Wednesday, Wine and Women
Wednesday I had a bit of a cold *cough*, maybe it was the medicine I took *cough*, either way I laid down on the couch and had the following dream...
My buddy Jim called in the early afternoon and asked if I wanted to hang out for a bit, I said yeah and he swung by the apartment. We headed out, ran by his office to drop some stuff off, and decided to cruise the Khobar Corniche. The Corniche on a weekend is always a good time, plenty of American's, Canadians, Irish, Brits, Germans, and other "American friendly" nationalities. We had lunch at the Steak House on "Pepsi Road", did some little shopping at Tamimi (Safeway) and generally just hung out. We had a party invite for later in the evening and finally realized it was getting late, so we headed over to my place to grab some good AC and change.
We hit the party about 7 and found ourselves the first people there, although accidental, it worked out well and we helped our host get everything set up. Around 7:30 guests started arriving, a slow trickle at first, but with a steadily increasing tempo. By 10pm, guests were coming in groups of 5 every few minutes and we quickly found ourselves surrounded by nearly a hundred expats from various nationalities and walks of life. Teachers, engineers, security guys, nurses, administrators, executives wives, husbands, sons and daughters. Christian, Hindu, Muslim, and no religion at all hanging out in close proximity, sharing a soda or glass of wine or beer. Nobody arguing, nobody killed. Live music playing in the background, sounds of laughter and jovial conversation floating out into the night, perfect weather for a party to boot.
The best part about the whole dream though was the opportunity not just to socialize, but to socialize with members of the opposite gender. If you know me at all, you know that I'm fairly fond of the fairer sex. And that not only are they often easy on the eyes, but apparently as I discovered in my dreams, they have something between their ears called a brain! Furthermore, when the brain of the woman is engaged, it seems that in some settings the mouth is compelled to open. Intelligent thoughts then come out! This is not something I regularly experience in Saudi, in the few instances in which I've needed to address a woman, her eyes are on the ground and maybe her head nods or a whisper escapes from under the layers of solid black cloth. Imagine my surprise when I found out that when uncovered, they can not only be pretty porcelain objects of desire, but can also speak! Intelligently no less! I know...CRAZY right?
Tied with the women for the best part of the night was the wine. Again if you know me at all, you know that while I can be quiet contrary at times, wine and I rarely disagree. We get along beautifully, just like old pals who upon finally meeting again, wonder why we've spent so much time apart. Wine and I had long talks that lasted into the late hours of the night, and she kept me smiling the entire time.
The dream went on, even spinning at times, laughter, conversation, wine, meeting with old friends and meeting new. all in all it was a pretty good Wednesday, thanks to the wine and the women.
I woke up in my bed this Friday morning, woke up early around 6 to the sunlight pouring in and realized that I was safe in Saudi Arabia, that I had been at work until late Wednesday afternoon, and had taken some cold medicine and gone to bed yesterday. Add to that the fact that it had been a W.W.W. thing, it must all have been a dream. No wine on my breath, no lipstick on my collar, just a faint smile gracing my lips and the fleeting memories of a beautiful dream. I rolled over, pulling the covers back over my head, hoping to catch the tails of the dream, but alas, it was gone. Time to get up, take a shower and enjoy some morning coffee. Time to day-dream about the life that eventually awaits me back home. back on a St. Louis fall day, downtown listening to blues at BB's, watching the cardinals play in October, riding my motorcycle along winding country roads of fallen leaves with a slight chill penetrating my jacket and stinging my uncovered face as I accelerate...One of these days I'm going home. Sometimes, after a dream as fine as that one, I wish it was today.
The best part about the whole dream though was the opportunity not just to socialize, but to socialize with members of the opposite gender. If you know me at all, you know that I'm fairly fond of the fairer sex. And that not only are they often easy on the eyes, but apparently as I discovered in my dreams, they have something between their ears called a brain! Furthermore, when the brain of the woman is engaged, it seems that in some settings the mouth is compelled to open. Intelligent thoughts then come out! This is not something I regularly experience in Saudi, in the few instances in which I've needed to address a woman, her eyes are on the ground and maybe her head nods or a whisper escapes from under the layers of solid black cloth. Imagine my surprise when I found out that when uncovered, they can not only be pretty porcelain objects of desire, but can also speak! Intelligently no less! I know...CRAZY right?
Tied with the women for the best part of the night was the wine. Again if you know me at all, you know that while I can be quiet contrary at times, wine and I rarely disagree. We get along beautifully, just like old pals who upon finally meeting again, wonder why we've spent so much time apart. Wine and I had long talks that lasted into the late hours of the night, and she kept me smiling the entire time.
The dream went on, even spinning at times, laughter, conversation, wine, meeting with old friends and meeting new. all in all it was a pretty good Wednesday, thanks to the wine and the women.
I woke up in my bed this Friday morning, woke up early around 6 to the sunlight pouring in and realized that I was safe in Saudi Arabia, that I had been at work until late Wednesday afternoon, and had taken some cold medicine and gone to bed yesterday. Add to that the fact that it had been a W.W.W. thing, it must all have been a dream. No wine on my breath, no lipstick on my collar, just a faint smile gracing my lips and the fleeting memories of a beautiful dream. I rolled over, pulling the covers back over my head, hoping to catch the tails of the dream, but alas, it was gone. Time to get up, take a shower and enjoy some morning coffee. Time to day-dream about the life that eventually awaits me back home. back on a St. Louis fall day, downtown listening to blues at BB's, watching the cardinals play in October, riding my motorcycle along winding country roads of fallen leaves with a slight chill penetrating my jacket and stinging my uncovered face as I accelerate...One of these days I'm going home. Sometimes, after a dream as fine as that one, I wish it was today.
HI! I came across your blog after reading your guest post on Izdiher's blog.
ReplyDeleteIt's always interesting to read a new expat's account of their life in Saudi, as someone who's been brought up in Saudi and yet remains an expat I forget somethings are strange for newcomers, but there are other things that get to me in the same way. No1 is the uncertainty, I've lived my whole life, with the 'this maybe our last year here' cloud hanging over me.
The second this is I can't drive or walk down the road, it is very limiting and does impact the quality of life-and all of us can;t afford full-time drivers..and they aren't very reliable either in terms of their driving skills..or otherwise
The anti- expat feeling is fairly new..and very disturbing, it seems to have taken over Arabnews, ever since their long-time editor Khaled AlMaeena was removed, before that it a pretty pro-expat paper ( most of the readership was expats )
If you like you can check out some of the Saudi related posts on my blog, I'll warn you its a farly girly blog up until now, need to introduce a few posts of substance..but they will only get readership from abroad, locals like posts with pictures it seems.
Hi Misha, thanks for reading and thanks for the comment. Yeah for us newbies, the place is a heck of a shock to the system. I'm also an off compound, non-SAramco expat so it seems even a little stranger for me sometimes. In fact, I spent my first 5 months here in the East knowing not one single person, or ever getting to speak actual English. That uncertainty thing seems to hit all of us, I've talked to people who have been here for 15 years or more and they all say that one day, its just going to be over!
DeleteThanks for reading, and please consider following, sometimes I have a lot to say, and sometimes it even comes out well! I'll check out your blog as well. Nothing wrong with a little "girly" sometimes.
Geoff