Saudi Aggie

Life is Full of Changes

2010-12-15T15:55:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that the first KAUST masters student graduation and commencement is tomorrow! An impressive majority (more than 50 percent) of these graduating students have chosen not to leave, but to continue their education at KAUST this coming year - either by beginning a thesis project or going straight to Ph.D. research.

Other students are pursuing diverse and exciting employment opportunities around the globe. Saudi Arabian companies, such as SABIC and ARAMCO, have offered jobs to Saudis and non-Saudis alike, and even to the female students; other students will be working at high-caliber multinational corporations such as Dow Chemical and Proctor and Gamble; and, not surprisingly, an impressive number of students are beginning to join start-ups or to create a new company with the help of KAUST's seed fund to further an idea or discovery which was made here. Whether in Saudi Arabia or abroad, pursuing a Ph.D. or a career, the graduates have an exciting future.

In other news, the labs are looking much better. This Professor is proudly posing in a stocked biological laboratory. Reagents are now arriving within weeks rather than months, and equipment has steadily cleared procurement and customs - a huge leap ahead from only one year ago when almost all research materials seemed to be held-up indefinitely by a disorganized procurement supply chain and a tight-fisted national customs office.

Return to KAUST!

2010-12-13T07:09:00.000-08:00

It is good to be back at KAUST and among friends after many months away. A lot has changed since I left the KAUST campus six months ago - for one thing, construction on campus is significantly reduced, and most of the fences have been removed as work is completed. The sound of birds is now more common than jackhammers here.

This is a view of campus from the oposite side of the Harbor, which was previously inaccessible because of construction.

The Yacht Club (a dining area) is finished, and new spiffy signs help to direct new members of the community.

The Yacht club sports an impressive mural on one side wall.

More random art: this one looks like it is inspired by a Norwegian longboat.

A new venue for events in the same area.

Hibiscus flowers grow where there was only sand before.

Another piece of weird art - perhaps an ostrich?

There has definitely been improvement... and the most important changes are not in the buildings.

While I was away...

2010-12-13T06:36:00.001-08:00

Life has been busy - and blessed - since returning to the USA in May. I spent some time with my wife in New York, got a job as a process engineer for a start-up company called e2e Materials, and have generally just been living life.

Just because I have entered the work force, my education has not stopped. Being part of a dynamic and growing company and working to engineer a process for material which has never been produced at scale has been challenging and rewarding.

On another note - my home has had snow all month. There was quite a bit on the ground when I left... Saudi Arabia's mild, warm winter is a pretty nice break for now.

The Last Dive Trip

2010-12-13T06:26:00.000-08:00

I just recently ran across these old photos from the last dive trip I made in May with KAUST friends. This was one of the most beautiful yet, but halfway through it my camera batteries died so I only have these three to show for it.

Diving is the one activity I have missed most since being away, and I don't think I will get another chance to go again.

The coolest thing I saw (which I do not have a picture of) was two clown fish swimming at me and all around me to distract me from their tiny little baby in a nearby sea anemone.

Home Again!

2010-06-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

It was nice to come back home to Texas. After meeting the new students in College Station, I met up with my wife and we whirlwind tour visiting my parents in Houston, two friends who were married in Victoria (below) my grandparents near Corpus Christi and my grandparents and Carissa's parents and grandmother who are from Waco and the College Station area.

Congratulations, Steve and Amanda!

It was fun hanging out with the old folks in Texas, and a blessing too. Love y'all lots!

The Next KAUST Class

2010-06-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

Just two days after completing my last final, I was whisked away to College Station in my home state of Texas to help with the KAUST Pre-Departure Orientation for next year's class of graduate students who are currently in the USA and Canada.

Here they are! This is only a small fraction of the incoming students, there will also be orientations in London, Mexico City, Beijing, Cairo, and Jeddah.

The new class endured two full days of informative speaking and question sessions hosted by KAUST administrators Najah Ashry and Faizi Ghodsi, KAUST professors Michael Berumen and Alyn Rockwood, KAUST students Justine and myself, and a keynote address from MIT Professor / KAUST Investigator Ahmed Ghoniem shown lecturing above.

Congratulations to the new incoming class! Your accomplishments will be many, I am sure, and the new challenges will be different than those of the founding class which I was privileged to be part of. I look forward to hearing and reading more from you as your adventure unfolds...

Busy Busy Busy

2010-05-08T03:37:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I haven't had much time to post, but life really isn't that exciting these days. I am working long hours to finish the final assignments of the semester: two research review papers and three finals.

My research paper topics are:

"Comparing membrane bioreactors with conventional activated sludge treatment for organic micropollutant removal"

and

"State of the art wastewater treatment and biological degradation mechanisms for microbial fuel cells"

My final exams will be:

Reaction Engineering

Physical and Chemical Treatment Processes

Clean Fossil Fuels and Biofuels

Sounds exciting, huh?

I took a few hours for lunch with friends and a basketball game yesterday, and I plan to play a little frisbee this evening, but life at KAUST is mostly work right now... I am learning a lot.

I am not the only busy student. One of my mechanical engineering friends complained of four engineering projects that would be due in the next two weeks, the computer scientists are always programming something, and many of the other biologists and marine scientists are also writing frantically these days.

Busy times.

Correction to Blog Post Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

2010-05-08T03:13:00.000-07:00

It has been brought to my attention that the "Saudi Oger Recreation Director" mentioned in this post is actually a KAUST-Aramco manager who oversees Saudi Oger's recreation contract. The contracted workers who were suspended are Saudi Oger employees.

Apologies for this misstated fact and the confusion it may have caused. The information has been corrected in the original post.

Reflecting on Jeddah

2010-05-06T01:27:00.000-07:00

The Jeddah fountain is, I've heard, the tallest fountain in the world and the city's most distinctive landmark. It is a beautiful sight at night.

I've been to Jeddah more than a dozen times since August for friends, food, and shopping and it has become one of my favorite places in Saudi Arabia - not for the city itself, but for the people who live here.

Jeddah is one of the most diverse cities in the Kingdom. Jeddah has been a major trading port for millennia, and many of its citizens can trace their heritage back to faraway lands in Asia or Africa. More recent immigrants have stayed, sometimes illegally, after preforming Hajj or Umrah. Almost all of the two million Hajj pilgrims come into and out of Jeddah's airport every year.

This cultural mixing is evident in the old market, Al Ballad. Multi-ethnic merchants are selling pashminas from India and Pakistan, carpets from Afghanistan, fruit from Jordan, and every other thing one can think of.

The customers are just as diverse this picture is taken from the gold market - a fun place for the ladies (and their husbands) to browse for fancy jewelry.

Rich and poor, young and old, Saudi and non-Saudi - everyone is here in the old town.

Northern Jeddah, especially along the water front, is much more modern (and more expensive) and has been built up with large houses, fancy hotels, and marinas full of some of the most gigantic yachts I have ever seen.

Eating is another of my favorite Jeddawi pastimes. One of the most famous, and definitely the most crowded restaurant chain is Al Baik, which is a bit like Kentucky Fried Chicken except much, much better (and cheaper!)

Al Baik gets packed. Sometimes these little restaurants get so crowded there is not any room to sit down inside.

Al Baik isn't the only place in Jeddah, this is a pretty traditional chicken and rice dish I got to shared with some friends during Ramadan last year.

And of course, I can never forget the weeks we spent at the Intercontinental hotel and the beginning of the fall semester!

I'll end this reflection with the first picture I took in Saudi Arabia: the view from my hotel window across to the Red Sea.

Jeddah's been great - Ive been to so many restaurants and malls, some friends houses, some coral reef diving trips, and even a wedding. I can't do the city or its people justice with just a few pictures.

Sometimes I wish that KAUST were built bit closer so it would be easier to maintain relationships in the city, but I guess there are reasons for everything.

The Haircut

2010-05-06T00:57:00.000-07:00

I can't understand the Arabic spoken by the Moroccan or Turkish barbers (their accents are MUCH different than the Saudis) and they don't speak much English at all.

So getting a haircut at KAUST is always an adventure - because I never know what I will walk away with. One month ago I had a bad experience - the guy took almost an hour to whittle my hair down to nothing. I think I could have done better with an electric razor in five minutes...

This week I got the Turkish guy with a crazy mullet and sharp streaks of styled facial hair across his chin. I wanted desperately to tell him that I wanted a more normal haircut than he was sporting, but the language barrier only allowed me two options: "short" and "long." After trying to convince my barber of the merits of "medium," and him not understanding, we finally settled on "short-long," which he seemed happy with and went to work.

The only successful conversation (I did try!) we were able to share during the whole operation was:

"Where you from?"

"USA."

"Ah."

He did a great job with the sides and top, but when it came to the back of my head, my mulletted friend left a lot of hair. I said "cut" and he said "no, this beautiful!" I said "cut" again and, a little disappointed, he finished the job.

I have enjoyed the small challenges that living in KSA has brought. Though communicating with the barber took a bit more work, I had fun. It helps to have a sense of humor here.

In spite of the challenge, and with a modification at home, everything turned out just fine...

... and now I have a small story to share!

