It must be VERY different. It’s hard to believe, but we were doing that cooking and drinking SEVENTEEN years ago this month!
It's change dramatically since my last sojourn in 2003. The country is made dramatic progress in social liberalization. In four months, I haven't seen one Matawa. A better selection of books, magazines and movies is available. Tons of red tape has been slashed to promote capitalism. If the King gets his way, Saudi Arabia will be a giant Dubai. Unfortunately, the press highlights all the stupid parts of the culture; they can't see the real progress going on.
PoC