The other day while sitting at home, I recieved a call from my friend, Pablo, who just arrived in KSA from Korea, to see if I was interested in going out with his (now 'our') friend Ali, from the city of Dammam. Being a bit bored and not knowing what I was getting into, I said sure. What I thought was going to be just a quick tour of Al-Hofuf, turned into an afternoon of pure fun and hilarious company!
Pablo and Ali met me in front of Starbucks at the Al Othaim mall, near where I live around 2:45 pm. There, I hopped into Ali's car and quickly introduced myself. After leaving the mall, we decided to go checkout the Al-Ahsa caves that were about a half hour drive away from the city. During that ride, Ali explained to me how he lived in New Orleans for three years studying there for university. Like millions of people in that region, Ali was there during Hurricane Katrina. Due to this disaster, he needed a new host family to house him during the remainder of his sojourn in the US. He said that he felt so grateful to the people who helped him that he wanted to help others in return, without reciveing anything back. In short, he joined an organization that Pablo and me are part of, Couch Surfing (
http://www.couchsurfing.org/). This is an organization that helps people find FREE places to stay while travelling. Not only that, but it connects you with local people in any given area and lets you stay at their place. I did this all over Korea and it was without a doubt one of the best moves I made while there.
Anyways, Ali took Pablo and me to the caves, which are sort of famous around this part of the Kingdom. He explained how they are stay cool during the summer and warm during the winter. Driving up to the caves, you pass many marvelous rock formations which make up a rugged terrain of sandstone and date palms. Where we parked, we even saw a man climbing one of the date palms to harvest the dates that were up there. Pablo coined the phrase "he's dating!".... not with a girl, but a 'date'! :-) Go Pabs....
Following this, we walked down into the rock formation and entered the caves, which were really cool, in both meanings, and they somewhat reminded me of the caves in Donghae, Korea that I visited. Uljin, where I taught in Korea, also had some good caves. The caves were entirely made of sandstone were quite narrow and had tall cathedral-like ceilings.
The caves, as wonderful as they were, weren't the best part of the trip for me. After we left the caves, we went to a family house that has been making handmade pottery for over one hundred year. This place was amazing to see, not just because it was visually stunning, but because I saw the guy use the circular device that spins the clay to make a traditional piggy bank (see video below). In the center of the 'house' there were date palms and handmade baskets and other crafts made out of palm leaves. I bought a small basket and a traditional Saudi picnic mat that they use to eat on the ground. I bought both of these things for 35 Riyals (9 USD). The man even gave Pablo and me a smaller piggy bank jar that he made; they're heavy things, too.
In the above photo, the circular mat in the upper left corner is the one I bought! I love it and have plans to hang it on a wall in my apartment. It's more for decoration than for actual use. Visiting this place was a unique insight into how traditional handcafts were made centuries ago and what the quality that was and is produced to this day.
After a great experience at the pottery factory, we headed to a near by national park that is close to the city. Ali told us that the park consisted of lots of trees that were planted to help keep back to ever changing sand dunes. Apparently, the sand dunes were creeping up on the houses years back and now they are at the edge of the park where the trees begin. The park is quite nice and green and clean! It appears to be a popular gathering place for families and friends to hangout at. Ali said that he sometimes takes his SUV and races up the sand dunes that are there, something he promised we would all do! *grins*
In the park, we bought some water, ice cream, and garbanzo beans with hot sauce and cumin! We headed out to see the dunes, but the gate at the edge of the desert was inaccessible. So, we drove to another part of the desert and laid down a blanket and ate the garbanzos.... let's just say I know have two cans of garbanzo beans in my apartment with cumin on the standby for dinner! As usual, we were accompanied by a beautiful sunset that I had to take a picture of.
Now for the part that was the most surprising for me. So what do you do in Saudi Arabia after walking in caves, watching pottery be made, and a nice late afternoon in the desert? You go to a hookah bar and smoke sheesha of course!!! That's right, I've taken up smoking! Why not? Sheesha, for those of you who aren't aware, is flavored tobacco that is burned and filtered through water that you smoke through a pipe. Being that I'm in Saudi Arabia and that sheesha is much healthier than cigarettes, I gave in and enjoyed a lovely hookah for about an hour, coughing the whole way! Ali put it this way: not smoking sheesha in Saudi Arabia is like not visiting the pyramids when you're in Egypt. So, I was culturally forced to comply. :-) Apparently, I did well for a first timer, and no, I don't plan on making it a habit to visit the hookah bars; although, they do have nice tea. :-)
After that, I went home and enjoyed a quiet evening in front of the TV.
Life continues in the Kingdom.....
