The Simple Life at Home

We are two days into our voyage through the deserts of  Saudi Arabia.  It’s been mostly drudgery, with never-ending stretches of sand.  However there have been a few  note-worthy moments.

Right after crossing the border, Emily noticed a herd of camels. Sure enough, I looked up and there were about 100 camels on either side of the road.  It was so neat, but what surprised me was the fact that there were camels like I’d never seen before. There were black camels and white camels and camels with patches. I didn’t know that they came in any color but brown!!

As the sun went down and we neared Dammam, where we stayed the night, we found that the Saudis use an unusual method of marking roads.  Instead of street lights, they lined the road with barrells and hung lights from them.  Then they would put big flashing arrows whenever the road bent or lanes shifted (which was often).  The combination of all these lights, in addition to the multi-colored lights which many large trucks sport along their side, was reminiscent of Las Vegas.  All right at eye level.  My eyes felt like they were being assaulted.  I kept thinking that it’s a good think I didn’t inherit epilepsy from my mom or I would have been in full-on seizure mode!!

Today has been spent driving through little tiny towns in northern Saudi Arabia.  Our GPS is so lost!  Nothing shows up but a little arrow representing us.  Emily, of course, has been flaunting the law and refusing to wear her headscarf, though she is wearing her abaya.  Let me tell you, those women who wear the headscarf must have talents I don’t possess.  Mine keeps slipping off my head and looks nowhere near as elegant as many of the women I see.  Apparently I just have no talent for anything above my head since I can never get my hair right either.

We just pulled into Arar, our stop for the night, so I’m going to sign off to look for the hotel.  More updates from Amman!!