Starting my third week in Jeddah today. Thursday and Friday are the weekends here. Tim and I spent Thursday shopping for a new entertainment center to use here in Jeddah. Tim took me up to the Jeddah International Mall. It was interesting and had some music stores in it..... but we ended up getting the best deal in a newer mall close to us, at a large Panda Store.... think Super Walmart when you think Panda Store..... While we were driving over the city we detoured by the IKEA store. It was not open when we went by, it was too early in the morning, around 9AM. The stores seem to open around 10AM.

IKEA store in Saudi Arabia

I also took a picture inside of the Danube Store in the Red Sea Mall.... I would compare it to the Target Superstore....We bought some yummy fresh baked bread here to munch on while we shopped.

This area had pickled veggies and cheese and olives and.... 

They had islands of fresh baked goods, produce, sea food, grains,... and then isles of products much like our Super Targets are. They sell electronics, clothing, kitchen wares....you get the picture. Maybe a bit fancier than the Panda Store, but still good deals to be had.

On Friday, the second day of our weekend, Tim played in a horseshoe tournament here on compound against the British compound team. I will post some photos of the event on my blog.

Hand shakes before the tournament

Coach "Saint Jude" giving the teams the rules of play

 

Tim before the American vs. Brits Horseshoe Tournament

Tim petting one of the friendlier compound kitties

Tim competing against Henry, the Brits Ringer.....

Final match with top players....

The Brits won this one.... or......Henry won.... hmmm .... again Tim mentions this in his blog http://wyolincoln.blogspot.com/  check out Tim's version of the tournament. :) Enjoy!

We enjoyed the themed dinner, Saudi Arabia Night, given poolside on the compound last night. We were served schwarma, fries and chocolate cake. They also had an area for smoking shisha, a flavored tobacco smoked communally from a tall glass pipe. There are many smokers here on compound, so this was a favorite activity. Tim and I preferred to stuff ourselves on schwarma, fries and chocolate cake. Yum!!!

pool on compound at night

shisha smoking area to the right

area outside cafe by the pool

hmmm where are we?

Note the residences above the market

I went on the Wednesday Women's shopping trip to Al-Balad Market area in old downtown Jeddah. Al-Balad is the historic center of Jeddah and can literally be translated as “The City”. Balad traces its history 2,500 years back as a fishing village when the Quda’a (Arabic: قضاعة) fishermen tribe settled there.Here are a few pictures I took today.

Look at the green wood work on the buildings

 A lot of the old building in this area are made of corral. The wood on the outside is quite dense and the condensation on the wood acts like an air conditioner cooling the inside of the structure as the air passes through the louvers into the interior of the building. The markets are then found on the lower level of these buildings.

The old being torn down making way for the new.... history only kept in pictures

There were old shallow steps used by the early travelers and their mules and camels carrying their loads. A lot of history in this area. Jeddah was a walled city with three gates allowing entrance to the city. These old structures are falling into disrepair and being torn down to make way for new shiny buildings..... Oil money changes a culture.

Josh, I took this one for your benefit...Enjoy!

Tim in Ferrari Store

Another shot to be sure I got it

Tim and I went mall walking at the Red Sea Mall in Jeddah tonight..... looks like a nice mall.... like you would see anywhere except there are a lot of women in black and men walking around in white robes.... :). I took a couple of pictures of Tim in the Ferrari store at the mall....

Tim surfing the net in our downstairs living area...

While I was posting pictures of Tim, I thought I would throw this one in..... Here is Tim on a typical afternoon, surfing the net in our living area downstairs in Jeddah. I will go with the ladies to Al Ballad tomorrow... it is and old section of Jeddah.... I will let you all know how it goes.

International Medical Center

Lobby chandelier in IMC

Out front of the International Medical Center

Look Rebecca, we drove by these Kettle Sculptures which are close to the Red Sea

This house was started over 10 years ago and never finished, locals refer to it as the diamond house

Our friends call this the lasagna sculpture, hmmm wonder why

These were all sites we saw on Thursday on our way to an old part of Jeddah where we wandered around the Afghan Market place. The Afghan Market is just one of many shopping areas to be found in Jeddah.

produce stand in Afghan Market

beans and stuff in Afghan market

spices in Afghan Market

Tim with his new cap in front of Persian Rug store... Rug clerk standing in front of store also

Tim, Steve, and Rosita in the Afghan Souq

    Today Tim and I went north to a beach resort on the Red Sea. It was a quiet morning on the road to drive north as Friday is like our Sunday morning in the states. Everything is closed with a few exceptions, during the morning. We did find a McDonalds on our way that we got a cup of coffee at and picked up a big lag screw in one of our tires.... We heard something funny as we drove away from the McDonalds and stopped to investigate.... one of our rear tires had a huge Lag screw sticking into it. No problem, Tim had it changed in less than 15 minutes with my supervision of course.... I am sure he needed my help. :) We didn't even blink an eye at it. It was a beautiful morning and the skinny spare worked just fine. Yeah! We found the beach resort and explored it. We walked out by the beach and the pier a bit. We met the dive instructor and I am happy to say we plan on getting out diving certification over our anniversary weekend stay at the resort. Yippee!!! I am excited, Tim, not so much, but he is willing.... Yeah!
We headed back south to Jeddah and walked through a closed mall and found another mall which we explored and had lunch at after a nice walk on the boardwalk along the Red Sea. What a wonderful day. We took a swim in the pool when we got back and are just relaxing now.
     Yesterday we got to go to the Afghan Souq downtown Jeddah. It is in old Jeddah and the building are a lot more what we pictured it would be like when we came over.... not exactly the ritz down there but very interesting. We are very thankful to Steve and Rosita for taking us down. We explored a little bit of the market area down town, the Afghan Market, went into a Persian rug store and I bought a teeny weeny wool Afghan rug and Tim bought a very old Uzbekistan Cap, called a Uzbek Tybiteika, which he proceeded to wear the rest of the day. :) We also walked to the Panda Grocery store for groceries and then we walked to the Al Shatea Souq after evening prayer. I bought a lighter weight head scarf and another abayah and a shopping cart with wheels.... Tim was amazed at my bargaining skills. Pat, you would have been proud of me. All in all we had a wonderful weekend. I will post some pictures of the Afghan Market. Tim will be posting pictures on his blog also of the beach. Keep following.... :)

