in the library, in the hood, in the mall, in the park

disembarking the blue line at the station designated and dedicated to the National Library I circumnavigated the building looking for an opening, a revolving door, a be-thobed figure approached, and, on the strength of Jo's experience of being asked for academic credentials to become a library member, I was prepared, however, once I had answered him, It is my first time here. I'm not sure how it works, the figure, falling short of expectations, smiled and waved me through the turnstile and I was in the lobby which rose 3 storeys and encircled the inside of the building, as I had the outside I circled the inside, with spaces dedicated to study, to spaces, empty, see 間, and prayer, which is to a direction called the Qibla, قِبْلَة, meaning, direction, meaning, the direction of the Kaaba, الكعبة, and this is the holiest site, inside it also a prayer spot, known as the bedrock of this world, historically a place of idols in the pre-Islamic world, so an altar, subsequently covered, much as in orthodox churches, by an altar screen, iconostasis, that is without icons here, and, three-dimensional, has the same function of separating the sacred realm from the earthly, where pilgrims turn around it seven times. . .

I went into the centre where there was a display of photographs like those at Al Maskak, and Mohammed stopped on his way to study for a medical exam and asked me if I was lost. I answered that, No, but sometimes it's good to be lost and perhaps I was trying to get lost so that whatever chance led me to I would see. He hoped, in 7 years, on completion of his studies, to specialise in cardiology or perhaps neuroscience, an interesting field, I said. He was Sudanese and only resident in Riyadh some of the time. He went to a British school, he said, explaining his excellent English.

If I wanted recommendations as to where to eat and where to go, he would be happy to help me, but he was leaving the city in a couple of days, and I suggested we share numbers on Whatsapp, which I had heard everyone prefers to use over email here, so it was an experiment to see if this was true, but I had to apologise, despite having suggested it, as I fumbled with my phone, for being of a generation, suddenly conscious that I was, not particularly au fait with the technology. He added his number. I wished him good luck for his exam and asked him the best way to say goodbye in Arabic, Ma'assalamah', مع السلامة, he said, meaning, go in peace.

I returned to the lobby and went up the 3-storey escalator

disappointed to find Dewey classifying, expecting Library of Congress, or better something unknown, and, albeit that philosophy led the Foreign section, philosophical sociology soon after, literature (which made even less sense) and then technology, unable to extract any logic from the collection or to the collection, secondary works on Levinas . . . network theory, it was at least modern.

said my phone. I headed home. . .

soon after it was the next day

and we had a picnic in the park, without sangria

with a cat.

Went to the mall

love from Riyadh,

حب من الرياض

Simon