Al Hofuf (الهفوف) 1986-1988
Our home for 2 years, in the middle of the Ad-Dahna desert.
Home, where we lived in half of the upper floor. You may also notice the abundant and essential air conditioners. The roof, like most houses, was open to the air, with a surrounding wall. Effectively, this made an extra storey, without a roof. When it rained, it would turn into a paddling pool. Houses usually had a drain letting the water out before it got high enough to pour down the stairs.
And the roads were no better. They had no drains at all, and when it rained, they would flood, and cars would have to find alternative routes. Why? Because it almost never rained. In the two years we lived here, it rained just once!
Our living room. The seating is typical, cushions and mats, no furniture. However, unlike most houses, ours was not separated into men's and women's seating rooms used for entertaining guests.
Wow. State of the art, shiny new ASI computer, using one of the 8086 generation chips. The OS was MS DOS 2.1 or 3, the green screen program was a word processing application called VolksWriter. This computer is the one that I first learned to program on, so it has some history. Incidentally, the baby is one of my sisters. When we left the country, the authorities had to be persuaded to allow her to leave, since we were trying to leave the country with one more person than we entered it with. Apparently they were not aware that children can be born and grow up a little in three years.
Henna tattoos, very popular in this part of the World.
A hoopoe, in the south of the city.
Most wild trees in the area were of the shrub or palm varieties.
The most common palms. In some countries, people often claim to have trouble finding themselves a date. In Saudi Arabia, dates literally grow on trees. Bad joke, I know, sorry.
Clearly visible dates.
Hard to believe these flimsy branches can hold so much fruit.
Showing how to climb the trees in order to collect dates.
Doing a little better. The normal sandals are not sturdy enough for this, so it is being climbed in socks. Ouch.
Socks too comfortable? OK, try bare feet.
The pickers have to have a good head for heights.
Template for a firework.
Fireworks.
Palm forest.
Some shelter from the sun.
Out of place.
Farming transport.
A human scorpion, found hiding behind a palm tree. The smaller half is my brother, believe it or not.
How Westerners liked to pass the time - spot the UK flag.
An adobe castle and Arab woman in the north of the city. Saudi women wear this complete black dress, called an abaya, and a veil or niqāb (نِقاب), and never show their faces in public. Even when shopping, they conduct bartering with their faces hidden. However, they are respected and revered in their own way; for example, when they cross a street, they do so absolutely anywhere, and all cars will stop for them - failing to stop would be an offence. I am not saying that I approve or disapprove of their culture, though I know many feel strongly about it in both directions. I only point out that it is their culture, and their way of life. I respect cultures for what they are, and would not want to dictate their culture to them, any more than I would want them to dictate mine to me.
Inside the Adobe castle. In case you do not know, adobe is a type of mud brick, made from mud, straw, and manure. It normally lasts for around 30 years.
An adobe fortress. Part of the reason for their survival comes from the heat and lack of rain.
After and before the age of 12. The veil is the kind preferred by bedouins, instead of the normal complete veil. The dress on the right would normally be brightly coloured (it is, but since the picture is monochrome, you can't see it).
Home, where we lived in half of the upper floor. You may also notice the abundant and essential air conditioners. The roof, like most houses, was open to the air, with a surrounding wall. Effectively, this made an extra storey, without a roof. When it rained, it would turn into a paddling pool. Houses usually had a drain letting the water out before it got high enough to pour down the stairs.
And the roads were no better. They had no drains at all, and when it rained, they would flood, and cars would have to find alternative routes. Why? Because it almost never rained. In the two years we lived here, it rained just once!
Our living room. The seating is typical, cushions and mats, no furniture. However, unlike most houses, ours was not separated into men's and women's seating rooms used for entertaining guests.
Wow. State of the art, shiny new ASI computer, using one of the 8086 generation chips. The OS was MS DOS 2.1 or 3, the green screen program was a word processing application called VolksWriter. This computer is the one that I first learned to program on, so it has some history. Incidentally, the baby is one of my sisters. When we left the country, the authorities had to be persuaded to allow her to leave, since we were trying to leave the country with one more person than we entered it with. Apparently they were not aware that children can be born and grow up a little in three years.
Henna tattoos, very popular in this part of the World.
A hoopoe, in the south of the city.
Most wild trees in the area were of the shrub or palm varieties.
The most common palms. In some countries, people often claim to have trouble finding themselves a date. In Saudi Arabia, dates literally grow on trees. Bad joke, I know, sorry.
Clearly visible dates.
Hard to believe these flimsy branches can hold so much fruit.
Showing how to climb the trees in order to collect dates.
Doing a little better. The normal sandals are not sturdy enough for this, so it is being climbed in socks. Ouch.
Socks too comfortable? OK, try bare feet.
The pickers have to have a good head for heights.
Template for a firework.
Fireworks.
Palm forest.
Some shelter from the sun.
Out of place.
Farming transport.
A human scorpion, found hiding behind a palm tree. The smaller half is my brother, believe it or not.
How Westerners liked to pass the time - spot the UK flag.
An adobe castle and Arab woman in the north of the city. Saudi women wear this complete black dress, called an abaya, and a veil or niqāb (نِقاب), and never show their faces in public. Even when shopping, they conduct bartering with their faces hidden. However, they are respected and revered in their own way; for example, when they cross a street, they do so absolutely anywhere, and all cars will stop for them - failing to stop would be an offence. I am not saying that I approve or disapprove of their culture, though I know many feel strongly about it in both directions. I only point out that it is their culture, and their way of life. I respect cultures for what they are, and would not want to dictate their culture to them, any more than I would want them to dictate mine to me.
Inside the Adobe castle. In case you do not know, adobe is a type of mud brick, made from mud, straw, and manure. It normally lasts for around 30 years.
An adobe fortress. Part of the reason for their survival comes from the heat and lack of rain.
After and before the age of 12. The veil is the kind preferred by bedouins, instead of the normal complete veil. The dress on the right would normally be brightly coloured (it is, but since the picture is monochrome, you can't see it).