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Anthropology interview

Abstract

This paper discusses the societal setting of Abdullah, a young man from Saudi Arabia

narrating his life from childhood and contrasting it with modern life. He also discusses how

life was during his childhood and what his hobbies were. Abdullah discusses his family life,

the Islam culture as well as the honeymoon trends. He discusses life is a remote city in Saudi

Arabia and the main occupation of the people in that city. This report will also discuss the

motivations behind the actions of young men in the small city into being what they become.

The Islam faith is understood better from his narration. From his narration, one is able to note

the main food the people in Saudi Arabia eat and their favorite sports activities.

Introduction

Abdullah ails from a small city, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia with his siblings who are now

adults and perhaps senior members of the society. The siblings are Khalid 52, Mohammad

50, and Sultan 46. Being of Muslim faith, his name means a servant of God. His contention is

that they all grew up in the remote city of Riyadh thus gathering and growing with the

systems of the place at that time. Abdullah and his family lived and still live in Riyadh where

their main language of communication is Arabic. Their place of residence is a city that did

not have farms to enable them to cultivate farm produce. Otherwise, the arid and semi-arid

conditions of the place could not have been favorable for agriculture.

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Given the fact that they lived and still live in the city, it is quite difficult for them to

own cattle or cultivate farm produce. As such, they did not engage in any form of agriculture.

On the question about the difference in farming during his childhood and now, the question

did not receive an answer because farming is still alien to the society. The family or

community did not even keep pets such as dogs for company. The respondent displays abject

poverty by his description of the house they lived in. He explains that he lived in a small clay

house. The small clay house is an indication that clay is the most readily available building

material in their city. Since clay is affordable, it also denotes poverty.

His narration posits that they had indoor amenities such as plumbing, electricity, gas

and a television that was bought later on during his life. In his memories, he nostalgically

remembers his neighbors and friends who lived and interacted with him during his childhood.

Unfortunately, Abdullah does not have any photographic memories of his childhood probably

because they could not afford to pay for the photos. In addition, the society might have been

privy to camera technology during his growing days. Nevertheless, such narration is an

indication of abject poverty that the narrator grew up in. Another indication of stark poverty

of the Riyadh community is the lack of family mementos of heirlooms. This means that they

could not afford to buy souvenirs during family gatherings that he admits they still hold.

Abdullah narrates that although they lived in a city, it was a small city that could only

be compared to a modernized village. The factors that make him regard it as a city is the fact

that they did not do farming or live a village-like life. In addition, the place had a railroad

station as well as a post office. This alleviated the place from being a village into a small city.

Nevertheless, the people in this community practiced trade during the day and slept at night.

This also indicates insecurity or lack of lighting during the night. Similarly, it may also be

due to Islamic beliefs of not working after dusk.

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In order to indicate the standards of living of the people of Riyadh, Abdullah narrates

that only small trade took place in the small city of Riyadh. His contention is that small shops

such groceries, clothe shops and meat shops existed during the time he grew up. He confirms

that the situation is not quite different from the current era. There were also dates shops in the

minute city of Riyadh during his childhood. Dates only sprout in semi-arid areas. As such,

they indicate the fact that Riyadh is an arid or semi-arid area where quite little of farm

produce can prosper. This also cements the observation that the family did not participate in

any form of farming or cattle keeping.

His memory of the city is the fact that it was crowded since most of the people

worked during the daytime. A twelve-hour economy is a characteristic of an Islam

community, which is not allowed to trade during the night. Muslims associate the night with

evil. Abdullah also admits that his family was very religious and committed to the Islamic

faith. He narrates that his relatives including his father were buried according to the Muslim

faith in the nearby cemetery. As a Muslim, his community and him participated in Islamic

religious ceremonies. These include Al-Fter and Al-Adha. Al-Fter comes after Ramadan, so

that the Muslims can stop fasting. Ramadhan is the holy month where people of the Islamic

faith fast and pray while donating the savings of their fasting to charities and the poor. The

other religious ceremony that Abdullah engaged in is Al-Adha, which comes after the Hajj.

During this ceremony, people give mean as charity to the poor and vulnerable in society. Hajj

is a pilgrimage to Mecca, which takes places in the last month of the year. Every Muslim is

expected to visit Mecca at least once during his lifetime.

Most people who live in Riyadh went to school in the same city just like Abdullah.

This meant limited exposure to the outside world by him and his peers. In addition, his

friends are those he grew up with in the same city who were also neighbors. These friends

were Abdullah and Mohammed. They also coupled up as his classmates in the same school

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that was in Riyadh. The teachers that he fondly remembers include Sadeq, Ahmed, and

Mohammad. He appreciates their role in teaching basic literature, arithmetic and writing.

Abdullah liked school because he had the opportunity to learn something new every day.

Being an ambitious child, lack of new knowledge everyday made him feel stagnant.

Abdullah and his colleagues could walk at least three kilometers in a day to school. The cost

of education needed one to sacrifice his energy in order to attain basic education. They

covered the 3 kilometers distance by walking every day to and from school. Despite the

treacherous walk to school, he still admits that his favorite subject was writing. The narrator

confesses that he dropped out of school due to his father’s death. Since his mother was a

homemaker and being the oldest son, he needed to take care of the family. In addition, he

found a job in the military hence dropped out of school. Actually, he had admired military

service. Therefore, when the job came calling, he could not resist.

As a young child, Abdullah admits that he liked to play with his friends. The most

common game among his peers was soccer because it involved many boys at a time. It is also

fun to play soccer. He also admits enjoying going to the market during his childhood for fun.

He derived pleasure by going to the market to do shopping. The community and his family

took holidays whereby they visited their families and extended families for get-togethers.

They also spent holiday time camping. Abdullah admits that the family still meets for social

activities such as camping. He confides that his closest friend while growing up was

Mohammad. In addition, the closest family friends were neighbors. As such, his family

operated within the city and rarely had friends or relatives outside the city.

In his description of his family members, he had kind words for them. He termed

them as very religious, kind and generous. This also reflects the society in which they live

since an individual is a reflection of the environment in which he grows. Abdullah also

admits that hypertension is the only genetic illness in their family tree. He also notes that no

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family member has had a long terms illness. As a child, he recall short fiction stories his

parents narrated in order to scare them not to play outside at night.

Despite many events having caught up with him during his childhood, he vividly

remembers his father’s death as the main event. This event also led to his dropping out of

school to join the military. Abdullah’s community has not experienced any catastrophe or

strum during his lifetime. He joined the military because most of his family members were in

the military and the fact that he admired them made him join them early after his father’s

death. His father was a soldier in the same city of Riyadh while his mother stayed at home to

take care of the children. According to him, he considers his father’s death as the epoch of his

life because it made him drop out of school to join the military so that he could fend for his

family. Neither has anyone in his family held a political office nor can play a musical

instrument. Similarly, the fact that he does not play any music instrument demonstrates that

he does not fancy music. However, he loves poetry and poems.

The most common food in the community is bread, meat and rice while his favorite is

lamb meat. He also notes that he can stand all kinds of food that is accessible to him.

Abdullah is a skilled hunter. According to Islam tradition, he is married to his cousin and has

children with her. He held a wedding for her after which he went for a short honeymoon.

Family, friends and acquaintances attended the wedding. The wedding did not have much

publicity, as it did not appear in the newspapers. He decries the expenses that modern

weddings marshal.

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