Al Isa Soukh is one of several shopping centres on Dhahran Street near where it meets the Prince Turki street. Take any alley to venture into the area behind the shopping centres, and you'd find yourself in a different world. This rundown area in downtown Khobar, I hear, is the point from where the city grew and spread outwards. The original inhabitants have moved out, to be replaced by migrant workers from South Asia. You will see more Indians and Bangladeshis here than Saudis. You will see signs in South Asian languages, Bengali and Kannara newspapers displayed in shops and snack bars serving puri, dosa or samusa. There's even a paan shop, selling betel leaf with everything that's supposed be in a cone of paan (betel leaf). People clad in lungi (sarong)roam about doing what South Asian men typically do: chat, sip tea and spit on the pavement. You'd feel like you are in a South Asian city. The filthy and smelly environment helps to reinforce the illusion.
So when I met Ted, who has never been to South Asia, I decided to give him a tour of the area. Ted is an American who is on a short visit to Saudi Arabia as an Aramco (the Saudi Oil Company) consultant. We met in blog space and decided to meet in person Monday afternoon in front of Al Isa Soukh. After the tour of the area populated by Indians and Bangladeshis, we headed for a Thai restaurant run by Filipinos. The food was good, although there was nothing special about the "special fried rice." And the "fried chicken" turned out to be stir-fried shredded chicken with assorted vegetables. Ted was surprised to find no napkins; there was a box of tissue instead.
We talked about our lives and families. By the time he looked at his watch, it was already 8 o'clock and he had missed his Aramco bus.
6 comments:
Hi this is Ted. Being a paranoid American (an ex-New Yorker at that), I couldn't believe that I would meet a "stranger" that I met through a blog, much less one in Khobar, Minnesota.
However, meeting with Mr. LifeInTheDessert was one of the highlights of my trip to Saudi. It's amazing (to me) that two people from such different backgrounds can find so much in common. Maybe there is hope for the world after all.
Ted,
Thanks for your comments. The amazement is mutual; I too was surprised to find how much we have in common. I guess people all over the world have more similarities than differences, and there is always hope as long we know how to open up our minds to understand that.
This place you talk of sounds so similar to Al-shoa'alah Mall. I really loved going to that place before it burned down. I hope that someday they'd rebuild it. There were so many people that went there and even though it was mostly for electronics, it was fun to goof around. I bought my first sketchers from the place(so irrelevant:P)thank you for the post.
Dear Homesick,
Thanks for dropping in. As you probably know, I'm new here and don't know where Al-shoa'alah Mall was. I'm happy that my blog brought you back some fond memories. I hope it will do the same to me years away from now. That's why I write this blog.
AliBaba,
Assalamualaikum,
I recently found your blog, and enjoyed it very much. I'm living in al-Khobar and have encountered many of the same problems and confusions. I particularly enjoyed reading the perspective from a Bangladeshi, as so many blogs in Saudi seem to be from Western expats (like myself) or Saudis.
@Shaari1, Wa alaikum salaam. Yes, most expatriate bloggers in KSA are Westerners. Apart from them, there are a number of Filipino bloggers. I am probably the only blogger from Bangladesh. It is always interesting to compare your impressions with those of a person from a different background/culture. Thanks for visiting and for your comments. I hope you'd enjoy your stay here.
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