Wow.
Go there...
So how's it...
[laughing]
It's already closed.
♪ electronic music ♪
[music continues]
So this is Mohsin, Mohsin...
lived in the US for what, 12 years?
About 12 years, yeah.
And you're back in Saudi been here about two weeks?
Yeah, actually two months.
-Two months, oh yeah, two months. -Riyadh two weeks.
Okay, two months in total.
So today...
It's a day with Mohsin, he's gonna take us to some cool places.
Some very interesting places
He said tonight, there's even like, a big music event or something going on?
Yeah, at the Boulevard.
We're going to have some coffee at Starbucks.
-Riyadh, at the diplomat corner. -You like Starbucks?
Yeah.
So this is a diplomatic zone you were saying?
Yeah.
Is that why there are a lot of trees and security?
This is where all the embassies are, basically?
Most of them, yeah.
♪ electronic music ♪
It's a super-hard place to understand, it's a very complex place
and there are many layers.
Saudi's always been looked at as, like, the most conservative country
I would say.
-From the outside, right? -Yeah.
And so when I come here and I see women without head scarves
some of them
or
you know, couples out in the open hanging out when they're not married
it's definitely like it smashes a lot of preconceptions, I would say.
Like it's very confusing.
It's super-confusing and hard to understand.
I was at a Starbucks yesterday and the genders were separated.
Mixing, yeah. Mixing genders more and more.
As you can see around...
You live in Panama?
You grew up in Saudi?
And you're Lebanese?
What did you call that, a third?
Wow, so how's it feel to be back in Saudi?
Different?
-Yeah, cool. -It's good.
What's your name? I'm sorry.
Reem, Peter.
You're great, Reem
Starbucks is closed for prayer time.
Do we do prayer in the Starbucks or no?
No we don't, it's just like they close.
-Sure. -It's like a break for their employees.
This is a tradition here in Saudi Arabia.
Sorry sir.
No sir, it's already closed, sorry.
[people chattering]
-This is a good place, huh? -Yeah.
This is our first stop for today.
We are gonna go to other cool areas.
You're gonna get me a, what is this called, a Thobe?
Thobe, yeah. We're gonna get you a thobe like this.
-I need to style it up a little. -A nice one.
How is it possible that things changed so quickly?
So for example, those women we were just talking to
Which I didn't get on camera.
'Cause it is a bit of a challenge actually to get people on camera
but they were saying that a year ago they had to be fully covered
and now they're walking around without any cover.
Like, how does it change so quickly and there are no big problems?
It seems like there would be big problems in such a rapid change.
I would think.
I also think that the society is ready for some changes.
So choose to be...
There are certain authorities within Saudi Arabia
that are not allowing for that change to happen
and these authorities are gone now.
Religious beliefs is not allowed in most places in Saudi Arabia right now.
-Not just this area. -Huh.
But a year or two ago they were allowed? They were everywhere?
Yeah, before two years ago they were everywhere
They had the power to ask women to cover up.
Now this is all gone.
You can wear whatever you like.
This is the new Saudi Arabia, really, literally.
50% of the population under the age of 25
65% of the population under the age of 30.
Wow.
So you have a huge amount of youth in this country
and this is good news to any country
as long as they know how to utilize it and generate
a great society and a great economy out of this really young power.
It can have bad consequences if this energy is not channeled right.
The change in Saudi Arabia will be faced with resistance
from part of the population.
-That's absolutely true. -Yeah.
But I would assume and I would say from what I witness that
the majority of Saudis are in favor of these changes.
Well said, Mo.
-Thank you very much. -I think it's interesting
It's gonna be interesting for you for sure coming back
10 years out of it and then into it.
It's definitely interesting for me 'cause I don't know...
Okay, what's seen from the outside about Saudi
honestly, is beheadings.
Is lashes... Is the political narrative.
Are the political narratives, but there's no...
There's very little online about like what life is like on the ground.
And this is one story
I'm showing one aspect and my perspective as a traveler
and I understand that's not by any stretch any full story.
The problem is though, I can't talk to very conservative Saudis.
You know what I mean? I can't talk to the woman
who's very conservative.
That's just not gonna work, right?
So I do by default only show
the younger, more progressive women are gonna be the ones
that are gonna talk to me or definitely talk in front of a camera.
Well, your trip is still young, you don't know who you are gonna meet.
