Scenes from Life in Khafji

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April 1, 2010
Today is the weekend, here in Saudi. It’s a warm, beautiful day so I decided to walk into Khafji. It wound up to be a four-hour walk (round trip) to get from where I’m staying into the middle of town. To get there, you have to walk through the industrial section, which is stall after stall of car repair places. One would think there must be one repair shop per driver here. Of course, seeing how they drive their cars, it isn’t too surprising for the need to have this many repair places!

I took some photos along the way (I spared you the car repair places, which are seedier than you can imagine). Khafji has about 65,000 people, which is about three times larger than my home town in Minnesota. So it’s not small, but it’s not very large either. I’d say it’s a typical Saudi town, but Westerners are not common (I didn’t see any today) and English is not spoken very much. The town is the stuff of everyday life… grocery stores, hardware shops, laundries, small cafes, rug stores, and clothing stores. It may not be very exciting, but it’s very authentic. And just like any small town, I found someone I knew - one of the maintenance people that work at the Training Center.

One of my favorite things is to spot weird signs. Most of the signs here are just in Arabic, but I did find some “interesting” ones in English, which I’ve included in my photos. However, my favorite photos were taken at a very small bakery where they made huge flat breads. These are not like pita bread (which is called “Arabic bread” here), but large circles of baked bread.

Be sure to see the photos below and click on the "page 2" link to see the "extra photos" I've uploaded. You can also click on any photo to enlarge it, and then use the numbers at the top to scroll from photo to photo.

Be sure to see the photos below and click on the "page 2" link to see the "extra photos" I've uploaded. You can also click on any photo to enlarge it, and then use the numbers at the top to scroll from photo to photo.

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Photos

The middle of the oven
I could really feel the heat when I took this photo.

Getting fitted for a Saudi outfit
It occured to me that everyone wheres the same thing here. But apparently everyone gets tailored for their thobe. The head dress is called a ghuetra. (I bought a ghuetra today for about $7.oo US)

English Teacher Alert!
Just "5 minites"

Corn in a Cup
It sounds like something you would get at the Minnesota State Fair (to compete with Corn on a Stick).

Comments

[Ellen]

Oil
Hashish Oil????????????????????????????????????????????

[TedTravel]

Oil
I only take the photos, I don't explain them. Who knows?

[Missy]

How do you do it?
How on earth did you get inside and close up at that bakery?

[TedTravel]

Bakery
I couldn't help but get close up. The place was about the size of very small cubicle! The oven was about 2 feet from the open door.

[Connie]

You'll find a lot of misspelled English word or poor grammar in all parts of Saudi. Just wondering how you can take photos, isn't it prohibited? lol...

[TedTravel]

Photos
I take photos all the time. As long as you don't take photos of women, you are OK. If I'm near someone (like the baker), I ask permission first. I try not to be overly obvious when I'm taking photos and it has never has been an issue -- at least so far!

[shang]

;)
enjoyed reading your journal,,had a good blast of laughter w/ some of the pix..

[ei phyo]

Price of colorful flags
Pls,let me know the price of colorful flags over a parking lot

[TedTravel]

Flags
I don't believe these flags were for sale. They were just decorations.

[Mahbub Alam]

Bangladesh
I like corn in a cup