Living on the compound, even making the weekly trip into the city of Khobar, sometimes blurs the fact that we are living in Saudi Arabia. As shocking as this may sound, the black veiled women and prayer time business closings - the very essence of living in Saudi so far- has become quite ordinary.
In various parts of town large, upscale hotels and high rise buildings are sprouting like weeds. The malls are filled with stores and restaurants I readily recognise and love (Starbucks, Gap, Ikea, etc.). There are more products than ever appearing on the grocery stores shelves that we enjoy. We know our way around Khobar and more importantly, are beginning to know where to go to find the odds and ends items. There are signs in both English and Arabic...it just doesn't seem all that foreign, exotic or even uniquely "Saudi."
So when I reflect back on a day trip we took with Steve's parents in early January, it really brings a smile to my face and a longing again for the joy of discovery we experienced that day. Our magical destination? Not really that magical - just a camel market.Earlier that morning it was just an empty sand lot. But by 7am activities were in full swing and like so many other things we've experienced overseas, it was a full on assault to our senses.
The camels were freely standing around; a few were tied to poles or stakes, but most of them were just standing in place. They appeared very docile, like they didn't know they could just make a run for it. The camels were tall, short, old, young, brown, white, black, curly haired, healthy, sick, and all had just one hump. We were encouraged to pet one of the baby camels - it's hair was soft and curly, thankfully not matted, and felt a bit a like a poodle. 
And the smell! There was no question we were amongst a number of large animals. The kids affectionately termed it "wet camel smell," even though the camels were dry. Out of the blue we heard a loud bellowing, an angry camel sound that instantly made you take a step back. The slight breeze combined with people and camels walking around kicked up the dirt sufficiently enough to round out our senses with a dirty taste in our mouth (don't try to imagine that taste combined with the awful smell - it's quite unpleasant).
The baby camels were especially cute, and their antics were entertaining. But as amusing as they were, after fifteen minutes I began to start looking around at the people instead of the camels. There were no women or little girls to be seen, except female merchants in the camel tack stores nearby. I felt a bit out of place, even dressed appropriately in an abaya. In fact, wandering around the lot in our abayas felt odd, like wearing an inaugural ball gown to a farm equipment auction. I guess buying a camel is a guy thing? To their credit, none of the men gave any indication that we shouldn't be there and only occasionally looked our way with mild interest.
Eventually the kids' interest peaked and they were sliding down the hill into complete boredom. As I walked them back to the car to wait, we noticed a very sick camel tied to a pole in front of the Honda. It was acting odd and foaming at the mouth. I'm talking about very large amounts of foam. Wind had blown the foam all over the car and it continued to fly as we approached.
Words cannot describe how gross the situation was, and certainly my pictures don't do it justice! The boys and I brainstormed for a couple minutes, trying to find a way to get into the car without getting "foamed." Aside from them taking sanctuary under my abaya, we came up with nothing viable and just made a run for it. It's a memory we laugh about now, but believe me...there was nothing funny about it at the time!
As we were leaving the market, we came across some purchased camels being loaded into what we presumed to be the delivery truck. The angry camels were first tied with their legs under them, then fastened to a primitive crane/pulley type thing. Not surprisingly these camels bellowed the loudest of any we've ever heard, and let me tell you, the men that were loading them kept a safe distance away from their heads at all times.The market felt as far removed from modern Saudi Arabia as we have ever been, like we were transported back to a different era. It wasn't that long ago, as recent as the late 70's and early 80's, that new car lots in Riyadh (the capital city) had "camel lots" in back. You could trade in your camel for a new car. Seriously.
The only places we've seen camels in the Middle East so far has been tourist sites in Jordan & Egypt, for "rides." There must still be people living the Bedouin lifestyle in the deserts outside the cities who purchase camels not only for transportation, but also to milk and eat as they have done for thousands of years. Clearly there is a demand for camels or there wouldn't be the weekly market. You certainly won't see any middle class Saudis anywhere near a camel market though.
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