Kilometer 4. I knew I should have peed before the starting shot. I quickly look around to find a relatively densely vegetated segment of the wall and decide to join the group of male pee-standers while ignoring hundreds of people quickly shifting their legs behind my back. Finish up, zip up, refocus on the breath. […]
Category: Scribbles
Saudi Escapade #9
It takes a lot of talent to buy a new pair of shades that fits my prolonged face and rather (for a lack of a better word) charismatic nose. It takes even more talent to lose them the next month on the Riyadh airport. And the amount of talent required to even start trying to […]
Day six, part II. The big cedar.
For some reason, we often tend to see the present status of our lives as “final”. As in the scene of a movie that happens in the last 10 minutes where the ultimate tragedy is revealed, or a sudden turn in events change the lives of the characters and the movie ends with us knowing […]
Saudi Escapade #8
I take my fork and gently poke the grilled fish in front of me. One of the top 10, maybe top 5 fish dishes I ever had, including all sushi I ever had in Japan. Faisal sips from his glass filled with a non-alcoholic apple cider lemonade and continues in his monologue. “You know Michal, […]
Saudi Escapade #7
Taxi 1 The fever starts to come back again, this time supported by a heavy-caliber headache. I’ve ran out of paracetamol tablets in the morning, and with no pharmacies around I decide to survive the next hour in the taxi until I arrive at the hotel where I kept my stock. The uber car arrives, […]
The Nepali Escapade #1
“Hey man, walk on the left side, it’s Nepal.” I swiftly jump across two large puddles of water and three stray cats to get to the other side of the dirty road. My small backpack produces two light thumps as it hits my back. I’m trying to evade few rikshas and other random inhabitants of […]
Day six, part I. The big white.
The minute you start saying something, “Ah, how beautiful! We must photograph it!” you are already close to the view of the person who thinks that everything that is not photographed is lost, as if it had never existed, and that therefore, in order really to live, you must photograph as much as you can, […]
The Saudi Escapade #6
I pop another piece of gold-fried sweet ball into my mouth and look into her eyes. “I love these! Please send my regards to your mother, amazing culinary skills!” “Yeah, I will.” “We both know you won’t.” My friend and I burst into laughter. It’s midnight and we are sitting at a table right next […]
The Saudi Escapade #5
The light afternoon breeze gently caresses my face. The gentle caressing of a 3000W hair blower with the turbo boost button pressed deep down. Oh yes. The toughly enjoyable 42 degrees Celsius and relentless sunshine weather typical for the Riyadh early spring has finally come and I already feel like jumping into a pool full of […]
The Emirati Escapade #1
It’s 3:30am and I’m looking outside of the uber car, letting the tall buildings flick in front of my eyes. Without even looking at me, my colleague reacts to one of my rather random comments: “No, Michal, you can’t possibly use ‘lovely’ in that context.” “I firmly believe I can use any word in any context I […]