Discrimination at KAUST

2010-04-27T05:05:00.001-07:00

Personal Freedoms

I value my personal freedoms, and as a privileged member of the KAUST community I do have lots of freedoms. I am free to go to the restaurants, the market, the library, or the gym any time I want to during business hours. I am also free to come and go from the KAUST compound any time I like. Really, I am free to do almost whatever I please (within reason), except to spend time with the Filipino and Bangladeshi guys who work service jobs at KAUST. This irks me. I don't care about adding one more privilege to the mountain I already have, but I do care for these men and women who have no privileges at all.

The Story of the Rich Man and the Poor Man

There is an old story about injustice - perhaps you know it - about a rich man who owned many sheep and cattle and a poor man who had nothing except for one little female lamb. The poor man raised her, and she grew up with him and his sons. She shared his food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms.

One day a traveler came to the rich man's house, but instead of taking one of his own animals, the rich man took the lamb which belonged to the poor man and slaughtered her for his guest.

The Little Lamb

At KAUST, there used to be a weekly basketball game between students and recreation staff. The recreation staff members enjoyed this game so much that they rearranged their work schedules to participate... it was the one night a week they could have fun and get some much needed exercise after standing or sitting at their job all day.

Four weeks ago, a terrible thing happened. The students left campus for spring vacation, but many of the employees came for basketball anyway. On that unfortunate day, KAUST-Aramco manager who oversees Saudi Oger recreation was watching. He was furious. The employees had violated one of recreation's unwritten rules: no workers are ever allowed to use the community's sports or service facilities. When it was discovered that most of them were Filipino employees, there was talk of firing them all and deporting them back to their home country, but there was also one Lebanese employee amongst the transgressors, and management couldn't fire and deport an Arab.

The Filipinos and company were given a final warning and suspended without pay for 3-5 days. Now there are no more games between students and staff, no more exercise for the employees, nothing to break up the daily monotony of their lives between working at KAUST and busing to the work camp. Now their little lamb is gone.

The Meeting

I arranged a meeting with the manager thinking that it was just a misunderstanding, but the injustice and prejudice against foreign workers runs deep here. The manager told me that my Filipino friends are dangerous people and that if they are given half a chance they will lie, cheat, steal, and otherwise endanger the entire community. They are not allowed to use the facilities, not just because of crowding during peak hours, he said, but because they are not welcome at KAUST when they are not working. They have no rights to relationships or recreation inside the KAUST community, he said, because these might be an inconvenience to me. That is just the way Saudi Oger employees are controlled.

"What do they do after work then?" I asked.

"I don't know, it is not my concern," was his response

Apartheid at KAUST

At KAUST, there are more than 4,000 permanent contracted employees to serve only 1,000 residents. Most of these men and women are from Bangladesh and from the Philippines. They are bussed in every morning of every day from their work camps in Thuwal or Jeddah to wipe our windows, polish our floors, sweep our houses, wipe our toilet seats, and sit behind desks handing out tennis rackets and bowling shoes. Each employee works 10-12 hours a day, six or seven days a week, and is "not well paid," according the the manager.

There are four Filipino and Bangladeshi workers for every one KAUST student, professor, and staff member. Whenever one of the contracted workers greets me with a smile and a wave, he makes me both happy and sad. Happy because those gestures are genuine, but sad because as long as Saudi Oger's rules remain unchanged, this is the only interaction we will ever have. They are nameless persons without freedoms brought here for our convenience. Having contracted workers in this way is kind of like owning slaves, Arab News says, and it makes me sick to my stomach. It is difficult for me to live in a community which systematically separates and excludes so many people who work here.

Business Incentives

Why does KAUST need 4,000 services staff for 1,000 KAUST students, professors, and employees? We don't, but perverse business incentives have made the system what it is today.

Filipinos and Bangladeshis will work for almost nothing because the economic situation in their home countries is so difficult. Contractors like Saudi Oger negotiate contracts with clients like KAUST based on the number of employed workers and total work hours. If a company makes more money for providing more workers who are "not well paid," then the business incentive for Saudi Oger is to bring as many workers as possible. Unfortunately, having so many underpaid, overworked, and under-respected employees means that there has to be some extra rules to control the crowds.

The Problems

To keep control, passports are confiscated, walled compounds with crowded bunkhouses are constructed for sleeping and eating, and contracted employees are only allowed to be at work or to be at the compound. No fun, no other human interaction.

Though this apartheid may be acceptable in other parts of the KSA, it makes many of the foreign visitors at KAUST feel uneasy. We need a better model.

A Suggestion

Quality over quantity might be a better philosophy of hiring. What if we had 800 or fewer contracted workers instead of 4,000? Fewer employees means easier care and control, and maybe the salaries and standard of living could be raised a little bit too. Instead of busing thousands of workers in and out of the KAUST compound every day, perhaps a few hundred economy apartments could be provided for these skilled employees. With a better standard of living, better salary, better treatment than the average worker in Saudi Arabia, and membership in the KAUST community, there would be far less incentive for the imagined lying, cheating, and stealing which the manager is trying to prevent.

With fewer workers, maybe a few cash registers at the supermarket would remain unmanned, maybe a maid might not be available to clean my house within ten minutes of calling housekeeping, and maybe some of the windows on campus would remain smudged longer before being wiped, but increased trust and respect between people might be worth a few dirty windows. The janitor and I could shop in the same supermarket, use the same public bathrooms, send our children to the same school, and maybe even play a little basketball together. Does that sound too radical?

Wedding After-Party

2010-04-21T01:43:00.000-07:00

After the wedding we went out for a few hours of Sheesha and talked and laughed late into the night about the evening's events and antics. One of my friend smoked the largest "hubbly-bubbly" I have ever seen; I called it the kilo-sheesha (in red).

الف مبروك يا عريس! / A Saudi (Jeddawi) Wedding

2010-04-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

One thousand congratulations to my friend who was just married! Last night, I had what may have been a once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend a Jeddah-style Saudi wedding. Pictured above are the groom (Arees) his father and grandfather as they began the festivities.

All of my Saudi friends insisted that Jeddawi (people form Jeddah) weddings were more fun than other weddings because they are so lively (at least on the men's side, I have no idea what the women were doing the whole time.) In this picture, the father (left), son (right), and two grandfathers (I think...) are dancing with swords. The old man in white looks was having a great time!

In Jeddah, as in all of Saudi Arabia and much of the Middle East, the culture of keeping men and women separated extends even to weddings. The men danced and celebrated with the groom from 9:00 pm to midnight while the women, unseen by us, were celebrating in kind in another large room. Rumor has it that when the men are away they take off their Abayas and wear the most beautiful and colorful dresses, but I cannot confirm this from my personal experience.

I don't know what the meaning of this tradition is, but it seemed important so I took a snapshot. Again, more smiling and more dancing.

The food was excellent of course! Lamb and rice is typical Saudi style and the tender, juicy meat was cooked to perfection. Notice that there are only three spoons at a table sitting eight people. Use your hands, silly American!

After the meal, the water stopped running in the bathrooms for a while (local pressure drop), leaving dozens of guests standing around awkwardly with rice dripping from their fingers. We were in Jeddah!

The band, pictured here, also doubled as a pep squad to keep everyone excited and involved in the festivities. I got pulled into the dancing more than once - they wanted to be sure that I, an obvious foreigner, felt completely included in the celebration.

I have never danced with men before, and I still have some natural American tenancies to shy away from these kind of things. But, in the interest of heightening my cultural awareness, making new friends, and having loads of fun, I overcame these cultural barriers. Shookran shebab!

Palestine: Bethlehem

2010-04-07T01:57:00.000-07:00

After visiting Hebron (El Khalil), I caught a taxi to Bethlehem to see the famous Church of the Nativity and spend the night before returning to Amman. The old church was beautiful to see.

I talked with both Christian and Muslim Arabs while wandering and reflecting in the church. Bethlehem is a place where people can live side-by-side in mutual respect without the religious tension which is felt in some other Middle-Eastern countries. This peaceful co-existence is further evidenced by the sunset-framed silhouette of a mosque's minaret across from the church.

After meeting the priest of the church, one of my new friends insisted that I had to cross the street and meet his Imam too. : )

After a full day's travel, I spent much of the night conversing, eating, smoking sheesha, and meeting the extended families of my Palestinian friends. Their hospitality was unbeatable - as a guest, I was welcomed warmly and treated to the best they had to offer.

But even in this peaceful suburb, the consequences of conflict and political unrest still loomed. Before leaving town the following morning, my friend insisted that I see where his little brother's final resting place lay - his life cut short by a bullet during a fight between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians some years ago.

The Koran's Easter Story

2010-04-05T13:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Easter, the most important of the Christian holidays. Though Islam and Christianity differ about other details of Jesus' life and mission, we agree on these important points: (1) he is not dead (2) his is with God in heaven. These are the Koran verses which describe the Easter we celebrated yesterday. n

سُوۡرَةُ مَریَم

وَٱلسَّلَـٰمُ عَلَىَّ يَوۡمَ وُلِدتُّ وَيَوۡمَ أَمُوتُ وَيَوۡمَ أُبۡعَثُ حَيًّ۬ا (٣٣) ذَٲلِكَ عِيسَى ٱبۡنُ مَرۡيَمَ‌ۚ قَوۡلَ ٱلۡحَقِّ ٱلَّذِى فِيهِ يَمۡتَرُونَ (٣٤)

Maryam

"Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!" (33) Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt. (34)

سُوۡرَةُ آل عِمرَان

إِذۡ قَالَ ٱللَّهُ يَـٰعِيسَىٰٓ إِنِّى مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَىَّ وَمُطَهِّرُكَ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ڪَفَرُواْ وَجَاعِلُ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوكَ فَوۡقَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓاْ إِلَىٰ يَوۡمِ ٱلۡقِيَـٰمَةِ‌ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَىَّ مَرۡجِعُڪُمۡ فَأَحۡڪُمُ بَيۡنَكُمۡ فِيمَا كُنتُمۡ فِيهِ تَخۡتَلِفُونَ (٥٥)

Al-E-Imran

Behold! Allah said: "O Jesus! I will take thee (blogger's note: muatwafeek means literally "to die" but is translated "to take") and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject Faith, to the Day of Resurrection; then shall ye all return unto Me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute. (55)

Jesus is alive, and he has shown us the way to heaven, this is why we celebrate this Easter!

