Math 101

We had 2 interesting math conversions today that seemed to be a bit of a flip flop from back home. First we pulled in to the gas station in our sweet set of wheels. "Fill er up- all the way up" we said to the attendant- (you don't even get out of the car). The damage: 41 riyals for 41 litres. Bear with me, 41 riyals comes to 11.23 U.S. dollars at the current 3.65 exchange rate. 41 litres is a nifty 10.8 gallons bringing us to a whopping total of $1.04 per gallon!
Now before you get too impressed let's consider the flipside of the coin: alcohol. Our incredible neighbors Ben and Hellie were going to the alcohol Souk (the one- the ONLY- place you can buy in the entire country- and only if you have a residency permit). They kindly offered to pick us up a few items and we eagerly said "YES PLEASE!" So what does 1 case of beer, 3 bottles of wine, and 1 bottle of gin set ya back? 450 riyals- (123$) and after a mostly dry first month- we probably would have paid double. So what would you rather have? cheap gas or cheap liquor? I know some of you are probably answering...well both. DUH!
cheers amigos

As we leave the gas station we had this guilty feeling that we forgot to pay.

and this would be worth more than gasoline- if you weren't allowed to have it.