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By Fadia Basrawi
Fadia, a Saudi Arab, grew up within the strictly circumscribed and tailored 'desert Disneyland' of Aramco (the Arabian American Oil Company). This slice of recent, suburban, heart the US was once positioned in Dharan, one of many best towns of Saudi Arabia, a theocratic Muslim country run in response to strict Wahabbi Shari'a legislations. finally, after in simple terms short vacations out of the country vacationing kinfolk in vibrant Arab towns like Medina, Damascus and Alexandria, Fadia moved to Beirut, the glitzy 'Paris of the center East', to wait highschool. In Beirut, she fell in love with a passionate and idealistic Lebanese journalist with whom she eloped opposed to her mom and dad' needs, as a result getting stuck up in Lebanon's fifteen-year civil warfare whereas elevating a relations of 5 youngsters. delivering a desirable account of a Saudi woman's painful trip from naive Aramcon lady to lifestyles as a resident of a war-torn capital urban, this booklet offers new perception into very diverse heart japanese worlds approximately which so little is understood through these dwelling open air the sector.
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Additional info for Arabia's Hidden America: A Saudi Woman's Memoir
Example text
There are signs in restaurants in Jeddah that state clearly that kahkahkah (denoting the sound of laughter in Arabic) is strictly forbidden on the premises. The sanctity of the home is no protection from the muttawa’a, who have the licence to burst in if they suspect mixed parties; they also climb into cars that have stopped at red lights if they suspect the couple inside are unmarried. The accused are hauled to jail where, more often than not, they spend at least twelve hours of degradation before being released if they are innocent.
This heaped more discomfort on me than my stitches. I looked down at my desk, bright red with embarrassment, and refused to look up or answer any questions. I truly wished the earth would open up and swallow me. The whole idea behind my scuffle with Bobby was to become a toughie and fit in with the popular crowd. What was I to do with this patronizing pity pouring all over me, separating me from everything I wanted so desperately to belong to? The boy’s father showed up at our house the following evening with his son in tow.
My mother only wore a voile scarf on her head in case of a sandstorm starting when she was leaving the beauty shop, and never anything else at any other time. The muttawa’a’s services were not needed within Aramco. Their main role of policing the local population and any spread of anti-al Sa’ud ideas that cropped up in anti-government meetings was being handled very thoroughly by the Americans. The American government undertook the funding and training of Saudi Arabia’s army and the National Guard so that they would deal effectively with anyone who opposed the ruling family.