I’m writing this blog as I’m waiting for the rest of the group (everybody else) to show up for our weekly HR meeting. I don’t know why I get here 10 minutes early to check the AV equipment when the I could show up 10 minutes late and still be prepared. I have started to bring my laptop to these meetings to kill time by doing something productive like updating my blog. I don’t know why I have dropped out of the blogosphere lately. I had attributed it to not really seeing anything that new or interesting in my second year in the Middle East but I don’t think that is true. Things are still new and interesting but my tolerance for the different has grown quite a bit over these past 18 months.
So what has been going on besides the standard boycotts over inflammatory cartoons, a terrorist group being granted power through democratic means and the country next door building nukes? I went to IKEA. That seems more interesting then any of the above. I could rant over them take both sides, talk about the hypocrisy of the world and in the end not take a clear stance on either side. Why can I do this? Because I’m an analyzer and it’s clear that nothing is clearly right or wrong. That drives me nuts when what makes me happy is clear clean answer to my view of the situation. Well I may tie up some of my server space with those rants at another time. For now it’s all about IKEA.
Why is going to IKEA such a big thing you might ask. Sure we all love the Sweeds and their kooky little cartoons and amazingly efficient and cost effective flat packed furniture. Is it enough to dedicate almost a whole blog entry to? Well it is when you live in Doha and the nearest IKEA is in Dubai (actually it’s Abu Dhabi). So After going to Dubai for my half marathon a while back, Kara and I decided we wanted to make a dedicated visit just to buy stuff from IKEA. Since the budget airlines only allow so much luggage and shipping it back as cargo would off set some of the saving we decided to drive. Actually we decided myself and a friend would drive while our wives wore abayas and flew to Dubai.
I did have one Russell moment. After paying for insurance in two different countries I was running low on cash and gas. So I decided not to be a stubborn mail and pulled into the first gas station I saw. At this point I wasn’t aware that I was low on cash. I said fill ‘er up and the man did. Nobody pumps their own gas here so I wasn’t being a snob. The guys who work the pumps are glad to because they usually make a lot more money in tips then from their salary. So when the guy told me it was 70 Dirhams ($20) and I only had 25 he wasn’t amused. I’ve learned that people will tolerate most things over here but when not paying is not on that list. Money is the reason why people will tolerate most things. So I asked if I could come back. He looked at me like I was an idiot, I can’t blame him. I handed over my driver’s license and registration and asked for directions to the nearest ATM. That was the part that ultimately got me. I assumed everybody took credit cards or had an ATM. Well not here, apparently he didn’t have a phone line. So even though my friend Shane and I were easily 4 times this guys size we did the right thing. So 15 minutes later I’m driving through a compound following some random guy on a moped looking for an ATM. Kara calls me at this exact time and I felt like a kid who just got caught cleaning up a mess he made. She thought it was funny but wasn’t completely surprised. We made it back to the gas station, resisted the urge to do some little people tossing, got my license and registration and we were on our way.
In the end the shopping trip was a pretty well executed plan. We got our Saudi passports without much hassle and we never really got lost. There was still a little bit of adventure in driving from Doha to Dubai but it wasn’t like the first time. Once we got to IKEA we spent 9 hours shopping. The first phase was evaluating what all was available. Phase 2 was purchasing and loading the larger furniture. The last phase was getting all the smaller odd shaped stuff. It went pretty well and I was dead tired afterwards. Out X-Trail was sagging in the back. Because of my limited knowledge of vehicles I was honestly worried the axle was going to break and I had visions of the back wheels shooting off into the Arabian desert.
Nothing like that happened. We actually got through the border posts quicker then my first trip. I was afraid they were going to make us unload all the stuff at both crossings but no such luck. They looked at the car and our receipts, shook their heads and told us to keep on going. So now we have brand new IKEA furniture for Emma’s new room.
