Well, not literally at the moment but it has been raining steadily since 4:00 am. With the high forecast to be in the mid-50s this is very un-Saudi and a bummer since I was totally unprepared for rain and chilly weather. So a mall excursion is my plan for the coming weekend. If I haven't already mentioned it, I have found the disjoint between the Saudi weekend (Thursday-Friday) and the Western way to be especially disorienting, almost more so than the 8-hour time difference...
The major news item the last week or two has been the Syrian situation and the Arab Council's sanctions against the Assad Regime. At least based on what I read in the Arab News, a Saudi owned daily paper, there is wide-spread antipathy to the brutality shown by Assad and the military against the protestors and innocents caught in the middle. Until I began to read more about MIddle East politics, I had not realized the special influence Syria has had in the pan-Arab movement historically in addition to its geopolitical importance as a linchpin (formerly) of Regional stability and its strategic location. All but two Arab Council nations - Iraq and Lebanon (essentially a puppet state of Syria) - signed off on the agreement. So this assertive action by the Council (of symbolic importance at least) is ground-breaking. As I understand it (small in area but wealthy) Qatar (ruled by the Al-Thani family) took the lead in this process, increasing its clout in the Region... For a political junkie like your correspondent, this is prime steak and has been fascinating to watch as the Arab Spring cycles into winter.
Incidentally, I am beginning to be concerned about the attribution of causal links to my presence in the Kingdom with other significant developments. During my 10 days in Riyadh in mid-January 2011, the Tunisian revolt sparked the Arab Spring while this November in Riyadh has experienced historically trend-breaking weather. I would prefer to blame both on global warming!
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