Entertainment, in Saudi Arabia, can be tough to come by. Your free time options are a) stay home, b) eat, and c) go shopping. Staying home is great, and we have a lot of fun with friends here on the compound. But no matter where you live, you don't want to spend your entire life … Continue reading I Feel Pretty II: Return to the Princess Souk
Category: Saudi culture
Saudi Newspaper Notes: Fatwa Edition
Rules can be problematic. No sooner have you made one than some loophole appears that you never thought of. A technicality. A weird application. A four-year-old. Consider, for example, something as simple as "No cookies before dinner." Aha! You didn't say WHICH dinner. I ate dinner yesterday. Gimme a cookie. This is a persistent problem … Continue reading Saudi Newspaper Notes: Fatwa Edition
Arabian Holidays: Shopping the Souks
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style... Okay, so shopping is a little different here than what most Americans are used to. And the quantifying ALL the differences is way beyond what one blog post can hold. I should be able to milk this topic for a solid dozen. But this is a good … Continue reading Arabian Holidays: Shopping the Souks
Getting to the Bottom of Things
I'm exploring a theory--plumbing the depths, in fact--but I'm keeping my hopes for that Nobel Prize in economics in check. Pinched back, you might say. Here's the poop: I believe I've found a way to divide the world into first world, developing/emerging world, and third world that is completely void of controversy. What relief! A … Continue reading Getting to the Bottom of Things
Wading in a Winter Wonderland
We have rain! So I broke out the Christmas music and started a fire. I must admit the technology isn't perfect. Enjoying the season this way doesn't allow me to sit by the fire AND watch a movie, unless I unhitch the iPad and put the fire on the coffee table. But it's all worth … Continue reading Wading in a Winter Wonderland
I Feel Pretty
Here's how this week's adventure was pitched to me: People either love it or hate it. It's so gross. Keep an eye behind you. Don't walk alone if you don't want to be touched. Look up, not down. Bring your own water. There's no bathrooms. You'll want a shower when you get home. You can … Continue reading I Feel Pretty
An Ignition Key to the Kingdom
This is my current favorite picture of my twin grandson and daughter (you should be able to sort out which one is which): So many captions! So many word balloons! I can imagine a lifetime dynamic starting here, with Brother blithely going about his business and Sister a nano-second away from dope-slapping him on the … Continue reading An Ignition Key to the Kingdom
A Journey about/along/amid Immigration
You remember prepositions, right? Those location and direction words you are supposed to, at all costs, never let dangle? (e.g., "Yes, Mother, that is the mad ballah whose crib I was at" would be more correctly expressed as "Yes, Mother, that is the mad ballah at whose crib I was.") In school I had to … Continue reading A Journey about/along/amid Immigration
Adventure Among the Ruins
Despite what my earlier posts might indicate, I didn't come to Saudi-Almighty-Arabia to go to Chili's, or Applebee's (pft-pft kiss-fingers cross-yourself), or Tamimi (Safeway), or Saco (True Value), or even IKEA. No, I came for an Exotic Adventure. Well, if you're going to get technical about it, I came because I'm married to guy with … Continue reading Adventure Among the Ruins
Rookie Mistake, Part II: Getting It Right
Read any guidebook, magazine article, or travel post and you'll get the same tips about Paris: Don't go in August unless you want to wander an empty city. Greet shopkeepers when you enter their places of business. Keep your voice down. Dress well. In Madrid, don't go looking for dinner before 9:00. In London, don't … Continue reading Rookie Mistake, Part II: Getting It Right
Margo Catts 