Shopping at the Souks

Thursday morning we went down to old Jeddah (Al Balad district) to visit the souks. The souks are the little shops set up lining the streets. We were mainly going down to look at rugs and abbayas (to build my and Kennedy’s collection so we have a variety of choices when our friends and family come to visit… hint… hint!). We walked around for quite some time around all the souks. I am slowly getting over the fact that we are stared at wherever we go. There are probably a couple hundred different souks lining several different streets and alleys. I was all turned around. I thought I had a good sense of direction…it’s a good thing Dano actually does. (Insert: standing in front of one of the city's ancient gate entrances.)

We didn’t find the rug souk we were hoping to find. We found several machine made rugs but no authentic, handmade rugs. So we went in search of the abbaya souks. We stopped at a Bangladeshi man’s souk. He was all too anxious to help us (as they all are…some even call out to you.) When Kennedy moseyed to the next rack, he started mumbling to me, “That no good. That no good.” I looked at her realizing that the rack must be someone else’s shop. Oops. We were able to find a couple of nice abbayas, even one for Erin. Then came the bartering. It wasn’t quite as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. Our shopping was finished then because the prayer call began. I think Dano secretly appreciates prayer time because it curtails the shopping excursions…at least puts a limit on them. :)

There was one point where our family split to go around a bus stop and Erin and I went in front. There were four or five Saudi men inside. One of them spoke out “Hello! How are you?” To which I happily (and yet in a stupor) replied, “Hello. Good. How are you? Have a good day.” All the while recalling the coaching I had received about “try not to make eye contact with the men,” and trying to understand and somewhat respect women’s place here (whether I agree with it or not) without offending. Dano, I think seeing my confusion, told me when many English-speaking Saudis see Americans they like to show they speak English; it’s exciting to them. Not only that, but Jeddah is on the more liberal and progressive side of Saudi Arabia which is one reason Kennedy and I do not wear the hijab (head scarf) with our abbayas. Although, all of the local women do, westerners do not. Many also veil their faces with only their eyes showing; some, their entire faces with not even their eyes showing. (Insert: one of the many beautiful sculptures in downtown Jeddah)

As we were walking back to the car through the maze of streets we were approached by a couple of Saudi men. They eagerly went up to Abby and stroked her cheeks. “Hello, Baby.” She gets that more often than I can count. Then they gave her a small box. It had a vial of perfume. She actually thanked them. They gave one to Kennedy. They turned to give one to Erin who was still holding my hand. She reached for it only to have the man withdraw. She put her hand back. He offered it to her again. She again reached for it only to have him retract a second time with a “Noh.” Knowing Erin was going to be concerned about this, I was trying hard to figure out what was going on, since neither of them spoke much English to tell us what the issue was. I then remembered that I had been told that culturally all things are done with the right hand; the left hand is considered filthy. Quickly I let go of Erin’s right hand and told her to accept it with that hand. It worked! “Shukran!” the girls told the men. They asked Dano, “Where from?” Dano told them, “America. U.S.A.”
“America? OBAMA!!” one of the men cheered and gave Dano an enthusiastic high five. Hooray for America’s political system. (Insert: An elderly man sitting on one of the sculptures was taken with Abby and motioned for her to come over. He then gave her this sprig of mint.)