A shopping experience like no other

Shopping malls are huge in Saudi Arabia. Literally. One nearby mall here in the Eastern Province is 1 million sq ft. of space. There is no theatre, cinema, museum, or any other cultural-type activity; no bars, no clubs, no nothing. Shopping and eating are about the only activities you can do outside of the home. In the evenings, malls get really crowded with entire families roaming around together.

The malls are filled with that familiar Asian scent, a mixture of cigarette smoke and incense. Every store clerk is male. No music plays in the shops, the employees most often do not greet me, or acknowledge my presence. It makes for strange, silent browsing... one that most perky American store managers would never allow.

The stores carry the latest fashions (so that's what they're wearing under the abayas!) There are food courts with the worst America has to offer-- McDonald's, KFC, and Popeye's. There is a baked potato stand named Taco Taco. There is Baba Habba's, which sells chicken and beef shawarma, this great invention of meats carved off a rotating, vertical spit and wrapped in arabic bread. Shawarma reminds me of the tacos al pastor I had in Oaxaca. Mmmm.

There are no fitting rooms in any of the stores. They do not allow trying on of the garments. They do allow exchanges or store credit within 7 days. Some stores offer a refund if you return in 24 hours. This is quite annoying. I have not purchased any clothing here yet, and probably won't be doing so until after I'm done being pregnant, but this policy still irritates me. It's like someone tried to think of the least convenient way to do business with a customer, and this is the result.