Living In Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is the home of Islam, where millions make their pilgrimage to Mecca every year. Saudi Arabia has changed gradually, especially in the more populated cities of Jeddah and Riyahd. Again, that is only in the cities. Life remains largely unchanged in the rural areas of this religious capital. Women are still a side note and still have strict guidelines to adhere to. For example, women still have to remain covered in public and are not allowed to drive. Men still have to have money to claim a bride and are still allowed to have more than one wife. Punishment is quick and just in Saudi, which America could learn a great deal from the way Arabs punish one another. Many Americans do not get the luxury to visit Saudi Arabia, but I was fortunate enough to have spent much of my childhood living there. Much of this article will revolve around personal experience, which means a lot will have changed since then.

My father works in the Asir region of Saudi Arabia, in a little place called Khamis Mushayt. We lived in an American compound and attended classes with children from all around the world. I know, in my class alone, I had classmates from Venezuela, Australia, Great Britain, Finland, the Netherlands, and Pakistan. Life was truly interesting back then, of course, I did not truly appreciate it until much later. I had instructors from New Zealand, France, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. Coming into adolescence was difficult, since my mind was preoccupied with girls and football. Since there was not much of either, things were a bit strained.

I ended up playing sports like soccer, softball, track, tennis, baseball, racquetball, bowling, and basketball to accommodate my desire for athletic competition. As far as style went, we were way behind the fashions and fads of students attending school in America. So life was difficult to adjust to after we returned home to the states.

In Saudi, armed guards patrolled the fences beyond the compound walls. Of course, being a teenager we loved to press our luck. We had to be wary where we walked since scorpions and vipers were all around. We never realized the dangers associated with being an American, though there was obvious tension when we went into town. There were camels, though we never saw many in the mountains, but we would occasionally see one around. We had to be careful of baboons, who were always in force around the bases of the mountains. I only saw them during visits to the hanging village and the Red Sea.

The temperature in the mountains always seemed to remain in the seventies, however most other areas of Saudi were quite a bit warmer. The hanging village was the remains of an old Turkish fort overlooking the mountains. Surrounding the ruins there is no short supply of fake diamonds, which were worthless but pretty all the same.

The Red Sea always intrigued me, especially since I loved the stories of the Bible. I really wanted to see this large body of water that Moses parted. You had to be careful in the water, since we knew tiger sharks and sea snakes inhabited it. I was amazed by the size of this body of water, which was unlike any I had ever seen before. For one, we are accustomed to cool breezes on the shoreline here in the states. The winds over the Red Sea were warm, as was the water. In order to wade in the water, you need to wear sandals, which I learned the hard way. Within about 5 minutes I had burned the bottoms of my feet so badly that I blistered within minutes. You cannot imagine how painful that is.

The Arabs are probably the most religious people I ever met. I have met a lot of Jewish and Catholic folks in my day, but they do not compare to the faith the Muslims have. No matter where you are in Saudi Arabia, there are prayers five times a day. The mosques have speakers that belt out their prayers loud enough that everyone can hear them from miles around. Every shop closes up during prayer and everyone unfolds a little mat facing the east. It is an amazing sight to witness.

Shopping in Saudi Arabia is another interesting challenge, since bartering is a part of their everyday lives. Someday I hope people can cast aside their views of Arabs, because most Arabs I know are the kindest people you could ever meet. Of course, all it takes is one person to shed a negative light on an entire race, which is unfortunate.