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....
Esto es el precio de una nueva monarquia que pierde las verdaderas tradiciones y el sentido del deber. Cuando un país pierde el rigor y la disciplina, ocurren estos desmadres. No hay nada como cortar un par de manos y unas cuantas ejecuciones en público ejemplares, como para recuperar de nuevo el sentido del deber y verás como estas bandas, probablemente de razas inferiores como Indios o Kurdos, desaparecen tan rápido como aparecieron.
ReplyDeleteGamaram o Pneu ahaha
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