Scotland again

Last Thursday and Friday I was in Edinburgh, Scotland again. From Saudi to Scotland and back to Saudi. The reason was the same as last time, run a Factory Acceptance Test on fiber optics. Nothing special to mention, the program was excatly the same as last time, same hotel, same tests, same courtesy tour with the customer representatives, the only difference was the temperature, much colder this time. But I have some new pictures. I'm back in Saudi since Saturday and until tomorrow night. Tomorrow morning I have an important technical presentation for the customer and the consultants.

Censorship

The picture below is the visible face of the censorship in Saudi Arabia. This page pops-up when you try to open pages or contens which are on the black list of the Ministry of Interior. Content filtering is applied to all international traffic. All international traffic is redirected through a proxy farm which, apart from filtering the content, blocks a number os sites, according to two lists: one containing 'immoral' sites (pornography, drug use, gambling, religious conversion of muslims), the other based on directions from a security committee, run by the Ministry of Interior.

However, as with many other things here, there is no clear criteria. As an examle, Hi5 is blocked yet access to Facebook is unhindered...

National Museum in Riyadh

Yesterday afternoon (weekend here), I went to the National Museum in Riyadh. Those who know me know that sooner or later I would have to go there...:) And it was great, really worth the 10 saudi riyals (only 2 euro!!!). It gives a very good insight into the history of Saudi Arabia, through as many as 8 exhibition halls. These halls cover the following themes: Man and Universe, The Arabian Kingdoms, the pre-Islamic era, prophet Mohammed's Mission, Islam and the Arab Peninsula, the first and second Saudi State, the unification of the Kingdom, the Hajj and the two Holy Mosques (Mecca and Medina). Each exhibition features different types of antiques, manuscripts, documents and display boards. I was positively surpised by how impartial (for Saudi standards) the presented information was and I will definitely go again. I just went through 5 of the 8 halls, I read everything on display, analyze all maps, etc. How boring does that sound??!! I know, that's why I went alone:)

Hajj

The last couple of days have been of public holidays here in Saudi Arabia because of the Hajj. We have been working anyway though; will compensate these days at Christmas, which for obvious reasons isn't celebrated here.

The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, the largest annual pilgrimage in the world and the fifth pillar of Islam, a moral obligation that every muslim must carry out at least once in their lifetime.

The Hajj takes place from the 7th to the 13th of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th month is the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, eleven days shorter than the western Gregorian calendar, the Gregorian date of the Hajj changes every year, shifting eleven days.

Pilgrims join processions of hundreds of thousands of people who converge in Mecca walking couter-clockwise around the Ka'bah (cube shaped building which acts as the Muslim direction of prayer), kissing the black stone in the corner of the Ka'bah, running back and forth between the hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, drinking from the Zamzam well, going to the plains of mount Arafat to stand in vigil and throwing stones in the ritual 'Stoning of the Devil'. The pilgrims then shave their heads, perform a ritual of animal sacrifice and celebrate the three day global festival of Eid al-Adha.

Dubai - Pictures

I leave you some pictures of last weekend trip to Dubai. The last one shows a lot of abandoned cars, abandoned by their foreign owners escaping trial and emprisonment as a result of their failure to meet their financial obligations. In Dubai, if you get into bebt and can't pay you go to prison, there is no concept of bankrupcy. There are more lots like this one, like at the Airport departures. In the background stands the famous Burj Al Arab tower, symbol of Dubai and of its neo-liberalism. Ironic...The river shown in the picture, is also artificial, not more than a channel letting seawater go inland.

Dubai

Last weekend, 3 colleagues and I went to Dubai. Much I had heard and read before about Dubai. Now, so close to Dubai, just 1.30h flying, I had the chance to see in-loco this meant-to-be monument to arab enterprise and western capitalism.

In 1971, the British left and Dubai decided to ally with the 6 surrounding states and make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This coincided with the discovery of large oil fields. Dubai only had a dribble of oil compared to neighbouring Abu Dhabi, so Sheikh Maktoum decided to use the oil revenues to build a city to be a centre of tourism and financial services, attracting cash and talent from across the world. A city seemed to fall out of the sky, they fast-forwarded from the 18th to the 21st century in one single generation.

