I’m still in Houston as I take care of a family member who is here from Saudi receiving medical treatment. Now due to my family member’s condition, he cannot drive and must sit in the backseat of a vehicle. And guess who is driving this Saudi male to and from his appointments? Your’s truly…the female. I happened to ask him today out of curiosity how well he felt he knew his way around Houston from sitting in the back street. He responded “It’s almost impossible to learn my way around with the darkened windows in the back seat” And then I guess he was also thinking about being in the back seat because he then added “And I wish you would also unlock the back seat door lock more quickly too.”
I couldn’t help it… I started laughing at that point. He looked at me with puzzlement on his face wanting to know what I thought was so funny. I told him he now knows what it must feel like to be a woman in Saudi Arabia who must be dependent on a driver to take her around, having to sit in the back seat as well as waiting for the door to be unlocked by the driver. Fortunately he saw the irony of his situation with good humor and agreed with what I said and that he believes he now has a better perspective on what it must feel like for women in Saudi who wish to be independent and drive.
This also has me curious. I’d like to hear from the Saudi women who participate on this blog. When you are outside of Saudi Arabia, do you drive? And if so, please share with us how it feels to you when you have the chance to be behind the wheel. Did driving come naturally? Do you feel nervous sometimes? Do you prefer to drive a particular vehicle such as a truck or SUV instead of a car and why?
Filed under: America, culture, Freedoms, gender, relationships, safety, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, Saudi education, Saudi Living, Uncategorized, women driving, Women Issues Tagged: | America, culture, culture shock, customs, gender, gender issues, KSA, Saudi, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, travel, women
Slightly unrelated, but ironic.
During 90/91, a group of Kuwaiti women volunteered with the US forces as interpreters. They were stationed in Saudi Arabia first. One of them, a friend, was 19 years old and too young to get into night clubs in DC where she was going to school. When she returned from Saudi/Kuwait, she had obtained an international drivers license (legally or illegally – don’t know) from Saudi Arabia where she had changed her birth year to make her older. She used the Saudi license to get into night clubs!
I arrived in America last week, and so far I have rented two cars – one in Florida and one in Arizona. I am loving every minute of driving! I am blasting the radio to my favorite music – something my husband doesn’t like any more in KSA. I’ve driven in the rain and in the heat. I don’t feel nervous at all, except maybe the first few moments when I first started driving again as I backed up out of the parking space, and then it was zoom, zoom! I’m comfortable with any kind of car – it feels great being behind the wheel again!!!!!!!!
Desert girl, great anekdote, but how amazing! A woman who gets an Saudi international driving license? How ever did she manage that?
I love driving, it’s one of my favorite moments to be driving, in the night, tank full, music, and an empty highway…
I got my driving license fairly late in life, and until I really experienced the joy and the feeling of freedom which driving yourself gives you, I never considered the license or driving cars as very important. But now I know how it feels, and what advantages it gives you, I would never want to do without a car again.
I’m sharing this because I have heard many times that Saudi ladies who have never driven themselves consider it immeterial that they can’t drive, but I think these have no clue about what they are missing out on. So I really hope that the saudi ladies who did drive in other countries, and are back in KSA and have to rely completely on men driving them around will tell us how they feel about it. (Apart from the appalling driving customs in KSA which might put anybody off)
My own mother (American, living in the US) has never driven. She is technologically-challenged and can’t get her head around the mechanics of operating a vehicle. Personally, I think it is a phobia for her. It is a tremendous loss of independance.
My Saudi friend, Abair, used to go to school in the US and drove a Trans Am!
I can’t imagine not being able to drive. I LOVE driving too and if it weren’t for the laws in KSA, I would drive from Kuwait to Qatar or Bahrain every weekend. I’ve often thought that Saudi Arabia should have a form of free zone along the highway for transit to different countries and allow female drivers. That is just one of my unrealistic wishes….
السعودية ضحية عملية نصب عالمية !!
الطاقة النووية السلمية أصبح موضوع قديم عفى عليه الزمن ومحفوف بالمخاطرومعظم الدول المتقدمة بدأت تستعمل بدائل أخرى سلمية للطاقة أقل تكلفة وأقل خطرا وتحقق نفس النتائج .. فلماذا لانبدأ من حيث انتهى الأخرون؟ لماذا نشترى دائما التكنولوجيا القديمة سواء فى المجال العسكرى أو السلمى؟ لماذا نحاول أن ندخل فى متاهات النووى ونحن دولة من دول العالم الثالث التى تستورد التكنولوجيا بخيرها وشرها وفى هذه الحالة الشر أكثر من الخير حسب كل الدرسات والأبحاث على مستوى العالم كله ؟
الموضوع بكل بساطة وبعيد عن التعقيدات العلمية هو أن الطاقة النووية وحتى السلمية منها لها مخاطرعلى المدى القصيروالطويل منها أنه لايوجد حل معقول للتخلص من النفايات النووية .. اذا تخلصنا منها فى البحر أو فى أعماق التربة فهى ستسمم المحاصيل والاسماك .. واذا حدث لاقدر الله زلازال وانفجرت المحطة فهذا انفجار نووى كامل .. أما اذا أخطأ عامل فالخطورة قائمة وهناك حادثة “ثرى ميل ايلاند” بالولايات المتحدة و” تشرنوبل ” فى أوكرانيا بسبب التقصير البشرى.. هذا بالاضافة الى ارتفاع نسبة الاصابة بسرطان الدم للبشر المقيم قرب المحطات النووية ” طبقا للتقارير البريطانية والألمانية”.
وأخيرا لابد من ذكر قول خبير الطاقة النووية النمساوى Erwin Mayer فى يوليو 2008 ان ما يحدث الأن هو أخر محاولة قوية جدا للوبى الطاقةالنووية و بصرف النظر عن المفاعلات النووية و خطورة أعطالها والتى تتكرر بصورة تكاد تكون أسبوعية وعدم وجود حل لمشكلة دفن النفايا النووية يرى مثلما يرى العالم النمساوي Peter Weish أن نهاية صناعة المفاعلات النووية فقط قد تم تاجيلها بصورة أصطناعية لأنه على الأكثر فى خلال 40 سنة سينفذ كل مخزون اليورانيوم وهو اللأزم لتشغيل المفاعلات النووية.
ايطاليا والمانيا يعتبران من أكبر الدول الصناعية فى العالم .. الأولى لا تستخدم الطاقة النووية والثانية ستتوقف عن انتاجها واستخدامها فى سنة 2020 وحاليا تستورد الطاقة الشمسية من أسبانيا وفى المستقبل القريب من الجزائر.
السعودية يستطيعون تغطية احتياجاتهم الكهربائيه وكذلك تحلية مياه البحر من الطاقة الشمسية.
هناك 4 مقالات هامة عن هذا الموضوع و هى النووى كمان و كمان ـ كارت أحمر ـ كارت أخضر ـ الأشعة الذهبية.
ارجو من كل من يقراء هذا ان يزور ( مقالات ثقافة الهزيمة) فى هذا الرابط:
http://www.ouregypt.us/culture/main.html
I also got my license late in life (27) so was dependant on husband or others to take me places. I end up waiting for them to have time or even the desire to take me…didnt always happen so I would be sitting at home fuming.
Now I spend far more time than I like to stuck in traffic here in Bahrain and it would be nice to leave that in the hands of someone else while I chilled in the back seat…but then driving here is such a hair raising experience I doubt I would be able to chill at all. I prefer to be in control since Im a decent driver compared to many. And I wear my seatbelt as well as whomever is in my jeep….by force if necessary.
The freedom to get in your car at any time day or night and go for a midnight treat or just to clear some thoughts from your head after a hectic day cant be compared. Anyone that doesnt drive, for whatever reason, really doesnt understand or appreciate what they are missing.
The right to your own Indepence can never be taken lightly no matter in which direction it comes from.
subhanAllah I was bursting the seems to get my permit at the minumum age allowed (15.7 years old in AZ, USA) and got my licence right when i turned 16. and have never never wanted to ever give up the freedom I gained those days. After ebing marreid and having the best of both worlds, days where you can relax as a passenger and leave the 9-5 traffic to someone else’s stress and days you can take it on is exhilerating and not something i would relinquish.
But all thsi talk makes me think about in the old days before there was cars. I bet few would relinquish their right to own a horse. The freedom to just up and travel wheneevr you wish. Load the saddle or cart and go. I wonder if women faught jsut as hard to have their horses as we do our cars!
I also do not drive. I do not have a license and it’s by choice. I am probably like Desert Girl’s mother. Having never driven I do not miss it. I have many friends who feel they ‘have’ to drive and they really don’t like it so in a way I am having my own freedom. I save a lot of money not owning or maintaining a vehicle so I have to issues with taking a taxi if need be.