The full story can be found here in English or Arabic.

Good Friday Reflections

2010-04-02T14:18:00.001-07:00

This is Good Friday, the Friday before Christianity's most important Holiday, Easter. Good Friday was actually the darkest and most terrifying period which the early followers of Jesus ever experienced.

There were no heroes that day. The disciples acted clueless and cowardly, the Roman guards were horribly cruel, the governor was contemptibly corrupt, the religious leaders unbelievably evil, and at the end of that terrible day Jesus lay buried in a tomb.

So why do Christians call it Good Friday... ? Because amazingly, death is not the end of Jesus' story.

If you are interested, the full story can be read here.

Palestine: Hebron (Al Khalil)

2010-03-31T03:44:00.000-07:00

My wife and mother both said I was crazy for crossing over to the West Bank of Palestine, which in not as unstable as Hamas' Gaza, but still has a history of violence and unrest. My first stop was Hebron (Al Khalil) and even in this dreary wet weather, the city and the surrounding countryside were beautiful in springtime.

One does not just walk around Hebron un-escorted. There are dozens of Israeli checkpoints and road blocks in the city center, and Israeli and Palestinian military police roam the streets everywhere. Accidentally wandering into the wrong neighborhood or military watch-post could get one in serious trouble with the police or the locals. Fortunately, I was able to find and hire this taxi driver who spoke excellent English to guide me through the old city.

There is so much tension in this ancient city because of the Israeli settlements which dominate the heart of downtown. These settlements were built decades ago, and they are infamous for being the only Israeli compounds built in the center of a major Palestinian city (see one below).

Two of the Israeli settlements actually straddle the traditional market, which is underground. The Palestinians have strung wire nets across the open areas to catch stones and trash which have been thrown down onto the market streets by angry Israelis. The rage goes both ways though... there were several barbed-wire fences in the old town through which my guide said militants from both sides would shoot at each other from time to time.
Hebron city is a mess. The Israelis have blocked off most of the major roads downtown and closed the Abraham Mosque to worshipers on Friday. The checkpoints and road blocks do not make it impossible to travel from one side of the city to the other, only very difficult. Traffic pours through tiny Palestinian neighborhood streets which were never designed for cars because the main roads are off-limits. All of these inconveniences, coupled with occasional gang raids and bombings on both sides, only make the tensions worse and worse. I didn't talk to a single Palestinian who hadn't lost a brother or cousin to one of these senseless acts of violence, and most carried the picture. Some of these people have exchanged Islamic faith for a religion of revenge, and that is what is most troubling.

Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory are not peaceful, they only exacerbate an already bad situation. After visiting Hebron, I can see why establishing Israeli "apartments" in East Jerusalem is such a bad idea. If the Israeli government is seriously considering such a move, then they are definitely not serious about peace.

The bright point of the day was meeting my host's family - his wife, children, mother and father welcomed me into their home for some coffee and conversation for a couple of hours late in the afternoon. In stark contrast with uniform distaste that Palestinians have for the Israeli government is their zeal for welcoming guests and making travelers feel comfortable in their restless country. I never felt unsafe in the West Bank, only welcomed by the limitless care and generosity of people like these.

Jordan: The Dead Sea

2010-03-31T01:56:00.000-07:00

We went to the Dead Sea on my last full day in Jordan and spent hours just floating around. The dead sea has such a high salt concentration that it is denser than the human body and people float instead of sinking.

One of my Chinese friends never goes into water for fear of drowning, but in the Dead Sea he said: "Oh! Now I know how to swim!"

"Swimming," if you can call it that, takes no effort at all!

Amman: Food and Friends

2010-03-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

The best experiences I had from visiting Amman were not the tours or the old ruins, but just sharing life and great food with friends. The two guys above are excited about Kunafa, a sweet dessert, from the most famous Kunafa restaurant in all of Amman!

I am convinced that Jordanians have some of the best food in the world, and Hashem famous among Amman restaurants. Hashem is known for its excellent hummus, foul (mashed beans), and falafel. If KAUST had a restaurant half as good, I would never eat anywhere else!

My stay at the smoky little Cliff Hotel was really enjoyable - mostly because of the manager. This man treated all customers like grand-children and he was never short of stories or good humor. As a Christian Jordanian with Palestinian roots, he had a unique perspective on the history and politics of the region.

My Jordanian hosts were terrific. In many ways, hanging out with these guys in the evening felt like hanging out with my old friends back in the USA. Being on the KAUST compound has a much different feel from driving around a big city like Amman. We went to restaurants and malls, and even took one evening to play video games against each other! Thanks guys for such a good time.

Jordan: Amman City

2010-03-30T07:12:00.001-07:00

I traveled to Amman for the spring break to visit friends, to play the tourist, and to take a much needed break from KAUST and Saudi Arabia. This has been one of my favorite vacations so far: Amman city is full of life, color, and music, a place where cultures from the east and west can mingle with relative ease. In Amman I saw a women in full black Abaya - Saudi style - walking and talking with a friend in jeans and a t-shirts showing... her hair! This mutual tolerance impressed me. The people of Amman are friendly, the food is amazing, and this hybrid laid-back culture doesn't take itself too seriously.

People have been living in this region for thousands of years. An old Roman temple at the top of a mountain and an amphitheater in the heart of downtown are hard to miss.

The weather was great - much cooler than Jeddah of course - and we even got a little rain! The green grass and trees blanketing the landscape on the outskirts of Amman were almost overpowering. I haven't seen that many green and growing things since leaving the USA last August.

I found Amman to be the perfect vacation spot. Its Roman ruins are not as impressive as Europe's, nor are its beaches as nice as Egypt's, or its scenic vistas as majestic as in the USA, or China, or Norway. But the quality of life is good, transportation is convenient and cheap, the food is amazing, the streets are safe, the people are more than wiling to sit and drink tea and chat with visitors, and there are more than enough places to sit, rest, and enjoy a little peace.

Dow Comes to KAUST

2010-03-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

This is spring break week for KAUST students, and the rest has been a much needed reprieve from mid-semester assignments, presentations, and tests. Two weeks ago, in the middle of this frantic time, Dow recruiters and deal-makers took the KAUST campus by storm.

Dow brought roughly a dozen representatives for two days of focused recruiting for summer internships and careers with Dow Chemical Company. Most of the business leaders which have come to KAUST have seemed much more interested in meeting with KAUST administrators than with students, but Dow's student-centered approach was refreshingly different and impressive. It was nice to have so much attention from an organization which might want to pay me once I graduate!

An Afternoon at Sea

2010-03-12T12:15:00.001-08:00

How do researchers pass the time when all of our chemicals are stuck in customs?

...

I went diving again today!

I dove with some colleagues at a reef and a wreck and, as usual, saw some beautiful fish.

I had a brief statistics population modeling project based on these little fish - Pseudoanthias squamipinnis, I believe.

These baby reef fish stayed quite close to their protective coral.

This large (1.5 ft) angel fish was the largest reef fish I saw today.

Beautiful purple corals.

We were lucky to spot a shy clown fish near the wreck.

Look closely and see dozens of tiny baby blue reef fish hiding in this coral.

Sunken Treasure

2010-03-12T10:47:00.001-08:00

These are some pictures from last weekend's ship-wreck dive. My friend's camera goes deeper than mine and I just got the photos from him. Enjoy!

Everyday People

2010-03-09T00:41:00.001-08:00

It is easy to gain a false sense of reality here at KAUST with all of the attention we are getting from kings, presidents, sheiks, and Ivy League Department Heads.

Today KAUST hosted a conference for respected Red Sea scientists. Two days ago, the Lebanese President came for a visit. The week before that, a drove of international diplomats stopped in for a tour. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton was in the area just a little while ago. Saudi Princes check in regularly.

These powerful politicians and researchers are always hurried and as they move between important meetings their entourage of guards, media men, black suits, and blue suits are buzzing like a swarm of bees, but they will often take a few formal minutes to spend with students - maybe to say a speech or shake a few hands - to spread a few bits of their wisdom and encourage us that someday we too, might be fortunate enough to be in their shoes. We might also have this version of "success."

Why should we be so fortunate? There are a lot of employees here at KAUST who have very little control over their life situation and plenty of time on their hands. These guys are happy to talk and make new friends if you give them half a chance. The noble Saudi security guards from Thuwal or Abha will never become sheiks or doctors, but they are rich with the everyday wisdom of kindness, sincerity, and friendship.

Then there are the "visiting" workers - so many Filipinos have signed two or three year contracts and left their families and country to live in work camps and work six or seven days a week for as little as a few hundred dollars a month - which is still better than being unemployed in their home country. They get no paid vacation or flight home, little leisure time, and little respect, but they are also some of the friendliest people on campus. Most speak at least a little English, and I try to make a little conversation every time I pass a guy on the street or in the gym.

"Visiting" workers fix our stoves, patch our leaks, and carve our melons...

Pour our coffee...

Polish our tile floors...

And greet everyone with a "hello sir!"

Another class of visiting workers comes from Bangladesh. These guys usually speak no English and are limited to the unskilled jobs which pay a little less and offer little chance for interacting with community members. Bangladeshis make up the majority of the construction crews, window washers (KAUST has tens of thousands of square meters of windows to wash), and trash pick-up.

Workers moving bookshelves in the library.

Fixing a wall in the library.

Scrubbing the sidewalk,

Watering the flowers,

And the trashcan.

Visiting workers maintain our gardens (no easy task in Saudi heat!)

A wave and a smile is usually reciprocated.

There are the occasional injustices. One Bangladeshi guy who spoke a little English said that he had worked for three months without pay, but his company kept promising to pay "soon soon!" This conversation was in October, I hope he has been paid by now.

Lots of sidewalks need fixing.

Construction crews are always thrown on a task in large groups.

More road work. Sometimes construction crews cause traffic problems...

I've used a jackhammer before - I would not want this guy's job!

Night shift going back to the work camp in the morning.

More road work.

Without these everyday people, KAUST would not function or even exist today. Filipinos and Bangladeshis provide almost all of the common services and have completed the lion's share of construction work at KAUST. Visiting workers built my lab, fixed my appliances, checked my groceries at the store, served my meals, cleaned the bathrooms, staff the recreation center, care for children, open doors (I can't believe that we pay people to open doors...), and take out the trash.

It is easy to be unmindful or even ungrateful when something is not done well, but these people are just trying to earn money for their families - they have no ambitions for power politics or publishing research papers. All they have to offer is priceless; sometimes just a wave and a smile.

The Richness of the Western Province

2010-03-05T23:36:00.000-08:00

The eastern province of Saudi Arabia is known for its petroleum resources, but the West also has rich treasures beneath the surface of the Red Sea. The western coast of Saudi Arabia is home to some of the most lively reef environments in the world... and I think life is far more valuable than oil.

I went to Jeddah with some friends to catch a diving boat trip on Friday. Every time I dip beneath the surface of the Red Sea, I am amazed by the colors and richness of life in the reefs.

Thanks to my marine scientist friends, I also learn something new every time.

Parrot fish grazing on the coral.

There were lots of these colorful clams in the reef.

So many different types of coral.

And lots of colorful fish too.

For me, snorkeling and diving is a needed release from the familiar routine at KAUST. Quality of life in the compound is good, but we are quite isolated out here in the desert . Breaks like this from study and research keep me sane - the feeling of freedom under the water is exhilarating.

Red Sea at our Fingertips

2010-02-26T07:08:00.000-08:00

I went snorkeling with two friends this morning in a lagoon near KAUST. The guy at right is a marine scientist who studies coral reef conservation and loves fish - I think if he could grow gills and live in the water he would. He was our informal guide on this trip and talked about the coral, crabs and snails, stingrays, and especially the fish as if they were all dear friends of his.

We just walked to the edge of the water and jumped in - it was great! I finally got a chance to use my underwater camera (a gift from my parents). The lagoon was shallow and a little murky. These pictures are not nearly as dazzling as those I hope to show from the big reef when I get a chance to go, but it will give you a shadow of an idea of the life that is just beneath the surface of the Red Sea.

There is a small blue fish at the bottom left in this picture. This was the only shy little fish I was able to capture on film today - I promise to have more next time!

Paperwork

2010-02-26T06:01:00.000-08:00

Saudi Arabian customs is one of the slowest and least flexible institutions I have ever dealt with. My lab group has a critical order sitting in Jeddah for five weeks - we have called to check on the paperwork and asked how long it will take to clear numerous times. Last week, I got this email:

Hi Nathan,

I have been informed that the authorization for the release of the shipment from customs has been delayed. Our customs agents are required to submit more paperwork and the delay will be at least 2 weeks.

I will check again at the end of the week and update you.

Our case is not unique. The King has invested so much money and effort into this project, but stone-wall bureaucracy in the customs office continues to frustrate us all by stifling research. Major reforms are needed even in government customs offices, for KAUST's research mission to thrive. I hope they don't kill us with paperwork before that reform comes.

My Research Project

2010-02-21T04:18:00.000-08:00

Contrary to what one might think from reading this blog, which is full of weekend stories and social interactions, my purpose for pursuing a graduate degree at KAUST is not to have fun in Saudi Arabia, sight-see in the Middle East, get paid a graduate stipend, or learn Arabic. I am not even in school to attend classes - mixed or unmixed - though I have been mostly satisfied with quality of the lectures so far. I was recruited to KAUST, along with so many other students, staff, and faculty, to do research in hope of discovering new things. I haven't said much about research on this blog for two reasons: (1) biological research was a little slow in getting started at KAUST and (2) I don't think you have the patience and the enthusiasm to read dozens of blog entries about my daily work.

My research project, however, is pretty unique and I'll try not to bore you with too many details. I am working with a small research team to develop microbial fuel cell (MFC) which harnesses bacteria's metabolism to produce small amounts of electricity from sugar and other carbon sources. MFC technology has potential to be used in wastewater treatment, but there are still many challenges to implementing this technology on an industrial scale.

This is a simplified drawing of the MFC process, taken from a research article by Bruce E. Logan et al published in 2006. An MFC has two electrodes - an anode and a cathode. Bacteria growing on the anode donate electrons to the circuit if there is a voltage difference between the anode and the cathode. The voltage difference is created by an electron acceptor at the cathode, which can be oxygen, iron, nitrate, or any of a number of elements. The membrane is a barrier which prevents the electron acceptor from diffusing from the cathode to the anode, but allows ions, such as hydrogen, which are byproducts of the bacteria's metabolism, to pass from the anode to the cathode.

Microbial fuel cells can be modified by including a third chamber for salt water, and used to desalinate water without adding any heat or electricity - in fact there is still a small net electricity production in this laboratory demonstration. This reactor is called a Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC). The picture here is taken from a research article by Xiaoxin Cao et al, published in 2009. Salt (sodium chloride) is removed because of a chemical potential difference. Negatively charged ions, such as chlorine, migrate to the anode, while positively charged ions, such as sodium, migrate to the cathode. As ions migrate, the water in the middle chamber becomes purer.

These are not mature technologies and there is no 100% guarantee that MFC and MDC technology will be appropriate for water reuse and desalination in the future. There are still many challenges with bacterial community stability, sustainable cathode design, and scale-up losses. However, MFC and MDC technology is versatile and I am excited to work in a new and potentially promising field. If some small thing that I do at KAUST can someday lead to making more fresh water available for people in countries that need it, I will consider my time and efforts here to have been well spent.

Saudi Rap

2010-02-18T20:59:00.000-08:00

I bought a CD yesterday... and I have to say I am a fan. Qusai was born in Riyadh, raised in Jeddah, and learned his craft in Los Angeles. He's definitely no Tupak; his style fits his Saudi heritage - and a blend of Middle East and Western rhythms gives his rhymes a unique sound.

I like Arabic music a lot, not just rap but more traditional Debkat and other stuff too. However, Saudi Arabia is not known for musical taste and talents. There is an uneasiness in Saudi Arabia (and even at KAUST) about playing music in the public sphere, because some conservatives believe that music is "idle talk" and would take offense.

So in the KSA there are no public concerts, no music festivals, and not even soft background music in malls and grocery stores... which, if one comes from a musical culture, is really a pretty strange transition. I have heard that in Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, and Lebanon music remains a part of everyday life - why is KSA different?

The moralist might say that there is lots of "bad" music available, and the public should not be exposed to "bad" music. But it doesn't make sense to hush all music if one thinks that some is bad. Music is one of the most powerful forms of emotional and spiritual expression than man is capable of; when there is a festeval or a wedding, music feels natural. Music makes thoughts, words, and even people, come alive.

I haven't found much in the Quran which references music - either good or bad. Maybe someone who knows more than I can point me in the right direction. There are a few verses about singing praises to God; minaret callers certainly follow these guidelines when they sing the call to prayer.

The Bible (Torah and Injeel) is a bit more clear on the subject of singing. Music is an integral part of the Jewish and Christian religions and traditions. The words sing, song, and music appear 188, 115, and 106 times in the Bible - almost all in positive contexts.

I love music, and even if I can't go to a public concert right now, I will keep singing until the day that I die. Life is too good to stay silent.

إن شاء الله

2010-02-18T09:10:00.000-08:00

The Arabic phrase, insh'allah, can be either full of meaning or meaningless - it depends on the context and on the person who is speaking. Insh'allah is one of the most common Arabic phrases used in everyday conversation. Uses range from "insh'allah I will meet you at 8:00 for football," to "insh'allah you will have a healthy child soon." Insh'allah means, "if it is God's will." The correct use, according to my Arabic friends, is to wish someone good fortune in an endeavor, or to assure a friend or business associate you will do everything in your power to complete a task.

When I hear insh'allah from upper management though, I am sometimes discouraged. If someone says insh'allah he can mean that he really does not want to do this thing or that it cannot be done... in other words, the commitment or deadline will only be met if there is divine intervention.

