PATTI'S PAGE

(ARABIAN JOURNAL)

Second-hand Souk  Mar.7, 2000

The second-hand souk is near the outskirts of Riyadh, exit 21 on the ring road. For Canadians who are addicted to week-end yard sales, garage sales, flea markets and closing out sales, this is the MOTHER of all flea markets. Picture acres and acres of used goods...furniture, house wares, clothing, tools etc. Do you want a mahogany French provincial dining room suite, an oriental carpet for the garage, or a Cinderella dress to wear to the ball? They got it!  Bargaining is expected but don't expect too large a discount. Things are pretty cheap as it is. There is a theme gathering titled "Gone with the Wind" soon so several of us picked out 'princess dresses' to wear. They each cost from $4.00 - $8.00! Very ornate ball gowns are sold everywhere here, in vast quantities, so I am assuming there are many  occasions to wear one.

I have been to the second-hand souk twice now; once with the ladies on the bus from the compound, and once with Bob. During the ladies visit the Muttawa yelled at a group of us Western women to cover our hair, as none of us had our scarves on. It was very uncomfortable to be yelled at. There were also groups of men standing around here and there who pointed at us and laughed. It made me nervous, and I felt for the first time that I preferred to wear the abaya and scarf and blend in to the crowd and not stand out or draw any attention to myself. I recommend to any woman coming to Riyadh for the first time that you wear the head scarf and abaya in public. Our husbands are 100% responsible for our actions and can be chastised or even kicked out of the country for our misdemeanors so we must be careful not to be too rebellious or rock the boat (unless you want to get even with him!).

On my second visit to the souk with husband Bob I felt very much more comfortable. First of all having a man with me and secondly, I wore my scarf the whole time and felt less conspicuous and was mostly ignored. I prefer that. More attention was paid to Bob, probably because they knew he had the money! Bob is a garage sale aficionado who enjoyed our visit to this particular souk very much. We also visited several of the stores surrounding the souk as there are new products (furniture, plants, carpets etc.) sold there as well. Prices were very much better than the stores in the large malls downtown. It is a great place just to wander around in for a few hours. For those of you coming to Riyadh soon or already living here, be sure to check this out!