Some do, but you can't afford those...

Perfume is like a national obsession here. There are stores in the mall that are devoted to perfume alone! There is a cloud of 500 riyal an ounce buoquet as they glide by. No, these women take care of themselves. There is crazy money floating around the eastern province. You get a look at the clothing that they're trying on in the malls and you can see that these women are not bedouins riding a camel into town for a bath and a jar of dates.

These women are dressed underneath all those layers of black! And it seems as if wearing the abaya has freed up the women to get extra freaky underneath! I saw one ad in a window that I couldn't believe for this society. The title of the ad was "Beyond Cleavage!"

I ask my colleagues "if your wife wanders away, how do you find her again?" The answer? CELL PHONES! That's the other national obsession. Every woman here has that mobile bolted to her ear! Unlocked 4G Iphones are going for $1,200 here. Actually, all the phones sold here are unlocked.

This looks like a really good recipe. What ingredients are in the bean dip - refried beans? I can get those, but I haven't seen actual bean dip separately.

Thanks Craig!

baba ganoush maybe, or however you spell that.

Make yourself something. I planted 5 or 6 different kind of peppers, roast them on the grill, an onion, some garlic, maybe grill it in butter or toss in a few of those little orange tomatoes; use this little cast iron job I got for fajitas. Take some cream cheese the grilled/roasted stuff and toss in the food processor. Sun dried tomatoes are good in that too, or a little grated parmesan, whatever sounds good.

You probably are not planting a garden, but you could get some sort of produce maybe. Can of Rotel(chilies and tomato) melted velveeta, maybe some sausauge cooked and shredded up in it. I pour off some of the grease, grease makes things taste goooood. Pretty awesome with tortilla chips. Good for a crock pot.

I like to roast garlic, just toss whole thing you got at the store right on the grill, roast it, squeeze it into a little jar, baby food jar is ideal, squirts out like toothpaste after roasting for an adequate period of time. Very handy to have garlic around...

Tobra, thanks. THis looks delicious. I'm going to have to hit some of the local farmers markets (there's one in Qatif) to find the peppers. But that's a good idea. I think home grown peppers would do real well here. I can get some potting soil and some big jars and plenty of water. Sunlight is obviously not a problem here - there's as much sun as there is oil!

Just think what will happen to the Middle east once the oil stops flowing!:eek:

Careful with peppers, wear gloves, deseed, take out the white part the seeds are attached to also. If you leave seeds in, it will be MUCH hotter, and bits of seed might detract a bit in a spread.

Basil is a nice thing to have growing, that, pine nuts, olive oil, parmesan and you have pesto. Tomatoes like hot weather too. In a container you might have to water it a few times a day, maybe shade in the afternoon

Head across the bridge and civilization for a while. Hope you have a multiple visa so you can do it a couple of times a month and regain your sanity.

Wish you were in Dubai or the like where they have the Carrefor stores. They are a lot better on selection. Heard that they were building one in Jeddah but not sure...

Joe, we do have a Carreforre. It's right by my office in Khobar. I don't usually go there because it's such a pain to get to. Somehow they located it on about the third floor of a giant mall. It's like a Walmart Supercenter that you take escalators to get to. They have this escalator with electromagnets that hold your shopping cart to the tread. It shuts off when you get to the bottom.

I'll go check that out. They may have wierd hours due to Ramadan.

I've got the multiple entry/exit visa, but my company car can't leave the country (for obvious reasons). I'll have to ask around and hitch a ride with someone. A cab ride back and forth is about $125. I think there's a bus. The wife gets back in-country in October. We'll buy a personal car then which will make it a lot easier.