Well, we’re leaving Saudi Arabia tonight for good, after almost three years here. How funny is it that I didn’t want to come to Riyadh at all and almost stayed in Budapest, and now I’m very sad to be going. It has been an exotic adventure, and there isn’t a single day that I didn’t see something interesting when we went out – it was a constant fascination. Life here isn’t what I would call easy, yet I’ve been comfortable, albeit a bit isolated, working remotely from home as I do. The embassy community has been a great support, and I’ve met some wonderful people during our stay.

Before we arrived, and even on the night we first landed, I was told that photography was very difficult in the kingdom and that I wouldn’t be able to take many pictures. That obviously wasn’t the case since I’ve built up quite a large body of work during our time here – one just has to be careful about photographing people without their permission and government installations, and it’s best to be discreet when shooting any picture. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to show my Pbase friends what this country is like, and I hope I’ve managed to change at least some common perceptions in the process. Of course there are problems here that everybody has heard about, but it’s a real country with real people who lead normal lives, although different from most lives in the West. I have found the Saudis to be incredibly hospitable and gracious and very good friends as well. I will miss them and their unique culture, and in fact most things about this place, except maybe the brutal heat (but I have even come to terms with that). Washington will seem boring by comparison ;-).

I waited until I was leaving to post this picture; it was taken on the US base, where women are allowed drive. But I wanted to say I had driven a car in Saudi Arabia, and so I did.

Shedding my abayas! posted earlier: