If its Tuesday, it must be Saudi Arabia

January 31, 2007

The best way to describe the country of Saudi Arabia and Riyadh in particular is that it is a very very strict police state. Possession of drugs or alcohol is punishable by death and the punishment is by public decapitation. Theft is punishable by public cutting of the offending hand. This justice is carried out every Wednesday and Friday (and other times as well) on a square downtown called “chop-chop square”. Also unwed pregnant females are stoned to death there.

All women, western or native, must always wear a black abaye (pronounced a-BI-ya) whenever they are in public. If they don’t they will be fined and they and their husband deported. (The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders were here recently and had to wear them. Now wouldn’t that be a sight to see in Dallas!) Women cannot drive vehicles. In fact, they cannot even sit in a front seat of a vehicle.

Traffic accidents are almost nonexistent.

Just kidding. Except for the traffic accidents part the rest is really true and a part of daily Saudi life.

Keeping this in mind it is important to rewind for a moment back to our stay in Kuwait. When we arrived there we found we had an extra large suitcase and upon examining it, discovered it belonged to a female Air Force recruit. We gave it then to our Kuwait liaison, Brodie, asking him to get it returned to the owner. However, the bag (unbeknownst to us) wound up traveling with us to Saudi Arabia.

So there we are in the Riyadh airport going through several security checkpoints trying to get into the country. They all went smoothly except for the last one. For some reason the armed Saudi guard didn’t like our credentials nor the fact that we were shipping in 38 pieces of unusual luggage - ie band equipment stuff.

He called for an inspection and directed Thom to bring a piece of luggage to open. Guess which one it was? Yep, the female Air Force piece. Thom tried to explain it wasn’t his bag. Yeah, right. The only thought going through his head at the time was “Please, God, do not let him find a gun in this suitcase”. Fortunately he didn’t. But he did find a combat uniform, a few bras and some Tampax. I told Thom he should have just admitted he was a cross dresser and leave it at that. Somehow, the guard let us through.

Our Riyadh liaison, Leroy, arrived with an interpreter. After many discussions we packed our stuff up into a van and headed for the base known as Eskan Village.

Eskan Village is not a US base, but instead is a Saudi base. There are no American bases in Saudi Arabia. The reason we flew into Saudi Arabia on a commercial flight is because no foreign military flights are allowed in Saudi airspace.

As a result, the Saudi security was intense getting into he base. We had to surrender our passports for a base pass before we could even get to the American security check which followed the Saudi checkpoints. Once thru we got to our quarters which is more like an apartment than a barracks. We were not allowed to take any pictures on the base with the exception of the show.

To try to explain the Saudi/US military relationship here, the commander of the base, a very likable Col Beasley, gave us a detailed description of activities here. This started as a base for the American miltary to train Saudi military

When the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait came about, the Saudis were not ready to defend themselves adequately and our military presence stepped up (this, of course, is what ticked off Osama bin Laden that eventually led to the Sept 11 attacks).

After Desert Storm and subsequent terrorist attacks on the Saudis themselves the training stepped up to deal with these issues. We’re told that the Saudis are now very effective in tracking down the “bad guys”. There is usually no trial. Just an immediate execution.

All that being said, the Saudis are generally friendly to Americans and welcome them to their country. It is very important, however, that their customs and requirements be strictly observed.

Knowing all this we were thrilled to have an escorted tour of Riyadh on the morning of our second day. A wonderful and informative Palestinian woman - Rania - gave us an incredible and informative tour. Here is Rania and LeRoy in one of the shopping areas:



We loved the various shops and had to refrain from spending more money than we did. The temptations were infinite. Here are a couple of pics of some Saudi shops:





I tried on an unusual Asian hat:

(
Think I should have bought it?

After running up the cash exchange we got to see the fort where the Royal Saudi Family overcame those in power. Here is the fort which is in the center of the city



and here we are in front of it



Inside the fort:



This is Chop-Chop Square. Look in the background and you’ll see some water on the tile. There is a woman washing the blood off of it from a recent punishment. Really



Nearby Phil played soccer with some Saudi kids.(check out the one boy looking up at him) He once kicked the ball with his left foot and the kids chided him for it. In Saudi Arabia, kicking a ball with the left foot is offensive to Allah. Really.



On the way home we passed Bin Laden construction. Yep. The same family. Apparently the Bin Laden business is involved in the vast majority of the building in Saudi Arabia. However, Osama has since been ostracized by the family.



Before the upcoming last show, we were reminiscing about this spectacular tour and our feelings about going home. We all seemed to agree that we had mixed emotions about leaving. We were ready to come home to our wives and friends but at the same time no one was anxious to leave what we have been doing. It left me thinking about it during the rest of the evening.

The show actually started out a little unusual in that this time we were playing in a club that was featuring a buffet and tablecloth covered tables with waiters and the whole fu-fu nine yards. This presented a bit of a challenge and brought back old memories of playing for people eating dinner, clinking glasses and engaging in conversation outside of the scope of the performance. About halfway thru however, Thom got the crowd involved with a sing-along and several other crowd pleasers that got their attention:




After the show we were presented with a plaque of appreciation and many thank yous and “You guys are GREAT!!!” statements.

Here’s a pic of the commanding officers of the base. Notice on their right they wear a Saudi rank and in the middle the US rank. 2nd from the right is General McCabe. We’re hobnobbing with the brass now.




All these men were exceptionally personable and accessible. I’d say the base here is under very capable command.

After packing up and heading toward the airport and realizing this was too quickly coming to an end, I think I came across the reason for our hesitation to leave this area of the world. It isn’t the thrill of seeing new and exotic places, cuisine or local color. Its leaving these incredible people we have met and the new friendships that have been forged. These men and women are dedicated, personable and incredible individuals and we have been privileged and honored to spend a little time in their world and bring a little bit of ours to them. I truly hope to be able to cross paths with many of them again and give my heartfelt thanks to them and their families for the sacrifices they make for all of us.



Our trip home is a pretty tough one. We take a flight from Riyadh to Zurich, from Zurich to Dallas and then Dallas to Nashville. Total flight and waiting time (including 3 hr arrival in advance at Riyadh airport to get all the luggage thru) is 27 hours and 45 minutes. We’ll arrive in Nashville at 7:15pm Wednesday January 31.

After I decompress at home and love on Gracie, I’ll post a few more special pictures, some emails we have received from several folks on the tour and some closing thoughts. So please check in again.

For now, thanks so much for going on this trip with us. We've all frequently talked a lot about all the comments we’ve received both off and on the blog and are truly grateful for the home connection.

More soon,
Jerry