This friendly service announcement came through today.

“We would like to inform you of a potential outbreak of desert locusts migrating through the Eastern Province and surrounding areas. Therefore, please note the following:

Do not panic. Although they will come in large numbers, they are only passing through.

1. Keep your windows and doors closed.
2. Keep the kitchen ventilation hood off at home.
3. Stay inside until the sky is clear.

These measures will help prevent locusts from entering your home or office.

We care about your safety.”

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1629941/saudi-arabia

Mohammad Al-Shammrani, director of combating locusts and plagues at the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Water, told Arab News that the swarms came from East Africa.

I’m a little concerned that there is a permanent position overseeing locusts and plagues.

Charlotte is a card carrying Saudi Resident with a visa to travel to all of the neighboring countries. She can travel freely as long as she isn’t driving. The Resident card is known as an Iqama.
Today we visited the Security office to get a permanent Aramco ID for Charlotte so she can go in and out of the camp. Blood type is required and is listed on the ID. When asked for Charlottes blood type, I responded O. Response was O what? Meaning O positive or negative. I said just O and the lady accepted it.
35% of the world population is O positive. 13% of the world population is O negative. 1 person in the world is now plain O.

Abaya shopping at the Black Rose.  Charlotte finally accepted that you can have any color you want as long as it is black. Now she doesn’t have to wear the same grey sweater everywhere we go.

Bought a scooter for Charlotte to get around camp. There’s a motor in the back of this Honda.

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Bought Japanese Cheesecake because Saudi Arabia is the first place you think of when it comes to Japanese cheesecake.

Bought a new desk that didn’t come with directions or any bolts to put together. Went back to store and the 3 desks in stock are all missing the bolts. Took a picture of the floor model and took a bolt so I know what bolts I need to buy and how to assemble the desk. Still in search of a place to buy bolts.

Ate Lunch at Operation Falafel restaurant and Charlotte informs me she doesn’t like Falafel.

  Arabic has a different alphabet and different symbols for numbers.  Many road signs are in English and Arabic.  This speed limit sign is for 65 km/hr.  The Arabic symbols for 65 look like 70.  Saudi Arabia has speed cameras and red light cameras all over the place even in the camp.   Most of the camera locations are known so you see cars driving way over the speed limit then braking hard in the middle of the freeway.  This is just another layer of the crazy driving in Saudi.

 

  First weekend out, Charlotte followed the customs by wearing an abaya. This is in the restaurant in Ikea which was supposed to have good beef bacon, but did not. Croissants were very good. We really enjoyed the shopping cart so you didn’t have to carry your tray through the line and to your table.

Five days in Saudi Arabia and Charlotte is flaunting the rules with a grey sweater. Officially you don’t have to cover. Each day I see more or more expat women without an abaya. All Saudi women still wear an abaya.

 

 

 

Charlotte arrived on time Thursday night and made it through baggage claim and customs in 30 minutes. Charlotte wanted to go early shopping the next day at IKEA and Saco World the home goods store. She ended up sleeping until noon. Then we toured the camp and got food at the main commissary. At 2:00 pm we left for our early shopping trip. At 2:15 we arrive at the mall/shopping complex and everything is closed. After some google research, nothing opens until 3:30 to 4 pm. On Friday, IKEA is open from 3:30pm until midnight. We went into the mall and walked around the inside looking at the closed stores to kill the time until IKEA opened. We went into a shop selling abayas that looked to be open, but were kicked out. After a few hours in IKEA we went to Saco World. We ended up buying a couch, desk, dining table, TV stand, microwave and an air fryer. I have been here two months and have bought next to nothing. Charlotte is here one day and furnishes the house.

Furniture delivery from the store is going to be in 10 days. Salesman tells us he has a guy that can deliver the furniture in 2-3 hours for less money. I agree. Salesman says to go pay for furniture and ask for pick up, then meet him in the outdoor furniture section to give him the pick up receipt.

I give the salesman the receipt and he writes down on a piece of paper a phone number and the name Moktar.
We leave Saco at 6pm. I’m starting to worry Moktar is going to pick up my furniture and just keep it. At 10pm I have not heard from Moktar. I call him and he speaks little or no English. All I get out of the conversation is he is close. At 11pm Moktar calls and wants directions. I don’t really know where I live. He doesn’t understand English. Finally I text him my location on google maps. Below is the picture of us moving into the neighborhood with an 11:30pm furniture delivery. And while Moktar’s helper is carrying in one of the couch sections he hits the outside light glass cover causing it to fall to the ground and shatter.

In a stunning turn of events, Chili’s has chips and salsa. In a cruel twist of irony, no other food is available. Waiter keeps giving us the cryptic line that food will take some time.

I’m pretty much one of the coolest guys on camp because I have a car. I have been driving new arrivers to the mall, to Arabic class, to the grocery store, to Bahrain and out to eat. None of them are American. All are single guys waiting for their families to arrive in the near future. Hetain is from London. Gustav is from South Africa. Vytas is from Lithuania, Harish is from India, Ian is from Scotland. We all live in the same building which is designated for families with up to 2 kids. Bachelor men live in another section of camp. Single woman live in another section.

I’m also a food connoisseur and expert on restaurants. The group above all went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I drove. Cheesecake Factory is in a brand new restaurant complex in Khobar on the ocean. It is modern and on par with what you would find in the United States. It is super popular because there is no other place that even comes close. None of the guys had ever been to Cheesecake Factory. There was an hour wait for the factory so we decided to see if we could get into another restaurant. The guys had never heard of the other restaurants so I had to explain the menus for PF Chang’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Texas Roadhouse. We ended up at Cheesecake Factory for over 2 hours talking about backgrounds and we ended up in Saudi Arabia.

A-salamu Aleykum

I had been buying cheap generic biscuits, but today I decided to pay the extra money and get the Oreos. Never forget how good Oreos are. I have a lot of interaction with British people. I switch between Hello, Marhaba and Cheers Mate. I also decided to try Nutella.

I’m picking up quite a few British expressions like taking the piss out of someone. I learned that Londoners are referred to as Softies from those in the North. Manchester United only loses because the referees are biased. Not only are the referees biased, most should be banned for life. The British are very passionate about the Premier League. I have been driving around a British guy who is hesitant to drive because he is not used to driving on the right side of the road. Driving here is crazy to begin with. Can’t imagine having to deal with switching to the other side of the road.
The new people here are constantly converting money into their home currency to get a feel for how expensive things are. The British use the term quids for the British pound. So I hear people talk about prices in US dollars, Quids, Saudi Riyals and Bahranian Dinars. In my mind I convert everything to US dollars so I have a concept of what things actually cost.

SabaaH il-kheyr. Good morning in Arabic. Capital H is a hard “H”. kh is a throat clearing sound. I was able to say this to a native speaker who understood me. Made my day.