Party Time!

Right after our last break - half a semester ago now - we had a party at Dar Al Uloom. It was to celebrate Eid - well, the holiday we had just had.

There was a (very big) cake.



Underneath that perfect creamy icing, half of it was chocolate and half was vanilla. It was a bit like Alice in Wonderland eating from two sides of the mushroom.

And then there were drinks



and lots of other yummy foods



even doughnuts, and Arabic coffee



and crisps for those who don't have a sweet tooth.



And everyone came (staff and students), and had a good time. But I can't show you any pictures of the party-goers.)

Gotta love Ikea!

I had never been to Ikea before (really!), although I was familiar with the ads.

Our students in Norwich had to do a project about it for their business studies. And I heard people in China telling of how lounging around in Ikea was a favourite Sunday afternoon activity, especially when the weather is unpleasant and home is not so comfortable.

But now I have been there, several times! There is a great restaurant, and it is generally an all-round interesting place to spend a few hours in this you-can't-walkabout-outside type of place.

Buying Furniture

Of course, buying furniture at Ikea is yet another adventure in itself. You walk around the "Showroom" part of the store and there are little pencils and pads for you to note down the numbers and prices of items that you fancy. Then you go down to the warehouse section and select a cardboard box that in no way resembles the item of furniture!

The price is "right", because when you get your cardboard box home there is still a fair amount of work to do and tools needed.



Peter is quite the carpenter and home handyman and has created furniture from scratch (and from scrap) in the past. But when Stanley (our Indian driver) caught sight of our cardboard box he became quite excited. Obviously when he was a little boy he always wanted (and didn't get) a Meccano set or even Lego!



So Peter was quite happy to sit down and let Stanley play. A chest of drawers is actually remarkably complex, I learnt, especially when it's a good one.

So how did it end up? Was it like one of Homer Simpson's spice racks??



Look at that! Perfect - just like a bought one! And the drawers glide in and out as smooth as silk.

So now that we are in the bedroom, why don't we take a little look around? In the UK we bought ourselves a "Kingsize" bed, and it was 5' wide. In Oz, of course, that is only "Queensize", and Kingsize is 6' wide. Well, here they like their beds BIG.



It's impossible to get perspective in a photo like this, but this one seems to be Royal Family Size.

And then, with our indoors lifestyle, we had to put aside the wiggy little TV that came with the apartment, in favour of a real TV. (It still looks small in this spacious room.)



(Yes, it's a Sony). And yes, all TV programs seem to come with Arabic subtitles.

With all this space and no outdoors, this is where we play our sports as well. It was really difficult to get a clear picture of Peter playing "Wii sports".



Now we have two sets of remotes so we can play together at the same time against each other. FUN!!

When you have to live indoors a lot you need two things - TV and Internet.

So here is our Internet setup.



That white thing with the aerials is our modem which picks up the Internet wirelessly, and then is connected by cables (lots of cables!) to our computers. We also have a modem in the sitting room supposedly picking up TV channels, but quite honestly there is rarely anything to pick up.

So - we are well set up, and comfortable, despite not being able to run in the park.

Moving Mountains

Yeeeessss I know it's been a while, but I've been very very busy. My job grew and I'm no longer just a teacher, so I don't get a lot of time for my favourite activity - writing.

Flat Riyadh - ?

Riyadh gives the impression of being a very flat place with no hills.




But it isn't entirely true. If you look closely.



That building in the distance that looks a bit like a bottle opener is the Kingdom tower in the city centre. And just in front of it to the left a little you can see the remnants of a hill.

In some countries we would build on the hill. But here the hills are dug away and the materials used to make the buildings.

Where we live we are surrounded by building sites.
The building next door on one side of our building is almost finished.



And on the other side there is a large vacant block.



And then early one morning we were awoken by a lot of noise out there on the empty block.



At first we thought, "Oh, no! Now they are going to start building on that block and it will be noisy all the time!'
And over then next few days the trucks just kept on coming and dumping dirt.



Soon the pile was higher than the first floor. And then they started adding rocks as well.



So now we have our own hill.

One morning I was startled to look out of our living room window and come face-to-face with a chap on a digger. (He looked pleased with himself, after all I wasn't wearing an abaya!)



Do you think I should run up and down it a few times??

