Saudi National Day 2012
This group of guys surrounded me and one grabbed my camera. They stood all around me and I was in the group shot. I got a little nervous when the shooter didn’t give me back my camera right away. But, he was just messing.
It was September, 2012, and there haven’t been many previous Saudi National Days celebrated. But, the Saudis have gotten the hang of it rather well. They go all out, stopping traffic, painting their cars, and dressing outrageously. They also are all happy to have their photo taken. Considering how conservative everyone is, I was shy about using my camera… but not on these two nights. Wow! I was constantly asked to photograph people as they passed. I was told that some folks must have thought I was a foreign journalist… hmmm. One woman rolled down the rear smoked glass window of her SUV and asked me to take a picture. As I raised the camera, she quickly rolled up her window and then rolled it down again as I (puzzled) lowered my camera, “I wanted a picture of the car, just the (painted) car.” She smiled… no pic.
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