Day 2: Riding a Camel--another dream fulfilled

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you would know that I have this thing for camels. I have also longed for years to actually ride a camel. Last spring at the Jandriyah festival my boys rode camels, but they weren't letting ladies ride, so I wasn't able to ride with the boys. I was sad, but not exactly surprised. I had hoped that I would get to ride a camel, but didn't plan on it. Imagine my delight when we drove behind the pyramids and then were able to ride some camels.

I was wearing a skirt and had trouble actually getting on the camel. Somehow, when I tried to swing my leg over the camel, my leg got stuck in my skirt. About that same time, the camel thought he was supposed to stand up. Which put me a bit off-balance. However, years of riding horses stood me in good stead. Once I was sure the camel wasn't going anywhere, I freed my foot and got it over the camel.

Miss B was so scared and started trembling with fear. I kept reassuring her and reminding her that she had ridden a horse before. I told her to relax. The guy leading the camel overheard our conversation and we talked about riding horses and camels.

We walked a little bit and then stopped and got some great pictures.

When we turned around to go back, the guide let me actually "drive" the camel. There isn't really that much to it. Camels are glorified pack animals and pretty much follow the leader. Camels follow a lead on the reins and stop when you pull back on the lead. They also move when you kick them on their stomach. They respond to clicking with your tongue.

I don't have the best posture, but I don't usually look that hump-backed. I was leaning forward because the lead was really short.

Anyhow, I am blissfully happy about being able to ride a camel. Another dream fulfilled.

Day 2: Brent vs. the camel owner (and where I fail as a wife. . . )

Our guide warned us that the vendors were ruthlessly aggressive and to avoid them at all costs. This was good advice, but not always easy to follow when you have a single-minded toddler. After we had climbed up on the pyramid, we wanted to explore for a few minutes. But Bubba J was determined to pet a camel. He adores animals and loves petting them. He begged to get off the pyramid, so Brent took him down, where Bubba J made a beeline for a camel. Brent went to pay the guy for letting him pet the camel, but only had large bills.

The camel owner said he would exchange the money, but took it and kept insisting on more money. In the end, the guy basically stole money from my husband. My husband was furious and was arguing with the guy when I saw that something was happening. I didn't think my husband was going to get anything out of the guy short of tackling him or calling the police, so I insisted that he and Bubba J take a ride on the camel, just to get something out of the whole transaction. My husband was really angry and didn't want to ride the camel, but did so anyway so that Bubba J and Miss B could get a camel ride. (Neither my husband nor I knew that we would ride camels later, so we thought this might be our only chance. Had we known that we were going to ride camels later, we would have walked away.)

Reluctantly, my husband took his camel ride. Sadly, the whole thing was unpleasant with the exchange and everything. But the pictures looked cool.

What I Like About Living in Riyadh

Often expats and Saudis ask me, "Do you like living in Riyadh"? The answer is definitely yes. You may wonder what I like about Riyadh. In no particular order, here are some things I enjoy about my life right now.

Seeing camels. I get such a kick out of seeing camels curled up in the back of pickup trucks on the roads. I also enjoy seeing camels in their natural desert environment. I think they are beautiful animals.

Swimming. I love taking my kids to the pool often. I like to swim as well, but I don't always get in the pool with my kids. Sometimes I am content to just sit by the sidelines, reading a book, and keeping an eye on the water shenanigans.

My husband doesn't go on business trips now. 2011 was a tough year because my husband spent a significant time traveling abroad and throughout the U.S. I am so happy to have him home every night. I sleep a lot better too!








I like the plentiful fresh fruits and vegetables found at the market. I especially love that zucchini is always in-season and inexpensive to buy. If you are blessed with a bounteous zucchini harvest, I am your girl to help you with it!

I like exploring new places and cultures. Variety and differences cause me to think and ponder my own culture, values, and ideas. Even when the scenery isn't beautiful, it is still interesting.

I like making friends from all over the world. I have met some really great families here. I appreciate hearing new perspectives and learning about different cultures.

I like hearing the call to prayer five times a day. I don't love the disruption that the call brings if you are trying to do something. But I do like this idea of unified and frequent prayer.

I LOVE having a helper do the heavy cleaning in my home.

I like trying new food, especially local food.

I like how much freedom my children have in the compound. They are able to play with their friends without a lot of adult interference.

I absolutely LOVE the desert. It is amazingly beautiful.

I do enjoy the ease of compound living. We have a lot of great amenities that make my life very comfortable.

