Colors of Riyadh - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

Traditions and customs of Riyadh are of great interest to foreign guests. Original way life of local folks features peculiar rules which may seem to be unusual for city guests. Some local traditions originated from religious custom, thus they have been unaltered for centuries. One of the main features of local culture is clothing (female in particular). Loose high clothes and head scarves named hijabs may seem to be relics of the past for foreign guests, however local people consider it to be the most important element of their culture.

Often female clothing is decorated with gold threads and precious gems, under loose clothes women often wear elegant dresses and jewelries. As many years ago so now local women can’t come out into the street without a male relative. Their main duties are children upbringing and house holding. But at the same time local women have got some liberties for the past dozen years.

Now they can get one of the most needed jobs and work, however there is a single sex education in the country so local women-students visit classes separately from men. Local residents are noted for their hospitality, so an invitation to enter their houses must be interpreted as the highest respect. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Commonly guests are received in a male part of the house. Each house is equipped with a special room for guests. Being about to pay a visit to new friends, tourists should be backed up with small presents for house master and his children. The act will be highly estimated. Another peculiar feature of the ceremony of guests taking for tourists to keep in mind is coffee drinking as any visit, any celebration and any meeting starts with a cup of this ethnic aroma drink.

Every native makes coffee by own inimitable recipe, coffee making resembles an important ritual. There is an interesting legend about this ethnic drink, according to this legend one of the local herders discovered coffee. The herder noted that at noon goats and sheep ate small green berries and thus turned sprightly and active. These berries were fruits of coffee trees, the case happened more than 12 centuries ago. Since that time coffee has been the favorite drink of local residents, paying great attention to coffee making and serving.