Who knew that in The Sandbox a man CAN BE FIRED for not wearing the proper undergarment?!?
Many [and that is way, too many, thank you] of the thobes that men wear here are quite transparent – you CAN see right through them. I, personally, have not seen one single man in a thobe who did not have his sirwals on. The only comparison I can come up with to describe a pair of sirwals is pajama bottoms. Full-length pajama bottoms. I found a pair on-line: sirwals. [They are a real deal at $8.95 a pair!]
Brings to mind that little ditty that children sing:
I see London, I see France…
I see Mohammed’s underpants.
Well, well, well! Another job for Muttawa Inc. methinks. It should come very naturally to them since we all know that Saudi gentlemen are not averse to the charms of their own sex, so bottoms must be constantly checked out by all. I am sure that boxers, especially the clingy kind, like the Ralph Lauren both my son & hubby favor, must be considered utterly sexy therefore haram.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the link, I have always thought that the Bisht would make a lovely dressing gown for a woman to wear over gold or black silk pajamas, do you think they would ship me one in my size? Of course I'd use hubby's c.c. and name on the order form.
LOL, NS! Yeah, as if there isn't enough to do in this TWC that they don't have to go around inspecting each others skivies! Just amazing. Utterly amazing. There's so much more to post. I was away and the papers kept coming - and what takes place, here - mind boggling, really. No, scratch that. It's MIND NUMBING! I just don't get it. And probably never, ever will. That is NOT a bad thing. It's when I DO start "getting it" that we will know we have a problem. Need to get back in touch with all my e-mail buddies and will do so in the next few days. You've NOT been forgotten!
ReplyDeletethere are a few here and there that don't wear the proper undergarments in bahrain. one guy, who's a beggar, loves to wear nothing under his thobe. thobes are very transparent, like you say, and if someone chose not to wear the pants... all would be able to see.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, it is really hard for me to accept criticism from westerners who work in this country. I have conversations about what’s wrong in this society with many people from different nationalities all the time, Indians, Philippinos, Pakistanis, other Arabs, and I always take their criticism of what’s going on in this country with an open mind. But westerners, naah...you know why, because they have no merit. They isolate themselves from the rest of society, lock themselves in camps that resemble their life back home and never leave those camps and then become so judgmental about everything that goes on here.
ReplyDeleteSo, if life here doesn’t suit your style then why are you still here? I know the answer to that, because a lot of you people are the greediest people I have come across. Your whole life revolves around materialistic objectives. So you are willing to give up any principles and values you have for the money that you are so overpaid with.
Note: in relation to other posts you have about people who have not received their salaries in months, have you ever considered helping those people financially? I mean 1000 Saudi Riyals is probably a very small fraction of the oversized undeserved salary your husband gets paid?
Another note: I will be very willing, me or my wife, to sit with you and educate you a little about the ways of this society and try to have you appreciate cultures that are different than yours and maybe every once in awhile point out the negative aspects of our culture and yours.
Dear Me!
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that you have deliberately chosen close-mindedness in regards to westerners because you are, like the majority of your fellow countrymen, frustrated that a true understanding and clever usage of modernity eludes you, your people, your leaders and intelligentia (that is if we generously call the Wahhabi establisment an intelligentia of sorts).
In spite of your scorn I sympathize with your plight: obviously well educated but caught in a confusingly 21st century medieval weltangschaaung.
You seem to conveniently forget that westerners are in your country at the behest of your leadership doing the jobs your people feel too grand and lofty to occupy themselves with.
Pride and sloth are sins and the worst problems in KSA, as all expatriates be they Indian, Indonesian, Brits, Americans etc... can all vouch for. And do not get me started on greed, as displayed by the Saudis we are dealing with....Pleeease!!!
As to westerners living in isolation within KSA, again you are being quite disingenious again: your own Wahhabi clergy and rulers have created these 'sandboxes' as Sabra calls them, to 'protect' you and yours from yet again too much modernity, which wisely or not (?), they have decided in your stead you could not handle...
And lastly, with all these disaffected idle youths buying into uncle Osama's brand of fervid Islamism (being polite I do not use harsh words prefering unlike you to believe in DIALOGUE), the westerner in your lovely but baffling country has made an excellent target of late, and now more than ever.
In closing may I suggest that if you so object to westerners that you avoid buying & using ANY products from the west, and roll up your sleeves and get to work yourself!
With all due respect, A Salaam!
To Me again,
ReplyDeleteRereading your 'charming' disquisition , I realized there's one thing I forgot to address: you so flippantly suggest that Sabra, and maybe any like-minded westerner, pay the wages of expatriate workers that have been defrauded by your OWN people, what kind of reasonning are you employing here?? And what of your civic responsanbility, that would in any other wealthy country such as yours, see to it that ALL employees, no matter where from, are protected by rule of law and duly paid what is owed, or does your empathy limits itself only to your very own 'superior' kind.
As to having your no doubt lovely wife set Sabra straight on living in your 'fabulous' society, I can say in her stead: NO BUT THANKS ALL THE SAME!!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete