Naeem's Blog

Saudi Arabia provides a very interesting case of a society aggressively welcoming the indoors-oriented 21st century but equally mindful of its passion for nature and the outdoors.

I've spent the past 5 years in Riyadh and have been witness to an amazing economic boom taking place, with a construction pace only bested by the likes of Dubai and Beijing. But even though malls and business offices are filling the Riyadh skyline and the Saudis are getting plugged in (Internet, satellite dishes, 3G cell phones, etc.), they somehow are still retaining their connection to the outdoors.

The most popular pastime remains weekend outings to the desert or to the local park. There are a number of public parks sprinkled throughout the city and during the weekend, you'll be hard-pressed to find a patch of grass to sit on. To meet the high demand, there are even a handful of private parks, available to those willing to pay a small entry fee.

You see, everyone flocks to the park at weeks end. Most people either live in apartment flats or homes that lack a front/backyard. So the women and children are cooped up indoors without a place to roam outside their homes. And if they ever dared to venture outside, the neighborhoods are not designed to allow for casual strolls, with the absence of sidewalks and presence of drivers oblivious to the concept of pedestrian right-of-way. Thus, the only remedy is to spend a few hours in the park.

To that end, you'll see families gathering at parks, men sitting on one blanket grilling some kebabs, women sitting on another blanket sipping tea, and kids running around wreaking havoc. These grass-filled parks are especially nice as greenery is an scarce commodity in the desert oasis of Riyadh.

People here are so starved for outdoor activities, that I've seen many families park their cars at the outer limits of the huge mall parking lots (where traffic is sparse). They lay out a blanket on the concrete and proceed to have a small picnic with their kids enjoying the open space. I've actually done that myself with some friends – while our wives were inside shopping, we took the kids outside to play in the parking lot (away from traffic, of course) and relaxed on a small patch of grass.

However, if the crowded scene of the parks in the city is not your cup of tea, the expansive desert that surrounds Riyadh provides a more serene setting.

What really amazes me is the widespread popularity of the desert. At first, I didn't understand the appeal of spending time in the desert – isn't that where the merciless sun beats down on its visitors and scavenging vultures circle overhead?

So I was initially surprised when I heard that droves of families go out to the desert as a social outlet. It was only after I tried it myself that I found something eerily calming with the open desert. The lack of visual distractions really forces a more meditative frame of mind. The adults seem to engage in more introspective discussions while the kids are forced to entertain themselves in innovative ways.

And when nightfall arrives, the obligatory campfire brings its natural flickering light to the dark abyss of the surrounding desert. Sitting around the fire, drinking Arabic coffee and munching on dates, under the starry sky, surrounded by friends and family brings out the romantic in even the most hardest of hearts.

I find this magnetic relationship with the outdoors programmed into the social fabric of this society – and I'm not simply restricting it to the Saudis. Many of the participants are in fact expats from all over the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. It's so refreshing to see this zeal for the outdoors very much alive, starkly contrasting the murky electronic age in which most of us are mired.

And what's most wonderful is the simplicity surrounding these social settings. Whereas entertainment in the West often revolves around an event, such as a concert or a ballgame or a carnival, laying down a blanket in a park or the desert is a sublime act of the greatest simplicity requiring nothing more than a group of family and friends, accentuated with some nice mint tea.