This is a big (temporary) departure from my Islamic art gallery, but I just wanted to share a lovely experience we had today. I had made the acquaintance of a delightful young Saudi woman a few months ago, and after losing each other’s phone numbers, managed to make contact again. We had talked about getting together for a breakfast but never could because of my work schedule. So this morning I found a text message from her asking if I could come to her house for an Eid (a major religious holiday in the Muslim world) luncheon with her family.

Because it was so sudden and because of the complication of Tim (he wasn’t at first invited but when he was, would have to eat with the men while I was with the women) along with having to get dressed up in an abaya and actually get there, I at first tried to decline in favor of another time. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt I’d be missing out on a wonderful opportunity to meet a Saudi family, in their home, for an important celebration. I also realized it would be discourteous to reject this gracious invitation despite the practical difficulties. So we both decided to go, but managed to get terribly lost in trying to find their neighborhood, so had to go to a major hotel where my friend and her brother met us and led us out to their house. We had definitely taken a wrong turn, by like five miles.

We had a delightful time drinking Arabic coffee and tea and eating dates with my friend and her sister and children, three of her brothers and her father. Tim thought they had probably bent the “rules” a bit for us to all be together in the same room, because things like this are usually strictly segregated here, especially with people outside the immediate family. Most everybody spoke enough English to get by, and when a problem arose, my friend was able to translate. When we left, her oldest brother presented us with this gorgeous (and enormous, like 20 inches long) box, containing perfumes for both men and women in lovely crystal bottles and some Arabian oud (incense). I really felt bad then for not having brought anything, but I didn't know what to bring, and even if I had, the country is basically shut down for 10 days for Eid.

One of her brothers led us back to the freeway, and as we were stopped side by side in traffic, he undid his seat belt, which I guess he had fastened just for our benefit, and said, "Saudis don't wear them," as we got ready to part ways. It was both funny and sad at the same time.

This is the only picture I have from the afternoon because it just wouldn’t have been appropriate to take any while there. It was so very kind of her to invite us and for her family to make us feel welcome their home, and I certainly am happy that I decided to go despite what I initially perceived as all the practical and logistical difficulties. And now she is going to invite us for a picnic with her family out in the desert. This time I won't hesitate to say yes!

It will go down as one of my best memories of our time in Saudi Arabia.