If you live in Riyadh, what do you enjoy about it?

Gratuitous Camel Pictures

I have NO idea why, but I have this thing for camels. Here are some camels I encountered on our most recent desert expedition.

Searching for the Edge of the World: Part 1

Yes, I am aware that it is 2012 and we know the world is round. The Edge of the World is an amazing place in Saudi Arabia. Blue Abaya wrote a great post with pictures about this amazing site. Saudi National Day was on September 23rd and the King decreed that we should have Saturday off as well. (I know, Saturday and Sunday are the weekend, right? Well, in Saudi Arabia, our weekend is on Thursday and Friday).

When you have a four-day weekend, you have to do something fun, right? Of course! Fortunately, ex-pats are wonderfully flexible and spontaneous. We asked some friends if they had plans on Saturday and they said they were open to suggestions. We decided to find the Edge of the World together.

From experience, we've learned that going to the desert in a group is wise. Within a few minutes, we had a group of families willing and able to go to the desert. On Saturday, we met at a mall, where I stared at the never-ending construction taking place around Riyadh. Once all the cars were gathered, we were off, headed north out of Riyadh.

We drove past some tent cities. There aren't really tent cities but there are a lot of old, run-down tents gathered in small sections of the desert. If you've ever been on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, you find that the two areas are very similar.

Eventually, we passed the tent villages and came to a  small village. After driving through the village, we passed a plantation of date palms and fields with green crops growing. We even passed two men on a donkey cart, being pulled by a donkey.

Once past the fields, things were pretty deserted. We drove for awhile and then turned off the main road onto a dirt/gravel/sand track. At this point, the men started to grin and show off a bit. I don't know why, but men really get a kick out of driving on roads like this. The kids loved the bumpy track and enjoyed bumping along.

Soon we started to see camels grazing around Acacia trees. A camel herder riding a donkey wandered around, keeping an eye on the camels, and, I imagine, the strange foreigners who kept gawking at his camels.

I enjoyed looking at the trees and vegetation, sparse as it was. The ground was hard and rocky in places, and then in other places was like gravel quicksand.

Our caravan found a track, drove down it until we found that the track was washed out. While we all had four-wheel drive vehicles, we simply couldn't get past some of the barriers. So we turned around and tried a second path, which led nowhere. Finally a third path looked interesting.

We drove along a very hard track where the landscape was completely barren without even the slightest bit of scrub brush. After driving this track for a while, we stopped and assessed our situation. We hadn't found the destination, but everyone was hungry. We set up rugs and blankets on the hard, rocky surface that was totally exposed to the sun and wind. There wasn't anything available for shade. The kids were happy to be out of the car.

After lunch, we decided to explore the area for a bit. There was a path down a cliff that looked promising. My kids tromped down the path with their dad. They are pretty intrepid explorers. T found several fossils. In fact, the whole area was very interesting. T gave us a lecture (he is SO his mother's child) about water and wind erosion and claimed that the area showed evidence of water erosion. 

Following this short hike, we decided we had better go back home and try looking for the Edge of the World another day. 

On our drive back, my husband noticed that one of the cars was leaking something, which turned out to be transmission fluid. One of the other cars towed the car with the leaking fluid while we drove ahead to the small village to find out if they had a mechanic available to look at the car. We found a garage and they found a hole in the transmission. 

While we waited for them to patch the transmission, the women and I chatted. Pretty soon all these men started walking around, staring at us because our hair was uncovered. We caused quite a stir. One of the little boys had to go to the bathroom, so his dad took him to the garage bathroom.  Facilities can be SO primitive here and this place was really bad. This sounds awful, but it is even worse because a lot of immigrants with horrible hygiene work at these places. Now imagine the most disgusting bathroom you've ever encountered at a gas station, and then imagine it 100 times worse. These toilets are holes in the floor with a place for your feet. The floors are disgusting with all sorts of yucky stuff on the ground. 

So this little boy couldn't hold it anymore and goes in this bathroom. On the way home, he decided to LICK his shoe. Who knows why a boy of 5 decides to lick his shoe following a visit to a really foul toilet facility, but he did. The next day he was SO sick, with a fever and everything. 

Finally, the car got fixed and we drove to my husband's outdoor office where we women availed ourselves of more modern toilet facilities. Then it was back home to Riyadh.

We later learned from a friend who had been several times to the Edge of the World that the path has changed and even he couldn't find it. I wonder if the authorities have decided to close off the path for visitor access.