10/17/2007

Salaam Aleikum Everyone,

Eid Mubarak! Recently, the Muslim world celebrated Eid al-Fitr, one of two Islamic holidays. This one is quite exciting because it is the end of Ramadan, the month during which Muslims must fast (and abstain from drinking, smoking, and impure thoughts--ha!) from sunup till sundown. No one knows exactly when Eid will be until Eid arrives--it's not like Christmas being on Dec. 25 every year. The Muslim calendar is based on the moon, so they have to spot the moon to announce Eid (as well as Ramadan). I asked my Muslim friend, Randy, when Ramadan would end about a week ago, and he wearily replied, "End? Yes, it will end." I will tell you all what Randy pointed out: that with modern technology, we should be able to predict Eid and Ramadan; it can't possibly be that difficult to do! However, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) (wow, now that's a sure sign I've been here too long already!) did not have such things to predict Eid and Ramadan, so we shouldn't either. So they planned this elaborate festival in 3 different areas of Riyadh, which would be for the first 3 days of Eid. Foreigners kept asking, "Well, when is that?" Ahhh, welcome to Saudi Arabia, my friend! The first day of Eid is...the first day of Eid! And there you go.

But let me backtrack a little to several days before Eid. On October 6, I went to the bank and filled out a lengthy booklet to open a bank account. I had to also present a letter of permission from the school, as well as write out my name Saudi-style (first name, father's first name, grandfather's first name, last name). It felt really strange writing Elizabeth Richard Edward Alezetes. Several pages later I realized I might have goofed because then they had me write it with my maternal grandfather's first name, which took me a minute to think of. After filling out the mass of paperwork which seemed to ask for everything from my employee ID number (I have one of those?) to my kindergarten teacher's hometown, I brought it back to the man who gave it to me, who took it, misplaced my very important letter of permission and insisted he didn't have it, then leafed through the booklet--how bout that! There it is! Right where you misplaced it! Anyway, then, looking up and realizing I was still standing there, he smiled at me curtly and said, "Goodbye." And I said, "When will I find out if you've opened an account for me?" He said he'd call me in 3-4 days. Which translates to, he will possibly call me sometime in the future, but definitely not in the next 4 days. Got it. Anticipating that I wouldn't hear from him, I figured I'd wait until after Eid (whenever that may occur) to come and bother him again.

Much to poor Randy's relief, Eid did, in fact, come. One of the many prince's had made it his pet project to have a festival here in the Diplomatic Quarters with traditional music, food, singing, and *gasp!* dancing. Male performers only, of course. Now, I must pause here to help you understand what an amazing, progressive thing it is to have music and dancing here. Many of the ultra-conservative Muslims who dominate this country believe that such things are sinful. So this was a small dance-step for the performers (really, the dancing was mostly step-touch-step-touch with the waving of swords) but one great big square-dance in the right direction for Saudi Arabia. Well, in my opinion, anyway. I'm sure many mutawa would beg to differ.

The first night of festivities there wasn't a big crowd, and it was mostly us foreigners. The second night, though, word had gotten out, and hordes of bethobed (don't look that up in the dictionary. it won't be there. but "thobe" is the long white dress-like thing that Saudi men traditionally wear) and abaayaed-up Saudis came to party like it's 1999, Saudi-style! As men beat drums on stage and other men stepped unsurely from side to side while waving swords, a group of young men in the audience started really getting down! Whoa, was that...a bellydancing move I saw? I think so! And one man held his arms out and shook his shoulders enthusiastically, a move I've only seen when women are trying to make their breasts jiggle. Eyes turned from the stage to this growing group of young men, who were clearly showing off for the ladies. The ladies, not coming too close but crowding in a spot that gave them a great view, watched and whispered to each other and began taking out cameraphones and cameras to take pictures and videotape this scandalizing spectacle. My view of the men quickly became blocked by these enshrouded and enthralled ladies, but I think they needed this show more than I did, so that was ok. To balance out the shameful festivities, between songs, as the crowd continued to hoot and holler, a man came forth and quoted from the Qur'an or did a sermon (hard to say because it was in Arabic). It was quite clear that nobody was paying attention during these sacred narratives, but he continued on, and did it between every song, God bless him!

So that was Eid. I didn't go the third night but I heard from my friends it was the same as the previous night. A few days after Eid, and something like 10 days after Mr. Abrupt Goodbye said he'd call in 3-4 days, I walked back to the bank to see what was up with my bank account. I found out that the bank was still on Ramadan hours, or that's the best I could figure, since those were the only hours posted, and closed at 4 pm. Ok, so I'll come back tomorrow, no big deal. The bank is only like a mile from my house, but it is still rather warm in the afternoons here. At least now I'm allowed to drink water while I'm walking (during Ramadan it is illegal to eat or drink in public between sunup and sundown, and as the mutawa are hungry, thirsty, and crankier than normal, it's strictly enforced)!

So I walked back to the bank the next day and arrived well before 4 pm to discover that it was, of course, closed. A man who saw me staring in confusion at the hours approached me and told me that they were closed now but would re-open at 7 pm. Of course, why wouldn't they? Just because the sign says they're open from 9 am to 4 pm, why not close at some randomly chosen time before 4 pm and then just reopen at 7? And back home I went. So, still no bank account. The saga continues.

Poor Randy has accompanied me on all of my banking trips thus far, and I have thanked him for his repeated company on this exercise in futility. He is truly a good friend. I know this because he brought me a big chocolate bar the other day when I was feeling down. :) Although Randy converted to Islam several years ago, he is quite baffled and annoyed with the way it is practiced/enforced here. Would you believe he referred to the endless recitations of the Qur'an over loudspeakers from every mosque as "noise pollution"? Well, he said it, not me! I have really great selective hearing, to which my parents can attest, so it doesn't really bother me. Also, Randy and Paul and I went to the mall the other day, and they hadn't been there before, and were quite shocked to see the place crawling with women covered from head to toe in black (although they don't legally have to, many Saudi women in Riyadh still cover their entire faces). Randy quietly said, "Ok, can I ask a mean-spirited question? What happens if you lose your mother in this place?" Well, you take home a different one, that's what happens!

Actually, I believe it's all about the purse. Women spend exorbitant sums on purses here because they are one of the few status symbols they can display on their person. Also shoes, but most of the women have abaayas so long that their shoes are completely covered, so I have decided the key to identification here is purses. I remembered reading in the lengthy book I had to fill out for opening the bank account that there are different methods for verifying a person's identification depending on who the person is. For "veiled women" you simply have to have a witness who says, "Yep, that's her." So I'm currently trying to find out which woman at that bank has the most money, and then I'm going to go down there all covered up and get it! Nooo...I wouldn't do that! (or would I? hmmmm...)

Well, that's about it for Eid Festivities and Frustrations. It is now 5:02 am and I should begin thinking about going to sleep. Boy, is it going to be awful for me when Eid vacation is over and I have to wake up around this time!

Salaam, Elizabeth Richard Edward Al-Ezetes