Ladies, you don't have a choice. A man must accompany you everywhere. You can't have a job or a car. You must find a man to sponsor you, and he will decide what you can and can't do. Education stops after freshman year. Choice of religion: Muslim or nothing. Welcome to life in Saudi Arabia.

"I didn't realize how lucky I am to be able to do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to," said special education teacher, Mrs. Debbie Standen, of returning back to life in America after living in Saudi Arabia from 1982-1984.

The government controlled all daily life, she explained, who was living in Saudi Arabia because of her husbands job.

The Saudi women cannot go anywhere without their sponsors, otherwise men on the street will give dirty looks, yell, or try to grope them, according to Mrs. Standen. "One time my husband and I were shopping with another couple, and I somehow got separated from him; as I was walking down the street, I literally felt like I was being carried because of all the men touching me. The men just had to touch me because I was different looking than the other women there," she said. Serious crime is not a large problem in the country because punishment is severe. Chop Square was an executing square, and if someone was charged with murder or stealing, the criminal was taken there and publicly executed, or had his hands chopped off, according to Mrs. Standen. "There were six or seven beheadings while I was there, but I never went to one," said Mrs. Standen. "You would walk into a store and pick up a Time magazine, and throughout the

magazine were blacked out words and pictures that the government didn't want you to see." The government would also not allow a single Pepsi or Ford product to be imported into the country because those companies had manufacturing plants in Israel.

Only men can have bank accounts, and there are separate elevators for males and females. When you are taking a bus, there are seperate seats for the women to sit in. When eating at a restaurant, there are separate rooms to eat in for women and men, according to Mrs. Standen.

On returning home to America, Mrs. Standen said,"I was very happy to be home and I felt a new found admiration for this country. Living in Saudi Arabia made me realize how lucky I am... I think that all experiences are awesome. I grew a lot."