The Arts in Saudi and Inappropriate Emotions

We’ve just returned from a week in London over the Eid break.  We loved our time away and especially enjoyed doing things we can’t do in Riyadh. Three evenings ago for instance, we went to a performance of Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night Dream in the East End’s Noel Coward Theatre.

A Visit to the King Abdulaziz National Public Library

Last Tuesday a friend and I visited the King Abdulaziz Public Library.

A week earlier we’d made a list of things we could do in Riyadh that didn’t involve malls, drinking coffee, shopping, or given the current temperatures, being outdoors. The National Museum was top of our list, but we’d both already been there.  The King Abdulaziz Public Library was our second idea. There was no third.

From New Zealand to Saudi - A Tale of Two Cars

Okay, now that I’ve grabbed your attention with this photo, I have to confess that this blog’s nothing about accidents. This photo just happened to be the closest I could find. (And I really like the word ping in red on the boot.)

This is a car repair story and it starts in New Zealand and ends in Saudi.

Over the last week we’ve had a flurry of emails and skype chats with my son in New Zealand. His car needed a Warrant of Fitness, but his friendly garage mechanic gave him a long, long list of Must-Be-Dones, and a quote for over a thousand dollars.  We suggested he visit another mechanic. This time the quote was $300.00 for just one repair. The collective sigh of relief went all the way from New Zealand to Saudi and back again. However the story is not yet finished. The needed part - a brake caliper - has not yet been found in the right size. So resolution is still a small glimmer of light at the end of a tunnel.

Breakfasts and a Birthday in Crete

Like many of our friends, we’ve been out of the Kingdom for a few weeks’ holiday over Ramadan.  Riyadh during Ramadan isn’t easy; without daytime food and drink, the driving gets worse – hard to believe but it does – job productivity declines and tempers become frayed.

So, in the better interests of our health and happiness, we decided to break away and head for Greece.

Lessons from an English Teacher and a Ramadan Story.

Two of my young students created this when I was teaching a class of gifted children in New Zealand. I’d asked them to choose a figurative expression and present it literally. I explained that they could take something like butterflies in your tummy, which really means feeling nervous, and then create an image of what it might look like if the words were true.

These two boys chose to work with put your foot in your mouth.