Saudi Arabian ABC's

No this is not an alphabet post, but it IS a post about the building blocks of muslim life in Saudi. AKA how I interact with Islam on the daily.

First of all, I want to say that am an outsider and a learner - I am in no way an authority on anything except my own experience. This is really about how I encounter Islam within Saudi Arabia - this is not about any other country and I acknowledge that peoples' experiences in different cities or workplaces will be different than mine.

Second of all, if you're curious about Islam/Muslim faith, here are some resources I've enjoyed or have been recommended to me:

• The Secret Life of Muslims - a web series coproduced by Vice, using short episodes to talk about issues, share a perspective, and talk about muslim life. 
• If The Oceans Were Ink - a book recommended to me by Maren over a year ago before I knew I'd be moving to a Muslim country. It took me a while to read but every chapter was informative and enlightening. This book is written by a journalist who was an outsider in Muslim countries growing up - that really helped me to understand her descriptions and thought process. 
• I follow a couple people on Twitter or Instagram - I found them through listicles or magazine articles:
• Fashionable Muslim Women to Follow On Instagram
• Hasan D Piker on Instagram
• There's not a lot of video footage of Saudi Arabia online, but I did find a good episode of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" that visits Saudi. 

Okay so here I go - ways I encounter Islam on the daily:

1. Prayer 
1. I hear the call to prayer maybe 2 or 3 times a day, though muslims pray typically 5 times a day. I downloaded an app onto my phone that tells me the prayer times because they shift along with the solar schedule. My school's campus has maybe 4 mosques (one is right across the street, so I hear it when I'm at school), and most every building has a prayer room (including Ikea!).  
2. If I'm in Jeddah, prayer interrupts everything. Shops close for prayer (and the 30-45 minutes surrounding it, annoyingly) so sometimes you need to exit the store. If it's a big one (like Ikea) they'll close the doors and shut down the registers but you're allowed to be inside looking around. As an outsider, I'll be honest... it doesn't look like a lot of people actually pray during these prayer times. The mall food courts will be filled with people (who were smart and got their food before the prayer time started). I've been told by colleagues that women who are menstruating cannot enter the mosque (or therefore pray?) so they "make it up" later. Similarly, some structures don't have a women's prayer room, but that is kind of aligned with the thought that women's main role is caring for family which is such arduous work that women aren't expected to be as religious as the men. They cut you a break because they assume you've gotten less sleep. 
3. My students pray. I run a study hall twice a week and in the middle of it two boys came up to me and said "I finished all of my work. Can I go pray?" and I wasn't sure what to say. I said yes... they returned within 15 minutes. Our school schedule is conducive to the prayer schedule, including a break time or lunch that lines up with prayer. 
2. Gendered thinking 
1. I went to buy a pair of jeans at GAP yesterday and when I asked if they had a fitting room, the salesperson said no and explained that I could get a refund within 3 days or an exchange within 7 days. I was ready to walk away when he asked "you want to try them on?" and I said yes. He then explained that they DO have fitting rooms, but they're for men. I'll admit, I got a little angry. Why is there such inequality. Just say no to fitting rooms and I'd be fine with it. Nudity is nudity and it's not acceptable here... but nope, men can try on clothes and I can't. He said I could use it and I asked if I would go to jail (you never know! it's better to ask!) and he laughed, saying that it's fine. It was overall a positive interaction but really confused me. I tried on the jeans and my friends came into the fitting rooms (not knowing about my conversation with the sales associate) to try on clothes. They came out to get a second opinion and show us what their clothes looked like and some women in the store kind of giggled at us. It is pretty weird when everyone is covered to come out and show off your clothes (and body) but once we asked a question or two it worked out. 
2. Restaurants have family or single sections. A lot of times I don't notice it, but sometimes there are separate entrances or counters to order from that are labeled clearly (in arabic and english). It's designed to keep unmarried men and women apart. I went to TGI Fridays with two of my male friends and they seated us in the family section. If you're a woman, you will never be in the singles section. If you're a man it depends on whether or not you are with a woman. So if two guys go out for dinner, they'll be seated in the singles section, even if they're married.
3. Co-ed schools are NOT the norm here. My school (and the University) is very atypical in being co-ed. I had a student tell me her mom might get in trouble if her grandparents saw a video of her playing the xylophone with a boy. We pointed the camera at their instruments and went about our work. Mostly it doesn't seem to impact me, but every once in a while it's apparent that we're educating our students in more than one way.
3. Hijab - Hijab is the practice of covering. There are different degrees of covering and I happen to live in a country that mandates a higher level of covering. When I leave my little city/compound (every weekend? every other weekend?) to go into Jeddah or the airport, I am expected to wear an Abaya. I have a love/hate relationship with my abaya so far. I love that I can go to the mall wearing yoga pants and an old tshirt and nobody will know or be able to judge me for it! Other times, I hate that I'm sweaty and have all this extra fabric around me to manage with every single motion. I should note that this graphic doesn't accurately show what I wear - an abaya doesn't cover the head. It's two separate garments typically. Mine is more like a robe from Harry Potter or graduation ceremony. 
   

Here is a photo of me and Rikke in our abayas at Ikea (really I've been there 3 times since moving to Jeddah, I don't know why I keep bringing up Ikea)