JEDDAH: Eid is wonderful — well, at least in the hours between dawn and dusk. Empty streets allow the adventurous foreigner to see and move about Jeddah without the usual ferric carapace of Detroit’s finest covering the streets. Spontaneous greetings and polite conversations spring up between drivers and passengers in the very few cars drawn up side by side at traffic lights and — most unusually of all — courteous waves from drivers indicating “after you.”
A very early run out on Jeddah’s deserted streets each morning this week shows one sad and almost entirely avoidable statistic: at least one, sometimes two, crushed cars, almost certainly a result of a bleary-eyed boy racer high on caffeine and sugar from his Eid all-nighter.
Most frequently the wrecks are on stretches of relatively straight and fast road. One particularly impressive prang involved a small sporty car much favored by the road-racing shabab and a very unyielding road-cleaning truck. The rubber tramlines that veered from the center lane to the outside lane and halted abruptly at the steel fender of the truck suggested a spot of smart overtaking and not-so-smart observation.
The young bethobed body at the side of the road looked beyond the point of being able to give an explanation.
The vast majority of the Saudi population is on holiday — enjoying their paid vacations with their families. The hospitals and outpatient clinics have been empty this week. Side streets outside very popular health centers were clear enough of traffic at 9 a.m. for them to be swept and cleaned. On working days, that hour usually sees a traffic jam of gargantuan proportions; even swine flu worries take an Eid break.
At Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport there has been an Eid calm before the storm. Pilgrim traffic will pick up again, soon, with outbound post-Eid Umrah traffic and the arrival of pilgrims for Haj, which takes place in late November. The newly refurbished South Terminal of the airport gleams quietly and receives returning expatriates. Immigration desks, fully manned and running efficiently with the small numbers entering Jeddah, await the tidal wave of Hajis soon to overwhelm them. There is an air of expectancy in the terminal and the chance for the porters to hide most of the luggage trolleys ready to glean a few riyals from unsuspecting travelers when they produce one.
The peace will be broken soon as the employed population gradually returns to work. However, with the extension of the Saudi school holiday, the congestion on the roads will only build slowly as student drivers get some time off.
The good news is that it is a great time to go to the clinic if you are looking for something to do.
