Jeddah Traffic Circle Art

Back in my hometown we have a committee whose mission is to select art to display around the city. I don’t know if Jeddah has the same set-up, but one thing is for sure, in my opinion, Jeddah is way ahead in the selection process. Here are some examples that demonstrate humor and beauty for both night and day.

Jeddah is also known in Saudi Arabia for it's fountains. Next trip I'll try to get a few shots of them as they are equally impressive.

More Jeddah Traffic Circle Art

These are camels sectioned into three parts. I have seen a herd of horses done this way too. Maybe next trip I'll have better photos.

More Traffic Circle Art

This huge globe lights up at night and is made of individual blue, green, grey, and shades of brown tiles that glow.

Jeddah Traffic Circle Art

Script from the Quran "There is only one God and Muhammed is his prophet….. " shaped into a dhow.

Gahwa

This photo is of a traditional Arab coffee pot. If you look closely you can see the saffron spice in the pouring spout, which is the gahwa's last ingredient before it reaches your cup.

One of the differences between gahwa and American coffee is the gahwa coffee beans are green and then slightly roasted before grinding, whereas the American coffee is already roasted. Another difference is gawha has cardemon added for flavor.

The Drink Maker

Faisal made traditional arabic coffee (gahwa) and sweet tea all night long. Tradition for the coffee is to take take an odd number of cups. The cup is never filled entirely full, as that is considered an insult. Gahwa is usually served with dates or some other small sweet snack.

Four Hours to Cook - 30 Minutes to Eat

Shallah, Mustafa and me in the early stages of cooking our supper.

My friend Shallah invited me to a barbeque out in the desert to celebrate the graduation of a few of our friends from a local college. Of course, I accepted. Just after sundown, I went out into the desert to find the BBQ spot with one of my diving buddies, Mustafa, who is also an American. We found Shallah busily readying the coals for the cooking fire and setting up three foot high canvas windbreaks around the sitting and cooking fires. Next to the cooking fire was a tasty looking sheep skewered on a long wooden pole. It’s belly was sewn shut with sweet white onions and garlic inside. Shallah set the sheep cooking pole on wooden stands across the fire about 7:00 pm. While the sheep was cooking, more of our co-workers came in intervals throughout the evening to drink gahwa (Arab coffee) and shai (sweet tea) and talk about sports, politics, religion, and everything else under the moon. We ate under starlit skies, a perfect light breeze and a three-quarter moon about 11:00 pm. The sheep was excellent. Then after cleaning up we sat around the fire and talked further into the night. Some of the guys had a graduation to attend the next morning and we all had to work the next day so we didn’t stay out all night. Mustafa and I talked about if and how we could do a barbeque similar to tonight’s back home in the States. One thing is for certain; you cannot just pull off the side of the road a couple hundred yards and pick a spot out in some field back home. Otherwise, this would be a whole bunch of fun for an evening get-together.

Beauty Contestant

The white camels are considered more pleasing to the eye than the other colors. Isn't she a beaut? I took this photo early in the morning on the side of the road while on the way to Riyadh with Russ.

If You Feed Them, They Will Come

My little wild kitties are getting friendlier since their mother has started weening them. They have even resorted to testing their claws on my shoes while I am dishing out their food. Or maybe they are clawing and trying to tell me to hurry up.

Jeddah - What A Jewel

Having not been away from work (other than shopping trips to Riyadh) since early December, a "getaway" was in order. A few friends and I went for a quick weekend on Jeddah's beautiful reef. This is my second time diving there and the legendary Saudi people's hospitality is truly everything I had always read about.

Access to the Sheraton Hotel's dive site is included in the hotel rate and it is first class. The reef condition and visibility was excellent. The night diving was awesome. We were the only people there and when we finished we simply cleaned our gear and left it hanging for the next day's diving.