The Suntan Strip
Last weekend I spent an hour quad biking under the baking sun. As is the English tradition, by mid-afternoon the sun had turned my face a deep shade of red. Unfortunately I'd been wearing my shades so the area around my eyes was still bright white. I'd suddenly become the secret love child of Larry the lobster and Patricia the Panda.
It reminded me of a recent holiday to Malaysia when we were sunbathing on the beach and I noticed a lady in a full ninja abaya (this is the head to toe black outfit with only a slit for the eyes.) I realised two things:
- the ninja outfits in Saudi Arabia no longer make me look twice (no pun intended)
- out of context (Saudi Arabia) I still find ninja outfits surprising, even disconcerting
Like us this lady was enjoying the sunshine on the beach, like us she'd be getting a sun tan on any exposed sun, like us she'd end up with a tan line. Our friends would notice our suntan and I wondered whether like us, her friends would notice hers too.
[A group of ladies sitting in the family section in Kingdom mall in their full ninja abayas…]
Lady One: "How was your holiday?"
Lady Two: "It was lovely thank you. The weather was wonderful and the beach was fantastic"
Lady One: "Hey! You got a suntan!"
Lady Two: "Thank you for noticing"
Lady One: "It suits you"
Lady Two: "Are you saying I look like a servant?"
[Lady Two gets home, takes off her veil and we see that she has only got a strip of tanned skin across her eyes, the rest of her is her normal colour. Liberal doses of make-up have been applied.…]
The Suntan Strip is not a secret place in Riyadh where you can sunbathe in your bikini. It's a ninja's unusual tan line. If I'd had the option that day I got my "panda eyes" suntan, I think I'd have donned a ninja abaya too.
9 comments:
Do the ninjas ever grace the water with their presence?
On the beaches in Thailand it's common to see females, both children and adults, having a jolly frolic in the water fully clothed! Strange sight!
LOL! If its any consolation at all, I also usually end up like the mentioned panda. As for the colour, I think a german word describes it best: ROSAROT! Hehe...
nonnie11 - I see what you're saying but only a few generations ago Thais hardly even wore clothes, there was a big cultural change about 100 years ago. I'm not into public nudity but isn't it more natural than clothes?
You always talk about the importance of freedom of choice, yet you don't respect others choices when disagreeing with yours!!
You can run naked for all I care! Only Allah will judge you not any one else! Good luck with that for you sure need A LOT of luck that day!
God's laws don't change to us like some other religions.What is good to them today,might be evil tomorrow.For example, in some churchesin some countries, they have allowed gay people to get married.
Those women whom you call "Ninja" which is funny but to the ignorant, cover their faces for something that is beyond your understanding.
An illiterate old muslim woman in arabia,who's never been abroad, may call a western woman who is not wearing decent clothes, according to that muslim woman of course, a prostitute..but is that western woman a prostitute?NO, but that Muslim woman can't read nor write and has probably spent her life in a village.Do you see any similarities between you and that muslim old woman?:)
Peace
Maha
We went to South America and toured many countries as we love the beach and all it has to offer. Being tanning fanatics, my husband and I tried a new tanning oil, or at least new to us, called Miami Gold Super Serious Tanning Oil. WOW! We're dark already, but this stuff allowed me to get darker and my husband actually got a liitle burn which later turned golden brown. You can find this oil at miamigoldoil.com and it smells awesome!
See ya at the beach!
"You can run naked for all I care! Only Allah will judge you not any one else! Good luck with that for you sure need A LOT of luck that day!"
Hahahaha! 'I see before me Allah condeming to Hell those who wore bikinis'!
What abyssmal belitling denigrading idea of GOD Muslims have!
and how they have been indoctrinated with FEAR!
What a joke Koran is - allowing women - not men of course - to sink from heavy clothing they wear while attempting to swim!
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