BY ELLEN WILLIAMS-MASSON
Monroe Times
Many students look forward to their first high school dance with excitement and a bit of trepidation, but for one Brodhead sophomore, his first dance was more than a traditional rite of passage.
Ahmad Algouaiz is a 15-year-old exchange student from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and in his culture, co-ed dances are forbidden.
“In our country, the boys and girls are separated, “Ahmad said. “Women cover their heads and don’t drive cars ” they have drivers. Everybody is together here (in the U.S.), and people can hang out with girls.”
Ahmad explained that males and females are separated at a very young age in Saudi Arabia, attending gender-specific schools. They don’t mingle for social functions, even within the extended family.
“I hang around with my brother and sisters, but not my female cousins, “Ahmad said.
The family’s home has separate living rooms for men and women to entertain guests, and marriages usually are arranged by the parents. Once a young couple becomes engaged, they may be allowed to become acquainted before the wedding, although the level of interaction is usually governed by their families’ beliefs.
Ahmad is the son of Mohammad Algouaiz and Johar Almurshed and has a brother, Abdullah, and two sisters, Fahda and Anoud. His father is a manager in an electrical firm and his mother is a school principal.
From Saudi Arabia, Ahmad and 14 other boys and two girls are part of the Partnership for Learning Youth Exchange and Study Program. They are studying in the U.S. through the AFS intercultural program.
“I like to see other countries’ cultures, “Ahmad said.
The young traveler has visited France, Austria, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain and Orlando, Fla., on vacations with his family and has studied English since he was born, attending an American school in Saudi Arabia for kindergarten.
Jonathan and Wendy Heise and their 17-year-old son, Josh, are hosting Ahmad. They have learned much about the Muslim faith and culture since he arrived, they said. The Heises also have a 19-year-old son, Zachary, who is a sophomore at UW-Madison.
“I was an AFS student in Argentina and we wanted to host a student while we still had a child in school, “Wendy said. “Ahmad started in Madison with a temporary host family, and it seemed like an opportunity that we couldn’t pass up. Josh always wanted to be a big brother.”
Besides the adjustment to a co-ed lifestyle, there are other differences that Ahmad has observed. It rarely gets below 30 degrees in Saudi Arabia and in summer the temperature may reach more than 121 degrees ” but it’s a dry heat. Many Saudi homes, including Ahmad’s, have swimming pools for relief from the high temperatures.
What has been a relatively warm fall here has proved to be a challenge for Ahmad as he adjusts to cooler weather. Wendy said their guest is “already needing lots of blankets. “Another cultural difference is that Ahmad is accustomed to having two maids at his home, with a clear division of household duties. In the Heise household, Jon cooks and the family cherishes their two dogs, which occupy places of honor in their home.
In Saudi Arabia, pets are rare and fathers who cook even rarer.
Saudi homes are also constructed of concrete, with high privacy walls surrounding each house. Families are more likely to buy half a camel than a side of beef, and pork and alcohol are forbidden under the tenets of the Muslim religion.
Boys are strongly encouraged to keep their hair closely shorn, and Ahmad plans to stretch his wings a little by growing out his black curls until it’s time to return home.
The devout Sunni is remaining true to his faith, however, and has been fasting for Ramadan, eschewing food from sunrise until sunset. The Heises hope to take him to visit a mosque in Madison while he is here, and Ahmad will also be experiencing a Heise family wedding in Maine.
Ahmad shares many interests with American boys, like playing video games and watching some of the same TV shows in Saudi Arabia that are available here. He hopes to wrestle and has started lifting weights with a strength coach in preparation for the wrestling season.
“He likes to keep busy, “Jon reported. “Our lawn has never looked better ” he doesn’t get to drive a lawn mower at home.”
When asked if his family was concerned that the lifestyle in the United States might be too abrupt a cultural change for him, Ahmad said his family believes in exposing their children to the world.
“They encouraged me to come here, “Ahmad said. “I like small towns better than Madison, though.”
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