Category: tribalism

What is a Wasta?

If you live in Saudi Arabia chances are you’ve heard the word ‘wasta’ mentioned before. A wasta is a widely used term for a well connected individual in the Arab world. It refers to using one’s influence or connections to getting things done, cutting through bureaucratic red tape,Read more

Darbawiya-The Saudi Punks

Darbawi- The Saudi Punks. Remember the “Anonymous Saudi Man” who shared with us his insightful thoughts on tribalism, love and marriage in Saudi Arabia? (You can read that post here.) I’m so excited to share Saudi Man’s candid thoughts on Blue Abaya for the second time. IRead more

A Male Perspective On Marriage, Tribes And Love In Saudi-Arabia

We hardly ever hear the candid voices of Saudi men in regards to relationships, marriage and thoughts of living in a tribal society. The following post is written by an anonymous Saudi man. He could be anyone, his thoughts and feelings are probably shared by many others out there. I came acrossRead more

Saudi-Arabia’s Epidemic: Tribalism

Tribalism is alive and deeply rooted in the Saudi culture. Read more about what tribalism actually means here. Tribalism can have some positive aspects to it. It creates close family ties and high respect of elders. Knowing ones roots and the names of ancestors hundreds or even thousands of yearsRead more

Bedouin Patients

The hospital I work in gets quite a few bedouins coming in for treatment from all around Saudi. It’s a large tertiary referral hospital, which means many patients were referred there because they could not be treated elsewhere or their cases were so difficult or rare it needed specialRead more