Another little peek into my new world:
First things first. Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country. Their
constitution is the Quran. They are the most fundamentalist of the Muslims.
They pray five times a day. Times are determined by the moon, so will vary by
the week. For this week, (March 17, 2012) times are: 4:30, 6:00, 12:30, 4:00,
6:30, 8:00. There are many, many mosques here. They all have speakers. Prayers
are broadcast from each mosque. Some of the "broadcasters" have more
pleasing voices than others. Sometimes the prayers are melodious and pleasing
to listen to. Most of the time, they are disharmonious.
Almost all business will come to a halt during prayer times. In Yanbu,
everything will. If you're shopping or in a restaurant, you have to leave. They
lock the doors & go pray. Prayer will last about 30 minutes, but they will
be gone about 45 minutes to an hour. Prayer is preceded by cleansing. I don't
know the exact ritual, but I know it includes washing the face, hands, arms,
feet. All to be done 3 times in a specific order.
In Jeddah, some restaurants & stores will risk the wrath of the
Mutawa (religious police) by allowing customers to remain inside their business
during prayer time. If you can do this, you will possibly not receive service
during this time, nor can you leave. It can be a big help though if you time
things right. Be in a restaurant, get your food before prayer starts, then eat
& talk during prayer & leave when it's over. Get in the store before
prayer starts, do your shopping and be just about ready to check out when they
open back up after prayer time is over.
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Clothing - Men wear thobes. They look
like an ankle length nehru jacket and are usually white, but sometimes, light
grey, tan or sage green. Most men wearing thobes will also have a headscarf.
The scarf is large enough to use as a tablecloth. Different colors &
patterns are for different tribes. Around here, white & red is what you
will find. I haven't noticed a difference in the pattern, but they can be
bought made from different qualities of material. The scarf is folded
diagonally & put on over a white, tightly fitting skull cap. The skull cap
helps keep the scarf from sliding off. Then the scarf is topped with a double
coil of black rope I guess is the best description. Men will sometimes let the
corners hang down, sometimes pull the corners on top of their head when they're
warm, or wrap the corners around their face when it's cold, or when the sand is
blowing.
Here in Yanbu, probably 80% of the men you see will be in thobes. The
other 20% will be men from other countries, or a few Saudi men wearing western
clothing. A few Western men will wear shorts, but it is very much in the
minority of even men wearing Western clothing. I have also seen very young boys
wearing thobes, but it seems to start about age 8-10.
Women wear abayas over their regular clothing. I don't have a clue what
the Saudi women will be wearing as regular clothing, but they seem to like
pretty shoes! Abayas in KSA are black. I think the only abayas I've seen with
"bling" have been worn by the Western women. There are a lot of these
abayas in the stores, so the Saudi women must wear them, just not to the
grocery store, or out on the streets. Young girls will also wear abayas. They
also seem to start about age 8-10.
Most women in KSA also cover their hair. According to the Quran, it is
a sin to let a man other than your husband see your hair. Non-Muslim women are
not required to cover their hair, but quite a few dark haired women and/or dark
skinned women will anyway. The Mutawa will tell women whose hair is showing to
cover their hair, so even if you don't normally cover, you should carry a scarf
in your purse.
Almost all of the women who cover their hair also cover their faces.
They have a piece of fabric with small rectangles for the eyes with a small
strip of fabric between them. It will tie behind their head over their scarf.
It hangs down to about mid-chest. I have learned to watch their eyes for clues
to how they might be perceiving me. Crinkles around the eyes tell me that
they're smiling.
A small portion of the women with their faces covered (and that's still
quite a few women) will also completely cover their eyes. On top of the black
scarf and the black face covering, they will have another black veil. I'm not
sure how they see through it, but somehow they manage. It's a little odd to see
them walking past you in the store. A large number of these women will also wear
black gloves, and if they're wearing sandals, black socks. They do not show any
skin at all. The first time I saw them, I was a total wreck. Of course, it was
the day after I arrived in KSA, my first trip out in the community & I was
still a bit jet lagged.
I have not seen young girls with their faces covered that I know of. I
don't know how I would know the difference anyway. Quite a few of the women
here seem to be quite small so maybe some of them are young girls. It's not
polite to look more than a glance anyway. Come to think of it, quite a few of
the men are on the small side too. Not real tall, slim and small boned. Others
are taller, but still slim & small boned.
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Remember that Saudi Arabia is a desert. It gets REALLY hot in the
middle of the day. It has long been the custom here that the majority of
businesses open after the last prayer of the day (about 8:45pm to open). The
malls don't close until around midnight, 2 am on the weekends. Some stores will
open again from 9am until mid day prayer, around noon. It can be quite
frustrating for those of us from Western countries who are used to getting up
early, working all day & going to bed at 9:30 or 10:00.
If you can stay up to go out during the late night hours, it's amazing!
All the businesses that are shuttered during the day are open, lights blazing
and customers walking in & out. The streets are crowded, people calling out
to each other. Well, probably it's just the men calling out to each other. The
women walk sometimes with their men, but often together as a group.
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Jobs for women are extremely limited. Saudi women have been able to be
teachers – for the girls’ schools, and at the ladies universities. They were
just granted the right to work in lingerie stores, but not the right to open or
close the stores. I think a very few women are nurses, but I’m not sure. Women
from other countries can be teachers, maids and nurses & nannies. Men from
other countries can be teachers, house cleaners, doctors, maintenance workers,
construction workers, a few men like Tom who have technical knowledge can have
some limited authority. All positions of power are held by men, mostly Saudi
men.
Although there are tailors for men & tailors for women, there are
not separate banks for men & women, because women don’t do much banking.
There are separate doors, booths & windows at the banks to help women. I
see that a lot of places. Evidently men & women can’t wait in the same
line. There is a LOT of segregation here. You think you’re used to it, when all
of a sudden, WHAM! It hits you between the eyes. It’s odd to suddenly realize
every worker in the mall is a man. It’s no wonder that these women shop so
much. What else is there for them to do?
EA in KSA
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