I promised when I moved to Saudi Arabia that I would try and write a little about life here. That was easy at first because everything was so new to me and I was overwhelmed with the differences. But now that I have been here a while, I have adjusted to the life style and just go about my everyday life without thinking about how different it is from where I came from.
This week I went to the fresh produce and fish markets in Dammam and remembered to take a few pictures to share with you. 
The fresh produce markets are where you can purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from the suppliers. They have difference sections, some areas you have to purchase it huge quanities. the section we go to they will let you purchase by the kilo or box. We often purchase boxes of items such as avocados, mango, tomatoes, onions and cucumbers, etc that we share between two or three of us. Over the past few months we have our favorite "guys" who take care of us. Usually these are those who can speak English and smile at us when we come.
When we pull up to the market someone with a little cart will come up to us and we will hire him to wander around with us. Today it was a boy, fresh off the boat. He could not speak english but he followed us around and collected our produce. We pay him at the end of the shopping trip about 2 or 3 dollars. Usually when you get a older man they watch to make sure you got all good produce and make the sellers replace spoiled items.
We share a Driver and purchase enough for 2 to 3 weeks when we go. I think I figured I can throw away 1/2 of the stuff I purchase and still be ahead money wise. Also the produce seems to last longer because it was fresher when we brought it. I have found that I have to bring a lot of small bills with me. They don't like making change so they will just keep the change or throw in something you don't want to compensate you. You can dicker them down a little if you purchase a lot from one seller but I think they see "Americans" and they know what they will charge us because everyone has about the same prices for us. I know I have watched locals who get a lot more for their money but they know how to do it and really know what things are worth.
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