School Wall Mural

I have seen more and more Saudi public schools lately with bright and beautiful murals painted on the schools' walls.

Tiling Building Exterior

I have featured many photos of hard laborers on this blog. These workers come from a variety of poor Asian and African countries, like Bangladesh, India, and Yemen. They come here to Saudi Arabia because they can earn a lot more money here than they can in their own countries, enough to provide well for their families back home, even though it may not sound like much money to people from more affluent countries. Many of these hard workers are frequently treated like second class citizens. They work long hours in the hot blazing sun and oftentimes perform dangerous jobs, without any consideration given to their safety. This type of back breaking and dangerous labor is never done by Saudi men.

Our World: Single Males Section at Mall Cafe

Segregation of the sexes is carried to the extreme here in Saudi Arabia. Doctors' waiting rooms have separate seating areas for men and women. Saudi homes have separate entrances for female guests and male guests, as well as separate parlors for men and women for entertaining. Saudis will likely not purchase an existing home if these gender segregation features are not available. Restaurants will generally have separate entrances and seating areas for families and different ones for men who are not accompanied by a female family member. This photo shows the single male's section of a mall coffee shop. This strict application of gender segregation is something I personally do not care for and don't think I will ever get used to.

Be sure to visit OUR WORLD TUESDAY, where family-friendly bloggers share a unique glimpse into what life is like all around our ever-amazing planet.

Where Men Wear Skirts...

It is common to see men dressed casually wearing a type of skirt that is very popular among Middle Eastern/Asian men. It is called a "futa." It is just a simple large piece of fabric sewn together with one seam, and open at the top and the bottom. The man steps into it, folds it across his belly back and forth about three times, and then folds it down from the top a few times. There is no need for a belt to hold it up. My husband likes to wear them at home, as the futas are very comfortable. Many men like to wear them out, like the man in this photo who has just walked down to this small neighborhood grocery store.

Architectural Details: Balconies

Many buildings here in Jeddah have these tiny balconies that I doubt even a chair would fit on. So I assume that these tiny balconies are just for decoration, or for hanging out clothes or rugs to dry, which I've seen. Even the larger balconies that I've seen here are not really used by the residents to sit out on or to use for growing a collection of potted plants. I've actually seen many balconies boarded up here in Jeddah. Most of the year it's too hot to sit outside and potted plants outdoors require lots of attention in this heat. But more importantly, culturally speaking, people here just do not sit out in the open on balconies. The society is much too private, especially the women. I see men sitting around chatting outdoors in front of businesses, but never women.

Skywatch: Red Sea Sunset

To  visit MORE friendly skies around the world, fly on over to SKYWATCH  where you’ll find beautiful skies posted by bloggers all over the world.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Tranquility

Nothing quite spells tranquility like the vision of a mosque minaret at sundown and the sounds of the calls to prayer coming from all the mosques in the area at the same time. There is something magical about it.

City Daily Photo is an online group of photo bloggers who post photos of their cities so we can all be armchair travelers and learn about other places in the world. The first day of each month is City Daily Photo’s Theme Day. Tranquility is this month's theme.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants