IKEA 1- Christy 1

The first time I went to IKEA in Riyadh, I went with a group of new teachers in a big bus. I didn't feel good, I felt rushed and Travis couldn't come because he was working. However, we were home within 3 hours or so (including travel time). On top of that, we didn't run into any prayer time issues. Because of that, I think I won that round and IKEA lost.

Our trip this weekend was not so successful. I have never been a huge fan of IKEA because it is always so crazy. Shanghai was especially crazy. I have to say, though, Riyadh IKEA takes the cake. Oh.my.goodness. It was a disaster. Let me tell you how it all started...

Krystle and Zach also wanted to go shopping. They drove in their car, we followed in ours. Luckily, Zach figured out how to get there ahead of time. We got there in roughly 30 minutes. I felt optimistic and happy. I was so relieved that we had made it there in one piece, safely. As we were driving, there were two VERY seriously car accidents. These accidents had clearly happened a while ago, but had not been cleared. The first car was upside and quite smashed up. I guess he wanted to go too fast on a curved exit ramp. It didn't turn out well for him. As for the other car accident, I wouldn't really call it a car anymore. There was not much of it left that was in the shape of a car. So, with that said, just arriving at the store was fantastic.

Shopping was fine. They didn't have everything we wanted and needed, but there were plenty of things to buy. I had a long list and knew we didn't have a long time. We got to the store around 9:20 and prayer wasn't until almost noon. We figured if we were in line by 11:30, we could make it. That gave us 2 hours of shopping. It is amazing how quickly that time goes by. Before we knew it, it was 11:05. Travis and I decided to head in the direction of the check outs. Thank goodness that we did. This line was the longest line in a store I have ever seen, no exaggeration. We got in it and I quickly texted Krystle and told them to hurry and get in line too. Our lines were creeping along very slowly. It wasn't long until we decided we were not going to make it before prayer time. As noon got closer and closer, we were right up to the register. We were certain that they would stop selling right before me and Travis or right after us and before Krystle and Zach. When our turn was up, we threw our things up on the belt as quickly as possible. The cashier checked us out and then stopped. Travis explained that our friends were behind us and asked if he would just do their check out as well. The guy looked at the amount they had, as the call to prayer came over the speaker, and said no. Ugh. We now had to wait an additional 30 minutes for prayer to end. Yes, we just sat there waiting, along with everyone else in line. It was so strange. I guess we had to go through it at least once. I hope, never again. After standing in line for an hour, checking out and then waiting another 30 minutes for our friends to check out, I never want to go to IKEA again. I have also decided that IKEA Riyadh is much harder to shop at than IKEA Shanghai.

Finally, we drove home. We kind of got a little lost-ish and ended up at the airport. We went through it and drove to our homes, which are only about a 10 minute drive from there. The entire trip was about 5 hours and 15 minutes. What a great Saturday! That was then followed by 3 hours of working to get ready for the week. :(

As for everything else, we are doing great. Work is very busy and hard for me right now, but I know it will get easier as time goes on. I don't like the unknown and it's hard being a new teacher again. I am really enjoying all the awesome people and we are having a lot of fun. Friday night we went to a school party at the US Embassy. That was a lot fun, great food and dancing! Oh, and we also booked our October Holiday to Ethiopia! We are headed to our fourth continent. Our friends Tracy and Ian invited us to join them. It should be a great experience. That will happen at the beginning of October.

That's all for now. Talk to you all soon!
C