How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph.Page)
Quote #4
My God, he thought, did people belong in this part of the world? The Earth is an animal that shakes off its fleas when they dig too deep, bite too hard. It shifts and our cities fall; it sighs and the coasts are overtaken. We really shouldn't be here at all. (XV.41.107)
When Alan is brought face to face with the Saudi Arabian landscape, he feels even more like a stranger in a strange land. It's clear to him that humans really are the "other" on planet Earth—and it's just a matter of time before we're all given walking papers.
Quote #5
"Let's have a joke," Yousef said. "For good luck."
"That a Saudi custom?"
"I don't know. I never know about our customs. Or what people think our customs are. I'm not sure we have customs" (XVI.66-68.118)
Alan learns pretty quickly that Saudi Arabia is a "place of contradictions." There are customs and laws, and then there are those unspoken attitudes and behaviors that really rule the country. It's really disconcerting for Alan. But it turns out that it's not so easy for the residents, either. Yousef reveals here that pretty much all of them are ad libbing, all the time.
Quote #6
Again his guidebook had been incorrect. He had been told unequivocally that though there were plenty of women doctors in the Kingdom, they wore abayas, and rarely if ever treated men. Only in circumstances of emergency, life and death, when no male doctors were near. (XIX.33.158)
When Alan first meets Dr. Hakem in the hospital, he doesn't know how to act or where to look. He thought he had a handle of the role of women in Saudi society, but it turns out he doesn't really know jack about it. But before you judge his naivete, know that even Yousef is surprised by Dr. Hakem. It's another instance of Saudi Arabia making up the rules as it goes along and knocking everyone off balance in the process.