Comments on: Christmas 2008 – Just Another Day in Saudi Arabia

By: Saudi Arabia and Holiday Reflections « American Bedu

Saudi Arabia and Holiday Reflections « American Bedu — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:10:40 +0000

[...] I was raised in a different faith which my own family continues to follow and practice. So what do we do when in Saudi? Inside my home during the Christmas week we will have some subtle signs of the festivities and [...]

By: American Bedu

American Bedu — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 03:56:39 +0000

It is so wonderful to hear of such times which depict such a different Saudi Arabia of today. If one lives on a western compound there is more flexibility towards allowing one to openly practice their own cultures and customs but today there does not seem to be the same tolerance as you have described. It is beautiful to hear of such experiences. Most western expats of today usually do spend much time isolated to compounds due to the necessity of current environment and will not have had the opportunities of going to a village let alone living in one and seeing the beudions in the natural state and habitat as such. I do hope you are reunited with many from the Northrup family.

By: Jeanie Siler Barnett

Jeanie Siler Barnett — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:04:04 +0000

Thank you for your thank yous. I could literally write books on my experiences while living in Saudi Arabia.
Even though it was many years ago now, it still stands out as some of my most happy memories.
From day one, it was totally different, i.e. it snowed in
Riyadh on New Years day!! People there had not seen snow and they even allowed the children to stay out of school to play in the snow. No it wasn’t enough for it to cover the ground, but it still was the first time
many of them had ever experienced seeing snow fall from the sky.

We started out by living in Alkhobar. Many interesting experiences there; but eventually ended up living in the village (not in the compound) of Taif. I loved it and
the people, from the day we arrived!! It was like living in Biblical times. We were in a Villa that a prince had built for his mother but when she did not like it, Northrup leased it and it ended up our home. And right behind the Villa, in the evening, you would see
camel caravans trapsing across the sands. You saw
Bedouins complete with herds of sheep, right there at the gate to your villa. The people there were so gracious.

Our shipment from the states was lost; 5500 lbs. and
thus all of the Christmas decorations that we had packed were in that lost shipment. But because of that, we made homemade decorations out of bread dough art, stringing popcorn and berries. We had an
art exhibit at the Rec. Center and one of our ladies
made a spun sugar Christmas train which was a
work of art! And as I mentioned in my earlier blog,
we had Santa arrive on a camel. Now where else
could you do that?!! I am now 74 years old and that
Christmas was one of the most memorable ones I
have ever had!!

If you were part of our fun Northrup family, please write and tell me who you are and where you are. I
have, unfortunately lost track of most all of my friends
that I made there.

from Genie and the Magic Carpet

By: Chiara

Chiara — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:17:04 +0000

A great story. Thank you for sharing.

By: American Bedu

American Bedu — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:11:58 +0000

Jean,

Thank you for sharing your lovely experience! I do hope you will add more comments sharing your experiences.

By: jean barnett

jean barnett — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:12:42 +0000

I lived in Taif, S.A. in 1974 and a couple of things come to mind in reading this blog. First of all, not only did we have Christmas decorations in our Rec. Center, I found an arab who had a friend, who had a
friend who owned a camel. And I was actually successful in getting said camel to arrived to carry
Santa on Christmas Day!!

And the other story is when we were attending a Christmas party during which time our music must have been a bit too loud and someone called the
local police. When they came out, Walt, my then husband and the host went out to talk to them. And my husband told me that outside the gate, there were besides the police, a couple of bedouins, complete with staff and sheep, dancing up a storm!

While living there, we respected the Arab holidays and they did likewise. We had a very good working relationship.

Jeanie Siler Barnett
(I was at that time known as Genie and the Magic Carpet) for anyone who lived there, way back then…..

By: American Bedu

American Bedu — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:20:17 +0000

I would say that particularly for Western diplomats Tamimi is the supermarket of choice as it is most familar. Guessing here, I would think Danube is more of a popular choice for expats from Europe.

By: Fat al-Bort

Fat al-Bort — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:29:53 +0000

Expats seem to be Tamimi’s main audience. Over the summer break, I couldn’t find many of imported US products which they’re usually stocked with, such as IBC Root Beer, or even things like US beef. They told me the reason was that most Americans are out of the country at that time, so they don’t sell these products, and sure enough, when people started to come back for work they started to stock up on.

By: American Bedu

American Bedu — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 09:04:18 +0000

You’re quite right Fat al-Bort. I made sure to visit Tamimi near the American Thanksgiving and was able to stock up on quite a few products that I realize are only stocked once per year! So even though I’m in KSA, my family was able to enjoy some of our old traditional foods!

By: Fat al-Bort

Fat al-Bort — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 21:26:08 +0000

If you go Tamimi Markets (aka Safeway) you will find the common US Xmas products, such as confectioneries with festive wrapping, special flavors of Coffee Mate (Pumpkin spice, etc), and other imported American foods that specific to the holiday. These were even being hold at the beginning of the month. So even in Saudi Arabia you can enjoy an overly commercialized holiday by buying products.

Happy holidays.