No Reservations

          It was really great getting another up close look at the culture, through food. The way the traditional Saudi foods bring family together is a beautiful thing and just gives more insight into how limited our knowledge is of their culture. The video showed how much respect they have for each other as families all coming from the same root. Even Bourdain was a bit taken back by the joy, humor, and simple love of life that many people in Saudi Arabia have; in exact contradiction to what one would like to assume about Saudi Arabia especially after reading Nine Parts. We also see that it is not only women there who are asked to dress in modesty, though a different color, men in Saudi Arabia were wearing very similar outfits to the women, covering their bodies from head to toe. Going into the culture is what actually allows you to learn, as westerners we seem to always look into things through a hypothesis. A hypothesis being a a statement or guess we make based on observation, we then investigate looking to prove what we already think. This is opposed to simply going in and trying to learn about something. Opening your arms to a situation is the most effective way to actually learn.