So to take insh'allah as "yes" or "for sure" every time is too optimistic. "Inshallah, the labs will be open in August 2009," or "insh'allah you will have all of your books for the fall semester," or "insh'allah the gym will be open next week"... are all improper uses of insh'allah.

I still like the phrase insh'allah - we have a similar concept in the New Testemant (Injeel), as found in the book of James, chapter 4.

Insh'allah reminds us that in life, we do not have the final word. Insh'allah means that I realize I am not all-powerful and I do not know everything; I am only a man. I will do everything in my power, but I am only a man. If God allows this to happen, it will happen. If he does not, then it will not.

That reminds me of a story from early in Christian history. After Jesus was taken up to heaven, the religious leaders in Judea wanted to kill the Christians, but there was one religious leader named Gamaliel who spoke out against the persecution.

Acts, chapter 4:

So... insh'allah I will graduate in May, inshallah I will get a good job afterward, and insh'allah I will see my family again soon. Ultimately though, it matters more what God wants more than what I want, and that is comforting in a way.

Lab Training

2010-02-15T13:27:00.000-08:00

Today I had a laboratory training session on three different instruments: total organic carbon and nitrogen analyzer, uv-visual light spectrophotometer, and a spectroflourophotometer, all of which were delivered and calibrated yesterday. There is beginning to be more activity in the labs as equipment, chemicals, and biological reagents come into the Kingdom. The equipment is making the KAUST labs look more like a real research university, but there is still quite a bit of work to be done.

Supply chain problems continue to plague biological researchers who cannot get restriction enzymes, microbial samples, and other products. The big problem is that there are lots of problems. Moving requests through the central ordering system has been a slow process and some things just never were ordered. Once things are ordered, Saudi Arabian customs has also been massively inefficient in letting materials across the border. In the shipments, some items have been misplaced for weeks before they are finally found in a random warehouse in Jeddah.

Weeks may not sound too bad to the casual observer, but high-tech biological researchers who have come to KAUST are used to one-day shipping. Many of the biological samples and reagents are ruined if they spend more than a few days in transit... three weeks in a customs office will totally destroy a shipment of enzymes or microbes.

But things are improving. My research team will start to reproduce some basic experiments next week (insh'allah) and we should be able to move in a forward direction by mid-semester.

How long will it take to move at full speed though? I don't know. Not until next fall at the earliest for chemical and biological sciences, insh'allah. The whole ordering and customs system has to be completely redone for research to really work here at KAUST.

Continued New Year Celebrations

2010-02-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year became one of my favorite holidays when I lived in Beijing for many reasons: food, fun, and fireworks... and the celebrations last more than a month! Chinese New Year is kind of like Ramadan, when most people take a break for a few weeks to visit with family and enjoy the holiday. The Chinese students hosted a wonderful outdoor dinner for their peers this evening. The dumplings, fried rice, meat, and steamed vegetables were very tasty. Thanks guys!

I hope you can tell that these students are not Chinese... guys from Jordan and Lebanon can also get into the spirit of the Chinese New Year!
In addition to food, there was Chinese caligraphy (everyone wanted their name painted in Chinese characters), some cultural quiz games, hot air balloon launches (shown above), prizes...

... martial arts demonstrations (above), and traditional music (below). Good job guys, we had a lot of fun!

Faith and Science - Why get a Ph.D?

2010-02-14T13:16:00.000-08:00

One of the most inspiring spiritual talks I have heard in a while was in the Physiology and Metabolic Engineering Class. Surprising?

Next time we will probably discuss genetic engineering for stress tolerance, but this morning, Ray Bressan, shown here, gave a charismatic chalk-talk explaining why we should all aspire to get our Ph.D. "tickets." According to Dr. B, a Ph.D. is not an accomplishment, it is not something that is necessarily earned, it is essentially a piece of paper which gives a person the ticket or the license to discover things - and sometimes get paid for it.

Ph.D. stands for Doctorate of Philosophy coming from "philo" from the Greek meaning loving and "sophia" meaning wisdom, so one who earns a Ph.D. is one who is recognized as "loving wisdom."

So what is wisdom? Wisdom is more than knowledge. Knowledge is what people "know." Wisdom is a respect for God and his creation, which includes many things we do not know. The Bible says that the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." The Koran has a similar definition.

Therefore by definition, someone who has earned a Ph.D. is a lover of wisdom, who respects God's creation and realizes there are many things that are not known. Do I have to go to school for more than twenty years of my life to recognize that?

But the Ph.D. is also about seeking to understand what is unknown - that is where science comes in, and there are a whole history of persons from the West and from the Middle East who have influenced scientific thought and the scientific method to become what it is today.

So is a Ph.D. right for me? I am not sure what the future holds yet; I need to focus on finishing the masters first and see what doors that will open. Right now, only God knows what the future holds for me.

I can say that in my experience, religion and science, faith and reason are complimentary rather than contradictory. Science can measure and explain creation, but it can never quantify or explain God - that is why we have faith. Faith alone, on the other hand, is not a satisfactory system for building an oil refinery, or planning a city's highway system, or writing a system of laws and government. God gave us a mind so that we could understand some things, but we will never fully understand everything. The deeper one delves into the realm of physics, or of genetics, or of human thought, the closer reality comes to exceeding the human limits of thought and imagination. Faith and reason are inseparably entwined.

Campus "Art"

2010-02-14T12:41:00.000-08:00

One of the indicators that the KAUST campus is coming closer and closer to completion (insha'allah) was the sudden appearance of strange pieces of sculpture at random across the community. These inspired pieces range from interesting to just plain strange... some of these I really have to wonder "why did they put that there?" But then according to the architects who designed KAUST, that was partly the intent. The metaphor goes something like this: along the path to discovery, you often come across things you don't recognize. For better or for worse - it worked. KAUST campus definitely has its own unique style.

Is it a snake? Is it a human head? Whatever it is, somebody probably paid too much for it... Many of these funny shaped stones sprouted up in gardens and grassy areas while we were away during winter break.

Though most students immediately think "football," (translated "soccer ball" in the United States dialect) this shape is actually most closely related to the Western wiffle ball, which is like a baseball except it won't break any windows. Maybe is is meant to be an atom or something? I don't think atoms look like that, so I'll argue that the artist was trying to promote wiffle ball - I don't think the sport has caught on in KSA yet.

Is it a telescope or a giant robotic ant? I change my mind every time I walk by. Maybe we can just split the difference, launch it into space, and call it the first KAUST satellite.

Again, I am not really sure what the message is here. If you look closely, you will see that the metal has little hands and is wearing high heels on its little feet. I guess it is a female metal ring-thing welcoming us to... eat at the restaurants? Interesting, but a little creepy at night.

These don't make sense at all. The loopy metal mesh on the ground is in the middle of the sidewalk and cannot be seen until the pedestrian stumbles onto it. The pointy metal mesh on the left is poorly placed because it is sticking into the sky interferes with the sunset view from inside the main diner.

This is an eight foot tall picture of the king himself made out of old computer parts with paint splattered over them. His beard is actually a collection of motherboards. I like the reuse theme and the creativity, but I am not really sure what inspired it.

I think these shapes are inspired by diatoms - microscopic, calcium carbonate shell-forming plankton which naturally exist everywhere at the ocean surface. I like these, but their placement is again, kind of random.

What do you think? As for myself, I would rather have the art than not. The sculptures create a very unique character at KAUST. I do hope that they didn't pay too much for some of this weird stuff though...

Happy Year of the Tiger!

2010-02-13T14:30:00.000-08:00

We celebrated the coming of the Chinese New Year with dinner today. The New Year festivities this picture was taken right at the turn of the new year at 7:00 pm Saudi Time (midnight China time). The dumplings for dinner were awesome. : )

American Journalist Visits Yemen

2010-02-07T00:52:00.000-08:00

Thomas Friedman, one of my favorite opinion writers, wrote a thoughtful article about Yemen today, which is definitely worth a read.

Mr. Friedman said that Yemen was, "not what I had expected."

I cannot count the number of times I heard a foreigner say that about Saudi Arabia, or any other country in the Middle East. Similarly, I have heard the same thing about KAUST from visiting professors who have come during the WEP, and about the USA from students here who have visited.

A wise man once commanded his followers not to judge each other, because we will also be judged; the same measurement we use on others will also be used against us. If I have learned anything in my travels, I have learned that I cannot make judgements against people if I have never visited their country, lived in their culture, or walked in their footsteps; and fully understanding those things can take a lifetime.

Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the USA, are all very complicated countries. They have diverse populations with diverse needs. Much is said and thought about these three countries and the people who live in them by those who have never even visited for a single day. This stereotyping is not right, but it is the way people are.

On a bleaker note, Mr. Friedman speculated that Yemen might be the first country to completely run out of water in 10 to 15 years. This would be a terrible tragedy, and I do hope that in the next decade some of the research thrusts at KAUST can help to make desalination and reuse technologies cheaper and more accessible before Yemen, and other countries in the region, reach a water crisis.

Driving to the Desert

2010-02-04T12:04:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago, I went to the desert. True, KAUST, and most of Saudi Arabia, is already "in the desert," but this particular place is one of our friend's childhood favorites.

Going to the desert is not about sand and scenery as much as it is about good food and coffee, and good company. In this picture, my friend is serving Arabic coffee and teaching us some of the customs which come with this traditional drink. We also prepared and ate a barbecue fit for Bedouin princes and princesses, and stories under the sunset and stars were perfect evening entertainment.

