Saudi Shopping Bus

When we first arrived in Saudi Arabia and were getting settled here at KFUPM, we didn't have a car right away. We would catch the evening shopping buses that KFUPM operates to local shopping areas. We were startled to find that there were always TWO buses, one for the women and the other for the men. They were usually battered old school buses. Well, the other evening, after NINE years, we decided to try this again. Nothing had changed, still the two buses, one for the women and the other for the men. The women's bus is a big old repainted-white school bus and the men's bus is a modern mini bus with nice big windows. Our windows are so dark that not only can the public not see in, but we can not see out. Ah, Saudi is always protecting its women, right?
We took the buses to the Mall of Dhahran, which is not far from our campus. Pick-up time here at KFUPM was 7:30 PM and we could 'shop' until 10 PM when the buses would haul us all back home.
My husband and I really didn't have anything pressing to shop for, it was just something to do. We did a lot of people watching as the night time is when the Saudis come out in full force to shop. Entire families come along with their maids. One of the sights we observed was the very young teenage Saudi girl, totally veiled, being escorted around the Mall by her 11 year old brother. Granted, we couldn't see her face, but her shoes were a dead give away as well as her whole demeanor. The brother's age was pretty easy to tell. This was a very traditional set-up. Girls sometimes go under the veil as young as nine years old. She must be accompanied by a male family member when she is out, and the younger brother can easily slip into this slot. So there they were, going in and out of the ladies fashion stores, she walking with a lively step and he, bored out of his mind, having to accompany her, close by her side at all times.
We saw totally veiled women hurrying about with tired maids carrying crying babies trying to keep up. Why these Saudi women come out so late at night to shop with their maids and babies is always a mystery.
We saw several families with 4 or 5 small children. We didn't see groups of Saudi women out alone. Sometimes during the morning or late afternoons we might see Saudi women out together, without their men, but at night the men are very close at hand with their women.
When it was time to leave, my husband and I went outside to board our segregated buses. The driver of the women's bus (a Saudi) was in such a hurry to get going that he slammed into a temporary fence structure next to the parking lot. Crumbled it up pretty good. Then he tore out of the lot and onto the main road amidst the crashing sounds of packages sliding off seats and onto the floor. I have always believed that the Saudi men are assigned to drive the women's buses as punishment. During the trip back to the KFUPM compound the women were constantly retrieving their packages from the floor and aisle as we sped down streets and took corners way too fast.
End result of this stroll down memory lane of KFUPM shopping bus riding was: NEVER AGAIN!!

Clash of Cultures

I have always believed that many of the women I interact with from Western Compounds here in Saudi Arabia do not have a clue about what life is really like here. I refer to them as living on the 'outside' rather than living inside Saudi. This was once again brought to my attention just the other day. I received a phone call from a friend, Abby, who lives on the very American Compound of MD 22. She was calling from our KFUPM Rec. Center. Well, I knew she was coming inside our compound today to register for an Arabic language class that will start up here for the ladies in a few days. I had talked to her a few days ago assuring her that she would have no problem at all getting into our compound as we do not have all the walls, armed guards, concrete and barbed-wire structures and other tight security measures that ALL the Western Compounds have here. She was, indeed, waved right in, when her driver delivered her to register for this class. However, because she was from the 'outside' world, she needed my husband to sponsor her for this class. He had to personally drive over to the Rec. Center and sign a voucher for her. She needed the male 'OK' from an employee of KFUPM to take this class. That was the reason she called me from the Rec. Center the other day, and fortunately my husband was home. We went to the Rec. Center to make sure everything was official. There were two Saudi gentlemen in the Rec. Office talking to Abby when we got there. One was the director of the Rec. Center and the other was head of the Community Affairs Committee. They were both enjoying visiting with Abby because she is very expressive and very outspoken. She was telling them this was all very crazy to have a husband come over like this, and no one had told her she would need a sponsor, and why didn't they just open this class up to everyone because this was a "university." It was really fun to watch these two Saudis 'enjoy' this high spirited woman. Trust me, there aren't many on our compound! Finally, one Saudi asked her where she lived and she said on MD 22. His face lit up and he said, "OH! You live in the outside world!" This was the first time that I was made aware that the Saudis also feel that all those Westerners living in their Western Compounds were not really living in Saudi Arabia, but in the....OUTSIDE WORLD! The US Consulate here has a sign inside their gate as you exit the area heading back out onto the public roads of Dhahran that says: "Be Careful, You Are Now Entering Saudi Arabia". All Western Compounds should have this same sign!

