child drivers

One peculiarity of Riyadh is that there seems to be no minimum age where Saudis deem it acceptable for one to begin driving. As such it's not unusual to see young boys behind the drivers seat in a vehicle - it's a daily occurrance to see them on the road. And let me stress that the correct label to apply is indeed "boys" as it is questionable as to whether even half of them have passed puberty yet. This whole post was prompted by a picture I took of a boy in the car next to us at a traffic light (decided not to post it). He had no seatbelt, and his little brother was sitting next to him in the passenger's seat, also with no seatbelt, and barely able to see over the dashboard. Oh yeah, and big brother also had a lollipop sticking out of his mouth. Nice touch.

Needless to say, I cannot fathom what twist of logic brings a society to the conclusion that a Y chromosome makes little boys more fit to drive than me. But here we are. >blah blah blah angry angry arghh!! blah blah blah<

Blatant sexism aside, what of the question of what age a person is deemed old enough - mature enough - to drive?? Is 16 a logical and fair number, or is it arbitrary? A lot of countries have a minimum age of 18. But I understand in parts of the U.S. that have a lot of farmland, some people have to learn how to drive in their early teens out of practicality. Here, where only men can drive, the policy cuts into the number of drivers in a household; does it necessitate that men learn at a younger age in order to keep everything running?

You know, I think I can see people debating age, but I can't see them debating seatbelts. Seatbelts won this debate a long time ago. Back to that picture, it just totaly riles me up for a mulititude of reasons. And every time I look at it I just want to rip that lollipop out of that boy's mouth and knock it on his skull till he put his seatbelt on! I should probably just delete it...

Diamond Restaurant

Of course I have to blog about Diamond now that I've mentioned the Localizer. Because why? Because Diamond restaurant is located in the Localizer mall. One of the entrances is located inside at the end near the Second Cup, the great and hallowed Canadian landmark.

We went this past Thursday night with a group of people to eat around nine and boy were we glad that we had reservations. This place was hopping. The decor was Asian, reflecting the menu, and some of the booths had those Chinese style roofs jutting down from above. There's also a porn style smattering of mirrors on the ceiling, which I had a good laugh about. But the best part of the layout is that the entire section in the middle is quite open instead of sectioning everyone off into booths, and it makes you feel like you're at any other restaurant in any other city.

I cannot resist going into detail about their Happy Birthday serenade. At Diamond, it is not singing, it's drums and chanting. And when I say drums, I don't mean little toy drums, I mean loud, booming, conversation stopping drums. After the seventh time it 0can get a bit old. And I'm not using poetic license here - I literally counted seven Happy Birthday Beheading Jungle Chants.

Anyhow, onto the thing you actually care about, the food. The food was good. I would describe it as Asian fusion rather than real Asian food. Spoiled little me from Toronto will attest that none of it is really how true Chinese, Thai, Japanese or Korean food is prepared, but Fusion has its own rightful place as a type of cooking style, and they do a decent job of it. I'm sure it depends on what you order, but everything we had was satisfying. The Noodle House in Centria Mall is probably a level above this in their fusion food - but Diamond's not too bad as long as you are not expecting expert Schechwan cooking from a Master Chef. I guess ditto goes for Mirage and the Gulf Royal (or is it Royal Gulf?) that are all part of the same chain and therefore have the same menu.

The day a true Chinese or Korean man sets up a proper, quality shop in this city is the day they decimate the competition. And that is the day I will show up expectantly, holding a pair of chopsticks and a camera.

Localizer Mall

I was at the Localizer this weekend and thought I'd write a bit about it. The Localizer is famous for being one of the pre-eminent male malls of Riyadh. Sound ridiculous? It's totally not! It's a mall where men are allowed to roam free without being bothered by security for travelling in packs. What kinds of things can you buy there? If you are really into expensive T-shirts, you have just found paradise. If you would like to have an animal of your choice stuffed at a machine - well again, you are in luck. And a watch covered in fake diamonds? Boy, you are on a roll!

Many of the malls in Riyadh have a no singles policy in effect on the weekends, a rule designed mainly to keep groups of young men from harrassing women. Which sort of begs the question of where these men *are* harrassing women if it's not at malls. In Toronto, we have designated harrassment spots: clubs, bars, Yonge street... It's very different for Saudi men though, very different indeed.

To be fair, if you live here, you might understand why single men are banned from malls on the weekend. It's not like I haven't had obscene things whispered into my ears before, but there's a different quality to the rude stuff you see here when you do see it - something a bit more intense. In such a conservative country you can sort of see why there's no tolerance for it. I just don't know whether to be glad about the ban, or feel sorry for the men.

Anyhow, there you have it. Localizer Mall. Enjoyyy

Canada demolishes USA

OKAY folks, if you are Canadian, you know that hockey is not just a sport. It is THE sport. Yesterday's Olympic gold medal match was not just about winning another gold, it was about a long standing David and Goliath competition that has been going on for years now. It's not just that we won gold in a magnificent overtime goal by a god on skates, no, it was that we won it against the U.S. Don't get me wrong - the U.S. is our friend, our affectionate if not a bit opinionated big brother. But when it comes to hockey.... oooh boy, that is different. That is like the war of 1812 where we draw the line, stand our ground, and if need be, shoot you mofo's down and set fire to your White House.

