For lack of much else to photograph right now, I’m posting a picture of our new home. It’s a large enough house surrounded entirely by a high wall and has two living rooms, one for men and one for women, along with other peculiarities, such as A/C that refuses to turn off (UPDATE: The control was hidden behind a refrigerator, so one problem solved) and a lack of built-ins Americans take for granted. It is one of the few houses in this quarter that actually has a garden with grass, so is great for Sahraa.

We were taken to an old souk this evening to go abaya shopping. (I wore one of my loaners with a headscarf.) I don’t think I’ve ever seen traffic like that in my life, and it must have taken two hours to get there in what should have been a 20-minute drive. But it was fascinating, with crowds of people out buying for the religious holiday that runs though all of next week. The women were all dressed in their very conservative abayas and head covering, with only eyes showing and the regulation black, but what I discovered was that most of them are beautifully decorated – a real fashion statement! There were countless abaya shops, staffed entirely by men (!) but filled to capacity with women looking for a special one for the holiday. We went back to the shop I had liked when suddenly the lights went out and all customers immediately exited (or were pushed out of) the store. It seems that the religious police were in the souk, and all these shops close (I was told because they are selling “flashy” abayas, even though it’s mandatory to wear this kind of dress). We went back in later, and the same thing happened. At this point I decided I wasn’t going to get my own abaya that evening (and was disappointed because with the decoration, some of them were actually quite nice looking ;-)). We were heading out to find our driver when who do we see but the religious police! I knew who they were without even being told, but these two didn’t seem as frightening as the pictures I had seen, although I know they can be. Unfortunately, taking any pictures in the souk was totally out of the question, and what a pity because it was fascinating – a real slice of life here. Back through less heavy traffic to a McDonald's for some comfort food as by that hour there was no time to make dinner.

I was thinking of starting a blog but really have no time for that at present, so for the time being will relate Riyadh adventures here. I don’t know how many of them there will be, but this in fact was a great evening that I wanted to share.