Country Bumpkins

For all the oil money around here and ornate, palatial homes, many Saudis remain quite unsophisticated; or as we say in Chinese, hao tooh. I am surprised, although I probably shouldn't be. When you think about it, this area was desert for a long, long time, and these cities should be considered new, relatively speaking. It is very dirty here, and there are obviously no ADA laws around here. If you're crippled here, you're screwed. Sidewalks are woefully uneven, with huge concrete crevasses that could easily swallow a whole foot. The area is under constant construction, many stretches of land unpaved, with random cinder block walls guarding hollow squares.

Saudis drive around in their cars, the plastic wrap still covering the seats. Plastic cling wrap lines the inside of the doors. The mileage chart sheet / specs list are still for show in the back passenger windows, corners frayed and soft over time and tape yellowed and unsticky from the sun. The little blue foam squares on the sides of the doors the factory sticks on to prevent dings? Saudis leave them on, like badges of pride for a new car.

The plastic cling gets left on stroller handles. It starts to curl up from use and the invisible grime that sneaks underneath, leaving a semi-brown/clear protection on the handlebars.

They are just like grandmas with plastic slipcovers!

It cracks me up to see Saudis driving in these huge SUVS- they really love Toyota Landcruisers, and a version of the Landcruiser called Prado, GMCs, Suburbans, Yukons, and Ford Expeditions- and you peek inside, the entire family is sitting on the original plastic wrap. Isn't it going to rip? Doesn't the rustling sound annoy you? I want to ask them. It seems like they travel with all their belongings in the trucks at all times. The rear cargo area is always stuffed to the gills- you see thick prayer blankets rolled up, toys, trays, racks, boxes. We once saw a pallet stuffed into the back of a car.