They must love me here in the Kingdom! I was walking around today and they started throwing shoes at me! Made me feel like the president to be so honored. The Arabic word for thank you is shukran (shoe-kran) , so I said that and they threw even more shoes! What a wonderful place.
Today we went to another women's college (all secondary schools and colleges are segregated by sex) and then met with the Women's Chamber of Commerce (also sex segregated). The college kids are very fluent in English, and believe that they will have no trouble finding great jobs. They really don't seem concerned about having to wear the abaya all the time, at least in public. The Chamber of Commerce gave a different view of how they've struggled to gain even the most basic rights for women. A major victory was gaining the right to be a sales clerk in a store! It seems many upper class Saudi women kind of like the system, given that they have personal drivers for their cars. An interesting society.
No more pictures of food, though tonight was a beachside feast on the shores of the Red Sea. They flew in Maine lobster and Alaskan king crab for the occasion. Not exactly local cuisine.
The gentleman sitting with me at lunch said there are two holy professions in Islam- the doctor/nurse who heals the body, and the teacher, who heals the soul. What a brilliant man.
Tomorrow we may actually go shopping. They keep us on a short leash around here due to security concerns. There are still basically no tourists from the West in Saudi Arabia, so we're kind of an attention getter.
Salaam!
2 comments:
wow. is it hot there or is it a good temp? is your family there too? can u bring me some tomato ketchup chips? what's the time difference? i have lots of questions.
Kailyn L
Mr. Donegan -- what do the women's shoes look like? Are they cute? I wear an American Size 7. XXOO
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