♪ electronic music ♪
As you can see...
[music continues]
I want like a white and a silk one.
-Yours is sorta like silky. -Okay.
[Arabic]
[chuckles]
[laughing]
We're trying to teach him how to wear thobe.
[chuckles]
Nice.
[laughing]
[music continues]
Yes.
Is it tight?
Oh, it's tight.
Dude, he said your head is one of the biggest heads they ever have.
[laughing]
No, when you wear it every day it will stretch.
[laughing]
Bro.
[giggles]
Bro, it's a good look, yeah?
Yeah.
I like it like this, seriously.
[high five]
So the process of buying a thobe doesn't just stop at the store.
You actually get it ironed somewhere else.
[steam machine]
This is advanced, dude.
You cannot see this anywhere in the world.
[steam machine]
[speaking Arabic]
[chuckles]
Hey brother, Palestini?
Palestini? He's calling me a Palestinian?
He's asking what's your nationality.
Palestini.
-American. -American? Good.
San Francisco.
[Arabic]
[chuckles]
[Arabic]
-How do I say Egypt? -Masa.
-Masa. -Oh, Masa.
[chuckles]
-Salam alaikum. -Wa alaikum.
Saudi...
Are you Saudi? I am Pakistani.
Pakistanis, Egyptian
-Bengali... -Indian, Syrian.
Syrian...
Many country together lives here.
Sir, many country live...
Super-diverse here.
Like every nationality
in the region is working here in Saudi.
Salam.
Salam. [hands slap]
People we met are from diverse background, right?
One of them was amazed.
He was like, "It's the first time I actually see an American."
The guy from Syria.
The Middle East is usually put under one label.
And it's usually thought to be this anti-American, anti-Western hotbed.
Yes, there are those elements.
They exist for sure.
But the vast majority through all my experiences
in the Middle East
people are like that.
-Yeah. -You know, they're cool.
"You're from the states? Cool."
It's like a novelty because
not too many Yanks are walking down the street here.
Yeah.
That's not usually the choice of vacation they make.
So I think there's probably a novelty to it
but it's also like... It's not this anti...
American sentiment that you see only on the news, right?
What were you saying? Instead of 911 it's 999 is emergency?
Yeah.
So the cop cars are the same as US cop cars.
Yeah.
Mohsin, please tell us what's going on here.
-This is a co-working space, right? -So this is a co-working space.
As you might see.
This is an environment young Saudis come to to create their startup.
Yes.
And this is just part of the space.
So do you nap more or you work more, Mohsin?
I snap. [giggles]
Interesting.
There were two very cool women in there that spoke perfect English
that were very driven and interesting.
Couldn't be on camera.
So
sort of the story here...
A lot of women, for cultural reasons
or reasons of [sighs] not wanting to be seen on camera
just can't be on camera.
This woman and her friend
they're agreeing to drive tomorrow morning.
So I'm gonna do that video on driving with a Saudi Woman.
Mm-hmm.
Not happening.
Why?
You tell me, man. Everyone seems into the idea
but then when they sit on it a little bit they decide not to.
But then they think about it and they're like,
"I don't want to be online, driving."
I think there's something in that.
Yeah...
Uh...
It just... The concept of being on a video
online is just new to a lot of them.
-It's new? -Yeah, it's new to me.
This country is hungry for entertainment.
-Yeah? -There's lot's of it, yeah.
Look at this crowded street.
[horn honks]
Of course it is like entertainment before but not like at this large scale.
Right, there were no horror shows like we're seeing up here?
I have never seen something like this before.
It's a really new experience for the public here...
That there's, you know, there's more fun things to do.
Like a fish tank of a coffee shop. Is that a coffee shop?
Yeah.
Wow.
Very posh.
I gotta say it's a good positive vibe down here.
-Like super upbeat vibe. -Nice, I'm glad you like it.
Lot of smiles, lot of friendly people like these guys.
Peace.
And it's actually a good way for people to mix, you know?
-People to mix? -Yeah.
What do you mean?
Whatever you see here. Look at this.
There is no boredom.
It looks good?
-What's your name? -Peter.
Chari.
So guys, hope you liked that day with Mohsin
and hope you got something out of that like I did.
There was a lot of stimulation, a lot of...
Nice, yeah.
-Mind expansion. -Yeah, you should all come here.
And that was quite an epic journey.
-Bye. -Peace.