I am now on my way back to cold England.
This week and a half in Riyadh has definetely been emotional! I have been confronted with many different feelings during my stay.
One of them is clearly the fact that the capital has changed and that people seem to be more free in their daily lives. I have seen the saoudi women shopping like in Dubai with their face un-covered and even flirting with some of the vendors (so funny).
The city has expanded and there are so many places to go to and things to do. Restaurants, cafés, shops, you name it, all the brands are here in the capital's Kingdom.
Prices have increased but you can still get a very good bargain.
The Saoudis are finally working!! In shops, taxis, offices, etc. There is still a long way to go but we are getting there.
But I think the major change is the Mutawas. I have not seen a single one of them around trying to creat some kind of problem. I agree, during my short stay I could have been lucky in not seeing them, but people around me are saying the same. They are not as many and agresive as before.
Shops are still closing during prayer time but they take their time to close. Customer service is also improving.
All in all, I had a great time off! I found once more the dryness of the weather, the nice food (shawarmas especially), the call to prayer, the Saoudi enscent in shops and mosqs, the crazy driving and my Dad, my Mum, my Uncle, his wife and cousins which I had not seen in such a long time. And the dust...let's not forget the dust. The one that gets through the windows, the doors and leaves an inforgetable and distinct smell...the smell of the desert.
I definetely found all of what I came here for initially, if not more.
I just hope now that I did manage to share with you a bit of all of this and that for those of you that have lived in this country will certainly understand where I'm coming from ;-)
Salam oua Aleikoum oua Rahmatoulahi oua barakatou.
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
The Page has Turned to a New Chapter
Inside Mamlaka
What is nice is that there is an entire floor just for women (the top one). The people working in these shops are women too. Once on that floor the women take off their abayas and walk freely! That's cool!
Bat'ha
Malgrés le fait que Riyadh ait beaucoup changé, le centre ville est toujours le même.
Bat'ha fourmille toujours autant au milieu d'un chaos organisé et on se demande toujours où les gens dorment la nuit. Les bâtiments sont en piteux états et les voitures, entre deux klaxons, zig-zag les rues tant bien que mal pour arriver d'un point A vers un point B (à croire qu'ils conduisent les yeux fermés en espérant arriver à bon port).
Ils ont toujours les minis bus orange mais j'ai loupé l'occasion d'en prendre un en photo. Je n'y manquerai pas la prochaine fois Insha'Allah.
Comme quoi les choses n'ont pas forcément changées ;-)
Monday, 1 December 2008
Al-Akaria
Voici 3 photos du fameux centre commercial. Ma première impression était qu'en réalité c'est bien plus petit que ce dont je me souvenais. Beaucoup de magasins ont également fermé leurs portes dû aux autres centres commerciaux dans Riyadh bien plus grands et bien plus beaux!
Attention ; les photos sont du premier Al-Akaria. Lorsque nous étions en Arabie il y en avait un deuxième. Maintenant il y en a quatre les uns à côté des autres.
Saudi Arabian Internationnal School (S.A.I.S.)
Salut les copains!
Voici deux photos de notre vieille école!
La première avec tout les palmiers c'est là où se trouvait le parking (les 2 portails de couleur noir sur la photo), le gymnase et le terrain de sport. Maintenant toute cette surface est un palace entouré de jolis palmiers.
La deuxième photo nous montre la partie maternelle / petite section de l'école. Cette partie est maintenant un complex d'appartement à louer (Reem Villas).
Je suis désolé car moi aussi j'aurais bien voulu voir à l'intérieur ...