So what is it? (I hear you ask). Well, they are building a new building down the road, and first they have to dig the foundations, basement etc. In the next street there is a very big hole, and they had to dump it all somewhere.

Up on the roof

It's easy for a Western woman to feel quite trapped in this city. So the rooftop of our building is the one place out of doors where a girl can go without having to cover up and become invisible.



It was just a hard bare space when we came, but nowadays it's much friendlier.



We have a gas barbecue. (That's Paul - he's a bit too tall to get the whole of him in one photo.)
And other furniture ...



and we can sit around and have get-togethers in the coolth of the evenings.



Playing the Game

And then Stanley (our Indian driver) saw a little badminton kit in the shops and persuaded Peter ...



Stanley loooves playing badminton. But the little kit came with only two shuttlecocks.



And soon they had both gone over the side!

But he got them back, and lived to play another game or three



Young "Tiger" wanted to play too ...



... but then ... ! Oh! there goes another shuttlecock!



Where did it go, and what's down there? (I hear you ask).



It's one of the many "light wells" in this place. Some windows are on the inside of the building and therefore open into a light well. But on the top floor all of the windows open into a light well or the roof-top "garden" area - can't risk having people looking into other people's houses or gardens.

Even higher up

I climbed to the top section of the roof (again)



because it's such a good view. Oh, and that's K.

Over the front side of the building I noticed something going on.



All those people down there - pretty unusual. Are they ... ?



Yep, they are! A bunch of Indian chappies playing cricket, in their robes 'n' all. (Of course, this is the "bachelor quarter" of the city.)

Oh I've been to the desert in a bus with no windows ...

Know the song? (about 'the horse with no name')

Are you familiar with the (quite old-fashioned) saying:

"Children should be seen and not heard" ... Well, in this country women should never be seen.

The rain has gone away again, and it was finally the girls' turn to go to the desert. The female faculty members (us) and staff (office and administrators) were all invited.

I sat on a bus crowded with women in full cover-up mode (except for us foreign women who were wearing our black abayas but not head coverings). Women are not permitted to drive, and so in the presence of a male driver the women were all required to be covered. I found myself staring at the eyes peering through the slits in the headgear and listening to the excited voices chattering in Arabic, trying to recognise by their voices the women I work with day by day at the college. Of course, traveling by bus is in itself an unusual experience for the ladies. There are no public buses in this city.



And the windows of our bus (the 25-seater bus we travel to work in every day) are totally covered over. I glimpsed some spectacular scenery through the little square of windscreen that was visible from my seat, but couldn't take any photos.



The farm belongs to a relative of the (female) Deputy Rector of the University. In order for us to visit, all of the men associated with the farm had to leave.

Of course when we got there, and the bus and driver had left, all the women uncovered and relaxed, and it was well worth the trip.



The word "oasis" takes on new meaning when you see the stark reality here.



The ubiquitous palm trees are growing on the very edge of the desert,



bearing luscious dates.



And then, of course, there are the very valuable camels.
For what? Well they are not used for transport any more ... I think they race them. And I have seen camel milk, and camel meat products in the supermarkets.
(We keep telling them that we have a million and more wild camels in Oz that we'd all like to get rid of ...)



The farm house is a lovely relaxing place to be.



This outside room (patio?) was where we spent most of the day. More carpets were brought, and cushions and chairs and there was room for the whole group.



Inside - this would be such a nice,cool place to live!

This is one of several large sitting rooms.



Those cushion-sofas were easily moved into our outside area, along with the elbow-rest cushions - very comfy!



Flat roof - another place to relax, and with a view of the desert.



The buildings in the distance are where the camels are housed and fed ... and if this blog had smell-a-vision, you would know why they are so far from the homestead!



Despite the desert being so close, the garden is fresh and green and pleasant. (I don't know what it's like here in the summer with the 60 degree heat and dust storms!)



Another barbecue area with a rolled up carpet all ready to roll ...

Because, of course, early evening (and morning I would guess) is when the desert is at its best.



Absolutely the best time to walk in the desert.

And then back to the farm house.



Then it was time to abaya-up ... a quick smoke on the roof for Sally ...



And back in the bus to the big noisy city.

Now why didn't they build the college out there in the desert?