The weather was perfect for it too - and completely different then the deep freeze I was in just a few weeks ago! Short sleeves were comfortable in January, and in the shade of the mountains we didn't sweat much either...

... except when we had to push the suburban out of some sand, but even that is kind of adventure is expected when going out to the desert!

My Wife Comes to KSA!

2010-02-04T11:00:00.001-08:00

My wife (right) and one of our friends while shopping in Al Ballad in Jeddah.

Isn't she cute in her abaya? (Don't worry, Love, I won't suggest that you start wearing it in New York!)

Carissa finally had a chance to come to KSA for a two week visit during the Winter Enrichment Period, and we had a blast! We had dinners and games with friends, shopping in Jeddah, a barbecue in the desert, and lots of fun just hanging out together. Being married at KAUST is not half-bad and Carissa said she wouldn't mind living in the KSA if work or study opportunities keep me here long term.

Unfortunately for me, my best friend returned to New York when classes began last week; she is pursuing a Ph.D. at Cornell.

A word on abayas:

It is not necessary for women to wear abayas at KAUST. While considerate attire is officially encouraged, wearing abayas is purely a matter of personal choice. When traveling outside of the KAUST compound, to Jeddah to go shopping for example, abayas are pretty much required.

Hijab (the head scarf my wife and her friend are wearing) is not mandatory for non-Muslims in Saudi Arabia, but interestingly, the girls elected to cover their blond hair to avoid gawkers in the street. Two girls with uncovered blond hair is a bit of a jaw-dropper in the Kingdom.

In some ways, social sensoring has made Saudis naive and sheltered and interestingly, this is most common argument I have heard for continuing to enforce strict dress codes on women - that the society cannot deal with women in jeans and a t-shirt because it would be sensory overload.

So beautiful and independent-minded wife actually felt more comfortable in Hijab than out of it while we wandered Al Ballad, but friends and family shouldn't expect her to change fasion sense State's-side.

WEP WEP WEP!

2010-02-03T13:54:00.000-08:00

Students and faculty are in the throes of what is now the third week of the Winter Enrichment Period or WEP. The WEP principal is actually very good, though in practice student experiences have been mixed.

The WEP is four weeks long, between the end of the fall and beginning of the spring semesters, and a variety of courses are offered to students free of credit, tests, and homework (though there are exceptions) which range from entrepreneurship, to Arabic music, to marine science classes. Some KAUST professors offered seminars, but the bulk of the teaching was actually done by visiting professors from Cambridge, Cornell, MIT... the list goes on.

A complete listing of this year's WEP schedule is available here as a google document, though it is a little difficult to use because of the information overload.

Some courses were well attended, and some were not. I know that "Technology Entrepreneurship," taught by a visiting professional from the Thunderbird School of Management, was overwhelmingly popular, but then some of the more focused talks, such as "Advanced Finite Elements with Applications to Numerical Reservoir Simulation," might have only been attended by a few bright students who could really relate to the material.

Only four of the available courses required homework, and I am in two of those. While some students spent their evenings creating new WEP euphemisms such as the "Winter Em-boring Period," or racked up dozens of medals and free t-shirts at WEP athletic competitions, I was in the library scrambling for academic journal articles and plowing through assignments every day. I even missed the basketball tournaments, and that was very sad.

Overall though, I enjoyed the WEP. One of the side benefits for students who have taken the initiative is networking with partners who came to KAUST for WEP. I was even encouraged by one partner to apply for a Ph.D. in his lab - and I have started the application process.

As for courses, many were great... there is plenty of room to improve upon for next year.

Most of the students have enjoyed this "enriching" period, but I think that the real enthusiasts are somewhere in the staff offices. Marketing here was a bit extravagant - we even have two WEP buses!

New York: The Land of Ice and Snow

2010-01-09T16:11:00.000-08:00

Ever have one of those days where you get up in the morning and can't remember where you parked your car the night before? It's been happening to me a lot recently...

Cari and I went to Taughannock Falls a while ago and I'll bet most of my friends and family in Texas and Saudi Arabai have never seen a river like this before. Winter here is inconvenient sometimes, but beautiful too.

Is Allah God in Malaysia?

2010-01-08T09:04:00.000-08:00

Is this Islam?

Churches Attacked in Malaysian Allah Dispute

I can understand people being upset at disrespectful Danish cartoons (though I think reactions in 2006 were a bit harsh), or concerned with the Minaret controversy in Switzerland...

Why is it ok to firebomb churches in Malaysia when Christians also want to call God "Allah?"

This hatred doesn't make sense to me. Maybe there are some missing details in the New York Times article?

It would be nice to see this type of violence against non-Muslims protested by known Islamic religious leaders as extremist, just as the Danish cartoons were condemned by the Mufti of Egypt, and the minaret controversy immediately drew reactions from leaders in Syria and Turkey.

I've heard it said that Islam is a religion of peace and discourse, and I am upset whenever leaders twist the Koran's or the Bible's words to justify violence and a political agenda.

Some spiritual words which are on my mind today:

Al-Nahl, 16:125

Call unto the way of the Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and reason with them in this better way. Lo! Thy Lord is best aware of him who strays from his way and he is best aware of those who go aright.

Sand : Thuwal, KSA :: ____ : Ithaca, NY

2010-01-07T07:04:00.000-08:00

Choose the best answer.

A) Wind

B) Sunshine

C) Snow

D) Hippies

Snow is ubiquitous these days, and Cari and I have taken advantage of the inclimate weather to practice what has become one of our favorite marital activities together... cross country skiing! :)

This is what happens when you ask a native Texan who currently resides in Saudi Arabia to dress for cold weather: he over-prepares.

Winter has completely blanketed the landscape and it is beautiful. Snow, like sand, makes one's surroundings seem completely quiet and peaceful. Cross country skiing - after I learned to go forward without falling over - has become a relaxing experience for me.

I know that not many people back home in Texas or in KSA get to see scenery like this. Just wanted to share!

The answer is C) Snow.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2009-12-30T05:17:00.001-08:00

Season's greetings! These are a few pictures from my holiday vacation with my wife. We spent time in New York City and an Maryland's

beaches on our way to visit some of my wife's relatives in Virginia for Christmas.

New York City was full of lights, activity, and last-minute shoppers. This picture was taken from the top of the Rockefeller building - one of the tallest in New York. The Empire State Building can be seen lit up on the left in this picture.

A picture of Times Square, for those friends and family who have never been there. The mass of people which are out until all hours of the night can be overwhelming for the first-time visitor. This part of the city is always full of activity.

Our morning hike through Central Park was beautiful. A huge blizzard blew through the city two days before I landed - snow like this is a real treat at Christmas time. The weather here is completely opposite of Jeddah. Yesterday, the temperature was -8 degrees Celsius, cloudy, and snowing in New York where we are living, compared with 28 degrees Celsius and sunny in Jeddah.

Tomorrow, we driving to Washington DC to celebrate the New Year with some friends. My wife and I wish everyone a safe and happy New Year, wherever you are!

Khalas for now!

2009-12-21T07:21:00.000-08:00

I finished my last final less than two hours ago. Now that all of the frantic studying is behind me, and I have finished my courses with (Inshallah) A's and B's, I can look back on this semester with satisfaction. A lot has happened in just four months and I can safely say that this has been my busiest semester of school yet.

KAUST has come a long way too. Administrators are settling into their roles and delegating more work to an ever-growing staff. The students will be moved into permanent housing in January and (Inshallah) have fewer problems with maintenance. Some of the construction fences have been taken down and buildings have been finished. Even the large grocery store is now open (which has seriously increased the happiness of almost all KAUStians!)

Many things remain to be improved upon as well: biology labs still have much work until they are fully operational, the lab consumables supply chain is questionable, the housing really isn't finished yet (but we are moving in in January...), a lot of decision making is still happening at the highest levels and sometimes seems disconnected from student and faculty concerns, the beach is still colosed off, and there are still hundreds (if not thousands) of construction laborers working at KAUST every day.

Hopefully some of those things will be sorted out during the vacation. In the mean time, I am badly needing these next three weeks back home in New York with my family.

Goodbye KAUST! I don't think I will be gone long enough to miss you, but I look forward to another, even better semester in the spring where I make new friends, strengthen old friendships,visit new places, learn more valuable science from new courses, and start some real laboratory research!

Hanging Out in Riyadh

2009-12-17T03:39:00.000-08:00

Riyadh is a business city, not a tourist city. Seeing museums and malls doesn't take more than a day or two, but visiting with friends and their families, especially during the Eid Holiday, was the best experience I've had since coming to Saudi Arabia.

Local friends were eager to show me what they through was the best that the city had to offer, whether that was going to a favorite restaurant, touring a museum, driving into the desert to drink camel's milk, or coming over to a father's house to drink coffee or play X-box.

My friend's little cousin was fascinated with talking to me. He quizzed me incessantly on sports stars and American pop singers. He know more than I did about pop culture! When asked why he was asking so many questions, he responded by saying that he had never met an American before and wanted to know if I really did know all of those things! Sometimes I worry about the image that is portrayed through media and movies exported from the USA...

I have missed being with families. My world at KAUST is filled mostly with other students my age and with faculty and staff who are older. Families are different though - and I have missed being with people from all ages and all backgrounds, not just with students, academics, and the foreign workers who have been hired to run our services.

