Khaled Batarfi: “Isn’t it absurd that even in the Department of Girl’s Education only men are in charge?” Well, this is not the only absurd thing about this country, so get over it, and let it go.

It did not surprise me that many Saudis have taken the chance of the first ever holiday of the national day to go abroad, and use the long weekend to do something fun, or useful, instead of just staying in the country, and watch the boys who decided to celebrate the day individually on the streets.

On Friday night, I was out with my friends to have some drinks form the nearby Dr. Cafe, and there were many cars, covered with the green flag, and filled with young men dancing and chanting. It was nice, but I’m sure some people were not happy when they got stuck in the traffic lights because of these happy guys.

Badria Al-Besher thinks that Saudis go to Bahrain and Dubai on such occasions because, in these places, Saudi families are allowed to walk altogether in markets, parks, and streets, without facing the embarrassments and restrictions they face in their own country. In our cities, fathers can’t enter the park with their own kids, and mothers can’t take their sons who are taller than 120cm to the zoo.

To go with my posts Horror at Al-Mamlaka and Girls Wanted, here is a story from Asharq Al-Awsat titled: “The Saudi Man’s Burden: No Single Men Allowed!”

Back to school but can’t stand the idea that you should go back to live with that shitty roommate of yours? Use this guide to get rid of that roommate.

Last week, I had the chance to meet Mohammed, again. He was in Riyadh for a couple of days for business. We had dinner at the new Kabab-ji restaurant on King Abdullah Road. We had a really good time, and enjoyed the Lebanese food.

Leaving the restaurant, we were talking about the crazy drivers on Riyadh streets. And, as if we needed an example for our conversation, we almost got hit by cars twice in these few minutes we walked. Then, we stopped a cab, and while we were shacking hands and Mohammed was saying goodbye, the Asian cab driver ran away. He looked so angry, and, apparently, he was swearing at us. Why did he do that? Probably, he thought we were taking much of his precious time.

We had to stop another cab. This time, the driver was Saudi. As soon as we got in the car, he asked, “Are you going to pay in riyals or dollars?” He thought we were foreigners! “Listen, buddy! I’m Saudi. I take cabs everyday, and I know all your crap, so you are not gonna fool me, ok?” I told him. When I said that, he pretended that he was just kidding when he talked about the dollars, but I think he was not. He sounded serious.

Anyways, it was good to see Mohammed again. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to go to Dubai this winter, and I’ll meet him there.

The Open Source Cookbook is a project to collect recipes from all around the world. It is interesting to see how the open source culture in getting integrated in different aspects of our lives.

Last week, I went with my best friend, who is also my cousin, who is also my roommate, and who is not going to be happy when he finds out I mentioned him here ;-), to Al-Mamlaka shopping mall. We got there around 1600, it took us about two hours to finish our shopping spree. It was almost Maghrib (sunset) prayer time, and we were done with our shopping, but we had to wait for a friend of ours to pick us up.

We sat at the food court. A few minutes later, most of the employees at the mall came and sat there. They were chatting, smoking, and killing time, waiting for the prayer time to end so they can go back to their jobs.

Later, we heard some screams, and saw some guys running. “Oh, shit! It’s the religious police. Run away!” my friend said. We jumped from our seats, looking for the nearest exit. We took the escalator, and had to leave the mall using the gates of the parking lot.

It was so embarrassing to see tens of twenty-something-year-old healthy men run away at the sight of a bearded man. Of course, the man was companioned by a policeman to protect him, but I think they were doing nothing to be afraid. Are we ever going to get rid of these harassments? When these idiotic religious policemen will stop attacking people’s freedoms, and denying their right to choose?