Andrea's Most Recent Adventures in Saudi Arabia!

I have some interesting stories for you today.....

1.     Sadly, there are soooo many women/homeless beggars. They walk up to the car and tap, while you are waiting at the red light. At first I felt so sad for them, but then found out that they make thousands of dollars a month! I then realized that I shouldn’t feel sorry for them at all because they are getting money for doing nothing. However, I did decide that if the same type of woman is selling something, like snacks or water – then I will buy. There was even an anti-beggar campaign, where the local newspaper suggested to not give to beggars, because it promotes the same lifestyle.

2.    I will also buy from the people who sell cotton candy at the red lights. Each bag cost 1 SR (about 25 cents/bag).

3.    The ice-cream truck sits at the beach, selling treats. It is covered in neon lights and you can see it from a mile away. It’s so pretty!

4.    Vendors do charge me more money, even if my head is wrapped. They hear me speak English-that is why. We went to buy notebooks for the kids and they wanted to charge 15 SR (about $3.50) per notebook. Sohail went to the shop beside and got the same notebook for 5 SR (about $1.25)! So, now it is my goal to learn more Arabic so that I can trick the shop owners-and save some money!

5.    I went clothes shopping a few days ago. The American size on the clothes, is not actually the size that it says. I have to add 3 sizes to get the right size. This is a weight loss motivator, though.

6.    To get a really good deal on kids clothes, you have to go to the stores that don’t have American sizes on the tags. Me and Rayesa went to a store and every size outfit said, size 2-5, but they were all different sizes. Luckily, the one that we got her, did fit her. But the white jeans that she got, ended up fitting Malik better!

7.    We cannot find BBQ ribs here. We thought that we did the other night, but they ended up being lamb chops (ewww…I do not like eating lamb). However, the kids are easily tricked with lamb. They think its beef. But, the ribs we got with BBQ sauce were so spicy that Rayesa cried because she was so disappointed.

8.    We also tried to order ribs (twice) at TGI Friday’s. They have not received a shipment in 3 weeks. The same thing happened at Applebee’s. So-hopefully, we will satisfy Rayesa’s rib craving, soon!

9.    In Arabic, there is no letter “Bb” in the alphabet. So Pepsi is called Bebsi….!

10.  Grocery stores are usually 2 floors high or on the 2^nd floor of a mall. At each store, a guy empties out the cart for you, bags everything and takes the cart out to your car for you. Then, he puts the bags in the trunk of the car for you. I like this. Usually we tip these guys.

11. Hahaha.....bra's are sold on street corners here....and by men. I will not be buying bra's here!

Photo disclaimer: All of these images are from google.com.