This spring break, my family and I traveled to the Middle East. Our first destination was Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In order to get to Saudi Arabia, we had to connect through Dubai. To my mother’s and my delight, we had a 7-hour layover so we left the airport and explored for a couple hours...
When my brother and I were younger, my family used to come to Dubai more often so it was really nice to at least get a glimpse of my favorite childhood sites like the Borj Al Arab hotel and the Dubai Mall, as well as see new favorites like the (current) tallest building I'm the world, Burj Kalifa. The new tallest building will be Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, our final destination, and it will break 1,000 feet. It was really interesting to travel between these two competing Arab nations and compare their industrialization since they are both referred to as their respective country's "big, modern city." To my surprise, Jeddah was nothing like the bustling, industrial, and skyscraper clad Dubai but rather resembled cities in Africa, like Senegal or Ethiopia. Yet, it was still obvious that Jeddah was quickly working towards complete industrialization because of all the construction everywhere. Nevertheless both cities, Dubai and Jeddah, and counties, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have impressively and quickly transformed from nomadic, Bedouin cultures to immensely rich and thriving welfare states in the past 100 years, all thanks to the discovery of abundant oil in the region. Today, oil accounts for 95% percent of Saudi Arabia's exports and 70% of the country’s total government revenue. 
During our stay in Jeddah, we got the chance to go to Mecca and preform the holy pilgrimage that Muslims from all over the world come to participate in, Haji. My family is not very religious, or Muslim at all, but both my parents were born into Islamic homes. Regardless of the fact that we are not Muslim, we decided to do the whole deal. My mom and I wore the white full body outfit which consisted of three layers: white pants, a white long sleeve tunic, and a tight white hijab that only showed our faces. My father and brother wore the traditional outfit of two towels: one around the waist and the other around the shoulders. We first started by praying outside the mosque when the Azan, the prayer over a load speaker, went off. Even though I had no clue how to pray correctly, I thought it was such a meaningful experience because I was surrounded by thousands of other women from all over the world. Then, we walked into the massive mosque, which is the largest in the world, and headed towards the Kaaba. Once we got to the central part of the mosque, we saw the large black box that people all over the world save up to see, pray in its direction five times a day, and which people even before Islam came to pay respect to their gods. It was surreal. We circled it 7 times; we prayed the whole time and even got a chance to touch the Kaaba! After that we prayed twice more, we then made our way to the area of the mosque where we walk for approximately two miles between two rocks. The last step was to cut off a little bit of our hair and then we were officially Hajis!
When we got to the city of Mecca, I was really shocked. I thought that since it was such a holy city, there would be little to no commercialization and tall buildings, but I was wrong. Firstly, the third tallest building, The Clock Tower, is neighboring the mosque. Next to it are numerous hotels and other tall buildings. Around the Caba itself is a three-story structure, which allows more people to circle the Caba while praying. As if all this isn't enough, the whole mosque is lined with cranes, that are all working 24/7. In my opinion, these new industrialization, modernization, and commercialization projects are ruining the holiness and true experience of Mecca. Nevertheless, it was still an experience of a lifetime and I am really glad I that I got an opportunity to try it out!
The entire time I was traveling, through both Mecca and Jeddah, I couldn't help but think constantly about the role that women play in Saudi Arabia Before even getting to the Middle East region, I was not looking forward to the fact, and I was rather angry, that I had to wear a hijab and other Shira law attire during my trip such as covering all of my skin besides my hands and face. I thought that as an American tourist and woman, I had the right to wear whatever I wanted. Yet, the fact of the matter is that the second I leave the US, I leave my rights at the boarding gate and I have to respect the laws of the country I am traveling to. I understand that the only rules that we had to follow were to cover our hair, arms, legs and to dress modestly. My mom and I did this, not realizing that we were probably the only women in the entire county not wearing an abaya. When I say this, I am not exaggerating; from private areas like our hotel to public areas like the mall we did not see one female wearing anything other than an abaya. This, embarrassingly, awkwardly, and frighteningly, was noticed not only by us, but also by officials in the mall. My brother and I went to go get ice cream while my dad and mom were browsing through the mall. Not paying that much attention to how much of my hair was covered, a little bit began showing in the back. A woman came up to me and tried to talk to me in Arabic but I didn't understand her and I thought she just wanted to have me try a perfume or something, so I kept walking. She and a couple other women stopped my brother and tried to talk to him too, asking where we were from. Then they got a man to translate for us and he basically said that I needed to follow the country’s rules and completely cover my hair. He suggested that I wear an abaya and leave the mall immediately. It was such a scary experience especially since my parents weren't there! Overall, I completely respect a woman's choice to wear an abaya, burka, or hijab, but I don't think that this attire should be enforced. In my opinion, these restrictions narrow women’s ability to express themselves freely. Beyond clothing, women are oppressed in other ways in Saudia Arabia as well. For instance, women are not allowed to drive and must be accompanied by men wherever they go. This not only is just blatantly wrong, but it also destroys any sense of freedom and independence for the women, and forms a patriarchal structure within the home. In addition, women will not be allowed to vote until next year’s municipal elections. Evidently, women are second class citizens in Saudi Arabia; this really disturbed me when I visited and it still does.
Overall, I think visiting Saudi Arabia was a really eye opening experience and I was glad that I could see it with my own eyes!
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