However, the global financial crisis didn't spare Dubai, as the flow of investments dries up, halting the mad burst of construction, the secrets of Dubai are slowly leaking out. This is a city built from nothing in just a few wild decades of credit and ecocide, supression and slavery. All efforts are done to hide the foreign underclass who built the city and are hold in absolute slavery conditions. The ecoligical footprint of Dubai residents is the largest inthe world, there are countless buildings half-finished, westerners imprisoned because they failed their financial obligations (there is no such a concept as bankrupcy), etc. Everything is fake in Dubai, from the artificial islands, the worker's contracts, the water (desalinated), to the palm trees.

In short, the dark and disturbing side of the glitter.

The pictures below show a road in Dubai in 1990, before the madness, and the same road nowadays....

The Golden Age of Arabic Science Exhibition

Yesterday I went to the 'The Golden Age of Arabic Science' exhibition, hosted by the King Saud University in Riyadh. For most westerners, and indeed for many Arabs, the achievements of Arabic-language science from the eighth through the 16th century come as a startling discovery. In mathematics, astronomy, medicine, optics, cartography, physics and chemistry, Arabic science was centuries ahead of Europe. Centers for scientific research emerged in baghdad, Cairo, Damascus, Samarkand, Shiraz, Bukhara, Isfahan, Toledo, Cordoba, Granada and Istanbul.

Due to decline, however, little has been left over of this flourishing period.

Prayer Room

This is the islamic prayer room at our office in Riyadh. In Saudi Arabia, by law, offices of a certain size must have a prayer room. It came even in the general requirements of the contract, although most of the people working here are non-muslims.

Scotland - Factory Acceptance Tests Fiber Optics

The FAT was a success. Not only did all the tests pass with distinction as the customer was very satisfied with what he saw. The optical cable tested was a glass yarn armoured cable of 36 fibers, organized in 6 tubes of 6 fibers each, according to our request. This is the main fiber optics cable in this project and it will be buried along the 2400km of the railway and the core networks will run on it.

The tests included measurement of attenuation, measurement of chromaic dispersion, temperture cycling, fiber strain, cable torsion, crush and impact resistance, watertightness among others.

FATs are normal procedures (prior to production) when it envolves off-the-shelf equipment and specially when it envolves millions like in this case. The product has been approved now and production will start.

There was also time for a very interesting tour across the factory.

Edinburgh

I arrived in Edinburgh Monday afternoon and we still had some daylight (and no rain) to see a little of the city and go to the Edinburgh Castle. This is a fantastic city, a city that breaths history and tradition. Our hotel is located in the heart of the city and within walking distance from the so-called Old Town, which has preserved much of its medieval plan and reformation-era buildings. Going up the Royal Mile (main artery of the Old Town) we went up to the Castle from where we had an amazing view over the city:

Scotland

I finally got my visa last week. That means I'm going back to Saudi soon. I'm leaving Portugal today but will go to Scotland first for a couple of days. Scotland is where our fiber optics manufacturer has its premises and they will be running the FAT (Factory Acceptance Test). The FAT consist of a series of tests, carried out according to the IEC (International Electrotechnical Comission) standards, stressing the cable and the fiber optics, testing its pysical, optical and mechanical characteristics, like chromatic dispersion, attenuation, tensile strength, watertightness, bending radius, crusch resistance, etc.

These test are carried out before they start the production. I am going as a Thales representative and there will be customer representatives as well. When all the tests pass, we sign at the end and the production of the 2400km of fiber optics will start.

Visa

This is the piece of paper missing in my passport and the reason for not having returned to Saudi yet. I need a new one since this one has expired, it was only valid for 6 months. It's a quite complex process to get a visa for Saudi and fortunately we have people at the company who handle this for us, but the letter of invitation contained inconsistent data and was rejected. The letter of invitation is written by the company in Saudi and submitted for approval to the Saudi Ministry of foreign affairs which, on its turn, forwards it (if approved) to the embassy in the respective country. The first letter cointained a mistake and the second one was sent to the wrong embassy. And each time it takes one more week. This mistakes are all because I'm with the Portuguese team but I am Dutch. But I'm OK with that, enjoying Portugal, the weather, my friends, having a great time!!! Probably staying 2 more weeks!!! And in the meantime have to go to Scotland to accompany the FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) of the fiber optics.

Gas Prices

I'm currently in Portugal and I just came from the gas station to fill my tank. I think I spent more money for gas the last week than in the 4 months I've so far been in Saudi altogether. And that's not because I drove that much, it's because gas in Saudi is so unbelievably cheap: 8 euro cents (10 $cents). In Saudi I fill my tank with 5 euros and the problem is that I get used to these prices!!! This is why American high consumption SUVs, pick-ups and jeeps sell so well in Saudi...you don't have to worry about filling the tank.

