When I was invited to a one year old’s birthday party for my Saudi friend’s daughter, I pictured a couple hours of celebrating her with cute decorations, a smash cake, some gifts… but I was a bit unprepared.
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My 1st mistake was arriving on time at 7pm. 😆 At the request of my friend, I brought Ezra with me (he was 2.5 months at the time) so I was anticipating staying as long as he could last. My 2nd mistake? Not putting on enough makeup or wearing a fancier dress. 💄
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The party took place at a property one can rent for such occasions. The main room was beautifully decorated, as you can see in the photo. Women perched on sofas around the perimeter of the room, partaking in trays of sweets as they were passed around and taking selfies as music blared. Minnie Mouse and a clown were parading children around the garden area outside, occupying them while the women mingled.
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Finally, at 11:30pm Ezra couldn’t take anymore. He was past his limit and decided he would not be falling asleep anywhere but his own crib. As I piled on my apologies that I wouldn’t be able to stay for the meal, or the little girl’s cake eating photo op, we made our way to the exit as other guests were just arriving. 😳
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I love this as an example of what a late night culture Saudi has. People stay up until dawn and sleep until the afternoon (unless they work – then they go to work on minimal sleep and take a long nap when they get home). Even kids and babies are on late schedules. Restaurants will be sparse at 6pm and packed at 9pm. Weddings, parties, and events all take place well after the sun has gone down. I think the main reason is that it’s just too hot and miserable to do much in the day.
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I’d be a fan of this schedule if I didn’t have a 6:30am alarm in the form of baby cries. But I also know quite a few Saudis who’ve told me they prefer the American schedule – they know their sleep schedule is detrimental to their health (and their kids’ health) but it’s just too difficult to make such a big lifestyle change that would put them out of sync with the rest of their family and friends.
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⏰ Which schedule would YOU prefer?
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