Last night, a few friends and I went out to visit some friends at another compound. Since all the terrorist stuff going on in KSA in the 6 months that I've lived here, it's been difficult to go do any sort of leisure travel. For a long time, we were restricted to going to work and back, and that was it. It was deemed by the powers that be that it was too dangerous to go out to the souks, or to the gigantic Euromarche, or the malls, or the desert, or even to other Western compounds. Finally, things have loosened up a bit, and we took advantage of that last night.

J and E, our hosts, are Brits...Irish, to be specific, and live on a compound as most non-Saudis in Riyadh and around the country do. The Saudis don't like a lot of mixing. They are pretty paranoid that influences will corrupt their way of life...that might be true, but frankly, there are a few things that might need changing... Westerners are ok, but the third-country-nationals (TCNs - mostly from places like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Philippines) are treated pretty shabbily. You actually will see some Saudis call them kelb (dog).

Western compounds tend to be like gated communities in the US. With nice villas, grass and palm trees, tennis courts, and even a golf course on one, they could be Florida or Arizona (especially in the summer when every day is over 120 degrees F). Most compounds in the US, though, don't have Army (Saudi) guards with machine guns at the gates. Here, due to the fact that Westerners are targets, and with several historical instances of bombings, shootings, and kidnappings, such precautions must be taken. The harder a target the compound is, the safer it is.

When we got there, we just relaxed for a while. I had a Barbican Lemon flavored near-beer. It really was pretty good, but not like the real thing. Alcohol is haram (forbidden) in KSA. You do hear of people making their own, though, and a few years ago, the government blamed a series of attacks on westerners on a booze running conspiracy. It was easier than confronting the fact that Islamist terrorists were operating freely in the country.

Supper was great...salad, wild rice and peas, and a gumbo-like shrimp dish that was incredible. We just ate, and sat and talked and laughed like normal people for a few hours. It was a great chance to get away from our compound, which we have lovingly dubbed "Alcatraz." Simple pleasures, I guess...when you lose the freedom to come and go as you wish, you take what you can get. The lack of freedom is one thing I'll definitely not miss once I leave next year.

BREAK...

If you're flying anywhere soon, check out this site when you're making your seat assignment. It can help you find the seats you want, and most importantly, the seats you don't!
http://www.seatguru.com/home.shtml