The Bodyguard

For some reason I've been interested in learning about life in Saudi Arabia lately.  Oh hells no we're not moving there!  It's on the list of places that, if ever offered, Seth and I both agree are not an option.  The curiosity has come from watching The Kingdom, and now we've been watching Homeland.  Both good shows.  But if we're living in Muslim-light Egypt I'm very interested to know what it's like to live in full on, totally conservative Muslim, Saudi.

So due to my curiosity I've just been googling and reading what I can find.  I smiled a big comradery smile with Finoa Moss when I read her article in The Telegraph:

As a Western woman with fair hair, I have been gawped at, made to feel uncomfortable, even openly derided by a young Saudi generation that is more culturally confused than its forebears, who grew up untroubled by the presence of Western expertise in the military or oil industry. But take a child with you, and the Arab world respects you instinctively. Take a male child with fair hair and you are onto a winner.

We've got ourselves a winner!

It's interesting to see another expat in another country say something similar to what I say here.  I call Benjamin my bodyguard.  My bodyguard is 34 lbs of cute, he has curly blonde hair and a cute toothy grin.  He keeps me safe from most inappropriate actions of the creepy element here.  When this  happened he was at nursery school.  When you're alone you're a Western stereotype of promiscuity like what people here see on tv.  Thanks a heap, Melrose Place. When you're with your child you're less ho and more mom.  I often wonder if people still think "well, at least the ho finally settled down."

Overall, the creepy behavior have been sparse and isolated incidents.  Nothing I couldn't handle on my own, or really anything that wasn't a young Egyptian generation who, for whatever reason, thinks Western women think it's perfectly fine to have someone touch their behind.  Ah well, that kid got a lesson and doused in water.

I'm also going to have a mini bodyguard with me pretty soon.  I'm honestly looking forward to it.  Since my other one has moved on to days of finger paint and singing Wheels on the Bus I've been feeling the ick factor on the regular.

Then again sometimes you have an experience like I had today.  My local vegetable/fruit guy saw me coming, ordered me some tea, and after I was done shopping had it brought to me.  He even put some fresh mint in it.  It's things like this that make me love Egypt.  People will go out of their way to be hospitable to you.  That's why I said (in the other blog linked) that Egyptians are better than all the harassment that goes on here.  I don't see how a group of people can be so wonderful then have this ick factor just below the surface.   And, like Fiona Moss, I find the harassment is coming from youth.  It's not the obviously fundamentalist men, who I'm sure think the fact that I don't veil is terrible.  It's not from grown men (definitely not older men!).  It's from teenagers and guys in their early 20's.  Grow up, kids.  Or I'll have to unleash the wrath of my sometimes Pirate sometimes Super Hero 3 year old Bodyguard on you.