I started writing these lines in Dammam, a coastal city on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia.. I have been sitting alone in the “family section” of Starbucks, which is located on the ground floor of a shopping mall for the last 3 hours, since there is nowhere to go except the beach and the mall.. Why doesn’t anyone come and have coffee? I have no clue. I am busy digesting what I saw in 3 days that I spent almost without visiting any place or talking to anyone.. I’m not in the mood to tell a lot of stories on the blog, but since I’m not in the mood to write a Saudi Arabian Travel Guide – it’s still a country without a tourist visa – I’ll talk about what I saw this time.. Along with interesting information specific to this place, of course.. Before we start, I gave a preview of why we went to Saudi Arabia, “What are we doing in Saudi Arabia?” If you want to read the article, you can find it here .
My Worries and Me
Last Saturday night, I had a hard time sleeping because of the excitement and stress, I had a pre-trip night that looks like a classic but I know it’s extraordinary when I think about the details.. I was going to step into a brand new country on Sunday because: to Saudi Arabia.. Zibillion questions in my mind: Will I have problems entering the land route? It’s okay if I don’t cover my head but what if it’s not right? Do I have to wear black, what happens if I wear my burgundy dress? Can I travel alone? I won’t wear nail polish now, maybe it’ll be a problem. Can we do makeup?. And the absurd questions that I couldn’t ask anyone else, and couldn’t get a clear answer even if I did.. (Recently it’s been a bit of a relief since the morality police went fallow, but no one knows what’s what.). The dialogues are as follows: “Can I travel alone? -Well, it’s forbidden, but…I guess you can.”)
Even though we can’t digest the fact that we get up early on Sunday, we try to manage by thinking it’s Monday for now.. For those who don’t know, let me write; the first working day of the week in both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain is Sunday. When I wake up at 06:00 in the morning, the weather in Bahrain is as bright as it should be.. I think this is one of my favorite features.. I have never missed the air of Izmir, which is still undecided whether to be enlightened even at 8.30 in the morning.. Anyway… As a guarantee, I wear the black long dress I bought for Saudi Arabia and take the black scarf with me.. Let’s not go to burgundy or something like that without seeing the environment.. It’s not something I can take risks with! Penalties are either whipping or imprisonment, at least that’s what we know until they’re gone.
Welcome to Saudi Arabia!
Do you know that Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are connected by a bridge? In the middle of the bridge, which is called “King Fahad Causeway”, the customs of the two countries are located.. We reach this customs half an hour after leaving our house in Bahrain.. The exit from Bahrain is easy, at least we know what we will face. What about the Saudi side? I’m always in cars, looking for women who look like me. Don’t think I’m racist, I’m just wondering if there are women with visible faces. I wait in the car holding my scarf tightly, if anyone talks, I will cover my head immediately. There is no need for rebellion in the country I am a foreigner. I’m already nervous, the sword symbols I see all over the place frighten me because. What need is there for swords and such! It’s like there’s only one person fighting with a sword in this era…
My nervous wait continues while I’m going through passport control.. The passport officer describes in sketchy English where we need to fingerprint first. After completing the necessary procedures, we will complete our transition.. I’m slowly starting to be like cotton because everyone we come in contact with is very friendly, it’s like they have nothing to do with swords or anything.. I don’t understand what they are talking about among themselves, but they may even be talking about the last episode of Fatmagül, they have such an air.. (Our fake TV shows are so popular around here!) Finally, when the officer gives our passport, he makes us burst into laughter by saying “Good evening” in Turkish.. We say, “Well, that’s nice..” We start to move forward in Saudi territory.
But before leaving customs, I have another question in my mind: These women are all veiled.. So, how about passport control? Uğur immediately points to the passport control booths reserved for women.. There is a female officer in a completely closed area to the outside.. They control the veiled women.. Even at the passport control, I can see and learn in the next two hours that this separation is in all areas, without being able to digest the fact that the woman left. Divided into “Female / Male” like a public toilet. Considering the couples, they added a “family section” to some places.. You have to enter by looking everywhere you step in a closed area.. Market, bank, hospital, pharmacy, elevator… There are distinctions everywhere you can think of.. For example, in banks, the section where women enter is separate.. All restaurants have two separate sections, the “single section” and the “family section”; Men have to enter the single section, women and families have to enter the family section and sit.. The same distinction exists in the market safe, in the MARKET CASE! There are even “family malls” where single men are not allowed to enter.
