Dining Out

After a morning of shopping and in anticipation of more errands we decided to stop for lunch. There was a Turkish restaurant…apparently my parents’ favorite restaurant in Riyadh was a Turkish one, but I’m just not there yet, plus they didn’t have a playland…so we stopped at the McDonald’s next door. In Saudi, restaurants are segregated into family sections and bachelor sections. Another reason Dano was happy for us to get here: he had been relegated to the bachelor section because he was not accompanied by a family. It apparently is more appropriate for a woman to unveil in front of a married man. Even the windows in the family section are frosted or upstairs so no one can see in from the outside.

By tradition we went out for Mexican food for Dano’s birthday. The only Mexican restaurant we know of is On the Border. We haven't been able to find tortilla chips in the stores here so we were really ready for some good chips and salsa! We arrived immediately after the sunset prayer so we were the first ones there. Thank goodness they had bottomless chips!! After we ordered, Ethan decided it would be good to use the W.C. (water closet) before eating. He asked the waiter where they were and went about it. Then, not surprisingly, one minute later Erin decided that was a good idea. We followed where I’d seen Ethan go. Going down the ramp we met Ethan. As I pointed Erin to the right bathroom I asked Ethan if he’d washed his hands. He confusedly shook his head and kept walking. I called him back and tried to figure out what was going on. He told me he didn’t go to the bathroom. When I asked him why not he responded he didn’t know which was which. Granted they were labeled in Spanish, but I thought he’d get 'Hombres.' He said he did and that he’d gone in and looked around and didn’t see any of those, “you know…those…stand up toilets.”
“Do you mean urinals, Ethan?”
“Are those what you stand up at? Well there weren’t any and I felt really d-u-m-b and came out thinking I was in the wrong one.” First of all, that 'd' word is no less of a bad word in our house even when you spell it! Secondly, Dano later explained that he didn’t seen any urinals because most men wear the white robes and it just wouldn’t be practical. Some of these dad/son chats would just be so helpful if had beforehand!

I stood outside waiting for either child to emerge. Ethan was out first, hands washed this time, and headed back to our table. So I went to check on Erin, who by now had been taking an unusually long time. As I opened the door I was met with loud moanings and cries for “Mooommmy.” I quickly called out to find which stall she was in. (As much potty talk as I do, please don’t ever get the idea that I am obsessed with bathrooms!! That being said…the stalls here in women’s bathrooms are floor to ceiling, again to ensure complete privacy. The public bathrooms we have been in have been very nice marble with wood doors. These doors had exceptional locks, so Erin found out. ) She could not get the lock undone. So helpless. There was no climbing under the door. There was no climbing over the door. Nothing. There was, though, a non-English speaking cleaning lady who had been in there the entire time. (Yea! An audience! ) I rushed into another stall to check out how the lock system worked to attempt talking Erin through turning it. After several fruitless coaxing efforts my silent “audience” appeared with a house key. In my panic I failed to notice there was a little notch on the door lock where perhaps a slotted screwdriver would fit to jimmy a lock open. The cleaning lady didn’t have a screwdriver but she did have a key. “Brilliant!” I thought to myself. She worked at it and worked at it for what seemed like forever until it finally clicked open. Erin practically fell out of the stall and then gave her a hug. I thanked her profusely, hoping she could understand me. I hope she could.

As we left the restaurant, very filled, with our take-home bags (including a stash of chips and container of salsa included by our empathetic waiter) it was now 7:30 in the evening and we were one of only three families. I told Dano that I really hope they make it. Dano chuckled and said, “Are you kidding? They’re doing just fine. They’re the largest On the Border outside the U.S. They’re so popular here that shortly after opening, they had to close down for remodeling to add on to the restaurant. The dinner crowd doesn’t even begin until after Isha (evening prayer).” By 10:00 here the restaurants are packed and remain that way until well after midnight, especially on the weekends, children included. The good news about that is we’ll never have to wait to be seated when we go out to eat at our normal eating time. But what is normal anymore?