Things I want to remember, things I need to forget.
driving solo (through the desert getting caught in sand storms, driving by herds of hundreds of camels, desert lightning) the call to Magreb prayer during an extra colorful sunset, Laksman and Utakumar days when i could set my own agenda at work, traveling on holidays with no budget, the haj buses, the Ballad district in Jeddah, the old 'church', the kind Ethiopian guy that helped me with the cops when I was purposefully hit, the Little India/Pakistan area of Jeddah and all the lovely regional food, being recognized at my favorite South Indian restaurant....
being a hermit, rarity of seeing my family, gender segregation (practically choking on all the testosterone), working in an all male environment, Saudi racism, Saudi tribalism, Saudi regionalism, driving with certain others, sunrise prayer, waking up early (4:30 am is just too early), the lack of options, the lack of options (needs to be twice said), lack of food choice, social life, lack of work ethic, lack of quality, certain attitudes, the worst version of an expat enclave I ever did see, difficulty in doing things, sid, incompetent bosses/managers/company, doing far too much for a shite company, life in ac, lack of access to the host culture, compound life and all it entails, especially living in a contained prison-like area with people that you work with, my weeks (months) of depression between holidays, sharing Jeddah guest villa, Al-Gham compound house, the ignorance of some, the jagoff that ran into me purposefully in Jeddah, company parties-their drab and hollow festivities with the wraith-like husks of humans wandering about and repeating incestuous gossip, not being able to see Mecca and Medina, the religious zealots on either side of the divide, conversion attempts in the supermarket, the treatment of developing country nationals by Saudis and expats alike, trash thrown out of cars like it was 1959, shite Saudi drivers, selfishness, suppression of opinion when asked, not being able to wear shorts in public, compound meals, difficulty of hiking/access to nature.....
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