European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 6, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse �?omas3azine_saudi memories growing up in the desert kingdom by Don Tate staff writer what a it like for an american girl growing up in a kingdom full of veiled shrouded women in Black floating about through a sea of men dressed in White that depends on the american girl of course but if you were from a nothing to do Little town in North Texas then arabian nights and Days in Ultra traditional saudi Arabia could be quite an adventure. And at times a most curious one. Especially those times when the culture Gap not to mention the gender Gap seemed As wide As the grand Canyon. There was that Day Janette Stingl opened the door and an Arab fellow about 30, asked to speak to her father. Quot i got my father who worked for a big aircraft company in Dhahran and in a standing there and the Man said you have a daughter a and my father said a yes this is my daughter Quot a How old is she a Quot Quot a Humm. I give you four air conditioners and 10,000 rials then about $2,500 for Quot no no she a not for Quot a i make it five air conditioners and 15,000 rials. I wont give you any More. She a too Quot a a grandma Stingl smiles and says that in the 11-year-Span in the 1970s and 80s when she was coming of age in the desert kingdom Quot saudi women were already promised by the time they were 7 or 8, and married by 14. A we had never seen this Man before but we Learned he owned the air conditioner outlet in town. My British Girlfriend even had a Guy come to her House and offer camels for since air conditioners and camels Are both close to a saudis heart could one assume they found the configurations of Western women pleasing Quot Yessis a a she grins. Exceedingly so. Quot because you might be the Only woman he s Ever seen not covered from head to even children at times seemed shocked by a revealed face the sight of that vast expanse of actual skin. Quot in be had Little kids come up take one look and run away Stingl 31, now working As a travel Counselor for Northwest airlines in bad Kreuz Nach Germany says she liked the saudi people very much. So much so that when she talks of Quot Home Quot its saudi Arabia she a thinking of not Texas. But there was always that delicate business Between the sexes. Sure All the male attention could turn a girl s head a bit Stingl recalls Quot until it got rather than Romance in the desert it Felt closer to Quot being in a sideshow Quot in the desert. Like those times she just wanted to go out and catch some Waves and blend with the Sand. Quot the beaches of saudi Arabia were Beautiful Quot she says. Quot but going to the Beach no line drawn in the Sand Ever stopped any invaders there. Quot after two or three times i go anymore. You have on a one piece swim suit under a pair of jeans and a to shirt very demure. You take your shirt off and you believe it. Its like every Arab male on the Beach 50,60,100 of them came crowding around you. I mean a girl sitting there in jeans and a swimsuit top can look like Roseanne Barr but to them its in that sexually conservative culture where even Girlie magazines Are forbidden men just Hadnot seen much of real live girls. And when they did their eyes tended to glow and lock on like lasers. A my Friend Wendy a californian a Platinum blonde had a lot harder time than i had. The men just flipped staring and staring like the Sun goddess had appeared. If we had t gone out there with male escorts no telling what would have happened. Until i was about 17,1 even go downtown with my mom. It had to be with an adult male. Men would follow you everywhere. One Day i was waiting on a bus with my mom and this Man came up and stood by me and just started handing me Money. He never said a word just kept putting 100 rials in my Stingl remembers a Man following her around town for hours staring. Quot he never approached us and finally disappeared. Later As i came out of a store he reached out and grabbed me in not the most pleasant places and starts dragging me Down an Alley before this British fellow dashes in and rescues me. A lady a the britishers said you just almost made it into a Quot i done to know. But a decently brought up person does no to grab you on the Street. There were a few saudis like that but this one was a pakistani. The main trouble girls had were with All the workers from other countries. Since they Date or be around Arab women there were no women for them. So you had to be careful. We did no to have to Wear a veil or a Long dress in a amps Dave Didio when Janette Stingl talks of Quot Home a its saudi Arabia she a thinking of not Texas. Town but we Wear shorts or jeans either there a be a riot. Once someone even reported me for sitting on my front Steps in shorts and my father got in a lot of the kind of people Janette knew Best the a less traditional More westernized and Well to do who went places did no to treat us As inferior or anything. It was funny. You would Fly to Europe and the saudi women got into the plane totally covered up in their Black Aba Ayas. They re in the air an hour and they walk out of the restroom dressed in something from Paris. It s the same with the men. Before they landed Back in saudi they la have on a business suits. By the time they re on the ground they re wearing Long White Thebes and she talks about the amorous woman who was beheaded a few years ago after being caught with her Western Boyfriend. She said saudi Justice could also be very selective. Quot we were at the Beach and saw these Arab boys running away with our purses. We told the police and the police said arabs Don t do Quot we saw them doing it Quot no you did no to. Arabs done to do that. No no a a Quot and that was that. Then they started interrogating us like we were the criminals. I thought we were going to arabs she stresses Are Quot very very proud people. Even telling an Arab you did no to want to go out on a Date with him he was just terribly keeping up the veil is All important even for those who float Between two worlds. She remembers How behind closed doors Moonshine and Bootleg booze flowed at parties for westerners and westernized saudis. There was a particularly stomach wrenching Home made concoction called Sadee i which Means in arabic Quot my for a few hours anyway after which your Friend became your enemy. For a girl from Burkburnett Texas where the big entertainment was watching chickens Cross the Road and shooting bottle rockets at each other her years in saudi Arabia seemed like magic. She hardly noticed the heat. Quot it Wasny to much different from 110-degree Summers where i came but did she have a word of advice perhaps for american women who might wish to recreate a Little in saudi Arabia Quot if they go to the Beach Quot she laughs Quot Tell them to Wear a lot of clothes. Wear a saturday october 6, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13
