Wish List

Despite the fact that I lugged five full suitcases (each ever so delicately packed to 50 lbs each, give or take) on the flight over, and despite the fact that I have 2100 kg of crap coming by the slow boat (new arrival date sometime around Christmas--woohoo!), there are several things I wish I had brought with me now or packed more of.

Pepto-Bismol
I was a bit too naive in thinking something like Pepto-Bismol would be available here. I had diarrhea for TWELVE days--and I've only been here for 15 days. I had a vicious case of it too. They have fuck all in the way of such products in KSA. After living for several days on weak, sugared tea and crackers (which I just pooped right out anyway), a friend suggested eggs. Hard boiled eggs, he said, his mum's home remedy. I boiled some up and ate three that very evening. Sure enough, that worked--stopped me right up. I fasted the next day too and then tried some solid food this weekend. So far, so good. But the next trip home, I'm stocking up! Chewable tablets. Liquid. Different flavors. I'm going for the full selection of everything Pepto-Bismol has to offer.

Dog Treats
There are a handful of sad pet stores in Al Khobar with dismal handfuls of sad fish, sad birds, and sad turtles. People say, oh, you can find pet stores in Bahrain, like I can just hop in the car and drive over. First, I have no car (but see below). Second, I can't drive in KSA. Third, I am still waiting on my exit visa to be issued so can't leave the country yet. I think this can easily be solved by having one of you folks mail me some treats. But to get them through customs, you'll have to repackage them in ziplock freezer bags. They probably won't get in as "dog treats" and certainly not in the original packaging. BilJac liver treats are household favorites.

Dog Food
At the last minute, I decided not to bring the new bag of Avoderm I had packed in one of my suitcases. Good thing, because all of my bags were overweight until I removed that 35lb bag of food and redistributed everything. I brought a couple of weeks' worth of kibble in baggies tucked here and there in the suitcases. The Kennel Club (a grandiose name for the vet clinic on camp; mandatory annual fees to join) only has Royal Canin. The dogs seem to like it okay, but they are charging SR 120 for a 10 lb bag--that's more than $35 for that little bag. My dogs will rip through 10 lbs of food in no time. Along with the full line of Pepto-Bismol products, on my next trip home I'll bring empty suitcases and bring back as much dog food as I can.

Car
My own car was too old so I would not have been able to import it anyway. And I had no time or money to buy a new one. But it sure would have been nice to show up with something, even a crummy little scooter. During our orientation, they said, oh, taxis, buses, no problem. Nonsense. Or rather, if you are a non-working spouse, as the large majority of women on camp are, you have all the time in the world to wait for taxis and buses. Anyway, my office mate put me onto the car rental place on camp, ironically run by the main taxi company. I didn't have my iqama yet but turns out I didn't need it. In fact, I didn't even have to pay them. Aramco badge number, solid gold. They gave me a lovely little Toyota Yaris that only had 743 km on it--brand new. It was spotless inside and out. But as I discovered driving it back home that it didn't have even a drop of gas in it. I was running on fumes! I had to laugh because that is sort of typical for KSA--total attention to cleaning the car but something sort of important like fuel, well, not much attention there. There is a gas station on camp. Gas costs about USD 0.10 per gallon. That's not a typo: ten cents per gallon. I initially got the car for a week but called them this morning and asked to have it for another month. Not cheap, but as a friend used to say, it's not a problem if you can solve it by throwing a bit of money at it. I needed some wheels to get around in camp, so problem solved for now. I will definitely have to buy a car but I need a couple of paychecks first.