What I hate about tRump in Saudi

[ProudLib72]

5. I'll leave you with this story

I moved to Saudi when I was 13 and left when I was 15. They do not allow children of expats to stay beyond junior high (they are too rebellious). I lived on an American compound (ARAMCO compound), but there were a lot of nationalities living there. For one of my class projects, a friend and I had to do a report on Saudi culture. We needed to find out about games, food, celebrations, etc. The friend I was working with was this Indian kid named Sunil. He had lived on the compound a lot longer than I had, so he knew his way around better. He knew where we could find the home of an Arab family. I wasn't to sure, but he insisted that we just walk up and ring the bell. Well, that's what we did. Within seconds we were escorted inside (not something many people around here would do for complete strangers). We were sat down and given Sprite and cookies. After we were refreshed, we began our interview. Our host told us all about life in Saudi Arabia. I'd guess we were there for an hour taking notes. Never once did I feel like we were intruding or that our host was bored with us in any way. He was genuinely pleased to have us as guests and regale us with tales from his childhood.

This story has stuck with me for over thirty years, and I'm not likely to ever forget it. It may seem simple, but to me the experience demonstrated the honest hospitality of Arab culture. Just walk up to a stranger's house and ring the bell. You will be welcomed.