What's Been and What's Ben

Boom. Boom. Boom. Went the firecracker in the crowded pedestrian tunnel in old Jeddah. Of course what went through my head for a second was the suicide bomber in Riyadh that tried to kill a prince earlier in the day. The relief came fast enough. But the group of us Westerners in a place that not many tourists go (or really any) sticks out a bit. Jeddah is a wonderful place that is hustling until late into the night. My local friends put me at ease, but when I hear loud noises it brings out my survival instinct. Of course once I got into the thobe store I cared way more about finding one with a cool pattern and not getting ripped off. The haggling system here is cool until you realize the time wasted and the guilt or arguing with a relatively very poor person over the equivalent of a dollar. I think some of the locals are surprised by how us Americans are not brand-conscious at all. The decadence here is astounding. Probably surpassing ancient Rome. There is no middle-class.