saudi Arabia would deem "haram"; the alcohol being drunk, the pork being cooked up on the barbecues, the women in shorts and tank-tops, the fraternizing between men and women; and I loved it all! I am so glad and so thankful to be back!

Ma'salama Habibiti

This is it! No more says until I leave! Goodbye to the sandbox! Goodbye to abaayas! Leaving in just a few hours!

Protected

My apartment building is surrounded by barbed wire, has a security guard at the door and soldiers with a gun mounted on a truck sitting outside on the street... I'm not entirely sure what they are meant to be protecting us from. I will be happy to live in a place again where I can just go about my business.

Just one day before I leave!

Street View

This is the street in front of my apartment... Good old Al Takhassosi street. The sign clearly show how to get to Mecca from my place (the little black square thing in the top left corner).

Just two more days!

Happy Easter

Any religion other than Islam is not just discouraged here in the kingdom, it is actually illegal! They don't seem to understand how religion and daily life can be quite separate for many people; how coloured eggs can be just that or a Christmas tree simply a tree. All the same, it does make colouring eggs seem like a much more dangerous and rebellious activity than it really is.