Hello Saudi

This post was started some time ago, saved as a draft, and forgotten. These impressions still apply, so I have not altered them...another recent post to follow shortly...

Well, here I am in Saudi Arabia...not as unpleasant as it sounds. In fact, after being in Libya for 6 months, being in Saudi feels oddly refreshing. No disrespect to Libya mind you, my time there was a valuable learning experience, but I felt rather alienated the whole time I was there. Saudi, on the other hand, resembles Kuwait quite a bit, which gives it an air of comforting familiarity. It is a modern and cosmopolitan country with all the comforts and amenities that one would want. So basically, malls, fast food, Starbucks, etc. etc. etc. Now, as you all well know, I'm not terribly keen on mass market commercialism, but I find myself oddly comforted by the fact that there is a McDonald's, Burger King and Dunkin Donuts no more than 500 metres away.