55 thoughts on “Hotel, park and business-Riyadh”

    • oh yes. It is still very conservative in Riyadh but not so much in other areas. Men can wear whatever they want, not shorts or anything offensive like with bad words or let’s say a shirt with a dirty type picture or alcohol advertisement etc.Some ladies in Khobar wore long shirts long sleeves no abaya!

      Like

      Reply ↓

        • yes at first it was, then they were used to it, bargaining at the souk, talking to taxi drivers giving directions. People welcomed them with open arms, insisted they go first in line, asked to help them. In the middle east older people have high respect. they love many foods and had fun going to the malls, fancy shops from Europe etc.

          Like

          Reply ↓

    • She never had any issues and westerners do not cover their hair that I have ever seen. In Riyadh it is more conservative but in jeddah and Khobar much more western. Ladies wear an abaya or even long sleeves and long shirts as well in Khobar. Saudis love talking to and getting to know Americans!!

      Like

      Reply ↓

        • ok in Riyadh you would wear an abaya, if you went to a super old area, or village then maybe a little scarf. The main thing is not standing out, not trying to look out of place. I have never met anyone who had trouble but I am sure some do! I was never talked to ever, but a lady who was muslim told me they stopped her because she had on lots of make up and bright lipstick. So basically you just have to be careful!

          Like

          Reply ↓

    • OK not talking religion, it depends where you live. Of course as far as religion, yes. but each place is different, in Syria everyone dresses how they want. Some wear long shirts, some wear a long coat, some wear western type clothes. Syrian women usually wear a coat like a coat you might wear in a different country, called a jelbab any color. In saudi must wear the abaya. Each place is different but Saudi is way more strict Saudi ladies cover their faces as well. In syria or jordan you dont see that as much. Hope this helped feel free to ask anything!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

  16. How did your mum feel about changing her dress so drastically, it must have hit home to her, that although she had to do this for a week or so, but for her daughter, this was now the norm.
    Interesting comment about the lady wearing heavy makeup. It fascinates me here that girls cover themselves from head to toe, then don false eyelashes, khol and ruby red lips giving the total opposite effect to ‘modesty’ I see the Hijab as a form of protest or political statement in a none muslim country, particularly when worn as this – I often feel like asking ‘why do you have all that on your face if you are trying to be modest’?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • She has been there I think 23 times! So she is totally used to it! Yes interesting comments and insights! Yes hijab literally (or I was taught) it means a barrier, making a wall between you and men, so being modest and that means your speech, hijab doesnt mean a scarf, your actions etc. So, everything that goes with it, a package of your manners etc. you are very wise! thanks for the insightful comment!

      Like

      Reply ↓

      • Maybe I am more exposed to this than people in the States (giving me more insight) I find some (not all, as as you so rightly pointed out, you cannot generalise) hypocritical because of this conflict of observance, and to be honest, in some instances quite aggressive, it is as if they are wearing a ‘badge’ and making a statement. I also know many girls, who do observe the true significance. and are lovely sincere people.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.