DJ,Kuum, Meridith, Kelly, Kim, Justin, and Elisha

Starbucks at the Mall of Arabia

An interesting store.... very Arabian

No, there is nothing wrong with the photo.... the faces have been blurred out on purpose

The mall was getting busier as it was time for us to leave.... Note all the abayas

Looking out a large window on the east side of the mall

Well today I took my first mall trip with some ladies from the compound. We all headed out on our own, once we got to the mall of Arabia.... that was nice.... as I just wanted to sight see and most of the other ladies were out to really shop... :). I took pictures of sights in the mall. It is considered rude to take pictures of people and they do not like it.  I am told they have the same aversion to pictures that the Amish do back in Minnesota. The idea of no graven images is reflected in some of the store signs, their art, and the customs regulation. We were told not to bring stuffed animals into the Kingdom. These rules are not followed as much as they use to be. You can find tons of stuffed animals here, for instance. I went to the mall with seven other ladies, one of the ladies sons and a driver. We actually took two vehicles. I got to ride over with DJ, KUUM, Kim and her son Justin. Kim and Justin are fellow Minnesotans. Kim and her husband have just returned to Jeddah. They have been here on a previous tour. I can not remember where Kuum and Dj are from. Very nice ladies though.... and very serious shoppers. The other car had Kelly, Meridith and Elishia.... don't hold me to the spelling of any of their names. The driver of the car I was in was Mohamed. He was the same driver who drove me home from my Igama physical the other day. He dropped us off and reappeared when it was time to go back to the compound. I wandered around the circular 2 floor layout of the mall, snapped a few photos, bought an Arabic primer for 3 riyal, found a Starbucks where I enjoyed a tall black coffee, and then bought a couple of needed items from the huge Panda Grocery store also located in the mall. By then it was time to head back. Very enjoyable. I have explored the compound and met some people here that work at various services on compound. Tim has found a house pet for us, unexpectedly, which you can read about on his blog. :) Still enjoying the "Great Adventure"! Stay tuned in!

This was taken at a gas station in Jeddah as we were filling up.

     Sunday is business as usual in Saudi....they have Thursday and Friday as their weekend and holy day and then they are back to work Saturday through Wednesday. I am required to get an Igama here, sort of a resident pass/green card. I made arrangements for a driver, because women do not drive here (which is a blessing in disguise), to drive me to and from the private hospital. At the hospital they took my samples, my blood, and my chest xray. They also took a copy of my passport, two photos, and paperwork from me, all for the processing of my Igama. They will let me know of the results.
     It was very dusty today.... because it has been dry and windy.... everything is covered with a fine dust and it makes it warmer and less desirable to be out doors. The dust  makes your eyes itch and gives you a dry throat. Tim and I were going to walk to the Panda Grocery store but our neighbor, Scott, gave us a ride as he was heading that way also. :) Everyone seems very helpful here. I only took one photo, at a gas station we stopped at, as my camera was acting up. The grocery store looked similar to our big grocery stores, in the states, with some interesting exceptions. You would find import sections of products and local sections of products. The import stuff is higher priced than the local stuff. An example: Kraft cheese slices are around 15 riyal and the local version is around 6 riyal or sar (Saudi Arabia Riyal). I found that interesting. They had all the produce in one section,  as we do in the states, but you bag what you want and place in in the front of your cart, which has a special made spot for it, and then you take it to a manned station next to the produce and they mark the price on it for you. I thought that was cool.
     I also walked to the dispensary on compound to inquire about a job posting. There I found that I was required to take an orientation from the compound doctor and got to do that while I was there. He was very gracious and informative. He told me what was safe to do and what activities and services were available to me. I inquired about the open position and he told me it was a secretarial position. His secretary has been gone for a month and he is in desperate need of a new one.
    Tim took me by the compound Main Office for an application for the open secretary job. Weather I get the position is not important... it was all just an interesting experience. Well that is all for now. Keep tuned in..... :)

My first driving tour of Jeddah...note Tim is not driving

Shopping in Jeddah

A gate to one of the palaces...this one is on the Red Sea and has its own Mosque

One of the many sculptures in Jeddah

Mosque on one of the palace grounds

Park where ever and when ever.... by your own rules

A nice home in Jeddah

Note the intricate plaster work on this Mosque

This is a Mosque by the Red Sea

Picnicing on any green grass found before going to Mosque on Friday

A glimpse of the Red Sea... note the couple walking by

An ice cream and coffee stand by the Red Sea

Steve giving me my first tour of Jeddah, note the people in the median picnicing.