As we mosey on through the 21st century and women obtain more rights, but driving rights isnt that important especially when we are going to be developing robot cars to drive us around. Cant we all just wait a while. Plus who wants to drive in a country with skiers. http://www.248am.com/mark/automotive/interview-with-saudi-street-skier/
@Aafke – I am very much enjoying driving again while here in the States. Although for me personally, back in Saudi I do prefer to be driven. It’s not as if I don’t think I could drive there if given the opportunity…I know I could. But I realize that when women are finally allowed to drive in Saudi there will likely be an initial phase where some male drivers will go out of there way to harass women drivers causing accidents and I have no desire to be a part of that.
My mother has an American driving license since we used to own a home and she got her masters Degree from there. My sister and cousins know how to drive but without an official license though.
I think that what many don’t know, there are some places in Saudi Arabia that allows women to drive such as the Aramco campus in Shargiyah. In Jeddah, virtually most of sea resorts “chalets” allow girls to drive. Dorrat Al-Aroos being the biggest and preferred one though. You see women and girls of all ages driving all kinds of cars!
Personally, i’d prefer a driver in Saudi Arabia to take me to my work and back! I think it’s a hassle to drive in the unbelievable traffic jams here!
However, what many women don’t get… and event those who drive in the states whether Saudi or not… driving is PLEASURE. it’s enjoyable. It’s gotta be one of my favorite things to do. In general, guys have a stronger relationship with their “cars” than do females to theirs.
@Susie – I can relate to what you are saying!! Please email me so we can exchange US numbers while we are both stateside.
@Brandy – I have a feeling there was less an issue on women riding horses or camels as there seem to be with cars!
@Bassem – you are correct and many of the larger western compounds in Saudi also allow women to drive on the compounds.
I also felt very attached to the cars which I had owned as I purchased them with much thought and care. Before coming to Saudi I had a Jeep and oh how I miss driving it. And of course, it would be an ideal vehicle for a woman to drive around the Kingdom…if things were different!
Bassem…I dont know about other ladies but I LOOOOOVE my jeep…even wrote a post about it on my blog…
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The Saudi culture seems to expect a perfect world will always be available. So, women can be confined to their sphere. The perfect world isn’t always available. What happens if a couple is driving and the man dies of a heart attack (and I’ve know a few cases of this happening)? What happens if the man must find work abroad and cannot move his family? If things aren’t perfect the woman is dead in the water and can’t even rely on the kindness of strangers.
Thank goodness women drives in my compound and that is in Riyadh LOL.
It gives me great pleasure to share that CNN Arabic chose to reference this post:
http://arabic.cnn.com/2009/entertainment/6/28/blogs.28jan/index.html
@Jerry – I do know of a number of cases where the woman has taken the wheel in cases of emergency.
And in those cases where the male mahrem is not around, this is indeed one of those exceptions where it is okay for an unrelated driver or taxi to transport a woman to where she needs to go. I know..contradictory but I always tell folks, Saudi Arabia is continual contrasts and contradictions.
As a happy pedestrian and cyclist, I was forced to get my licence the summer I turned 17, by my mother who had hers at 22 (unusual for her circle), and thought all women should be able to drive–for independence, shared family driving, and emergencies. My sister was a less reluctant 16 year old the summer she got hers (only fools and the desperate take their driving test in the winter in Canada). Both of them love driving, and couldn’t function well without a car (3 adults living together 3 cars).
I enjoy the freedom of being able to drive when I want to, for emergencies, and even occasionally just enjoy “heading down the highway”, but I have lived happily without a car (but not in the suburbs–impossible!). I don’t drive in Morocco but would if I lived there, especially if we didn’t have to borrow someone else’s car.
In Saudi, it sounds like women and their family members should take advantage of whatever opportunity they have to learn and maintain driving skills, even if only for emergencies. Seems there are enought wide open spaces to practice in.
Bassem–nice comment and blog. Good luck on your finals!
Susie–Glad you are enjoying yourself, and I hope you are wearing shorts and sandals while you drive!
هيا–I’m not sure I understand the relevence here of a comment on nuclear energy.
Why can’t pork be in same fridge as poulty?
“Why can’t pork be in same fridge as poulty?…”
allergic to the feathers?
The passenger who has a driver could also be compared to a corporate executive, a movie star, a U.S. president, a king or queen, or other rich and privileged people.
@munaqabah – I will respectfully disagree as the CEO, movie star and other rich and priviledged people can at least choose to drive themselves. Even in special circumstances Presidents and other Royalty can drive themselves.
This is a great posting – love the comments. WIll link to you from my blog on Saudi women driving. Wonderful blog!
[...] a car with tinted windows impaired his ability to learn his own way around. I’ll never forget his own admission of frustration and then his own realization of what it must feel like day after day for the Saudi [...]