A nude experience in the Middle East

[islandguy]

Not sure where this should go, so put it here!

Well, although I had always slept nude since my teens, I had never gone nude during the day.... then I started work in Saudi Arabia back in 1988. Of course the climate was a lot warmer than the UK (not hard most of the time...lol) and I was on single status. After a few weeks i found myself in my permanent accomodation, a trailer type on a concrete base... housework was a breeze, as an Indian guy was my 'houseboy' as he introduced himself on the first day. the fact he was into his fifties didn't change his title! The air conditioning was hit and miss, some areas were cooler than others and soon I started to live in shorts and a tee, then moved onto a sarong in the summer months.One morning I got up to make a cup of tea and didn't bother to put anything on... just couldn't be bothered after making the tea to go back to the bedroom and get dressed, so stayed like it for the remainder of the day (It was Friday, so no work and no houseboy). it progressed until most days at home I was naked. next step was to screen off part of the sun shelter outside and sit nude enjoying what breeze there was...

The compound where I lived was for single status guys; all fellow Brits with a few other nationalities thrown in. The staff were predominantly Indian, Sri Lankan and Filipino. Over the years I had houseboys from several countries and I soon got used to someone around the house for a few hours cleaning etc.
Before long I was was mobile, having bought an old car and discovered some of the beaches within a 30 minute drive of the house. beaches are either 'family', therefore mixed, or 'single' i.e. male only. They are patrolled by the police and occasionally the 'mutawah' or religious police (their full title is 'Committee for the promotion of virtue and the suppression of vice' as I remember) These are not guys to mess with, though they have no arrest powers unless a policeman is with them. Hence nudity is not common on the beach! (Or speedos either...lol). We always smiled when on the beach, as the local guys wear baggy white cotton shorts as underwear, which became swimwear - seeing them emerge from the sea and realising that white cotton is no longer modest when wet...
So I settled down to a routine of nude around the house, weekends on the beach; I guess life wasn't too bad...lol. As yet I had not found anyone I could share my love of being naked with; internet access came late in my time there and no magazines in the shops, of course! So I continued my lone nudism.

[islandguy]

Re: A nude experience in the Middle East

(continued)
Well, time passed by... Saudi is a great place to concentrate on hobbies and even try something new; so I took up fishing, as we were on the coast. I tried during the day, but it was far too hot, even with shade to go more than an hour or so. As an experiment I switched to night fishing... Much better, not so many police patrols, no Mataween and much cooler.... Of course, I still had to remain clothed to an extent - it was a public beach! There were few problems, I was mugged once, by the world's politest mugger (a tale for another day...) which cost me 1.50 (10 riyals) and a policeman wanted to be more than friends (top tip, pretend you know no Arabic what so ever...).
I did however make friends with a younger Saudi guy who fished from the same stretch of beach and helped me improve my Arabic with our conversations. (He spoke very little English and I had been attending classes at the British Institute). he said he was military from Jubail (a town with a big naval base), as I worked on the airbase we had a natural affinity. The friendship developed and I got to visit his family home he shared with his brother and his family; because of culture etc, this is not as commonplace as maybe it would be in other countries. People who have visited there will know what I mean...
After a few months we were over at my place after fishing for a few hours and it turning cold(!).. He had visited before and had been fascinated by the internet (you bought so many hours access, very slow and very censored). A great game there was 'Saudi Roulette' - how many 'dodgy' sites could you find before getting "...access to this url denied..." (My record was 8...). I had previously found a nudist site (a German one I think... can't remember the name) and had added it to my favourites. Of course AR (my Saudi friend) found it.. Now, the reaction I expected, based on the students I had worked with, would take one of two forms, (a) horror and shock, 'very bad, forbidden, etc...' or (b) great exitement, grabbing of certain body parts etc.
AR's reaction was different... "Why?" I tried to explain as best i could (had to use the dictionary several times...lol). he just thought it was one of those weird things Westerners did. (Like eat pigs, let our wives go shopping, have car insurance etc...). We returned to our conversation from before, watched a video and he went off home.

A few more weeks passed... Nothing more about the web site had been said; we continued our fishing routine as before. on the beach, if it was a warm night I would be in shorts and a tee, AR would be in the local version of western clothing, tee and jogging bottoms; if it got too hot (in the summer it could still be 35C at 2am!) we would do without the tees. neither of us worried about getting wet, as you soon dried. one summers night, AR stood up and removed his jogging bottoms, to reveal his baggy boxers - keeping his local modesty. "That's better", he said. as he had a dark skin all I could see was a disembodied pair of white boxers in the dark, which looked funny. We continued fishing for a while, then said "Me German!", pulling off his boxers and running into the sea! I was stunned; the last thing I expected was him doing that - knowing the little I did do about the culture... Out of the water he came, lay down on the sand and said, "Go swim too" - so I did... So there I was, naked on a beach in Saudi Arabia with a Saudi guy naked near me... First thought through my head... 'Where are the police?' Followed by, 'How do I explain this at work if I am arrested?'
We stayed like that for about 15 minutes, then put our shorts etc back on. I asked him if he liked it; he shrugged his shoulders... Oh well, I thought, he won't do that again......

[islandguy]

Re: A nude experience in the Middle East

(continued)
Turned out I was wrong... A couple of weeks after the beach incident we were at my place having our usual post fishing coffee and video, when he asked to see the site again. Fired it up, but I knew it had been blocked.... He was disappointed and we searched for some others, but to no avail. Off to the bathroom went AR, returning a few minutes later in just his baggy boxers. Sitting down, he pointed to me, laughed and said, "No clothes!". Oh well, I'll keep him company, so stripped to my boxers. Back we went to the movie (Star Wars with sub-titles). After a while he stood up, removed the boxers and sat down again; I did the same. So there we were on opposite sides of the room, watching Star Wars naked. Nothing said, just enjoying quality time together as nudists. I was amazed at what had happened, it seemed weird and natural at the same time.....
It was to be the first of many such times over the next year or so; they were never pre-planned, they happened when AR was in the mood and he did say once he enjoyed them.
More stories to follow....

[NYLancelot]

Thanks for sharing your story. I guess in that context, that is the most you can expect in terms of 'social nudism'. One has to feel pity for those in the more repressive cultures, where they dont have the clubs, resorts, and beaches that we take for granted.