CHARMING atmosphere? Well, very cold here. Different nationalities, different costumes, languages, characters, phrases and expressions are flying here and there declare a mix of cultures and faiths gathered by the love of life, tourism and the search for pleasure. Suddenly, a strange creature appears and we run away from him to one side. My God, another creature appears. We run at full speed in the opposite direction to escape. O Lord of the Heavens, a third appears, and a fourth. We are surrounded by Saudis on all sides, with nowhere to flee. Is not it strange that we Saudis walk away from each other and hate to meet one another abroad, as a warrior escapes from the zombie creatures in horror films, fearing to become one of them? You see all of us enjoying nature, beaming with joy, joking with wife, playing with children, capturing images naturally. But if we catch sight or perhaps sense the presence of our countrymen anywhere nearby, it is as if we have sensed danger, and we turn to our wives and children and warn them. It is something weird. Usually people rejoice when meeting abroad someone from their own country who share the same culture and religion, except we Saudis. Why? What is the reason? Doesn't this reflect a particular ideology? Doesn't it convey our fear of each other? Or an imbalance in our confidence in each other? Why not tell explicitly that our relations are flawed? Don't we walk away from each other abroad because at home we find it difficult to accept each other? We find nothing wrong in accommodating our differences. And that shows that our vacation is also freedom from those busy controlling communities, completely drenched in power and monitoring each other. We are going abroad to escape the atmosphere of governances, long tongues and gossips. It is funny that when we ask someone for a place to visit, they respond saying, "Very nice, but unfortunately full of Saudis," excluding themselves from this generalization, which carries a lot of cruelty and lack of acceptance. Dear Saudis, how beautiful that we control our egos a little, to become better, and shall live better, and our communities will become better. All we must learn is to practice with our fellow countrymen what we practice with other nationalities of the world: give to others gladly the same right as we give to ourselves and let them enjoy.
