Burqa please

Roma and I were told that we needed put on the abaya (black robe) and head scarf before getting on the plane to Saudi Arabia.  We were also informed that we needed to wear this the entire time in Saudi Arabia.  That small piece of information managed to completely freak me out about my short trip to Saudi.  But I was so thankful that Roma was going with me.  Even though we were traveling with Jonathan, it’s always easier to have another woman with you in that kind of environment.  

Roma and I put on our abayas and we were completely hysterical.  I felt absolutely ridiculous.  And the ironic thing is that the abaya and headscarf are meant to make women, more or less, non-existent.  And yet I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb.  To put it bluntly, I was embarrassed.  Furthermore, Roma and I are both fairly loud women.  We talk loudly, we laugh loudly.  We were totally not meant to wear the abaya.  So even while we were on the plane, everyone was looking at us because we were audible. 

One interesting thing that I noticed and wasn’t expecting is that despite the abaya, headscarf, and burqa, women like to be individuals.  Some of the coverings were completely blinged out with jewels or embroidery.  Furthermore, the women wore such heavy eye makeup… even in the case when the only thing you could see was their eyes.  I was surprised because I didn’t know what to expect and was even concerned about wearing makeup and bringing too much attention to myself.  But makeup apparently isn’t an issue. 

Upon arriving in Riyadh, we had VIP service in immigration.  They took our picture and our fingerprints.  I was starting to get freaked out with all of this and then I remembered that the U.S. has the same process for all immigrants not from North America.  So that put me a little more at ease.  But it was difficult because none of the immigration officers spoke English and none of us spoke Arabic.  So it was a lot of hand gestures and movements in order to communicate.

We stayed in a gorgeous hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  The finishing details were exquisite!  And the bathtub was to die for!!!  The evening we arrived in Riyadh, it was almost 1am by the time we checked into the hotel.  But I had to splurge and take a bath that evening… I’d never seen a bathtub that invited me into it more than that one.  So I bathed in rose petals and ate dates and pecans.  I felt like a queen… which completely set the stage for the rest of the trip and my soon-to-be nickname of maharani (Hindi for “queen”).

Riyadh was so interesting.  In my mind, Saudi Arabia is very backwards and old school, especially considering their views on women.  I expected to see sand and ancient buildings.  And I certainly didn’t expect the luxurious hotel room or that they would know how to pamper people.  But what I saw was one of the newest and most modern cities in the world.  Almost all buildings were under construction… either newly being built or renovated.  Saudi Arabia is one of the fastest growing countries in terms of mobile technology.  I expect that we will see huge growth in that region over the next two years.

And yet, despite all of this modernization, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA for short) has a “progressive” king who allowed women to start working only a couple of years ago.  In all office buildings, it is required to have a separate area where only women can have desks.  Men are NOT allowed.  Moreover, women must go through separate security and immigration lines in the airport.  Everything is segregated.

The only evening that we were there, we went to dinner at a restaurant.  Roma and I traveled in a separate car from Jonathan because he was meeting with a family-owned traditional Saudi Arabian company and women weren’t allowed in the meetings.  So we worked out of the office in the afternoon while Jonathan went to the meeting.  Anyway, Roma and I traveled to the restaurant and arrived there before Jonathan.  We tried to walk into the front door and were vehemently told to go to a different entrance.  We realized quickly the door we tried to enter was for men only.  We were ushered to the “family” side of the restaurant.  Women were only allowed on that side.  There were even curtained off areas so that women who wore burqas and wanted to dine with their families could sit behind the curtains and take off their burqas and no one would see their face.

Furthermore, since Roma and I were there before Jonathan arrived, the staff wouldn’t serve us or take our order until he was there.  It was all very surreal because it’s just not what I’m used to.  As soon as we ate dinner, we were whisked off to the airport again in order to fly back to Dubai for another day of meetings.

While at the airport, we had a Saudi Arabian police officer threaten us for bringing our carry-on bags through security because they were too big.  Yet, we didn't have problems on any other flights.  Of course, I would have felt confident telling a security officer that in the U.S. but Saudi Arabia is an entirely different story.  In the end, because we had already passed security, he let us go.  Phew!!!  But he told us if we ever came back, our luggage was prohibited.  Hmmm... don't think that will be too much of a problem for me.

Then we were back on the plane to Dubai...