Six days in Saudi...

Well I think I have finally had my fill of Saudi and now I am satisfied... It's funny to think of how all these mysterious places are really kinda normal in a way once you have been there. Or maybe my perception of normal is so outta wack now that I wouldn't know normal if it bit me on the ass. I mean I was walking around aimlessly in the old city after having finished a meeting early, and the call to prayer was wailing out of the towers, locals were running off to pray and it all felt rather normal... Everything, as they say, was in its place.

Beyond getting a bit of cabin fever from staying in a hotel for five nights my time here has been productive. Work wise I have moved forward on a number of issues so this is a good thing. Personally wise I ticked a pretty big box on my list of life time achievements. I spent a whole day in the "ladies section" of a bank in Riyadh. Yes they have ladies sections, where men are not allowed to enter. Even the tea boy, who is usually a dark Indian guy, was a lady... and yes they even shipped in an Indian lady to ensure the teas had too much milk and way way too much sugar ;-) So what lay behind the locked doors in the ladies section? Well uncovered ladies of course... And before you start to picture mad romps of naked women at computers, by uncovered I mean you can see their face and hair etc.. Well this was an achievement anyways. And I got to meet, work with and even shake the hand... yes shake the hand of my first Saudi lady... Quite an achievement I have to say. And all in all my theory of people, being people, wherever you go was once again confirmed. I mean she was married with a son studying in Canada. She thinks music shouldn’t be banded, except all those MTV film clips (I can appreciate this point... after all I am sure Pussy Cat Dolls film clips are making do as soft core porn for those 12 year old boys who have not mastered the art of internet porn surfing... unless they live in UAE where all internet sites of ill repute are blocked and hence MTV is as good as it gets....), music to her encourages the worship of God, I couldn’t agree more. She drives when out of the country... but if she wants to travel she needs a signed letter of permission from her husband...

Also learnt that the old "chop chop square", where people get their heads and hands chopped off hasn't been operation for years... According to my Saudi colleague, they only do "this" in Iraq now. And "this" was acted out on the floor of the bank I was visiting with my Saudi friend, in traditional Thub, getting down on his knees and lowering his head in a demonstration of how one has their head chopped off, "Arabic styles"... from the side, cutting across the body....

But it's funny... I am now looking forward to returning to Dubai... I mean it seems normal compared to this place... Here there are no side walks... which I found out the hard way when I decided to walk back to the office from one of the banks.... you jump from shop front to shop front and then... nothing.... you are stuck on the road... dodging cars, not something you would want to do after having seen Saudis drive. Ha! And to see them park.... these guys have no idea really... they literally park across the spaces... three spaces to one car is sufficient. Add to this no live music, no cinema, no drinking, no walking in short pants of shirts.... Mate Dubai is a relative paradise of freedoms... Relativity at its best... I guess that was another thing about London that struck me too... We in the west are so free.... the only sad thing is to see what we do with some of this freedom.... walk from Piccadilly Circus to Soho on a Friday or Saturday night and you will know what I mean... The Saudis want none of that behaviour... and as a result they have taken all freedoms from its people... Which is right? Well I don't know... either way the results can be pretty ugly on both sides of the fence.....