There have been a few interesting and entertaining regional stories online and in the newspapers over the past few days, I thought I would share them with you today (probably because I have nothing else to tell you).
Firstly the amusing story in the Telegraph about the Saudi woman who is seeking a divorce from her husband of 17 years after finding that he had stored her number under the nickname “Guantanamo” on his phone. One can only assume (like they do in the article) that he is likening his time in the detention centre to his experience of the marriage. Apparently she may settle for financial compensation instead.
The second story ties into something I blogged about once before, namely camel beauty pageants. Yes they ARE taken very very seriously, in fact a Saudi Arabian oil company is being sued by a man whose prized camel fell into a large hole dug by them. It’s not clear whether the camel was injured, disfigured or killed, but a panel of experts has set the camel’s value at 1 million Saudi Riyals, or £160,000. Full story is here.
And last but not least (for today) is the story about a decision made by the constitutional court in Kuwait that women there will now be able to obtain their own passports AND be allowed to travel without the prior approval of their husbands. This very encouraging story is here.
Oh and we tried the custard apple a few days ago. Maybe it wasn’t completely ripe, although it felt soft enough, because it seemed to have some hard chewy bits in it (no they weren’t seeds). I can’t say I loved it or would eat it again, the flavour was something like a very sweet lychee crossed with (yes) custard, but the texture was off-putting. An Australian friend of mine advised me that “mature” ladies like to make jam out of these fruits, and maybe that is the best use for them, as an eating fruit I can think of better choices.
And no, no news on the job front. Not yet. Have a good week.