A painful reminder of the money our governments are making in taxes.

Eid ul-Fitr

Eid ul-Fitr, often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fiṭr means "to break fast"; and so the holiday symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period. It is celebrated after the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan, on the first day of Shawwal.
Eid ul-Fitr lasts for five days of celebration and this period is public holidays in which everything is closed. For us this is great because it gave us the perfect excuse to go home and make it 2 weeks:)

The beginning of Ramadan is based upon the Islamic calendar and observing the first waxing crescent moon.

Driving in Riyadh

I've been driving myself in Saudi Arabia for 2 months now and still haven't had an accident, which is a feat considering the circumstances. In this country, women are not allowed to drive and, to be honest, so far it's the country where I've seen the most bad driving!!!

I could have had a driver but I'd rather drive myself, not to be dependant on the driver and, also because I like driving. Just had to get my international driving license. But driving here....man!!! it's the jungle, it's crazy, there are absolutely no rules, the roundabout rules don't apply here, cars swerve from the outer left to the extreme right of four lane roads or vice versa when making a right/left turn (at the very last moment of course), overtaking by the right is the most common thing, crazy speeding, very dangerous moves which cause a lot of accidents, very aggressive driving. But I got used to it very quickly and feel perfectly comfortable driving here:). Also, I bought myself a GPS, but it's as quare city and it's not difficult finding the way here and all the traffic signs are in english as well.

For the history geeks

I was wondering the other day how on earth Riyadh, a city in the middle of the desert, became the capital of Saudi Arabia. I mean, for most of the world's capitals there are obvious natural, geographic, historic or political reasons for having become a country's capital. In this case there is definitely no natural or geograpgic factor which could trigger a natural growth in such an hostile environment. Therefore, I did some research on the history of Riyadh.

The first Saudi era:

Al-Riyadh (from the word Al-Rowdah, meaning garden) was a small settlement. It had not been the "capital" of the Al-Saud for long. The home base of the tribe was (and remains) Ad-Diriyah, a walled town to the north-west founded 500 years ago, where in the mid-eighteenth century an alliance was formed between Mohammed Ibn Saud and a muslim cleric Mohammed Ibn Abdul-Wahab, who advocated a return to a "pure" form of Islam. The mixture proved popular and, by a combination of conquest and alliances, the Al-Saud soon controlled much of the peninsula including the Hejaz (western Arabia), capturing Makkah in 1802. However, this was a time of colonialism and the Turkish Ottoman Empire resented Ibn Saud's power and control over the holy cities of Makkah and Medinah. A military force was sent from Egypt in 1815, which drove the Saudis out of the Hejaz and by 1819 had arrived at the gates of Diriyah. A six month siege ensued with daily artillery bombardment of the Al-Tob/adobe (mud-and-straw brick) town. Eventually surrender was the only option. The Saudis were driven out of the area. Diriyah was in ruins and was never rebuilt.

The second Saudi era:

Five years later, in 1824, Imam ibn Turki ibn Abdullah recaptured the area and set up a Saudi capital in Riyadh for the first time. The Saudi's influence grew strong again as the tribal conflicts continued. Riyadh became a political and economic centre, although still a very small settlement, consisting of one, two and three storey adobe houses and palaces. It was into this environment that Abdul-Aziz was born. Little did he know that he too would be driven out of his home. In 1891, the Al-Rashid and their allies from the north, who had been rivals of the Al-Saud for over 100 years, succeeded in capturing Riyadh, and Abdul-Aziz and his father Imam Abdul-Rahman fled to Kuwait, where they were given shelter by Sheikh Mubarak. Aged only fifteen, Abdul-Aziz was a refugee. And like many refugees his only thought was to return home. In these formative years, he listened carefully to what went on in Mubarak's court, learned the intricacies of tribal politics and family feuds (witnessing first-hand, assassinations and the like). He also learned about international diplomacy. At this time the British had an exclusive treaty with Kuwait and Abdul-Aziz was party to many important negotiations concerning control of the Gulf and the passage to India. Armed with this knowledge, but little else more than his desire to retake his homeland, Abdul-Aziz set out from Kuwait in late 1901 aged only 26, and headed for Riyadh with a small band of followers. His finest hour was soon to arrive.

