Monday (late), April 2nd, 2007

A salaam a laikom. It was a very late night last night. We flew out of Dharhan to Jeddah on Saudi Airlines arriving here at 12:15am. By the time I had unpacked, ate and updated my blog with photos, it was nearly 2:30am before I crawled into bed.

You have all asked so many great questions so I am going to try and answer those questions in this blog in addition to telling you more specifically about what I have seen and learned over the last 3 days in Dharhan.

This is a picture of the most dynamic woman I have met in Saudi Arabia. She is employed with Aramco Services and is an ambassador for women's rights in Saudi Arabia. I cannot wait to tell you about her life, her dreams and her views on the world.

First of all, it is important that you know more about Aramco Services, the oil company that is sponsoring this educators trip to Saudi Arabia. Aramco is owned by the Saudi government. The government is the sole shareholder in a company that generates a revenue of over 700 billion dollars a year. ( I am still trying to confirm that number) This company has set their mission to bring oil to the world in a responsible and efficient manner.

Saudi Arabia contains the world's largest supply of crude oil in the world. They have the 4th largest supply of gas reserves. This company was initially established with American help in the early 1970's. Slowly, the company transfered ownership from 75% American and 25% Saudi to 100% Saudi Arabia by 1980.

Many of us teachers here are constantly asking ourselves and our hosts why Aramco Services went to such great expense to bring 24 teachers from the United States here to Saudi Arabia. We have been told that they want us to ask questions,many questions so that we can form our own opinions about the people and the culture of the Saudis.

My opinion changes daily and I will reserve my comments on this until our trip is complete and I have time to think about everything I have seen and heard. I will tell you that there are definitely two Saudi Arabia's ( I don't mean this literally), to see and we, as teachers, are trying very hard to see both.

OK, on to your questions. Clothing is a great place to start because like it or not it is the first impression you have of people and here the clothing makes a powerful statement. We were fitted for our abayas on the first day and as you can see from my photos, the garments can be quite beautiful. The more traditional abaya is solid black with no embroidery, as the purpose of the abaya is to not draw attention to yourself. Women begin wearing an abaya with the hajib, head covering, at the age of puberty, but you see girls younger than this wearing abayas in a more casual, less covered way.

Women here cover themselves to different degrees depending on their family values and traditions. Fundamental muslim women are completely covered, including black gloves and a veil without eye holes. Lesser versions include those with eye openings, and scarves that your face from the eyes down, to no veil on your face, just on your head.

Men wear what is called Saudi formal, which is the long cotton white robe, with a gutra and igel, the red checked cloth and black rope on their heads. Men also wear western clothing and have other color options on attire as you may see later from my pictures. Men clearly have less restrictions.

On to more questions...

There are no movie theaters in Saudi as they are banned, but they do have cable tv and the hotels have movie stations. While I was on the plane into Saudi, I was able to watch "The Perfect Storm" a movie about Glouster Massachusetts fisherman! I also watched a comedy channel show with Jack Black, from School of Rock. They have CNN, Fox news and of course local arabic channels.

Outdoor markets....

We have been to some local shops like potters but haven't been to a place with outdoor markets but we will this week. Here they are called suqs and they sell jewelry, clothing and other items. The time we have been given to shop has been quite limited, so when we are given 30 minutes, we are shopping maniacs.

Religions...

Religion is incredibly important to this country. Here, church and state are not separated, so it is mandatory that every Saudi national is Muslim. Mosques are everywhere and the muslims pray 5 times a day, which closes the country down for short periods each day as we travel and visit. When Muslims pray, they use a prayer rug and face towards Mecca, the holiest city according to the Muslim faith. Every room you enter has a directional arrow showing you the location of Mecca from where you are. Even on the plane, a video screen showed the direction of Mecca as we flew.

Well, I have to run to my first session in Jeddah today. I have so much more to tell you and if we get a break before dinner today, I will tell you all about Gara Mountain, my experience with camels and my Arabian feast. In the mean time, I will just post you these three pictures so you can get excited about learning more. Salaam!

The top picture is of a what is called a squat toilet. Most places have both a traditional toilet and a squat toilet to chose from.

This is a picture of our Arabian Night Banquet near Dharhan. The food was amazing as you can clearly see!