To a Multi Media Arts student like my daughter who chose to major in Photography and 2D/3D animation, here in SAudi Arabia, taking pictures in public is a struggle.  She brought along with her the camera she’s been using in her class but she avoids shooting in the open because Saudis are known to raise concerns to being photographed especially women.  Under their law, there are certain areas and government buildings that may not be photographed citing security reasons.

With the proliferation of “point and shoot” cameras, somehow people here are beginning to open up a bit but there are still some who are suspicious that their pictures are taken and sometimes become emotional and will forcibly stop you for taking pictures.   The only safe way to take pictures here is to make sure that you are not pointing your cameras on people or sensitive government buildings or compounds.   Usually, there is “No Photographs please” sign prominently posted so you will be aware .  Well, on the other hand, there are also safer grounds that photography is allowed like Embassies, the comforts of your housing or your compound but still, we make it a point to be discreet and careful in taking pictures in public so as not to violate whatever stand they had about public photography.

That is why, she told me that there are pressures in taking pictures here and there will never be great outdoor subjects available because of the restrictions.   Since her camera is one of those high end bulky DSLR  camera,  we seldom use it outside but instead we prefer to use my compact digital camera because it will go unnoticed and I can travel light considering its size and weight.  I can just toss it in my bag and used it for every shooting opportunity.  We love photographs!

Unless their society comes to term with this photo art, Saudi Arabia will continue to be one of the challenging countries for photographers like my daughter.

I would like to share with you how our children spent the first 5 days of their stay here with us.    While their papers (iqama renewal) are in process, my husband and I make sure that their stay is maximized.  Since both of us are in office on weekdays  (Saturday to Wednesday), both of them just stayed home.  We feel guilty of  not being able to take even few days leave from work.  However, we make up by spending quality time especially the past week-end.  And that quality time happened to be Food Tripping time.   Let me recount the days 1-5….

Day 1:

My children requested this Barbecue chicken -Arabic style the next day that they were up and about.  Fresh from a good night sleep but still a little big groggy  due to jetlag yet, their rumbling hungry tummies were craving for an Arabic meal.   Well, of course their Dad immediately drove to the nearest restaurant and came home beaming with excitement to serve the chicken.  The three (my husband included) had a feast and ate with much “gusto”.

Day 2:

The night before, we planned to skip breakfast to reserve space for a “brunch” meal on the 2nd day. Quite economical because we will be eating breakfast and lunch in one sitting.  We drove to  Ikea Home Furnishing Store around 10:00 am to sample their promotional breakfast gimmick of eggs, ham, sausages for only $1.5 dollars per plate.   The extras are croissants, coffee, juice, boiled eggs, salads, doughnuts , etc. for a regular price.

Their gimmick is to offer breakfast at reasonable prices during week-ends and it worked!   People as early as 9:oo am are already making a bee line to the entrance to sample the promo!  Aside from the promo meal, you will be tempted to grab and fill your plates with add-ons.   Yes, just like us we were  very full when you get out of their restaurant.   And the tendency is to take a walk around inside the furnishing store hoping that walking will aid our digestion.   Hmmm..  we went home tummy full and a basketful of items we shopped inside.

What a way to start our bonding day!

Day 3:

We let the kids laze around the house @ day 3 while we attended a meeting.   We dine out after our meeting and we gave in again to their request of going to a  steak house this time.   We  ate to our hearts content.   Disaster!  It is always like that, after a hearty meal, I ended up feeling guilty of my indulgence.  Oh, it was too tempting and overpowering that I wasn’t able to resist and took several bites of those ribs though I conditioned myself that I will just settle  for that green salads.  My 3 companion care no less!

This is what we called “guilty pleasures”!  However, this is done occasionally like treating our children to good (but sinful) foods.  Anyway, they are young and they have fast metabolism unlike my husband and I who promised to do the treadmill hoping to burn the fats fast.

Well.. what can I say?

Day 4:

We decided to slow down a bit with eating out but promises are made to be broken.  So  there’s no stopping us.   I was picked up from the office half past 5 pm and we headed to a Turkish restaurant.   Oh no!  The cravings for Arabic meal again?

We ordered the usual freshly baked and hot from the oven flat bread called  pita (yummy!) with hummous dip which is made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. It is a popular food here!

Though this bread alone can already make you full,  it won’t be enough with out mixed grill of lamb chops, chicken and beef.  The shawarma on plate completed our order.   It was watered down with our fave cocktail juice.

What a treat!  Don’t worry, we know that we should never sleep full at night.   So, after this treat, we went to a nearby mall having their 50% sale this week.   We don’t have intention to shop so we only looked around and wishing that it  will be a shopping spree day out next time.

Just a wish!

Day 5:

The family is feeling a bit sluggish these days!  The culprit is over indulgence!  We are aware of that and we admitted it to ourselves that indeed we have this successive bouts of eating out with no exercise at all!   And our bathroom weighing scale is not lying..   We have gained pounds!

I booked 2 bowling lanes for a family game right after work.  We proceeded to our Recreation hall but before that we took our light dinner in the nearby hospital family dining to give us the energy to bowl.

We are beginning to complain of our almost bulging tummies.  What do we expect?   So, watch out for the next story of the remaining 5 days of their stay with us!

Got to go.. dinner time!