Taking back his homeland and the beginning of the 3rd era:

Leaving most of his men on the outskirts, on January 2nd 1902, Abdul-Aziz and a small group slipped into the city under cover of darkness. Surprising the Rashidi governor Ajlan on his morning stroll outside the main gate of the Musmak fortress, the commando group attacked him and his guards with rifles and spears. One of Abdul-Aziz's men Ibn Jalawi threw his spear and its tip broke off in the gate itself and can still be seen today. Ajlan and his men scrambled back to the fort but, despite being seriously outnumbered, the Saudi force broke through, Ajlan was killed and the garrison surrendered. He who held the Musmak Fort, held Riyadh, so Abdul-Aziz was now in charge. This day, 15th Shawal 1319 in the Hejira calendar, is considered the first day of the 3rd Saudi era and the birth of what was to become Saudi Arabia.

Second trip to Bahrain - Interesting picture

On our way back from our last trip to bahrain I wrote about in my last post, we witnessed an interesting phenomena on the highway while crossing the desert. There was strong wind and, as you can see on the picture, the sand from the dunes alongside the road was blown over the road but in a way it wouldn't settle down, the sand just hovered over the road, making driving very difficult. But here's the picture:

Second trip to Bahrain - King Fahd Causeway

Last weekend we went to bahrain again. This time we went by car which was great cause it allowed us to see more of the landsape, as well as the 28km bridge (King Fahd Causeway) which links Bahrain to the Arabian Peninsula. The acual border between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia is located on an island halfway the bridge. The one half is Saudi territory and the other one belongs to Bahrain. The picture below shows the border check-point.

Ramadan

August 22 marked the beginning of the Ramadan in the Muslim World. I arrived from holidays yesterday which means I will spend the whole Ramadan here...what a great timing eh?

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar in which Muslims have to observe compulsory fasting from dawn to sunset. The Islamic lunar calendar, being 11 to 12 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar, migrates throughout the seasons.

The daily period of fasting starts at the breaking of dawn and ends at the setting of the sun. In between, that is, during the daylight hours, Muslims totally abstain from food, drink, smoking, and sex. After sunset there is the sunset prayer, followed by big meals.

Business hours are also different, typically during Ramadan they go from 9.00 to 16.00 without break for lunch. No eating or drinking is allowed for us too, at least not in public as that might offend the Muslims in our office. Well, we do it anyway but behind closed doors. All restaurants are closed too.
The good thing is that we are home much earlier, grab something to eat and dive into the pool:)

Trip to the Desert

I'm enjoying my holidays in Portugal, but in the meantime I leave you some pictures of a trip to the desert 3 colleagues and I did 2 weeks ago, during the weekend just for fun. We just took the car and drove out of Riyadh, without any plan, we'd just see where we would end up. Check it out:
http://picasaweb.google.com/wiglejan/DesertTripEastOfRiyadh

You know you've lived in saudi Arabia when....

I found this on a expat group on facebook and I'm really recognizing most of them....and that after only 3 months:)

"You think SR500 is a good price

Your idea of housework is leaving a list for the housekeeper

You think black is appropriate daytime wear

You wear a jacket inside and take it off when you go out

You know which end of a swarma to unwrap

You think that the further you inch into an intersection the faster the light will turn green

You give directions by landmarks

You have more carpets than floor space

You expect gold for every birthday

You send your friends a map instead of your address

You begin admiring other women's "Designer" abayas

You expect to pay more for water than for petrol

You remember not eating in public in the daytime during the holy month of Ramadan.

You have ever had to wait for prayer call to be over to finish shopping.

You have friends from 50 different countries

Rain is still one of the most wonderful sounds in the world.

You have sat in a "men's" or "women's" section in an airport, hospital, or restaurant

You think a red light means "step on it

You don't think it is ostentatious to own more than one Rolex.

Your school closes early because of sandstorms

You are not surprised to see an 8 year old driving the car next to you

You can't buy anything without asking for a discount

You think cars only come in white."

