Job Discussion Forums

fof · Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 20

You were right Duffy, Aliskander's advice was excellent..had I known she was a woman there wouldn't have been any misgivings on my part Smile

Thanks for the interesting comments and good advice everyone.

fof · Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 20

[Generally locals don't mind to see a westerner in an abbaya but think it is a bit odd as you are not a Muslim so why would you try and portray yourself as one?]

Hmm..I wasn't really thinking of an abbaya as being "Muslim" truth told, but rather "Omani" or "Arab"..in the west a lot of Muslims wear western style clothing + headscarf, not "Christian" clothing, in India a lot of non-Hindus (including Christians) wear Salwar Kameez (not "Hindu" clothing...)...but, I guess there is a closer link with religion and clothing in the Gulf.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Actually, when I arrived in Oman, it was very rare to even see an abaya and only Sur (and the Bedu at Wahiba) used facial coverings. Traditional Omani women's dress has always been very different from the rest of the Gulf - very VERY colorful and more like the Shalwar Khamis. (the style obviously came from Baluchistan)

In the UAE, the abaya and the face veil appear to be almost universal. In Kuwait, less than 10% of the women in my section of KU wore an abaya and none covered their faces. In Egypt, an abaya is only worn by the country women.

Although I do tend to think of the abaya as "Muslim," it is merely a traditional fashion around the Middle East and still worn by rural Christians in some places.

VS