A New found love of an old city- Jeddah

This is just something I wrote while I was working on cultural background information. The whole process made me go back in time. I hope you enjoy it.
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Grandmother Stories

A t a local coffee shop overlooking our beloved red sea I sat with a cup of coffee and a cigarette, I gazed into the horizon and I remembered. I know I should probably stop smoking. However, some vises are too sweet to let go. Through the cloud of smoke breathed out of my mouth, I travelled the path back in time. Back in my dead grandmother’s sitting room. We used to get together every Friday, three generations of the same family. Extended family is a common and an important part of the Saudi culture. It is respected, honored, and held with a special kind of reverence. We shared food and laughter. The old told stories, the younger laughed and compared. The children felt they can never imagine living in a time where there was neither a television nor a phone. I am laughing right now, remembering how bazaar it felt. For now my daughter wonders how I ever lived without an internet connection and without the convenience of a mobile phone. Funny! How the same pattern repeats itself, yet life constantly changes.
I remember my grandmother talking about friends of her from Bombay, India. She first knew them when she used to entertain guests of my grandfather coming to perform pilgrimage to the holy city of Makah. She used to speak Urdu among other languages, which was fascinating to me knowing that she cannot read nor write. I told my grandmother of my fascination and she explained to me that these things were natural at the time she was growing up. They were brought up to be hostesses, and household managers. They preformed mental math all the time, and they kept large homes with a fleet of servants. Some women were even the brains when it comes to trade, and their husbands were merely the brawn. My family from both sides of my parents was one of the oldest families in charge of pilgrimage services. Each family handles a sector of the pilgrims. It was divided by regions of the world. From India, Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt and anywhere else around the globe. This makes sense. Growing up in Jeddah I have always noticed that our culture is a mixture of different diverse cultures. I have also observed that even our foods, combine many flavors from many parts of the world.