Just hanging out was a blast. There is something freeing about hopping in a car to cruise around town with the music up and friends to joke with. This was a much needed break from the walls and windows of the KAUST library.

I think I suffered from drinking too much tea and coffee - a necessary component of any group gathering in Saudi Arabia.

And of course, the Sheesha in Saudi Arabia is better than any I have tried in the USA!

Food in Riyadh

2009-12-17T03:25:00.001-08:00

So much socialization in Saudi Arabia revolves around meals (and coffee). I thought I'd share a few pictures of different cuisines my friends treated me to while I was in Riyadh. Even though we were in the heart of Saudi Arabia, there is a great variety of ethnic restaurants to choose from, but the best food is always found at family gatherings.

Big barbeque

Yemeni food (the banana/cream/nut/honey dish was excellent!)

Syrian / Lebanese food (grape leaf rolls at left)

Saudi style barbeque

Home cooking

Fun Police

2009-12-17T02:59:00.000-08:00

The influence of the religious police is felt much more strongly in Riyadh than in Jeddah.

One evening, I was waiting on a friend and made the mistake of walking in to a coffee shop on Tahlia street right before prayer time. Not only was I unable to order a hot drink, but while I was indisposed the staffed locked the front door and refused to let me out of the shop. I tried to reason that leaving a store during prayer time could not be possibly against any religious rules, (what if I wanted to go to the mosque?) but he was immovable.

"No, no, no," he told me, "last warning from Muttawah!"

Uh oh.

I think this store had been reprimanded a few times before for serving customers during prayer time, so I finally gave up on convincing him verbally and just stood in front of the locked glass door. Me being in full view of the street made him even more nervous, and I was quickly let out.

Riyadh doesn't mess around with prayer time. Prayers are called five times a day, and most stores close for up to 45 minutes or risk a reprimand from the Religious Police. The same happens in Jeddah, but for some reason, in Jeddah it doesn't feel as forced or as legalistic.

Also, in Jeddah I haven't heard Religious Police discussed as much as in Riyadh - maybe there just aren't as many. Some people praise them as a good influence, and many young people ridicule them in private jokes or complaints for the restraints they force upon youth, but Saudi Society sees them as a necessary force to enforce cultural and religious practices which are not quite civil law.

Shopping Riyadh

2009-12-17T02:47:00.000-08:00

I didn't shop in a single mall while I was in Riyadh. I really dislike malls. Everything is brand-names, new and shiny, and overpriced. The open markets feel much more real... and I can get better bargains too!

My American friend took me carpet shopping to "the best carpet shop in Riyadh!" After spending hours in his store learning about the qualities and histories of each regional style, I have to agree.

Every carpet has a story. Each one an expression of art and heritage. Each hand-made carpet reveals its maker's tribe and country, affluence, and skill. I bought a beautiful red and blue carpet from Afghanistan which look forward to laying out on the floor in my States-side apartment.

Touring Riyadh

2009-12-17T00:43:00.000-08:00

When I told some Saudi's that I was going to Riyadh, their initial reaction was usually, "why do you want to go to Riyadh - there is nothing to do in Riyadh!" That is simply not quite true. For the common American tourist, there are skyscraper-malls to visit, museums and historical districts to wander about in, and streets lined with restaurants, fancy cars, and restless Saudi teenagers.

The Al Saud family has ties to Riyadh which date back to 1744 with the creation of the first Saudi State. Since that time, the Al-Saudi family drifted in and out of power in that part of the desert, until 1902, when the late King Abdulaziz bin Saud returned to his family's ancestral capital and stormed the mud castle named Masmak with a small band of twenty or forty men, taking its inhabitants completely by surprise. This tiny skirmish was perhaps the most felicitous change of fortune in the Al Saud family's history, as oil was discovered only 36 years later.

Al Masmak still stands today, and was an interesting visit for the first time visitor to Riyadh (and for my "local" friends who had never been).

An example of traditional decor.

A map of the expansion of the third Saudi State from 1902 to the present day.
Descriptive museum signs. : )

A lineup of kings from Ibn Saud to Abdullah.
A 100 year old Koran.
"Chop-chop square" (I don't know its real name) where criminals were famously de-limbed or decapitated in public. (This doesn't happen much anymore.)

Pigeons.
My friend running from a flock of attacking pigeons.
Atop the Kingdom tower lookout bridge. The bridge offers a great view of the whole city.

The national museum was very interesting for me. Not only did I learn a lot about the history of Saudi Arabia from ancient times to present day, but I also learned a lot about how a society perceives its role in the world as the historical home of the Prophet Mohammed and the Two Holy Mosques.

In the USA, we have divorced spiritual significance from national and natural history in our museums, but in the National Museum of Saudi Arabia, religion history, natural history, and political history are presented side-by-side and intertwined. Among the divisions of history were such labels as: "Pre-Islamic," "The Prophet's Mission," and "The Islamic Age."

An old desert oil exploration truck.

Hanging out on Tahlia street after touring museums, I thought the snowflake displays and lights around palm trees were a bit ironic. A crisp chill in the evening air and spending time with families during the Eid Holiday made me think of the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years season back home.

"Upside-Down Days"

2009-12-16T23:44:00.000-08:00

In front of a tired and tested group of students last night, our Provost for Academic Affairs told students that, "there will never be another first semester at KAUST!" Everybody cheered.

This has been the most stressful week yet for me, and I think for most students, faculty, and administrators as well. Final exams started this week, and end of semester projects were also due, but beyond those normal academic stresses have been others which are unique to KAUST: housing changes, lots of IT problems, registration problems, and even a minor security issue all while trying to study for tests. My friend from Mexico called them "Upside-Down Days" I term I thought was both funny and fitting. It has been a struggle to keep patience with people and with systems at times, but I have not yet despaired. Finals have gone well so far, and I will be back home in the USA with my family in just five days!

During a typical Upside Down Day this week, I would:

Have the internet cut off a phone call with my sister back home...

Discover that a group biostatistics project that was almost finished had to be completely redone because of one mistake...

Wait in class for a professor who never showed because he was called to an emergency meeting with the president's office...

Hear rumors that all students will be moved from their current houses to permanent houses after finals (moving is stressful...)

Find out that free coffee at night in the library has been discontinued because a stingy business owner (who charges way too much for coffee during the day) is upset about students using his milk at night...

Migrate from computer to computer in the library until I found one that both worked and had internet (IT problem...)

Endure criticism from irate campus security who threatened "big problem for you" to my study partner who had just connected a lan cable to his laptop to try and get internet which wasn't working anyway...

Throw my hands up in disgust when I finally got online and access to all online notes and study materials was denied because all student passwords were changed (another IT problem) just two days before an exam...

Get five hours sleep that night and do it all again the next day...

Score an 'A' on my exam at the end of the week!

I don't think that any of the students would like to relive this first semester at KAUST. When we all come back after the vacation, I hope to return to a KAUST which has left many of those organizational problems behind. Being the first class has been trying, everyone has had expectations which have not been met in some way or another. Some days I feel like those who survive to graduation should be given a medal, not just a degree, for smoothing out a rocky path which others will follow for years to come.

Still glad to be here though - and I will be back for more in January!

Eid Mubarak Riyadh

2009-12-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

View from Al-Mamlaka (Kingdom Tower) at 300 m, 1000 ft

During the Eid break, when most students left the KAUST campus to vacation in such exotic places as Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, and India, I booked a ticket to Riyadh, the capitol of Saudi Arabia. I had a great time in Riyadh! (I wonder how many Americans will say that?) I met up with some old friends and made a few new friends as well. Traditional hospitality in this part of the country is incredible - I ate very well and was only able to pay for one meal during my travels (the meal I ate with American friends) and I drank more tea and coffee in four days than in the past four months combined! I owe a very special thanks to Mohammad, Abdulaziz, Mohammed, Abu Malek, Mrs. McEvers, Abdulrahman, Mishaal, and Mohammad for going out of their way to make me feel welcome.

Riyadh, situated in the heart of Saudi Arabia, conjures in the Western mind images of desert, camels, men in long white robes, women in long black dresses, mud houses, expensive sports cars, and religious police. I encountered all of these things in Riyadh, (even the religious police!) but there is so much more to this ultra-modern city and the people who inhabit it. This is not your grandfather's Riyadh, anymore.

The skyline is dominated by two very tall skyscrapers, Al-Mamlaka (Kingdom Tower, shown here) and Faisalia tower, which is famous for its multi-story rotating restaurant. The streets are wide, straight, and clean - a stark contrast to Jeddah which is a much older and congested city.

There are some (relatively) old parts of the city too. Most of Riyadh as it exists today was built within the past 50 years or so. The old style mud houses can still be found (some of them crumbling away) in old downtown and the Ad Dir'iyah area, in the Northwest corner of the city.

Since I arrived at KAUST, I have felt that there was something very important missing from daily life. In Riyadh, I found what was missing: visiting with families, meeting new people from many different backgrounds, and just hanging out with friends and cruising around the city. I have been missing normal daily interactions with people who are not students or faculty and who live in a real city, not a compound. My days in Riyadh with Abdulaziz's and Malek's families, and hanging out with all of the other friends, new and old, have refreshed and revitalized my spirits. Four days away, and I have rediscovered a love for travel and developed a new respect for the everyday people of this country. Thanks again guys.

