Schreibungenferien -- Betrachtung eins

Eid Mubarak! While I will not be heading west to Mecca for Hajj, I will enjoy the week off of work afforded me. What are my plans during this time? Writing up a storm! As you are well aware, I haven't been updating as much as hoped, but with the free time, let the good words flow. I will begin a mutltiple-part series on personal observations of Saudi...

Observation 1 -- Supermarket excess
Today, I was shopping at Carrefour, looking to pick up some items for this evening's potluck/Quiddler get-togther with E and B. I have found that the best time for me to shop at Carrefour with the least amount of anxiety is a little after 9.30 on Thursday mornings. The store opens at 9.00, and it is the first day of the weekend, so people are less inclined to be in the store this early. More importantly, prayer call for mid-morning isn't until 10.30, so I can get a full hour of browsing/shopping time in before the gates shut me in the store for 20 minutes while the cashiers go to pray.

In any respect, I went to the bakery section to take advantage of the relatively fresh artisan bread. Was able to score a loaf of olive bread, but found myself intrigued by the chocolate croissants. I thought it would be a good dessert item, so I went to reach for the closest container, which contained about a dozen croissants. No way did I need that many, so I browsed some more for a smaller amount (only really needed three). I had to walk over to a different section of the bakery until I was able to score a 'small' container (5 croissants). Saudi families and their knack for procreation -- it's a killer for the singleton shopper, as one runs the risk of either overindulging or having everything go bad in the fridge. When trying to purchase simple vegetable oil, it took nearly ten minutes to get past the two-gallon-sized jugs of oil and secure a 'mere' liter of it. As E has stated, "Grocery shopping here is like going to Sam's all the time."