Dang...it's hard to believe I was in Saudi almost 19 years ago seeking to make a small fortune at drilling for water--everything you say about their culture rings true. When our scraggly bunch of roughnecks arrived in Jiddah international airport-we couldn't help but notice how everyone seemed to be glaring at us.
We headed for the bathrooms after clearing customs--and had our first experience with Arab bathrooms--only one toilet--the rest were just stalls with a hole in the floor-the fact that we were the foriegners here --really hit home at that point.
We must have really looked dis-combulated after that...because an American drinking coffee-called us over to his table-and said "You boys better sit down and listen to what I have to say right now!"
We found out that he had been in-country for 14 years--and he filled us in on what we needed to do to keep ourselves out of trouble....
God must have been lookin out for us-because by the time he finished lecturing us-we realized we almost didn't make it out the airport-because of our naivete-even tho we had been briefed prior to departure from the US-he gave us many inside tips to avoid trouble with the "holy men"--it saved our butts.
So...thanx for the advice--I just hope our leaders understand these things too...have a good one....