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!!