Just Shootin’ the Breeze

I happened to catch this slice of life recently in Taif. Several young men are sitting outside a business that is being renovated. These gentlemen might be the owners of the establishment, but they hire cheap foreign labor to do the painting and other hard labor – they would never do this type of work themselves. They are all dressed traditionally as they sit on a large red carpet with their sandals off. The red and white checkered scarf they wear in a variety of ways on their heads is called shumagg. It is a large square that is folded in half to form a triangle. The black ring that holds it in place is called egal. Men in Saudi Arabia are, generally speaking, quite social. They commonly gather together to talk or play cards, smoking hookahs and drinking tea. You will never see a woman in a mix like this. Socializing between the sexes is not permitted – mixing only within families is acceptable.