You can quote me on this one.

Smoking nowadays is such a "bad behaviour thing", so looked down by others, that I am actually considering it.

Sim, porque ja a minha avo dizia (e diz) que eu estou sempre do Contra. Ora ai esta. Nem mais nem menos.

So eh pena eh nao poder com o cheiro a tabaco. Fogo, que a vida e mesmo injusta!

Silly me!!

About a week ago I bought a vacuum cleaner from Carrefour.

Cute, grey, good value for price, Carrefour brand.

All excited, I got back home in cheer mood, just imagining how it would work perfectly and how it would just dust away all the dust that has been spread around the house since the old vacuum cleaner died without a word of warning... (still cant forgive him!)

But all those dreams of cleanliness and happiness were shattered to pieces when I noticed that there were pieces missing from the box...

I should have known better right?! When they gave me a box that looked like it had survived World War I (and II probably) and had enough sealing tape to go around the block... It was sooo suspicious... How could I have just ignored it?

Anyway, poor me got back to Carrefour.. endured the traffic, the queues to the Mall, the hundreds of people wandering around the hypermarket, the queue at Customer Service, the non english speaking assistants, etc.... all with a brave smile.

End Result: "Sorry mam. We cant locate the pieces". "Oh, and we are also out of stock with that item. Come back in 2 weeks".

For a split of a second the entire hypermarket hold still and then started to move in slow motion, sounds included. I saw myself pulling a gun and shooting all the assistants and destroying all vacuum cleaners in display.

But then I snapped out of it, allowed two tears to roll down my face, pulled myself together and forgot about it all. No way I was going to come back to that place and buy whatever it was!!

However, since my brain sometimes works in mysterious ways... Yesterday, I found myself at the same hypermaket and decided to check if the vacuum cleaner was already in stock again. Afteral, it was soo adorable and just what I wanted. No way I would allow this type of collateral prevent me from getting the vacuum cleaner of my dreams!!

What to say... BIG BIG MISTAKE!!

I ended up buying another vacuum cleaner, since the other one was still out of stock and besides I was already getting annoyed with the entire situation and just wanted to have it and thats it. Bought it, paid for it and took it home.

Left it in the hallway until 5 minutes ago, when I finally had the time to unwrap it and to assemble it.. Simply to discover that there are pieces missing again????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why oh why?!

Memo to self: Follow your sixth sense!! Probabilities fail!! (yes... as I was leaving Carrefour for the 2nd time I did hesitate and though about going to Customer Service to check the parcel content but I was aready running late and simply thought "what are the chances of happening again, right?" WRONG.

KSA - Part 2

The rest of the stay in Saudi Arabia went quite well.

I did manage to go out of the Hotel the following day and all seemed to be "less frightning" than what I had imagined...

Apparently, Jeddah is more open than Rhiyad, so foreigners are allowed to do things that would have been completely forbidden in the capital.

In Jeddah, I could easily walk around without covering my hair and I could also have my male colleagues around me with no type of problem... not only in the hotel, but also in the car, restaurants, etc...

With regards to the city, it seems to be the typical Gulf City, with beige/white low rise type of buildings and narrow main streets. Its more like Fujairah or RAK if we want to compare it with the UAE... with plenty of villas and shops and shopping malls but nothing as big or glittery as Dubai.

It is also beautifully located by the Red Sea and it has a really pretty corniche area, with a couple of restaurants and hotels along it (also where my hotel was). Most of the time, I would think how great it would be to dive there! All the beauty of the Red Sea minus the hundreds of divers in the water (as in Egypt).

Overall, I have to admit that I really thought it was going to be a much "harder" city.. I almost felt a bit disappointed... I was prepared for the worst, but I ended up leaving it feeling it was actually a nice place... Eventhough KSA is a muslim country and quite strict in what it comes to ensure all goes by the "rules" but that "stereotype" just doesnt seem to glue completely with my experience in Jeddah, which is a good thing. I think. Definitely planning to go back! :)