Chocolate anyone?

Several of the malls here have mini amusement parks for children. Some malls are very fancy with ice skating rinks and roller coasters while others include a carousal and arcade games. We were invited to go to the fancy mall for some play time. The area we spent our most time in is a huge indoor play area with lots of soft padding and slides. My daughter and her friend were having a wonderful time playing and I was enjoying watching from the sides. All of a sudden I noticed my daughter had something small, round, and brown in her hand and you know what I am thinking it is. She moves it towards her mouth and my eyes start to bulge. She pops it right in and I started running, jumping over the side gates to try and stop her. I being six months pregnant was running like a quarter back, I was surprised I could even move that fast! By the time I reached her she had of course swallowed the item. I said..."what was that?", "why did you swallow it?" Her response was "Mommy, its ok, it's chocolate!" When I shared this story with my husband he said he would have dug whatever it was out like a golden nugget. I said...well, it was a little too late, whatever kind of nugget it was, it's gone now!

The Souks

Last weekend we went to the Souks. This is a very interesting place to visit as the local life come here to shop but it is also tourist friendly.  They have designed a huge building to look and feel like a market would have in the older days. There are tons of winding little alleyways which have small shops where you can buy any and everything. There are also lots of restaurants and sometimes concerts or events. It is a very busy and exciting place to go in town for a taste of authentic life as well as a look at the many cultures that are a part of this city.

The shops are so tiny with merchandise packed from floor to ceiling.  Another interesting part of shopping here is that you can try to get a bargain and barter the price down. It is tacky to pay sticker price as they expect you to ask for less. The owners will stand right on top of you as you look; I think that is because they are watching me but also because it is so small inside. I find bartering to be pretty intimidating and so I just wanted to go buy something, at least until I see how bartering is handled. I went in one little shop and was just looking around. As I looked at a small, wooden camel,  the shop owner came up right beside me, like right beside me. I looked at the sticker, 50 Riyals, so I put it back down. The shop owner picks up the camel and says "Madam, this is a hand carved camel from wood, I give to you for 40 Riyals." I was like...um, ok...and I put the camel back down and looked some more. He said, "Madam, I give you camel for 35 Riyals". This time I was really looking at the camel thinking wow...this is getting better and better and I didn't have to say a word! Before I knew it the camel was 30 Riyals and I was shopping for more items. The more I looked the cheaper things became! I was loving it. So as you might have guessed I ended up with the camel and several other things. I even looked more official when I had to go back outside and ask my husband for more cash. (These stores are even too small for strollers most of the time, especially strollers containing a two year old with very sticky little fingers.)

The evening we shopped the place was packed with people! I was trying to take pictures without offending anyone. I think I have enough for you to get a good idea of what it is like. Anyone coming to visit us will definitely get a chance to shop here! Hint, hint...come visit us!



There was an entire section of the souks devoted to animals. It was a little strange to see baby chickens with their feathers the color of Easter eggs. People were purchasing animals. It was a very populated area of the souks with lots of children becoming pet owners quickly.




There were a lot of rabbits. In fact, a salesman picked one rabbit up by the ears to hand to my daughter. Fortunately, she declined the invitation and I quickly followed with a no.




There were many different kinds of birds for sale here. Cages just full of them, especially pigeons. I have heard that falconry is big here but we didn't find any of those in the souks. My husband is quite disappointed.




Kittens and baby hamsters. There were puppies too. At this point I was getting a little heartsick for all the caged animals for sale and didn't take pictures of the puppies. They only had long haired cats for sale. That must be more valued here than short haired as all the many strays are short haired cats.



Baby Turtles

The shops had pedestals out where you could pet and handle the animals. This was a combo with bunnies and a bird!

I should have asked how much this guy costs.

Musical instruments.

These were Hookahs for sale. Many of the native people would lounge on couches at restaurants, smoking Hookahs and reading or looking at their cell phones. Anyone could use one at the restaurants, not just the natives.

Shoe Shop

Perfumes

Golden nicknack's and perfume bottles

A little bit of everything shop

Candy Shop

Bulk spices

Very extravagant baby cradles

Incense was burning all over the souks.

Toy Shop

This is a great example of the small shops for purchasing fabric. They are super tiny but absolutely filled to the top with fabric. Most of the shops will offer you books with swatches of the fabric they have put together. When you find what you like in the book the shop owner knows exactly where to find what you picked out. It is for sale by the meter and you can also bargain with these prices.

Throughout the souks there were elderly men that appeared to be working. They all had wheelbarrows which they were moving around, sitting in, or standing beside. I didn't see them moving much around but they appeared quite busy. They had little bells on the handles for people to move out of the way I am supposing. My husband and I weren't sure as to whether they are staged there to create atmosphere or really working for money. We hoped it was staged.

On one street corner several native women were selling homemade foods and craft type items. I am not sure if this is just a section for women to work as the rest of the shops were only men working.

The Chicken Shawarma

We had our first taste of the famous shawarma this week and it is delicious. It is a very light flour tortilla, with meat, lettuce, and some type of white sauce. I think there are different toppings you could choose, we went with basic since it was our first try. We also tried the bread dipped in freshly made hummus. I believe the meat on ours was chicken. It is a lot of meat stacked on a pole that is continuously roasting. I was skeptical of eating a shaving off the stack, but it was actually quite delicious, we will be back for more!

Flowers

Here are a few of pictures of the local flora. But don't be fooled by the palm trees and flowers, there isn't a lot of green anywhere, mostly sand, so the flowers seemed very picture worthy.

Around the City



Just outside the city I have mentioned how sparse life is and here is an example.



There is constantly new construction taking place all over the city.