Coffee, Riyadh style

Flew to Riyadh this morning for work. A few headaches with cancelled plane tickets and hotel bookings but it was resolved, with seconds to spare before check in closed.

Good flight, well looked after. Madam, can I help you. Let me take your bag. Not many flight attendants do that. It’s a mix of chivalry, respect and possibly being of the fairer (weaker) sex. I was the only non Arab woman and all were in Abayas; with either full face showing, some eyes only and some nothing at all, and a few in business class with hair showing. I was a little conspicuous on the bus going from the plane to the terminal. Maybe two Western men on the bus.

The driver met me and took me to my hotel. I later found out he’s from Sudan, grateful we both know a few words of each other’s language.

My meeting was at 3.30pm so nice to drive around the city before and after. I then spent a couple of hours in a shopping mall and had dinner. I was told I didn’t need an abaya as it’s more relaxed here now, but I did stand out. Some stares and looks but I’m used to that. I did notice that many more of the locals were covered more than in Kuwait. Nice mall, same brands as and a few different ones from Q8. Nice cafe - Asian style noodles which I’ve not had in a while. One major difference was locals working in cafes; they’re going through a Saudi-isation process here,relying a lot less on imported labour. It’s something talked about in Kw8 but many of us foreigners can’t envisage it. The shops close at prayer time here too whereas they don’t in Q8; although I’m not sure everyone was going to pray.

A short walk around and my driver took me home. Tired but a most interesting day.

And the photo, very typical of the area; dates and coffee. Even more coffee pots than I’ve seen in Kuwait.