My arrival made Uğur very happy because he will be able to step into the family section, which he has been wondering about for a long time.. “I’m sick of being in male-only environments, like going to a coffee shop all the time!” says. While listening to these, I look at the ugliness of the geography that is not a full desert, and on the other hand, I am amazed at the 6-lane roads.. “Isn’t that ridiculous? Everyone driving this road right now is male.” Then, I am thankful that we refused to move here and chose Bahrain.
I am where I feared to be, I am in the hospital!
As soon as we arrived in Dammam, the first place we stepped into was the state hospital.. Of course, I don’t count the coffee shop we stopped by on the way, we didn’t even get out of the car because. “Drive thru” is extremely common in both Bahrain and Arabia. You can order all kinds of fast food and coffee without getting out of the car, as well as benefit from the ATMs.
Come to the hospital…”What are you doing at the hospital?” Let me write for those who say; In order to obtain a residence permit, it is necessary to pass a health check at a hospital here.. During the 2 hours we spent in the hospital, I follow every detail with amazement, but in this way, some of the questions in my mind are slowly finding answers.
Contrary to popular belief, foreign women can walk with their heads uncovered, but they have to wear an abaya or a long tunic to cover their front.. Traveling Continent had given this information before he left, I thank him again in his absence, but of course he cannot be sure until he sees it with human eyes.. In addition, it may be necessary to cover according to the place.. Let me give an example: It is not forbidden for women to wear shorts in Turkey, but unfortunately they cannot wear them everywhere.
The number of women I saw in the hospital surprised me greatly.. I used to think that women don’t work, but. All of the employees working in the banks are women; some Arab, some Asian immigrants (probably Filipinos). The nurses I see are all Asian women.. Arabs work with veils on their faces but they don’t wear abayas. Foreigners are no different from our nurses.. As you can see, there is no female figure struggling to work under the sheets.
The first detail that caught my eye was the presence of separate sitting areas for women and separate sitting areas for men, and even processing rooms, but there doesn’t seem to be much shaking.. We sat side by side on the women’s side, since we refused to sit in the harem and selamlık with Uğur, and no one said anything.. There is no such distinction in the examination or analysis phase, but in some applications, the differences are immediately noticeable.. Example; The male doctor who examined me always did the back listening part and all over the clothes.. When my blood pressure was going to be measured, I was grabbing my arm when the nurse immediately stopped and took the measurement from the top of the dress.. It means that they use devices that go deeper
The hospital experience was a great advantage for me because I realized that there are very few places where I can see people from all walks of life.. “Let me socialize a bit, mingle with the public.” Unfortunately, the only address to say this is AVMs.
Shopping Centers in the Covered Neighborhoods of the Gulf
Apart from the residences here, all the items in a neighborhood are inside the shopping malls; barber, tailor, real estate agent, market, repairman… All the shops you can think of are gathered in shopping malls, and therefore shopping malls are full everywhere.. Although the guys are right, they should have built a living space where they could survive at 50 degrees in summer, they did it.. (But why we take this as an example, that is not clear.) Since you don’t see people walking around on the street, it is one of the places where you can see the public.
On our first day, we went to the nearest shopping mall to have a quick meal.. I want to take pictures like crazy, but I can’t go to the camera because it’s not that easy around here.. It used to be forbidden, now it’s “Never try to take a picture of a woman.” they say. I already understood from the icing of the women in chadors in the 3D view of Google Maps.. Before filming the men, it is absolutely necessary to ask their permission.. “Then let me keep what I see.” I continue to look at people like oxen. We have no time to waste, we have to order food before prayer time.
