Some of the traditions here in Saudi Arabia have been very strange to me. I am a very independent woman and the fact that women here aren't allowed to drive, and that there are only certain entrances for women or that women aren't allowed in certain places and that men can have more than one wife has been an eye opener and that is only a few of the things that I have seen. I am not so sure I would want to drive here, it is pretty crazy, there don't seem to be any traffic laws. As far as the hotel health club that is only available for men only, it would have been nice to go sit in the hot tub or swim. Most of the places we have gone haven't had separate entrances for the women and children but I have seen signs outside of restaraunts that specify that. Last night we were invited to one of the largest seafood restaraunts in Jeddah. The CEO of the hospital that we are helping at was there along with several heads of the hospital departments and a couple of Abbott reps (all men). We had been told by the project manager that we were all invited. But after getting there I don't think that was the case, I think it was only meant for Doctor Bruce to attend. When we first got there we were seated at a table and then had to move to a larger table to accommodate additional men that arrived after us. It was also noticed that there were some words exchanged at the entrance of the restaraunt by who appeared to be the manager. As well as some looks that were exchanged. Given the fact that none of us speak Arabic we were in the dark. Despite all of this the men were very polite to the women in our group even though one of them was quite chauvanistic. I am sure the only reason the women were allowed to stay on that side of the restaraunt was because the CEO talked to the manager. The atmosphere of the restaraunt was quite amazing and the food was excellent.
It has been very interesting to see men with up to 4 women with him. At first I didn't think anything of it until someone informed me that all 4 women were his wifes. So then I started paying more attention. The women all seem to get along and sometimes I have seen the man walking in the lead with the women following him. Also, for some of the families, they believe in arranged marriages. Often the man is a friend of the family. Many of the young women don't date, they are just told that they will marry a certain man. The young women don't go out unless accompanied by a man. A couple of the nurses have told us that they go to work and go home and that is all that they do. I am sure part of that is given the fact that they are unable to drive and are dependent upon having a man accompany them. But then other young women have told us that they will be able to pick out their own husband and many men only have one wife.
There are 6 calls to prayer daily. With the first one around 4 am and the last around 9 pm. These are announced via speakers located around the city. There is music and what I think is praying. One of these speakers is right outside our hotel, so occasionally I am woken up by the one in the morning. These call to prayers last about 1/2 hour. At that time everything is shut down. If you happen to be in a store at the time of prayer, the clerks leave their registers to go and pray, so you can't check out until they return. If you arrive during the time of prayer, you aren't allowed to go in. We have learned to try and time our comings and goings with the prayer times. The prayer times are posted in the paper daily as they change slightly every day. When I have heard the music, I have used it to remind me to pray to my God.
When we go out as women we are required to wear an abaya, which is a long black coat that covers you from the neck to the feet. We as Americans have not been required to wear the head coverings but the women from here are. The head coverings vary from just the hair being covered to some have their faces covered so that only their eyes show and others wear a thin veil that covers their entire face. I have also seen others that wear black gloves, so that nothing but their eyes have been exposed. I have tried to figure out why the differences but the only thing that I have heard is that it is dependent upon the husband. We have been allowed to wear our scrubs without the abayas to and from the hospital. We also have to wear the abayas when we walk out of our hotel room even if it is to go downstairs to eat or go to the room of one of our teammates.
I will do another post soon regarding Ramandan soon.
This has been a culture that I have been unfamiliar with and it has been interesting to learn a little bit about this country and it's culture and traditions. I am thankful that I have had this experience but I am also very thankful that I am an American and a Christian and have many freedoms as a woman.
It has been very interesting to see men with up to 4 women with him. At first I didn't think anything of it until someone informed me that all 4 women were his wifes. So then I started paying more attention. The women all seem to get along and sometimes I have seen the man walking in the lead with the women following him. Also, for some of the families, they believe in arranged marriages. Often the man is a friend of the family. Many of the young women don't date, they are just told that they will marry a certain man. The young women don't go out unless accompanied by a man. A couple of the nurses have told us that they go to work and go home and that is all that they do. I am sure part of that is given the fact that they are unable to drive and are dependent upon having a man accompany them. But then other young women have told us that they will be able to pick out their own husband and many men only have one wife.
There are 6 calls to prayer daily. With the first one around 4 am and the last around 9 pm. These are announced via speakers located around the city. There is music and what I think is praying. One of these speakers is right outside our hotel, so occasionally I am woken up by the one in the morning. These call to prayers last about 1/2 hour. At that time everything is shut down. If you happen to be in a store at the time of prayer, the clerks leave their registers to go and pray, so you can't check out until they return. If you arrive during the time of prayer, you aren't allowed to go in. We have learned to try and time our comings and goings with the prayer times. The prayer times are posted in the paper daily as they change slightly every day. When I have heard the music, I have used it to remind me to pray to my God.
When we go out as women we are required to wear an abaya, which is a long black coat that covers you from the neck to the feet. We as Americans have not been required to wear the head coverings but the women from here are. The head coverings vary from just the hair being covered to some have their faces covered so that only their eyes show and others wear a thin veil that covers their entire face. I have also seen others that wear black gloves, so that nothing but their eyes have been exposed. I have tried to figure out why the differences but the only thing that I have heard is that it is dependent upon the husband. We have been allowed to wear our scrubs without the abayas to and from the hospital. We also have to wear the abayas when we walk out of our hotel room even if it is to go downstairs to eat or go to the room of one of our teammates.
I will do another post soon regarding Ramandan soon.
This has been a culture that I have been unfamiliar with and it has been interesting to learn a little bit about this country and it's culture and traditions. I am thankful that I have had this experience but I am also very thankful that I am an American and a Christian and have many freedoms as a woman.
No comments:
Post a Comment