Jeddah, Tuesday April 3, 2007

Today was the first full day in the city of Jeddah—the City of Art, the Melting Pot, the Gate to Mecca. This western city on the Red Sea is the place where pilgrims stop before making their journey into Mecca for the Hajj and so the culture is more varied than in the Eastern Province. Muslims come from many different countries—hence “The Melting Pot” or as some prefer “The Salad Bowl” a metaphor for things coming together while keeping their identity.

This morning I had an Arabic breakfast delivered to my room. In addition to juice, coffee, eggs, and fruit it came with breads and croissants, (enough for a week) vegetable crudités with pickles, ful medames (a bean dish with condiments), labneh (a strained yogurt that looks like a soft cream cheese) and a cheese tray. It was way too much food and I could only sample a bite of each.
A visit to Effat College, an all women’s independent college, was the first stop of the day. This is a beautiful college which opened in 1999 for females. It currently has 278 students with a coed faculty from 53 countries. The formation of this college was a bit of a coup for the women of Saudi Arabia who have very few opportunities for advanced education in their own country. (This is the second college in the nation that allows the education of females.)
One thing that I should say, the people we have met from Saudi Arabia love to show hospitality. It is customary to be greeted with dates and cardamom coffee soon after arriving at a location. The coffee is served in very small cups without handles which hold about 2 ounces of liquid. The server just walks around continuously filling the cups and passing the dates. The coffee has a powerful flavor. We were greeted with coffee and dates at the college followed by a presentation from several faculty members and then a tremendous spread of desserts and drinks.

We left the college to visit the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce where we learned of some of the areas in which progress is being made by and for women. A forum had been held just 2 weeks ago where the women had an opportunity to express their concerns to an audience made up of both men and women. Dr. Basmah Mosleh Omair presented the findings from that forum to us in a very candid and open manner.
And then it was off to lunch; yes, time to eat again. We had lunch at the Green Island Restaurant. This was a beautiful restaurant overlooking the sea. The inside design was of a boat—not just any boat but a beautiful mahogany wooden boat.

We had a little tiny break before heading to the home of Sami Angawi,
a world famous architect: His museum house is a reflection of
traditional Hijazi architecture. It took 8 years to build and is 12 years old. He opens his home to visitors as a way of promoting traditions of his country. He would like to encourage people to incorporate their own heritage in their homes rather than getting caught up with modern architecture. This is truly a magnificent home. Oh, yes, did I say that we were offered 3 different series of coffee, treats, and drinks while on our tour.

Then off to eat yet one more time. We had a traditional seafood meal with several types of fish, calamari, shrimp, rices, hummus, but the highlight was a strangely named fish that lives only in the Red Sea. It was very tasty.