Back in Saudi Arabia

Yup, I am back in Saudi Arabia and the jet lag after being out of country for four months is finally easing up a bit. No more middle of the day naps for five hours and no more popping awake at 3 AM after going to bed at midnight or 1 AM. Ah, it really is good to have my internal clock back on track once again.

Today, while we were checking out a new store, we got slapped down like real beginners in this country. We neglected to time our shopping as we should and ended up hurrying away from the grocery store empty handed. Here's what happened when we took an unplanned stop for some extra food shopping in the new Carrefour Hyper-Market in Al Khobar. We had loaded up a small basket with prime fruits, veggies, bread, and cheese and before we realized what was what, the entrance-exit gates started closing and we had to make a very quick getaway out of the store or we would have been shut inside the grocery store for god knows how long until they lifted the gates again. It could be anywhere from 15 to 45 min. and this was just a quick stop on the way home on a VERY, VERY hot day. You see, we had already been to another grocery store and had things in our car that would have been spoiled if we weren't able to get back to the car quickly. It is REALLY hot here right now...hot and humid, so food left in a sitting car can't be left long at all! We did run over to the one remaining checker who refused to help us and quickly locked up his machine, and with a really anxious look on his face, raced away. Oh boy, the powers that be have put the fear of Allah into these new foreign workers to get the heck GONE when prayer times hit! It was written all over his face! All the checkers had quickly left their stations by their cash registers and were heading...where? Who knows, but it was PRAYER TIME and they sure as heck better not be checking any last minute customers out, that was for sure. So, we very calmly just left our load of groceries on the check-out conveyor belt and rushed out the one half-lowered gate that was the only place to exit at this time and it was located at the very end of a huge wall of already lowered gates. Whew! We made it out and back to our car and headed home in record time.

Actually we were really not up-set at all. We are acclimated to this drop and run from stores around here. We should have never been caught like this. This was a very amateurish move on our part. After all, we have been here long enough to know better, so it really was our fault for not doing a better job of timing our visit to Carrefour Hyper-Market, which, by the way, is a massive store!

Amazing how one outing like this in this hot, humid climate can knock us off our feet for a whole day. Tomorrow we are going to go out on yet another adventure. We are going to check out the HUGE new Applebees that recently opened in Al Khobar down by the corniche. New restaurants are HUGE here because they have to accommodate the 'single' section for the men only and then the ''family' for the women and male relatives and children. Big sign on the new Applebees: WESTERN GRILL .