after staying 14 months in Riyadh, saudi arabia it is still hard to think what kind good or bad experience it was. But for sure as person, who was brought up in open minded family and lived all life in western cultures, i had to deal with some issues, which i didn’t imagine even exist in this world: gender segregation, single women housing with non-transparent windows and bars on it, mandatory abaya wearing (black dress covering whole body, which women must wear according sharia law), dependency on drivers will, because women cant drive there, no public transportation for women, no fitting rooms in department stores and many other situations, in which you get every day and have to find a way out no matter how you are being harassed or pressured by surrounding. From the other side there is lots of contradictions between different communities like western expatriates for example. In their compounds non of outside rules applies or it is completely denied and if arab person would come he would have to accept the compound rules, not country law. in this country is to much of distorted understanding about what is choice and freedom.
