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Opinion: After election, view from Saudi Arabia and the Edge of the World

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Opinion: After election, view from Saudi Arabia and the Edge of the World

I haven’t had a column in the paper for a bit. That’s because the day after the election I got on a plane and flew to the other side of the earth, eventually ending up at a place known as the “Edge of the World.”

The timing was a coincidence, mind you.

This trip was planned months ago. My wife, Toni, was working in Saudi Arabia at the WTA Finals, the end-of-year tournament for the women’s pro tennis tour. Since neither one of us had ever been to Saudi Arabia and she had a big birthday while there, she suggested I join her for the end of the tournament and a few days of sightseeing.

Saudi Arabia isn’t a place we ever would’ve chosen as a vacation destination. But it was a memorable trip.

The first thing I learned: Just by traveling around the world, you don’t get away from American politics.

On the way — from New York to Germany and then Saudi Arabia — I kept seeing and hearing about the election. It was a topic of discussion on a shuttle bus in Frankfurt. It was on televisions and the front-page of newspapers. Europeans seemed to be surprised, amused, worried and, in many cases, a mix of all of the above.

And when I made it to the hotel room in Riyadh and turned on the television, there was a news channel in Arabic. Behind the anchor was a picture of the president-elect. I couldn’t read the text or understand what was being said. But there were several other channels from around the world in English. And I was able to get online and read U.S. news sources.

But instead I flipped to a channel that looked like a Saudi version of ESPN.

To play, or not to play

I had mixed emotions about going to Saudi Arabia and Riyadh, the booming capital of an authoritarian kingdom that has been using its oil riches to make sports a big part of a transformational push.

We’ve seen this hit home, with the Ponte Vedra-based PGA Tour battling an upstart Saudi golf tour, before ultimately partnering with it.

But the debate about the WTA Tour going to Saudi Arabia was different for a variety of reasons, particularly because it involves women’s sports. And the difference in opinions might’ve been best illustrated by the reactions from two tennis icons, Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King.

Navratilova weighed in on the side of this being another example of sportswashing, the term used to describe using sports to distract from rights records. She told the New York Times: “We lost our moral high ground when the women decided to go there.” She said there needed to be more change first.

King supported taking the tournament to Saudi Arabia, saying holding it there is the kind of thing that leads to change.

“I’m a huge believer in engagement,” she said. “I don’t think you change unless you engage.”

This is one of those instances when I can see both arguments.

There certainly have been some dramatic changes in Saudi Arabia. One example: A decade ago women weren’t allowed to even attend sporting events.

So it was one thing to have a tennis tournament featuring the world’s top female tennis players, and it was another to see the stands full of Saudis — and not just Saudi men, but couples, families with boys and girls, and groups of both young men and young women.

The final was surprisingly raucous, particularly considering that unlike a Florida-Georgia game there isn’t a drop of alcohol. A large number of Chinese fans traveled to Saudi Arabia to support Zheng Quinwen. They waved flags and filled the arena with call-and-response chants, which led the rest of the fans — mostly Saudis — responding with “Let’s go, Coco” chants for American (and Floridian) Coco Gauff.

After winning the final in three roller-coaster sets, Gauff said she hoped the event would inspire young Saudi girls.

From watching the crowds for a few days, I’d say it not only did that, it also had an impact on the brothers of those Saudi girls, showing them female athletes who, as the public address announcer said during introductions before the final, have “changed the game” and “redefined power.”

At the tournament, I spent a fair amount of time outside the arena, in a fan zone, watching people enjoy playing some of the tennis-related games. At one point I was sitting at a table near a group of teenage girls. They were dressed in conservative black clothing, their heads covered. They also were taking selfies, giggling. In other words, they were teenage girls.

That was one of the recurring epiphanies that probably shouldn’t have been one, the cliche about how, for all our differences, people are people. And the people we met were overwhelmingly kind and welcoming.

Some would say the tennis event was somewhat of a bubble. I’m sure that’s true to a degree. But after the tournament, we spent time in places quite removed from it, places where we stood out quite a bit.

When we went to the At-Turaif District, ruins that now are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we thought we would be among many tourists. But on this warm evening, the vast majority of the people there were locals, many dressed in traditional attire, particularly the women. (We dressed in Western attire throughout our time there. Toni did wear clothes that covered her shoulders and legs.)

People were having their phones scanned at the entrance. We didn’t have tickets. Toni asked someone how we could buy two.

“No tickets for you,” he said.

We were thinking he meant this was a place where we weren’t allowed to go.

“You are our guests,” he said with a smile, extending a hand toward the entrance.

Disconnect by connecting to edges of world

At the end of our trip, we did something that Toni wanted to do for her birthday: We took a ride, leaving behind the glitz of Riyadh — a place where massive buildings and sprawling parks seem to be popping up everywhere — and heading about 60 miles, ending up bouncing down some dirt roads, at one point stopping to check out the camel that had wandered away from a nearby farm.

Our guide proudly told us he owned his vehicle, a white Chevrolet Tahoe. I told him my sister works for Chevy (actually General Motors, but I didn’t want to try to explain). Throughout the ride, he played pop music, mostly American artists. That was one thing that struck us: There already are a remarkable number of American businesses, products and influences in Saudi Arabia. It seemed like there was a Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts around every corner. (And yet we don’t hear much about “coffeewashing.”)

We eventually reached the end of the road, parked and walked to the place they call The Edge of the World. It’s an apt name. Cliffs drop more than 1,000 feet to a seemingly endless expanse. 

We sat on the edge of one of the cliffs, this time with a very international group — Dutch, German, Japanese, Australian — and watched the sun set. It reminded me of being at the Grand Canyon, for at least a few moments being immersed in a timeless awe and calm.

Afterward, we both said we were glad we made the trip.

None of this is meant to dismiss the valid criticisms and concerns about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record past or present, particularly when it comes to freedom of speech. You and I can criticize our leaders in ways that the Saudi people cannot. I don’t take that for granted.

A couple of days later, I was happy to get home, back to my own bed, back to roads that suddenly felt less chaotic, back to politics that still felt every bit as chaotic.

I do think it’s important for Americans to stay engaged. I also think it’s important to disconnect and, I’d recommend, connect to natural places. And we don’t have to go to the other side of the earth to do that.

A few days after returning, I went for a sunrise run on the beach, a place that also feels like our own edge of the world.

mwoods@jacksonville.com

(904) 359-4212

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