A week in the kingdom
A male SAISer’s perspective
By Nadav Davidai

If only to prove to the rest of the school that it was indeed the best department at SAIS, the second-year Middle East Studies group headed to the Middle East for its second all-expenses-paid trip in three months.  Not even three months into the New Year, this lucky group of students has now logged a full month of buffets, meetings, and five-star hotels in its region of study.

To heighten this amazing fortune even further, the latest trip was to Saudi Arabia, a country infamous for its inaccessibility to the common traveler.  Sponsored by the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education, however, these second-year students – along with first-year Lauren Smith, who will lead these trips next year – were granted entry into the Kingdom to witness for themselves all of its allures and alarms.  Even your dogged correspondent, a native-born Israeli, was whisked into the country, no questions asked and no eyebrows raised.  Oh, the powers of the Ministry of Higher Education (and the American passport) are immense indeed.

Despite the excitement generated by this rare opportunity (and the envy it sparked among fellow, non-Middle-East-Studies SAISers), the trip began on a slightly disappointing note. Arriving at the beginning of the Muslim weekend on Thursday, we waited until Saturday to have our first meeting, settling instead for shopping tours and a picturesque view of the Riyadh cityscape from the Faisaliah Tower. And generally speaking, our Riyadh meetings were not ideally suited to our program.  Perhaps presuming that we wished to talk to students – or perhaps wary of a bunch of savvy SAISers on the loose in Riyadh – the Ministry of Higher Education kept us away from the type of meetings we enjoyed in the U.A.E. and Kuwait (see last issue’s article by Alex Selim). Instead of audiences with high-ranking government officials or innovative private-sector leaders, we wound up touring college campuses and Islamic Centers. While these events were interesting in their own right, we were more interested in learning about the Saudi perspective as it relates to Iraq or Israel than we were in seeing another set of classic Islamic manuscripts.

Perhaps this should not have been surprising. As one Middle East Studies professor pointed out, Saudi Arabia is a nation traditionally reticent towards foreigners. Outsiders interested in learning more about this country’s culture and history are greeted with suspicion instead of the gratitude and flattery that SAISers abroad are accustomed to. Given this, it is no surprise that the Saudis did not throw open their doors to us and grant us full access to their officials.

Our time in Riyadh did offer some substance. While the men were looking at pre-Islamic ceramics, the women were enjoying an informative meeting with students from a women’s college, and learned of Saudi women’s educational and post-degree employment challenges in the slowly evolving Saudi system. We also enjoyed a refreshing – and, after the debacle in Kuwait, reaffirming – meeting with the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, where we covered a wide range of issues. Plus, we did get to bowl some games with our new Saudi friends, a first experience for them – or so they claimed as they proceeded to double our scores.

Nonetheless, I think it is fair to say that Riyadh was a bit disappointing. Luckily our trip to Jeddah compensated for this. A city perched on the eastern banks of the Red Sea and a mere hour from Mecca, Jeddah is as cosmopolitan as Riyadh – a thoroughly interior desert town – is provincial. Surprisingly, the proximity to Mecca – by exposing Jeddah to millions of Muslims from around the world and their different traditions – actually has a moderating presence on Jeddah. And while still a conservative society, this moderation was evident in our discussions. Our meeting with businesswomen from the Chamber of Commerce and a group of students from a Jeddah medical school (hmmm, maybe they thought we were from the other famed Johns Hopkins school?) were as candid and relaxed as they were informative. Finally, we were able to discuss all the issues we flew thirteen hours and missed two days of classes for. And while short, our meeting at all-women Effat College was also quite interesting.

All in all, while perhaps a little underwhelming at first, the Middle East Studies trip to Saudi Arabia was still an overwhelmingly positive experience. A week in Saudi Arabia is entirely too short to capture the country’s essence and understand its complex society – but it is still a week most of us will never be able to experience again. And of course, all of the luxuries we became spoiled with in the UAE and Kuwait – including unlimited room service and complimentary dry cleaning – were as present as ever. Hey, first years: it’s not too late to change departments, you know!

Nadav Davidai is a 2nd year MA candidate in Middle East Studies