Masmak Castle

Near Al-Bathaa, one of the oldest sections of Riyadh where we were 2 days ago, there is a very impressive fort as well. I did some research about it and I found that it's known as the Masmak Castle (Qasr al Masmak), built in 1865 under the reign of Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Rasheed. Masmak is the site associated with the foundation of Saudi Arabian kingdom. Today the castle is one among several buildings that form the King Abd al-Aziz Historical Center, a series of restored buildings in Riyadh. The fort is dominated by a square-based Al-Murabba tower in the center along with four watchtowers and thick walls. Its 3.65m high and 2.65m wide palm tree gate is named as al-Khokha. The castle encloses a mosque and a well too.The interior roofs of the fort are covered with painted palm-tree, taramic and Ethel wood while the communicating doors of the rooms and courtyards are also of painted wood. The building received some important renovation in the 1980s and became a museum in 1995, which displays many antique guns, costumes and agriculture artifacts. I will definitely visit the museum next time!!

Burqas

Yesterday I went to Al-Bathaa, downtown Riaydh, one of the oldest sections of the city, known for its cheap shopping and lodging. Among other things, I went with a goal in mind...I wanted to buy some burqas!! Monica and Vanessa, I got your burqas:).
What most people don't know is that the word burqa only refers to the head-covering part. The dress, which covers the rest of the body and normally worn over the usual daily clothing, is known as 'abaya'.

So, the full garment is composed by the abaya and the burqa, which on its turn is normally composed by 2 pieces: the face-veil portion and the head-scarf. In Al-Bathaa you can buy almost anything and the good thing is that the shops are grouped by the kind of stuff they sell.

To find the abayas/burqas shops we just had to look for the 'darkest' section of the market:)

I was able to take a picture with my mobile of one of the burqa shops. I had to be very quick not to be caught so the quality is quite poor. The other picture is just an impression from the area.

Arabian Homes

Some weeks ago I wrote about the possibility of getting a villa in the Arabian Homes compound. This has become reality and I'm now living in Arabian Homes since my return to Saudi 3 weeks ago. Arabian Homes is one of the best compounds in Riyadh and is one of the preferred ones of the expatriate community here. It has got around 250 villas, high security, 16 swimming pools, tennis courts, gym, shops, restaurants and lots of other services. There live people from all over the world here, mostly westerners and once inside the compound the only thing remembering you are in Saudi Arabia is the sound of the call to prayer from the mosque at the other side of the wall.

I'm sharing the villa with 2 colleagues of mine, André and Filipe. The villa is big, like everything is big in Saudi and has got 4 bedrooms. And I am loving it, it really makes all the difference, it is great living here, having my own house here, getting to know people, jumping into the pool after work, etc.

Our villa is the one in the right corner.

They took my spare wheel

Last week I started driving in Riyadh. This is an adventure on itself and I will dedicate a post to it in the near future. Anyway, I got my internatinal driving license when I was in Portugal recently and I've been driving a Toyota Camry (rented by the company) until I get my company car.

Some days ago, we left office around 21.30 and we found that someone had broken in the car, breaking the small window of the back door. We wondered what they could have taken as we didn't leave anything valueable in the car. We discovered it next morning...they took the spare wheel from the trunk!!! Later we were told there is a gang operating in Riyadh, specialized in Toyota Camry tyres. Many taxi drivers in Saudi drive Camry's and they buy these 'second hand' tyres. The strange thing here is that robbery wasn't supposed to happen in a country where they cut off hands. But it turns out they don't do it so often anymore...at least not for these minor offenses.

Anyway, I had to report it to the police in order the insurance company to pay. I went with a local Saudi from Stesa and we were sent from the one police station to the other, 'not in our jurisdiction' we were told. Finally we got the right one, but no one would handle the case, we were sent from A to B, from B to C, etc...and finally sent back to A. Finally someone, who must have been higher ranking officer wrote something on a paper, and we were sent back office B, or whatever...there they started argueing who had to handle the case as no one wanted to work...and then another 15 minutes how they had to handle the case as no one had the minimum idea. This all, of course in Arabic and I was just looking at my Saudi colleagues's face to get a clue of what was going on while he was argueing with the officers to get the thing done. Finally we got the piece of paper....and again from A to B, etc to get a stamp and a signature....It was quite an experience and I took it with sense of humor....I just hope never to crash here...if one broken window is what it is....

