I am safely back to the UK and can finally write about the last two fun days in Jeddah. First of all – Jeddah is totally different to the capital Riyadh. The people seem to be more relaxed and open, which is probably due to the numerous people that pass the city when they go to Mecca and Madinah for pilgrimage.
In Jeddah we visited Effat University, which was one of the first women’s universities in the Kingdom and subjects like cinematography were taught even before cinemas were allowed (which was last year). The professors were all extremely well-educated Saudis and some of them were foreigners. Interestingly, the Saudis who go and study abroad in the US or the UK get enormous scholarships from the government from doing so. Even years ago, women as well as male students were encouraged to undertake these studies which I found surprising. Funnily one of the teachers there was German and I took the chance to ask her a bit about the country. She mentioned that the rules, especially regarding dress codes, depend a lot on where you go. For instance, in some parts of Jeddah it is fine to just wear the Abaya or modest long clothes, whereas in others it is better to wear a black Abaya with hijab. By not doing so, people will stare at you and you feel a bit like an outsider.
After the visit to Effat we went to Al Balad, the old part of Jeddah which was so beautiful. The houses are hundreds of years old and the wooden windows and balconies make them stand out from anything I have seen before. What is also great – in many other countries this would be crowded by tourists, which was not the case at all. Our tour guide who showed us the inside of one of the houses ended up inviting us to his house and showed us around. He was particularly proud of the ceiling in the ladies room upstairs. The guys in our trip used the opportunities to dress more khaleeji and got themselves thawbs.
The day after we spent on a boat trip where we went snorkeling and enjoying the sea and sun. Some scenes were beautiful and hence I have included some images.
Overall, I had a great time over here but have to say that the experience was positively biased and sometimes slightly artificial. I am extremely grateful to the generosity of all sponsors involved in the program, however, we were obviously only shown the greatest parts of the country. Moreover, the people we spoke to were all highly educated (mostly abroad) and very forward-looking. This might have given me a skewed impression.
I am aware of all the negative things that are still happening and being hidden from the public. However, I think it is important when judging a country not to only see the politics, but also all the people who live there. Most Saudis I have spoken to do not have anything to do with politics and are just happy to be at peace and that their family is healthy, which I understand. Also, I spent half of the flight back talking to a Saudi lady next to me and she told me about the massive changes this country has been going through within the past two years. Back then, there were no cinemas, men and women could not sit in public together, no night clubs, no concerts etc. Arguably, it was one of the most conservative societies of our time. Going there now, and being free to hug my mates on the street, sitting with them in a restaurant and being able to ask controversial questions is already a huge step towards what we in the West perceive as ‘normal’. I guess every country goes at their own speed and I was proud to see how much the country has already changed and am looking forward to its future. Some Saudis say that they believe it is going ot become a bit like Doha or Dubai, especially once the Red Sea resorts that are part of the vision 2030 will be built. This is because no (Western) tourist will come swimming if they have to stay in a Burqa sipping their fresh pomegranate juice.
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