Al Janadriyah (مهرجان الجنادرية), not easy to say, but easy to understand once you've been there. In the States each state and county usually puts on a County or State fair each year to celebrate the accomplishments made by the residents of the location or even to show off the cool things about the place, well here in Saudi they hold Al-Janadriyah festival to show off the Saudi Culture. You get to visit each corner of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and for a brief period of time the usually very private and closed culture opens up and allows you to see it inside and out. You can take pictures, role video and even ask questions that you might not ask. The intent is to give outsiders a look inside, but as we found from our guide, it also serves to educate Saudi's about their own culture that is slowly being replaced by various influences from around the world.
What a great experience to see how this rich and wonderful culture has developed and evolved over the years. From the traditional Arab war dance to the way that the ingenious Arabs used camels and wells to irigate their crops. Its amazing to me to see how they can turn a dry, barren, aired desert into green lush gardens when they want.
We ate food that we usually wouldn't see and heard and saw things that only increased our love of the people of this land. I couldn't finish this without mentioning our two hosts, Abdullah and Fahad, who not only took us to as many places as possible, but made sure that we were well watched out for. We were truely foreigners in new land, we stuck out like sore thumbs, but the people welcomed us at EVERY turn and wanted to give us a taste of who the Saudi's REALLY are.
Don't believe what you hear in the news or read in the papers. They don't want to behead you. They don't want to force you to be Muslim. They don't want to ruin your way of life. They want you and me to understand them and for them to understand us.
Love it!!! LOVE IT!
What a great experience to see how this rich and wonderful culture has developed and evolved over the years. From the traditional Arab war dance to the way that the ingenious Arabs used camels and wells to irigate their crops. Its amazing to me to see how they can turn a dry, barren, aired desert into green lush gardens when they want.
We ate food that we usually wouldn't see and heard and saw things that only increased our love of the people of this land. I couldn't finish this without mentioning our two hosts, Abdullah and Fahad, who not only took us to as many places as possible, but made sure that we were well watched out for. We were truely foreigners in new land, we stuck out like sore thumbs, but the people welcomed us at EVERY turn and wanted to give us a taste of who the Saudi's REALLY are.
Don't believe what you hear in the news or read in the papers. They don't want to behead you. They don't want to force you to be Muslim. They don't want to ruin your way of life. They want you and me to understand them and for them to understand us.
Love it!!! LOVE IT!