The truth is, we know we are outmatched by our neighbour to the south in practically every way. They have more money, more people, more talent, more brainpower, more tanks and guns, more glitz and grandeur, more power, more everything than us. And now, even the NHL which was Canada's domain in the golden Gretzky years is dominated by American teams, and has been for a while. It makes Canadians sad. Most of us don't cry about it, but some of us get quite close. And if you are from Toronto, you know we are extra miserable about losing our chance at the Stanley Cup every frickin frackin fruckin season since 19-fr@#ing-'67 ARGHefhiIHF!!!

Now when we look at the Olympics, and take all our boys back from the American teams they've migrated to, and we compare which country is better, it feels good to know that yes indeed, we are still better at SOMEthing! Yes, it's a bit of an inferiority complex that fuels the rage and passion, but can you blame us? We are small, and yes we do have a rodent as a national symbol, but doggone it, we don't always want to be famous for poutine and peacekeeping.

Anyhow, for anyone curious, I stayed up to watch this game. My friends at home are probably snickering at this, because I'm not a sports person at all. But being an ex-pat makes you patriotic. My hubby and I also went to the Canadian Embassy tonight to watch the game again, with pizza and beer - a traditional Canadian meal. We all stood for the national anthem at the end of the game and sang together. It was so nice to feel like we were close to home, where they are probably all still celebrating.... Go Canada Go!!!!

p.s. not that it affects his ability to govern, but doesn't Stephen Harper look a bit pudgy in a jersey?

Saudi houses

So what's it like to be rich in Saudi Arabia? Well everyone lives in a castle. Don't believe me? See for yourself:




Hubster and I took a walk the other day. Prayer time rolled around and we weren't fast enough to get a coffee and sit down somewhere, so we went for a stroll instead, and it was so much fun! After you have circled your compound for the one hundred thousandth time, a walk outside when you're not being boiled alive is actually a lot of fun. The houses all look very different, as opposed to the entire communities in Canada that have basically the same house. We watched a bunch of people walking to their neighbourhood mosque during prayer, and then coming back to their homes afterwards. You'll notice that every house has a wall around it and the windows usually aren't terribly big. The style is reflective of the desire that this culture has for privacy. As you can see, no expense is spared when they are building their castles.



While we were out and about, a Saudi pulled up to us and asked us a couple of times if we needed any assistance. When we told him we were just out for a walk, he asked where we were from. Once he found out we were Canadian, he got all excited and gave us his phone number, telling us to call him if we ever need anything. It was nice to see a bit of that famous Saudi hospitality.

Hope we get to squeeze in a few more walks before it gets unbearably hot here.

Another day, another sandstorm

We had a decent looking sandstorm pass over our way yesterday. I am so glad that when we left the house at noon we left all the windows open. That way, when we came back at four, we could enjoy the beautiful brown dusting of dirt covering everything we own. I am pretty much still typing on dust. It's a special kind of dust, though, somewhere between dust and dirt.


People say that you can smell a sandstorm. My olfactory nerves must be shot or something because I can never really detect the smokey smell that people say appears. The one thing that does happen to me, though, is coughing. It only takes a few breaths of that air to begin hacking away. My throat usually starts to burn or feel parched if I am in it for very long, so needless to say, everyone stays indoors.

The house arrest continues today (not to say that I'm not under house arrest *anyway*) as the sand clears up.

What are you supposed to do with that hose?

So continuing on my bathroom theme....I can feel your excitement, reader. I feel it right through the computer screen....I thought it would be of interest to westerners to learn that most upscale bathrooms in a lot of the malls / hotels / restaurants you will frequent here in Riyadh have a hose in each stall perched daintily on the wall.

I've never touched one, because I'm working on the assumption that the probability of people using the hose prior to doing their business is far outstripped by the probablity that people are using it afterwards. Being Canadian and thus squeamish about anything that could remotely be theoretically dirty, I've often sat and pondered the hose issue. More than once, I have been washing my hands, asking my reflection, "what are you supposed to do with that hose?" But inevitably, once I leave the bathroom my curiosity moves onto other things, and out back in the open air the hose and its mysteries are left behind in the stall.

Well well well. Now we are covering it on my blog. Why? Because yesterday the heavens opened up and all my hose related questions were answered. Now my best guess was that you use it as you would a bidet. You know, to clean your nether-regions. I don't know why I thought it was a good guess...maybe because it was my only guess, because my imagination limits what I would do with a stream of water in a bathroom stall. Looking back, this doesn't make sense, because I've happened upon more than one stall where there was water *everywhere* - all over the seat, the toilet, the floor - everything. Now you are thinking "water gun" right? Well that's not totally off the mark.

Ladies and gentleman, it turns out people use the hose to clean off the toilet!!! After certain people do their business, we shall say...remnants are sometimes left over in different places.... So basically, the hose can help you be confident that the next user will not be shooting you a dirty look as you exit the bathroom.

Anyhow expats, hopefully this will save you from an embarrassing conversation somewhere in Riyadh. **edit - see comments for clarifications from the locals**