Back in Saudi

Wow, I just realized it's been a long time since my last post on my blog. I'm back in Saudi since the 13th of this month and the truth is that I just haven't had any spare time. We have a couple of deadlines in the next weeks and we have been working 12 hours a day. The other reason is that I moved to my new villa in Arabian Homes (I will write more about this next time) where I had no internet yet. Anyway, I'm enjoying a lot being back here. At work, we are entering a critical phase now, we have a lot of technical documentation to prepare and to submit but I really like my work and the responsibility. I have been working around 12 hours everyday and the days still seem to short. But it's not been work only, we have been to a party at the French embassy last week and it was great. We met a lot of other expats and we also found that, despite women are not allowed to work here and single women are not allowed to enter the country, there is one big exception: most of the nurses here in Saudi are foreigners. To my sister and friends who are nurses: I will find out how much they earn here and how to apply:).

We have also been shopping buying stuff for the new house. The villa was fully furnitured but there were some items missing in the kitchen.

Now, that I have internet at home again I'll be posting more regularly. Cheers

Back in Portugal

It's been some days since my last post. The reason is that I'm back in Portugal for 2 weeks. I arrived last Friday and it's great being back home. I've had a completely full agenda so far and it's great seeing everybody again. I'm returning to Saudi the 13th of July and I don't know if I'm posting anything before that...have to take advantage of my time here:)

Business card

I just got my new business cards, in Arabic on the one side and in English on the other side.

And yes, it is 'the' Bin Ladin family!!!. The Bin Ladin family owns one of the biggest construction companies in the Middle East and Thales was awarded this contract in consortium with the Saudi Bin Laden Group. Thales will deploy all signalling, telecommunication, supervision, security and fare collection systems and the Saudi Bin Laden Group is responsible for the civil works of this 2400km of new railway. I like their logo by the way...

As you can see, Arabic writing is from the right to the left, except for the numbers. The numbers go from the left to the right and I'm already able to distinguish them. I can't say the same about the Arabic characters and I'm particularly curious about the translation of my name....

Weekend in Bahrain

Last weekend (the arabic one) I was in Bahrain. The company paid for everything because with our current visa, we are not allowed to stay in Saudi for more than 28 days. This means that one has to leave the country and return in order to get a new stamp in the passport and, in our case, the company normally sends us to spend the weekend either in Dubai or in Bahrain. As a colleague and I were reaching the limit, our last weekend was a bit different.
Bahrain is one of the smaller Gulf states. It's a small island in the Persian Gulf, on the west coast of Saudi Arabia and is linked to the Arabic Peninsula by a 20km long bridge. It rapidly modernized after oil was discovered and it got its independence from Britain in 1971. It's the fastest growing economy in the Middle East and, notoriously, it doesn't rely on oil production only, as it's the fastest growing financial center in the Middle-East as well. It is also one of the freest countries in the Arab World and you can tell...

We had no plan, we just explored the capital and surroundings, walked a lot (and sweat a lot) and spent one afternoon at the beach:) Atop, a picture of a busy road in Manama, the capital and another one of the 'Dual Towers' of the Bahrain Financial Harbor.

DPRK

Tomorrow there is an important World Cup qualifying match in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia is playing against North Korea. It's the last round of the pool and the winner automatically qualifies for the World Cup. Now, guess where the North Korean team is staying? The same hotel as where I am. There they were having breakfeast together, wearing the same T-shirts with DPRK written on their back. That stands for 'Democratic' People Republic of Korea. This dark sense of humor and irony seems to be a common feature of the paraphernalia of all totalitarian regimes...

Arabian Homes

It seems the company finally arranged a house for us in a compound. Finding housing in compounds is very difficult as a result of the goverment's position not to approve contruction of new compounds following the 2003 compound bombings, targeting western expatriates. We were already considering other options, but suddenly a 4 bedroom house became available at Arabian Homes compound, which I'd share with 2 other colleagues. This is great news as this one of the best compounds in Riyadh and not too far from the office. So, yesterday evening we went there to check it out and I liked it. The house is cosy and comfortable, there's a swimming pool at exactly 12 steps from the door and....hmm, I shouldn't be telling more before I have the keys.....but I really hope this is it!!!

Reception at Portuguese Embassador's official residence

Yesterday (June 10), was Portugal's National day and we were invited to a reception at the official residence of the Portuguese embassador. I went kind of infiltrated, my portuguese colleagues got an extra invitation for me. But it turned out there were more locals and nationals from other countries (but no Dutch) than Portuguese. There was good food, music and even alcohol!!! There were no burqas either. Girls arrived wearing the burqa but then the burqas were left at the entrance (women wear normal clothes underneath the burqa, they are required to wear them only in public areas). Finally some feminine beauty:)!!! I leave you some pictures...