Telephone Break 5 Times a Day
(Don’t get angry at the headline, you will understand why I wrote that way later in the article.) Life during prayer times in Saudi Arabia something like standing. All shops, restaurants, banks, government offices are closing. In the past, there was no walking around, the restaurants were not only closing, but also removing the customers inside.. But now there has been some relaxation in this regard.. When the prayer time comes, all places are closed, but if the shop employee or owner is not going to pray, he can sit and wait in the shop.. Every store closes in shopping malls, but the mall does not, everyone sits on the benches inside and waits for the shops to open.. As you can see, there is an enormously ridiculous image; The employee is inside the shop, the customer is waiting idly in front of the shop.
We tried to eat at the time of prayer a few times and stayed at the door.. In the first one, “Well, dear, we’ll wait half an hour.” we said, but it is seriously annoying that it is repeated often. That’s why it has become a very critical issue to control these times and throw ourselves into the restaurant just before.. Even if the prayer time is closed, at least we can continue to sit inside.. Thank goodness no one turned down when we wanted to go out.. Well, what do you think the shop employees do if they don’t go to prayer? You know, all I saw was playing on the phone. Let me tell you for those who wonder why they don’t go to prayer, most of the people who work in the food industry are foreigners.
Let’s go to a shopping mall!
It’s the first time I’ve ever taken a step. In the city, if we have time, we try to visit the historical and natural beauties that must be seen.. I’m eagerly checking tripadvisor for Dammam as soon as we finish what we need to do, but what is that?! All of the places recommended as “Places to visit” are shopping malls.. Haa! There is also the Coral Island made by filling the sea, which we walked and finished in 1 hour.. There is nothing we can do, let’s visit the mall instead of being stuck in the hotel.. After all, everything is very interesting, even watching people in different clothes is good for me.. If the prayer time is over, we can take a tour in a big shopping mall.. “Don’t be afraid, I won’t shop, I’ll just look.” I succeed in deceiving Uğur by saying.. The stores here are no different from those in Turkey.. I can’t stand it, I walk into H&M, it’s full of low-cut dresses and the Saudis pick and buy them. You stop someone and say, “I’m sorry, but where do you intend to wear this?” I have a question. I certainly do not belittle it, on the contrary, I like it, but on the other hand, I feel more sorry for the pressure in the country.. After that minute, I also started voyeurism, good luck! Now I control what women wear inside their abayas. my predictions are correct; There is no hijab, jeans and T-shirts are very common.
I can’t help but mention the types of stores.. The abundance of evening dress stores immediately draws our attention.. I guess there’s someone’s henna every day in town. Second place was taken by underwear stores.. Do you know sex shops in Amsterdam? There is a good range of clothes there, nurses’ costumes are on display in the window.. If I’m going to give the title “the country of contrasts” to a country, it would definitely be Saudi Arabia.
Those Didn’t Go Unnoticed
* We always consider Saudis polygamous, which is not a lie. but “Every Saudi man has 3-4 wives.” wrong perception. They say that only the very rich can do this because every marriage costs a lot of money.. I have come across the scene of “Arab walking in the front, the veiled women and girls following him behind”, 3 times at the most.. In fact, I have often seen couples walking hand in hand, and frankly, I really liked it.
* The “Can I apply nail polish?” Worry is unfounded. Here women are very fond of fashion and extremely well-groomed.. Even though I can’t see their faces, it’s not hard to tell from the nail polishes on their hands.
* Men don’t look at women at all.. I’m guessing it’s a habit from the time of the moral police. In the past, if a man looked at another woman, he was immediately warned by the morality police, and if he continued to look, he was punished with a whip.. Of course, those days are backwards.
* There is no such thing as a woman’s inability to go out or travel without an accompanying man.. Shopping malls are like women’s matinees during the day. The number of women walking on the beach in the evening is quite high.. But the male companion is always the leader.. Except for the city of Katif, no one shakes me when Ugur is with me.. Even if I ask the question, they answer Uğur.. On the contrary, women are extremely serious and sullen, they do not even greet, although their faces are closed, we can understand the displeasure from the look in their eyes.
I Will Come Again
As I mentioned in my previous article, from now on, Saudi Arabia is frequently I will come to Arabia, Uğur is here every weekday already. It’s not a place I would ever want to live in, but I was tempted to come and experience a different culture from time to time.. This is what I saw in just a few days, in an ordinary city.. I’m sure there are many more things that will surprise me in different corners of the country.
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