Today we had to go to the hospital for all of us to have our blood drawn. We had to complete this in order to get our iqama (residency). You almost can't do anything without your iqama, it's kind of like a driver's license, or social security card. So we find our way to the hospital, and it's a sea of niqabs. Niqab is the face covering that Saudi women wear, it has an opening for their eyes. They wear the niqab in addition to the abaya, the long black "dress". I didn't expect to see so many women in niqab ON camp, I expected it off camp. There was even a woman that passed by wearing it, in addition to her white lab coat. It's such a stark contrast when you see all of the black compared to the other colors in the room.
The lady that drew our blood is from India. I asked her how long she has been here, and if she likes it. 5 years, and yes, but she misses her family. She told me about her husband and her children (10 years old and 8 years old) back home in her country. Some people come here for the money, some come for the experience, some come because of the benefit of having more time to spend with their family. She is here because she can make a good living and help support her family. She gets to see them twice a year and they skype every night. As she was drawing my blood, tears started rolling down my face (i'm getting teary eyed just thinking about it). I was trying to put myself in her position and imagine what it felt like to be apart from my husband and kids. Just like i'd be doing if I was going through it, I started crying. I always try to stop myself from crying, because once I start, it's over. I didn't want Adam seeing me cry because it was his turn to get his blood drawn next, and I didn't want him thinking I was crying because of the needle!! Then Hisham walks in, and he thought I was crying because Sophia was going to have to have blood drawn (and that was the first I heard of her having to have her blood drawn!!!). So the tech told him I was a little emotional. So we finished up with Adam comparing his muscles. He said the muscle of the arm that the blood was drawn from grew bigger than the other. He kept comparing and when Hisham told him the other one was bigger too, he said "no, that one didn't have blood taken from it". Oh, and yes, he screamed like his arm was being cut off, then immediately stopped once the needle was in. One of the men felt so badly for him that he gave him almost a whole roll of stickers!
I left with Adam and let Hisham hold Sophia while they stuck her. I couldn't handle any more crying, mine or hers.
Adam and I were waiting in the women's waiting area (see picture below) for Hisham and Sophia to come out. There was one woman sitting in the waiting room, she was wearing a full face veil. Of course, Adam was staring at her. I told him it wasn't polite to stare, so he looked ahead, then immediately looked at her again. I told him again not to stare, and it was like there was a loaded spring in his neck, he looked ahead, then immediately to the right where she was sitting. "Mommy! Where are her eyes?!?!". "Mommy! How can she see me?!". Now, if her face wasn't covered, I would just give her that smile and nod that moms give each other, the "yep, he's at that age" nod (I did look over and smile at her), but I couldn't see her face either. So I didn't know if she was looking at us, if she could understand us (we were speaking English), or if she even cared that we were in there. Then when she got up to meet her son, I assume, Adam said "Mommy! How can she see where to walk?!". All I could do at that point was laugh. Back home, I was always worried he'd ask something out loud about a handicapped person. Now I have to worry about him asking about covered women!!
Some women see other women dressed in modest clothing like a long skirt and think they're ultra-conservative. In Alabama, people would look at me and think i'm ultra-conservative because I wear hijab. Now, i'm here in Saudi Arabia, and I see these women who wear niqab as ultra-conservative. Really, we all have different comfort levels and we're all just living in this world the best way we know how.
The lady that drew our blood is from India. I asked her how long she has been here, and if she likes it. 5 years, and yes, but she misses her family. She told me about her husband and her children (10 years old and 8 years old) back home in her country. Some people come here for the money, some come for the experience, some come because of the benefit of having more time to spend with their family. She is here because she can make a good living and help support her family. She gets to see them twice a year and they skype every night. As she was drawing my blood, tears started rolling down my face (i'm getting teary eyed just thinking about it). I was trying to put myself in her position and imagine what it felt like to be apart from my husband and kids. Just like i'd be doing if I was going through it, I started crying. I always try to stop myself from crying, because once I start, it's over. I didn't want Adam seeing me cry because it was his turn to get his blood drawn next, and I didn't want him thinking I was crying because of the needle!! Then Hisham walks in, and he thought I was crying because Sophia was going to have to have blood drawn (and that was the first I heard of her having to have her blood drawn!!!). So the tech told him I was a little emotional. So we finished up with Adam comparing his muscles. He said the muscle of the arm that the blood was drawn from grew bigger than the other. He kept comparing and when Hisham told him the other one was bigger too, he said "no, that one didn't have blood taken from it". Oh, and yes, he screamed like his arm was being cut off, then immediately stopped once the needle was in. One of the men felt so badly for him that he gave him almost a whole roll of stickers!
I left with Adam and let Hisham hold Sophia while they stuck her. I couldn't handle any more crying, mine or hers.
Adam and I were waiting in the women's waiting area (see picture below) for Hisham and Sophia to come out. There was one woman sitting in the waiting room, she was wearing a full face veil. Of course, Adam was staring at her. I told him it wasn't polite to stare, so he looked ahead, then immediately looked at her again. I told him again not to stare, and it was like there was a loaded spring in his neck, he looked ahead, then immediately to the right where she was sitting. "Mommy! Where are her eyes?!?!". "Mommy! How can she see me?!". Now, if her face wasn't covered, I would just give her that smile and nod that moms give each other, the "yep, he's at that age" nod (I did look over and smile at her), but I couldn't see her face either. So I didn't know if she was looking at us, if she could understand us (we were speaking English), or if she even cared that we were in there. Then when she got up to meet her son, I assume, Adam said "Mommy! How can she see where to walk?!". All I could do at that point was laugh. Back home, I was always worried he'd ask something out loud about a handicapped person. Now I have to worry about him asking about covered women!!
Some women see other women dressed in modest clothing like a long skirt and think they're ultra-conservative. In Alabama, people would look at me and think i'm ultra-conservative because I wear hijab. Now, i'm here in Saudi Arabia, and I see these women who wear niqab as ultra-conservative. Really, we all have different comfort levels and we're all just living in this world the best way we know how.
There are Male and Female waiting rooms here. Adam said he had to wait with Daddy because he's a man now since he's 5 years old.
That Adam is crazy!!! You get a free crying ticket everyday as far as I'm concerned, you have every right. I know it's got to be so scary with this big of a change but being as strong as you are, and having a personality as bright as sunshine your going to be just fine. Will you have to adjust your wardrobe or will you continue to dress like you did here in bama? Keep up the blogging. Can't wait to see house pictures.
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
ReplyDeleteOn camp I can dress just like I did back home. When I go off camp I have to wear an abaya (long black dress like covering). Honestly though, it's so comfortable. I wear it when I go out to drop off and pick up Adam at the bus stop every day. So easy to just throw it over my pajamas or tshirt and pants.