Cover Up

I went to one of the big malls during the week. I needed a new belt and tie pin so had a wander around. It coincided with the opening of a new department store in the mall so thought I would try my luck in the new shop. It was 5 to 6 and the opening was to occur at 6 o'clock so decided to wait around and see if I could pick up an opening bargain. Outside the shop a large crowd was forming. It was predominately woman in abaya with their children. I felt decidely uncomfortable being a single male. While there were other men around they were with their families. So I moved slightly away. What I found interesting was that there were western woman in the crowd also. While they were appropriately dressed from a western sense I felt they needed to cover up. This was further highlighted this evening walking down the corniche. A young woman was running along in tights and a three quarter skin tight top on a Friday evening. The one evening that many of the male workers have off and congregate down near the water. It felt totally inappropriate. I not sure if I'm becoming a prude or whether I believe that as visitors to this country we should respect the cultural beliefs of our hosts.