May I See Your ID Please

I made my first trip to KAUST's recently opened beach today.  Much to my surprise, it's a coed beach.  The rules dictate some common sense in choice of apparel but that's about it.  It's located a couple of miles from the main housing area while the beach much closer and directly in front of the seafront homes remains fenced from access.  There are so many things here at KAUST that just don't seem to make much sense.  This is just one more.

My trip to the beach did remind me of something that is ubiquitous at KAUST which is the need for an ID.  To enter the beach area you must show your id, write down your id, sign your name and whether you are a "single" or "family".  Yesterday, to get a mailbox which everyone is supposed to have you must show your id, write down your id, address, mobile number, etc., etc..   To ride the shopping bus to Jeddah, you must show your id.  I guess that's the one facet of living here that causes me to realize just how tenuous KAUST's existence is.....there is constant checking to see if you belong.  (The miles of fencing topped with razor wire could be another clue, I suppose.) (Oh, and the guards with automatic weapons, truck mounted machine guns, and occasional use of a mirror to see the underside of a vehicle are also indicators.)  This radical (for Saudi Arabia) concept of men and women more or less freely mingling engenders its share of ill will among the religious conservatives in the Kingdom so a certain level of caution is to be expected.

 

Back to the beach.  As you can see above, there are kayaks and paddleboats for rent.  There is a refreshment stand with drinks and food for sale.  There are "lifeguards" by the dozens.  They outnumbered the beach goers today, for example.  Whether walking around, sitting in lifeguard chairs, riding 4-wheelers around or sitting offshore in boats, they're everywhere!  There is also, of course, lots of fencing.  As noted, I have to assume it's for our protection but it gets a little stifling after awhile.

This view is looking back at the University and is taken just to the left of the picture above.  The shallow water area in the foreground is a tidal basin and the tide was out when I took this photo.