Chapter 2
“Salaam Alaikum travelers, just wanted to tell you that we are entering Saudi Arabian aerospace and all alcoholic beverages are to be removed, all women are to cover their hair as well,” announced the flight attendant, who hastened to collect the alcoholic beverages.
I was nervous and tense, and I observed all the women cover their hair quickly. I noticed some travelers were dressed in the outfit that I assumed was for Umrah (since Mecca was nearby Jeddah).
After forty minutes, I heard a voice on the overhead.
“Attention everyone, this is your Captain speaking, we are making our final descent into King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, please remain seated.” The pilot then repeated the words in Arabic.
As the plane went down I looked out the window and saw a vast city with desert in the distance. It reminded me of Las Vegas (a city I’ve never been to, and never would go to).
After landing, Mike and I grabbed our carry on and I decided to ask the flight attendant a question I was meaning to ask.
“Is my outfit appropriate for this airport?”
“Of course Madam, the airport is international ground so you can wear anything that is modest. However, before you leave you have to buy an Abaya and niqab, it’s the law here.” I looked into the flight attendant’s eyes and her eyes were clouded over and she looked exhausted. Poor woman.
Mike gestured at me to hurry up, as his family was going to be waiting outside the airport and we had to get through customs.
I had my passport ready, and Mike prepared my visa papers before we left for Saudi Arabia. We had to have a small wedding in the presence of an Imam and two witnesses because of the policies on single women traveling.
“Don’t worry,” Mike said, “I’ll keep you safe”. What a caring man he was.
Customs proved to be an exhausting procedure, I was questioned by a burly man, who kept eyeing my outfit and his gaze was very judgmental. I felt almost naked at the thought of this man staring at me in such an odd way. I realized my outfit might have been to “un-Islamic”.
He looked through my passport, and the Visa papers that Mike had prepared for me. Soon he inspected my carry-on and checked for anything that might be “un-Islamic”. My copy of the Qu’ran was confiscated as it was in English, and that my Mehram’s family would have a copy of it. As were several books, and the People magazine I was reading at Heathrow Airport. The books that were confiscated were my Lord of the Rings novels, a few Romances, and a book about Iran (because it was about Shia Islam). The reasoning for the books being confiscated was because of them being either pornography (which was a broad term by Saudi standards), or against Sunni Islam. I soon realized that the differences between Sunni and Shia Islam were very broad.
As he looked through my passport, he looked at each and every page. As it just had a stamp from Great Britain and a few stamps from the United States, I was free to go.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcomes you,” the man said with a leering grin. I was glad to be out of the Customs office and so was Mike.
“Those customs officials always make it hard for foreign travelers, I don’t ever have a problem. I feel bad for Muslim’s from Israel,” Mike said and he went on to explain that Saudi Arabia does not allow admittance to people who are citizens of Israel or who have even been citizens of Israel. I was shocked.
As we walked through the airport I was amazed at the sights, sounds and smells. The smell of the local cooking was intoxicating, as was the Shisha that was being smoked in certain parts of the airport. The sounds of people chattering in so many different languages was quite overwhelming too. Typically Arabic & Urdu, in addition to a few English and Farsi words were heard throughout the airport. The women were not dressed as I was. They were wearing long black robes, and their faces were covered by a face veil. I should buy an abaya soon and fast.
Near the baggage claim were several Malaysian and Filipina women. I asked Mike why all those women were sitting down on the floor and he explained that they were to be picked up by their employers and claimed by the baggage. They were going to be servants for the family. By law, every servant that arrived in the Saudi Kingdom was to convert to Islam. Since The Philippines (to my knowledge) was a very Catholic country, it saddened me (as a former Catholic) that these innocent women had to change their religion.
I knew that I wouldn’t be allowed to drive. Mike’s student visa was expiring soon and he was planning to move to Saudi Arabia after his deference from University and then transferring to a University in Jeddah. I decided that because of this, I wasn’t going to get my driver’s license in Canada as I knew I wouldn’t be living there for that much longer.
As soon as Mike and I got out of the airport we were greeted by a blast of heat and several excited people. There were many, many people. Adults, small children, men, women, all sorts of people that I only saw in photographs, this was to my amazement Mike’s family.
“Mohammed!” screamed the people. They were all so happy and gathered around him, hugging him and showering him with kisses and affection. I was left out of the open, and I felt alienated.
“Are you the women that Mohammed told us about?” I heard a voice behind me and I was greeted by a niqab’ed woman. This woman turned out to be Mike’s sister, Sharifa. She was 27 and had two daughter’s. One was thirteen, and the other was nine. I was surprised Sharifa married so young.
“Salaam alaikum, yes I am, I am Amanda Moore,” my Canadian accent sounded so odd. I soon realized that I shouldn’t have said my maiden name as well. My name was Amanda Al Sharif. Honestly, I wasn’t Amanda anymore, I was to be known as Amina Al Sharif. My Muslim name was very close to my English name so that was why I chose it. I was introduced to the many members of the family, and I couldn’t get their names straight. Most of the women were welcoming, but the men were fairly aloof. I don’t know why.
Soon I was in for a surprising experience in Saudi Arabia…
