We walked over a couple of blocks to where the store was. (It's very small, basically just a convenience store but they did carry pretty much anything you would want.) I didn't take a picture of it but it's really just a small market. Next to that is the restaurant. We were the only ones in there for most of the time. The restaurant is also very small and kind of looks like a small hotel restaurant. Nothing fancy but nice enough. It is the only restaurant on the compound so I have the feeling that we will be eating there a lot. The coffee was very good and I had an omelette with something called beef ham and tomatoes. Did I mention that there is no pork here at all? Strictly forbidden. (Exact opposite of Macau because they put pork in everything!) Anyway, just for the record... beef ham tastes exactly like pork ham. Oh, and I also thought that it was funny that they offered me either french fries, or mashed potatoes with my omelette.
After eating, we walked back and checked out the closest pool, and also the gym. Both very nice. I could tell that if I stayed at home, I would probably just fall asleep, so we decided to go drive around and look at stuff a little. For this, I needed my abaya because I have to wear it if we leave the compound, even if I am just in the car. We went to get into the car (which is parked in uncovered parking) and it was beyond a million degrees in there. Even with both the doors open and the air conditioner on, it took a while before it was cool enough to even get in. Add to this a polyester abaya and my previous condition of "feeling pretty good" went downhill fast. I think that I was out for maybe 10 minutes before I started feeling a little woozy. Also, I didn't have any water on me and since it is Ramadan right now they fast during the daylight hours and nothing goes into the mouth until prayer time after sundown. This includes things like water and cigarettes. (Not that I smoke, but I am a little hooked on water.) It would be considered rude and offensive to be drinking in front of people.
We decided to just go to the grocery store and then go back home. I really wanted to go to the grocery store anyway not only to see it, but apparently in my absence, Matt has been living in an all carb environment. Luckily, for some reason I have not paid any attention to the exchange rate here so I just tossed whatever I wanted into the cart having pretty much zero idea what it costs. If I knew, I'm sure there were several items that I would have put back, but in this case, ignorance is bliss. $165 US dollars later, we left with ... not that much stuff, but there is now at least a little protein in the apartment.
I was pretty out of it the whole time so I really wasn't taking any pictures, but I did manage to snap a few of the outside of the compound just so I would have something to report back! I took them with my Ipod so they are not that great but they will have to do for now! This picture shows where we exit the compound.
This is just a picture of what the compound looks like from the outside. It's very long and there is barbed wire all along the top.
This is a picture of how you enter the compound. Each car gets checked for bombs. It actually doesn't take that long though.
This is the guy checking underneath the car with a mirror.
After you get through, you have to weave in and out of these concrete barriers. There are about 20 of them and bunches of speed bumps. (Not so good if you are not feeling well.) After you get through all of that there is place with a machine gun inside. You can't really see it though because they cover it up with a web type material.
Then, after all that, you come out into the compound. To me, it kind of just looks like Vegas. It definitely feels like Vegas weather at the hottest time of the year! It knocked me out anyway. I was pretty much useless for the rest of the day. Matt wanted me to go to the Iftar breaking of the fast at the Four Seasons Hotel, but I was not up for it. We stayed in and ordered dinner from the restaurant and watched a movie. This morning I woke up at 4:00 AM and couldn't get back to sleep so here I am!
On a personal note, I was fiddling with the template because it was to hard to read the posts with such a busy background. I just wanted something simple and the orange/salmon color amongst the thumbnail choices just caught my eye so I made my choice and uploaded the new background. When I went to view the blog afterwards, the pictures on the sides caught my eye. Humming birds. Not exactly something that I was expecting to see in Saudi Arabia, however, also not a surprise. Here is why. My Grandma died in June and she was just the most amazing person in the world. Several years before she died, she started talking to me about coming back to visit after she is gone. She said that she wouldn't come back as anything scary and she suggested a white butterfly. But I said, no that would just look like a moth! So she said, you choose then. So I thought about it and after much consideration, I chose a hummingbird because she always had 2 hummingbird feeders outside her window by the dining room table. During her last few months we talked about dying a lot and she was a little worried about it and leaving all of us behind, but I told her that after she was gone, she would be able to go anywhere and see anything she wanted. I guess she stopped by for a visit. (Hi Grandma! Miss you! Love you!)
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