Another instance of culture clashing happened yesterday when my husband and I were getting some coffee at a Starbucks in one of the Malls. The young man behind the counter was absolutely beautiful. He just lit up when we came over to him and broke out in the biggest grin and chatted us up just fine. We were laughing and having such a good time because he was just so full of life. When I asked him what was the coffee of the day, he said, "Kenya! Where I am from!" So we were off and running again about coffee in his country and on to how wonderful our visit was to Kenya a few years ago and, well, it was just a big bright spot in our evening. It is very rare to get such happy and super service like this. This young man said he just loved talking to us because 99% of his customers do not smile or talk to him at all. He loves when the Americans come to Starbucks as we are all so friendly. Unfortunately, he doesn't see that many Americans out and about here because they are getting all their needs met inside their wonderful Western Compounds! Oh yes, my husband and I were the only Americans, as far as we could tell, in the Mall that evening. We had a great time people watching. But that is a subject for my next posting.

Towel Art

We recently spent a week at Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt. The trip was only for relaxing at this very nice resort. The trip was to look at beautiful things like the sea and the wonderful fish and corals. The trip was to move about freely in a very relaxed and beautiful area. What I didn't expect was to see the 'Towel Art' arranged on our bed every day.

Happenings at Applebee's in Saudi Arabia

After the interruption of summer vacation, Christmas in Colorado, and a one week holiday in Egypt, it is nice to be able to sit down and talk about being back in Saudi Arabia.
Things are very quiet around home now that my husband has returned to work and we are back into our somewhat normal life routein.
The other day, because the weather here is at its absolute best, we decided to go into Al Khobar and walk around, get some groceries, and maybe stop for lunch. Always in the front of our minds is timing so we can do it all and still work in a lunch before prayer time closes everything up. This would mean two choices for lunch: 1) A regular restaurant, arriving about 11:15 a.m. and ahead of the closing time by about 15 minutes or so, or 2) Saying “to heck with it” and plan on eating at a hotel or a Western compound restaurant, where they stay open through the prayer times. We decided to go early to a big new Applebee’s that was close to all the shops we were visiting and the grocery store where we picked up a few items. This also enabled us to walk everywhere and avoid driving in the crunch of the downtown city traffic.
Everything went very well and the food was good. The place is huge, probably the biggest Applebee’s in the world. Remember, they have to accommodate areas for Single Men separate from the Family Areas so that the men and women don’t mix from different families.
We paid our bill and headed down the swooping circular staircase from the family area to the side (singles) door where we had previously exited during prayer. We were immediately stopped by a frantic Applebee’s manager saying he could NOT unlock the doors for us to leave as it was prayer time and the Matawas were out front making sure no one went in or out during this prayer time.
We haven’t had this happen to us in a very long time. Usually, places let people OUT during the prayer times, but not IN. The only reason this would be happening where the managers were blocking both the IN and OUT during a prayer time would be that they had been ‘raided’ by the Matawas recently. Indeed, this is what had happened to the Al Khobar Applebee’s. Someone had snitched. Someone had written a letter to the Matawas saying that 1) there were Saudi women eating there with men who were not their husbands, or brother’s or sons! And 2) Applebee’s was letting people OUT during prayer times.
This letter brought the wrath of the Matawas onto our local Applebee’s, so for a while now, everyone will follow the strict rules or people will lose their jobs and Applebee’s could just close down.
We found out all these details from the shift manager as we visited while we waited more than a half hour before we could leave. During this time some Saudi ladies were getting calls on their cell phones upstairs saying that one of their friends could not get inside the restaurant as the doors were locked. Well, down the stairs came a storming, angry Saudi woman telling this manager to open the doors. No way would he do this, he still had about 15 min. left during the prayer time. He was really holding his own in all this. She, on the other hand, was really steaming with anger not only that her friend was not getting let in, but that she and the rest of her party could not get out! We watched it all play out in English, the common language between this Filipino manager and the Saudi woman. Well, after several minutes, she won and her party of 4 stormed out. We waited until we were ‘released’ officially.
This manager also told us that he has witnessed the Matawas coming in and SLAPPING other shift managers! That’s right, physically slapping them. He said he was never slapped, but that it does happen.
The large entryway inside this Applebee’s is 'safe.' All the decorations and pictures are of Arab artifacts. There are no pictures of people. Farther inside, however, are the usual decorations that we see in the States of movie stars. Matawas stormed through on their past raid pointing out the pictures that were to be REMOVED: Marilyn Monroe, along with a couple of other classic female actresses. When we asked this current manager why those pictures were still hanging, this manager just laughed and said, “Waiting for Maintenance to remove them!”