Outdoor park near my house
Well another weekend has come and gone so quickly. The weekend being Thursday and Friday usually takes some getting used to coming from the US. Many of my friends say that even after years of being in Medina it still takes some getting used to. It always feels like the weekend when the kids some friends and I spent some time in Al Nur mall. Al Nur mall has many of the retail stores that you would find in the US. Familiar names as GAP, New York&Co, H&M and Aldo are through out this large bi-level mall. Of course there are other stores that are reflective of the Arab retail world where you can buy anything from an Abayah to household goods. Generally after Asr salah on the weekends the malls are very congested with a parking lot full of cars and teens roaming in and out of stores and hanging out in the food court. Everyone who needs to find anything from a new outfit or a wedding gift. But isn't that the case all over the world? Many people ask what are prices like ?Are clothes more expensive? My answer is honestly I do not see a great difference in the cost. If I purchase a long skirt for $100SR at the current rate of money now that equates to approx. $26.66USD this is a great deal in my opinion. Some items that I would find very difficult to find in the US like a long skirt without a high split or a split at all is very easy here. Yesterday the mall was having some small sales offering 10% off as we all know is not much help in these economic times. But all in all we enjoyed ourselves munching on fries from KFC, sipping milkshakes and watching the kids on the rides. Oh yes, many of the malls have indoor amusement parks with a monorail that circles the food court, ice skating ring or roller blade ring which ever you decide, a roller coaster and host of other rides to many to name. Alhumduliah it is very family oriented and keeps the smaller children busy along with offering protection from the sun something that the outdoor parks (as fun as they also can be) lack. We usually go to the outdoor parks in the evening after mahgrib.
Coming from the US and living in the land of the Muslims you start to appreciate little things like being able to enjoy a day out with the kids and still be able to break to make salah in the musellah at mall. MashaAllah just little things like this would be so nice in the US especially in large cities like NYC, Washington DC and Phildelphia where the Muslim population is so large. You are either forced to delay the salah, praying in you car, finding a dressing room or I would many times just wait until after Zhur salah to go out so that I would have several hours before Asr prayer would come in. All of these options become the norm when living in the US depending on various factors like personal time limits placed on you by other responsibilities like work or even your spouse. There many things to do here in Medina from visiting the historical areas like Mt.Uhud, Al Haram, Masid Quba and Qiblatan or simple things like a picnic in the park, coffee or tea at Starbucks or a cafe, amusement parks, shopping in the mall or going swimming. Activities are offered for both men and women and for families as a group. The local universities offer conferences on health and business and sitting in on a Daroos from a well known imam or scholar in Islam can be found in the Haram or Masjids throughout the city. For many just a simple gathering at a family member or friends home for tea and conversation will do.
Womens musellah in the mall
