Ramadan Kareem
IIIIIITS RAMADAN!
So nothing (and by that I mean 90 percent of all shops and services) is open during the hours of daylight here so if anyone would be tempted to run down to the shop to find something to nibble Tough! Although could I just say I spent the whole night last night awake with tummy rumbling smelling the caramelizing onions and kabob wafting up from our Saudi neighbours. the smells of food here at night hang in the air because of the high humidity. It feels like you've eaten half a cow from just one walk around the block...Hmmmm beef particles...
Actually, its not so bad. Its pretty fun watching the western Muslim guys here getting all holy and enjoying themselves. I pretty much filled my fridge to bursting a few days ago so the limited food shopping hours (6pm to Midnight) aren't an issue at all. The only worry is that our gardener and all the other guys who do outdoors work here are fasting so theres much dehydration in the streets. People who cotton on just tell the guys to water the plants and leave everything else for the month so they can find some shade and somewhere to have a kip but some of the other expats haven't clicked yet and have their gardeners doing all sorts of heavy labor and its about 40 or so today.
Oh and I shouldn't laugh...feeling the flames n all...the local guy at the mosque who sings out the prayers in the morning randomly gets the hiccups...
We went to a masonic function on the weekend. Could we maybe just leave it at "it was interesting..." Considering the camp's 3/4 non anglo...there wasn't a non-white face in the house...really really weird...all the good ol' boys Canadians and Americans.
Anthony's settling into his new team at work. Its a pretty small one with three Saudi guys and the odd expat geologist. (Nigel down the road's one of em...more on him later...) Working within the Saudi system is taking a bit of getting used to. He spends most of his time working out how to save face for one of the guys he works for.
Oh and a short rant on American 110 voltage. Nowhere else in Saudi Arabia is 110V but Aramco which was set up for the Americans in the mid 20thC so we're buggered. All the appliances you buy here are 220V so you have to rig up these bloody huge transformers to convert the power everywhere. Pain in the ass I tell you! And whatever you do...don't plug a 220 end of the transformer into the 110 power outlet...lets just say I made it go boom...and as luck would have it...it went boom just before AJ got home so he could have a good laugh and then call me an idiot. hmph. not my fault the house is wired up all wrong!
Our shipment hit port today so HOPEFULLY it arrives here in the next...month...I doubt much will happen with Ramadan but ya never know...
So nothing (and by that I mean 90 percent of all shops and services) is open during the hours of daylight here so if anyone would be tempted to run down to the shop to find something to nibble Tough! Although could I just say I spent the whole night last night awake with tummy rumbling smelling the caramelizing onions and kabob wafting up from our Saudi neighbours. the smells of food here at night hang in the air because of the high humidity. It feels like you've eaten half a cow from just one walk around the block...Hmmmm beef particles...
Actually, its not so bad. Its pretty fun watching the western Muslim guys here getting all holy and enjoying themselves. I pretty much filled my fridge to bursting a few days ago so the limited food shopping hours (6pm to Midnight) aren't an issue at all. The only worry is that our gardener and all the other guys who do outdoors work here are fasting so theres much dehydration in the streets. People who cotton on just tell the guys to water the plants and leave everything else for the month so they can find some shade and somewhere to have a kip but some of the other expats haven't clicked yet and have their gardeners doing all sorts of heavy labor and its about 40 or so today.
Oh and I shouldn't laugh...feeling the flames n all...the local guy at the mosque who sings out the prayers in the morning randomly gets the hiccups...
We went to a masonic function on the weekend. Could we maybe just leave it at "it was interesting..." Considering the camp's 3/4 non anglo...there wasn't a non-white face in the house...really really weird...all the good ol' boys Canadians and Americans.
Anthony's settling into his new team at work. Its a pretty small one with three Saudi guys and the odd expat geologist. (Nigel down the road's one of em...more on him later...) Working within the Saudi system is taking a bit of getting used to. He spends most of his time working out how to save face for one of the guys he works for.
Oh and a short rant on American 110 voltage. Nowhere else in Saudi Arabia is 110V but Aramco which was set up for the Americans in the mid 20thC so we're buggered. All the appliances you buy here are 220V so you have to rig up these bloody huge transformers to convert the power everywhere. Pain in the ass I tell you! And whatever you do...don't plug a 220 end of the transformer into the 110 power outlet...lets just say I made it go boom...and as luck would have it...it went boom just before AJ got home so he could have a good laugh and then call me an idiot. hmph. not my fault the house is wired up all wrong!
Our shipment hit port today so HOPEFULLY it arrives here in the next...month...I doubt much will happen with Ramadan but ya never know...
posted by George at
2:19 pm
2 Comments:
OMG BEEF PARTICLES!
I had forgotten about that...
-Nay :-)
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh beef breath! YUKK You will be at one with topside!
x
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home