The Desert is Just One Big Beach...

As I sit here sipping a non-alcohol Budweiser that I bought for about 75  cents, I am reminded of how fortunate I am to be here.  Yes there is not much to do.   But on the other hand, because there is not much I have to do, I have room for thought and reflection, room to pursue my other passions, and room to just sit back after planning about a week of lessons and just chill.

This Bud (and picture of my hand) is for you.

This is not product placement because..really... are you actually
going to go out and buy some non alcohol Budweiser?

 When I first came to Saudi Arabia, I was expecting the religious police….old men with the red headscarves to be everywhere telling everyone what to do. The more I’ve been here, the less I’ve found this is the case.

A week ago after my first week working, I went to the neighboring city of Khobar (which is en route to Bahrain) with some of the other teachers.  We went to a Lebanese restaurant, ordered about 10 delicious dishes, didn’t finish them, and each of us had a bill of about 10 dollars apiece.

We also witnessed countless women without hijabs.  They seemed to be Filipino.  The taxi driver told us that if you’re not Muslim, you don’t have to wear a hijab.  Then in Dammam, by the sea, I saw other (although not as many) without hijabs.  I assumed they were Indian Hindus…but maybe they were Muslims.

In Korea, I felt like a king….because of A. “wow! there is a white person” remark everywhere I went, B. the plentiful, ubiquitous and delicious food everywhere, and C. the ability to travel anywhere in the country quickly and cheaply  (the Korean Buddhist nuns gave me an earful after hearing that I said I felt like a king).  Here in Saudi Arabia, I don’t feel like a king as much as an aristocrat under house arrest.

Or “mansion arrest” rather.  I have a two bedroom place and haven’t even stepped inside the second bedroom.

Today I went by the Marina Mall that I had always wanted to visit but was always walking there when it was too early to be open.  I had heard that there were family days and single men days, and that you had to go on the right day or be escorted out.  I also thought the shops there would be mainly for men (my male students’ favorite hobbies are shopping for clothes and perfume/cologne), and that the only women’s clothing shops would be full of abayas (the ankle-long black dresses) and would all be staffed by men.

Nope...

None of the above was the case.  There were families there, and I went right in without any problems.  Most of the stores were clothing shops for women and only two of over twenty were black abaya dress shops.  The rest sold either the elaborate clothes that women are supposed to wear at home for their husbands and house guests OR Western style women’s clothes, perhaps for when the women went with their husbands to tour and/or visit other countries.  There were female as well as male clerks working, and the only store that said “families only” was a store sporting tank-tops and called “Women’s Secret.”

 
 Quite a juncture of surplus wealth and fundamentalism for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia…

 

Kids, one day this kingdom of camels, honey,
and American franchises will be yours.

 

 

 

 

Granted, there were men with the red headscarves, but they were young and playing with their cell phones.

I also saw one couple (married or who knows?) holding hands, which is, from what I've heard, a big no-no to do in public

As I was heading back for the end of an evening, waving away taxis and waving hello back to people surprised to see me (not as an white American, but as a pedestrian), I walked into a whole group of men with the red headscarves shouting at me something like “riya!  riya!”         Great, I thought to myself I finally was getting in trouble for something….

Not so actually.    After I having to answer to several attempted English something to the effect of  “You’re walking somewhere?  Why don’t you take a taxi?” I later realized they were saying “Riyadh!  Riyadh!” asking me if I was going there.  As it turned out, I was at the bus station.  The buses don’t really have scheduled times here.  They just go to their destination when they have enough passengers.

So I accomplished all this before prayer time (when I would most assuredly be kicked out of whatever establishment I was in)

And I don't even have to worry about a hangover.

#ComfortablyGentrifiedToTheMiddleEast        #HipstersStayAfar

 

See the feminist activism there with that broken"Ladies Section" sign.

Just Kidding..it probably just fell off and no one cared enough to change it back.

 

                                      

 

Next up: the workplace...what it's like to work at a training center for Saudi nationals.

 

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