Dress Code in Saudi

I've been here a little over a week and today, during a shopping trip at IKEA, experienced my first encounter with a Mutawa representative.  Now, a Mutawa'een is a member of the Saudi Religious Police.  They usually wear a shorter white thobe, sandals, a long scragely beard, and a  head scarf (gutra).  Their job is to make sure that people are following the religious mandate, that they pray during prayer and that all are covered properly.  So, here I was, in line at the register at IKEA, with Worth and the kids when, low and behold, prayer time was here.  This meant that ALL registers closed, that ALL IKEA employees disappeared and that ALL customers either stood in line waiting for prayer time to be over or left their shopping carts and left the store.  We needed our stuff so we just stood in line waiting for check outs to reopen.  After a few minutes of this, I just decided to go back in the store and browse while Worth and the kids stayed at the register.  I'm walking toward the back of the store and start up a conversation with another French speaker I had overheard..She was from Lebanon and were chatting when we heard somebody in Arabic talking...  I turn around and here is a Mutawa'een, walking toward the back of the store as well.  You should have seen me...I was wearing my abaya but quickly grabbed my scarf and pulled it over my hair!  The other lady was not wearing hers and did not have any.  As we just were the two of us, the Mutawa'een let us be and did not address us..Actually he is not allowed to address women and as Westerner, I probably will never have to worry about it...  But, a few steps in front of us were a Western couple.  The lady's hair were not covered...So the Mutawa'een looked at her, pointed to her husband, pointed to the woman and made the gesture to cover up!  Obviously she was very quick to follow suit!  For once, I was glad to have my black scarf handy!

So, let's talk about dress code. 

To go anywhere by car, I need to wear the Abaya and I usually have my scarf handy too.  In the morning, from the house to school ( a quick 5 minute drive) I wear the Abaya.  Once at school I can take it off.  Underneath, I've been wearing a professional get-up of dress slacks and dress shirt everyday.  However, because the school is split between what you could call two city blocks, when I go to the K-3 area, I need to leave the school ground and thus have to wear my abaya between one part of the school and the K-3 area.  It's kind of a hassle to have to remember to put it on, but it's also a sign of respect toward the Saudi culture.
To go back home, there goes the Abaya again.  If we need to go to the store/mall/Ikea/souk/anywhere in public, I need to wear the abaya and always have a scarf handy...just in case of a Mutawa encounter.

Just to talk Fashion, an abaya is not just a piece of black cloth...Mine is black with some embroidered design on the sleeves and back.  Some are totally black, others more intricate and like all clothing they can range from very cheap to very expensive.  I've seen older girls wearing abayas with TinkerBell embroidered on the back.  It looks like teenage girls like to express some individuallity through their abaya and those tend to be more colorful around the sleeves...
The first time we went to the Mall, I wore my abaya and had my scarf loosely around my neck.  I felt like everybody was watching us.  Emma and Alex were holding my hands and it seems that all the women (who for the most part wear a hijab or full burka) were looking at me.  I think I even saw kids point at us.  It was strange to stand out so much!  As a social and cultural experiment, I think one day I'm gonna try and wear the burka..to see what it is like and what the world looks like underneath all that!
That would be the subject of another post though!