Breaking the Rules in the Stall

Up until yesterday it was Ramadan and one of the rules during this time is: no eating in public until Iftar, which is after 6:30 pm. Mid morning a girlfriend and I decided to go pick up our new Abayas, go to the shopping mall then head to the grocery store. I left the house having only eaten a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee, which is the not the greatest sustenance. At least not when you're in Saudi during Ramadan. Most restaurants, food courts, cafes are closed during the day because it's illegal to eat in public during the month of Ramadan. You can't even have a glass of water in public.

Of course, I walk out of the house not prepared for the day ahead. By the time we get to the shopping mall, my friend and I are literally thirsty and starving. Plus, we still have to go grocery shopping, and you know how that is when you're hungry. As we're walking in the mall we miraculously see a bakery ahead and it says "OPEN". The smells from this place draws us like honeybees to the honeycomb. Before Iftar, we can't just sit at the cafe, order a nice hot pastry with a cup of coffee and eat. No way! You must take it to go and savor it later in the evening.

Our game plan starts to unfold. We order 4 croissants with cheese and a couple drinks to go. We head into the ladies bathroom and walk into one of stalls together. Thank goodness the bathroom was empty when we walked in. The doors to the stalls were of  regular size, so no one could sneak a peak. We locked the stall door, opened up the to-go box from the bakery and had a nice little lunch next to the toilet. We were both laughing on how crazy we looked. I only wish I had pictures to post.