Over the Memorial Day holiday, my daughters and my mom went to the National Harbor. We go each year and stay at the Gaylord Hotel. This year there was a Saudi Arabian Government sponsored graduation event. All Saudi citizens graduating with their masters attending colleges and universities throughout the United States are invited to participate in a single ceremony that allowed family and friends to attend. Additionally there were 100's of employers there with non-stop interview sessions for the candidates.
The hotel was completely overbooked and 95% percent of the guests were Saudi families.
We were fascinated by the varying degrees of clothing options that women chose. Also fascinating was the family dynamics we could observe. My girls are used to seeing scarved women, but my mom was somewhat overwhelmed. At one point we were sitting outside around a fire pit and my mom asked a woman if she spoke English. The woman replied, "Of course!" My mom went on to ask her about her clothing and if she was hot wearing the additional garments. The woman kindly replied that it is much warmer in Saudi and so she felt the temperature was nice.
Although my mom didn't mean to offend, I am sure this woman felt some level of embarrassment from the questions. I am sure she has answered that question hundreds of times. As Dr. Sue mentioned in the Laureate video, we often don't know we have offended, and I am sure my mom meant nothing by it. But it is those everyday indignities that stick with a person and cause deep level hurts.
Thank you for sharing a wonderful blog. The pictures are so beautiful and giving a great description of what you experience that weekend. The experience you mom had is something that happens to anyone on a daily basis. Your mom wanted to learn about the culture and I am sure they were more than happy to share in their beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to your mom. I did not know a lot of women who wore head scarfs like that when I was younger. So that was always a new culture and always suprised me when they could speak proper English or talked about t.v. or something technologically current or new t.v. shows or songs. But as I have been more exposed to these cultures, it does not surprise me anymore. But, I think that's the point, right? We should always be open to other people and be willing to learn about them. We shouldn't stay in our comfortable bubble of people.
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