So much happened in Riyadh that I will have to cover the trip in future posts. Hopefully, I will have time during the next few days between studying my brains out for finals and organizing a new research project. Ma' salama!

Jeddah Flood Volunteers

2009-12-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

(Photos are used with permission from my friend Rami.)

Our prayers and thoughts are with those who lost family in the Jeddah flood. Some of the oldest, and most densely populated areas of Jeddah, a city of more than 3.4 million people, were underwater after unusually heavy rains (by Saudi Arabia standards). The city's infrastructure was overwhelmed and hundreds of people died. Some of the KUAST students also have family in Jeddah who were affected by the flood waters.

This crisis was and is terrible, but Jeddawis responded generously by giving their food and time to relieve the poor people who are suffering from the flood.

Last Wednesday, "Friends of Jeddah," a Saudi NGO, organized more than 500 volunteers to unload, sort, and repackage donated food boxes at a warehouse in North Jedddah to be distributed amongst the people who lost property and loved ones in the flood. One volunteer estimated that they sent out at least 10,000 packages that day, each one holding one week's food supply for one person. Four KAUST students joined the Saudi volunteers on Wednesday.

According to my friend Marc, the relief effort was efficient and well organized. "It was neat to see so many Saudis willing to lend a hand," he said.

The official death toll is just 116, according to today's AFP article, but a Jeddawi friend said she doesn't trust the official number and fears that the deaths total many times more. One hospital was said to have more than 400 people declared dead, and other unofficial estimates put the number easily above 1,000. The King has promised significant aid and compensation for families who lost loved ones, a generous gesture which further implies that government mismanagement is at least partially involved. Many Saudis and blame poor infrastructure on local government's negligence and misuse of public funds.

International attention was brought to this crisis because Hajj was happening in the same week. Some are hopeful that this extra scrutiny will move officials to fix Jeddah's infrastructure problems for good.

Thanksgiving in KSA

2009-11-25T12:17:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for a multicultural group of friends to feast with! We shared a wonderful Thanksgiving evening together. I cooked mashed potatoes and banana bread.

Some blessings to be thankful for in 2009:

1. My beautiful wife whom I miss and family back home

2. Old friends who keep in touch and new friends at KAUST

3. Good professors and decent grades

4. A house to live in and being otherwise spoiled by KAUST

6. Travel in the Middle East

7. Much needed rest during the Eid holiday

...and great food!

Note: This "mixed" dinner took place in a married apartment. Male and female housing currently allow only male and female guests.

KAUST-ians Hajj

2009-11-25T12:00:00.001-08:00

These are the days of Hajj in Saudi Arabia. Yesterday, dozens of KAUST students boarded a bus to join millions of other Muslim pilgrims for the once-in-a-lifetime journey to Mecca.

My friends clothed in Ihram. Hajj clothing for men consists two white sheets - one tied around the waist and one draped around the shoulders. The dress represents cleanliness and unity; Ihram is exactly the same for prince and pauper.

Swine flu and the recent flooding offer some logistical challenges for the Saudi Ministry of Hajj this year. This AP article outlines some of the precautions the government is taking.

This is a group shot of most of the Hajj-ers just before the bus arrived. Have a safe trip guys!

Rain in Thuwal (and lots of it!)

2009-11-24T21:42:00.000-08:00

Right before dawn, I woke up to the sound of thunder and heavy rain on my windows. I love laying in bed listening to the rain at night - it gives me a peaceful feeling.

After listening for a few minutes though, I heard the sound of water dripping inside my house. With a sigh, I threw aside my covers, swung my feet over the side of the bed and...

SPLASH!

...onto the floor.

Rain in this part of Saudi Arabia is such a rare event that one cannot help but feel excited, but after ten minutes of sweeping water out of my bedroom and bailing it off of my balcony, I was praying for it to stop.

Heavy rain is something like a natural disaster because the infrastructure here is not designed to handle water.

Homes flooded, streets flooded, and the mobile phone network was knocked out for a while.

The rain was pretty incredible, we must have got three inches in just under an hour (about 7.5 cm). The weather network says that Jeddah only gets 54 mm of Rain every year - we've exceeded our limit for the next 1.5 years in one night!

As I was walking around taking pictures, I waved to my other neighbors who were also cleaning the water out of their houses.

Beautiful morning though.

Can Ben Frevert change Saudi Arabia?

2009-11-22T04:37:00.000-08:00

To answer this question, let me borrow an expression from one of my Saudi friends:

"When the cows preform Hajj walking on their horns."

The New York Times published an article about KAUST last week in which Ben Frevert, my friend and colleague, was unexpectedly presented as a hero - of sorts.

I was a little embarrassed at the cultural insensitivity of the New York Times in this article. The title, "A Saudi Gamble," does injustice to the people and to the King who have invested so much time, energy, and money to make KAUST a reality, and is ironically insulting to our host country which sees gambling as immoral and illegal.

Next time I go to Jeddah, I half expect someone to ask me, "Is it true that you have gambling at KAUST?" Thanks a lot, Times.

The article's title and opening were crafted to sell papers more than to look seriously at the complexity of Saudi culture or the nuance of KAUST's situation in Saudi Arabia. I though that the article's overall tone either reflects the writer's sever Western bias, or a general unawareness of Saudi society and politics. Mr. Slackman does, however, address a few points about KAUST well and the article is worth a quick read.

So, can Ben Frevert (or any American graduate student) change Saudi Arabia? Not likely. First, US students are a minority at KAUST. We are outnumbered by Jordanians, Egyptians, Indonesians, Chinese, and Mexicans. Second, even all of these students together will not "change" Saudi Arabia. This country is very complex, and I agree with Saleha M. Abedin's answer to Slackman's question: "You cannot bring change from the outside, you have to build from within."

Something else to think about: change works both ways. KAUST's detractors in Saudi Arabia are paranoid about KAUST's influence on Saudi Society, but what about KAUST's influence on the rest of the world? The question: "can Saudi Arabia change Ben Frevert (and all of the others who come to KAUST?)" is just as valid. For students who have never left their home countries before, even just three months at KAUST and a few trips to Jeddah are a tremendous perspective-altering experience.

There are still some Westerners (and maybe some Western newspaper writers) who wrongly think all Saudis drive camels and carry AK-47's. KAUST, an aspiring multinational research institution, will slowly change these prejudices too.

Beating the Ant Infestation

2009-11-22T04:14:00.000-08:00

I have been waging war against the Thuwal insect population since I moved into my new apartment, and today I am claiming victory! The roaches and crickets were first to leave - I beat them early on with frequent cleaning and liberal Raid use.

The ants, however, were much more persistent.

I sprayed poison, I swept, I mopped, I crushed dozens with my fingers and toes. I eliminated every food source I could think of and still the kept crawling all over my floors. Finally, I killed them off this weekend by mixing Boric acid with finely crushed crackers and spreading it in little piles on the floor (thanks Mark!) The ants loved it - they took every last piece of poisoned cracker back to their nest and haven't returned since!

Red Sea SCUBA

2009-11-22T03:14:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken after my very first SCUBA dive two weeks ago. When I strapped on my tank and toddled after my dive instructor through waist-deep water just two hours earlier, I had no clue what awaited me just below the surface. After some minutes of stumbling over rocks and coral, I and my classmates saw the edge of the reef and swam out over a sheer cliff. The wall of coral teeming with fish and other animals extended endlessly downward and to all sides - I could not see the bottom. Anxiety quickly gave way to awe and all I could do was stare in wonder until our instructor told us to don our masks dive.

This Friday, I completed my final open water dive and I am just one written test away from being PADI dive certified. The Red Sea is as full of life as the desert around Jeddah is empty - it really is another world under the surface of the water.

When I was younger, I used to read books about fish, coral, and other wildlife in the world's oceans, but I never expected to see these natural treasures for myself. I am glad that I took the chance to dive - I think now I am hooked for life!

(Underwater pictures will be posted later. We dove with a camera on our last trip and I expect to get the pictures from my friend soon.)

The week that internet died

2009-11-19T12:09:00.000-08:00

Just a few decades ago, mankind thrived without the internet. Professionals went to work every day, students attended classes, and universities conducted research without internet.

Through the ages, great scientific advancements have occured without the internet. Prehistoric man engineered the wheel without internet searches; Pythagoras calculated the hypotenuse of a right triangle without online data sharing, Columbus navigated the Atlantic without Google maps, Niels Bohr mapped the atom without referencing wikipedia, and NASA landed men on the moon before e-mail.

KAUST has a chance to re-live these glory days this week. The entire campus - student housing, KAUST libraries, and staff offices - has been disconnected from the world wide web for two days... and IT cannot predict which day we might go back online.

I have a lot of pictures to share and stories to tell, but blogging will have to wait until KAUST has regular internet access again. Until then, I hope all of you out there in the world are doing well, and don't be suprised if I don't answer any emails for a while!

Explaining KAUST

2009-11-07T01:26:00.000-08:00

Is KAUST radical? Women with hijab, women without hijab, men with thobe and shimal and men in jeans and a shirt keeping their culture and religion while learning and researching together at KAUST.

It is easy to slander and to destroy, but building and creating something new takes time, patience, and commitment. God is the great creator, Satan is the great destroyer.

For weeks, KAUST has been criticized for its mixed men and women classes. KAUST’s detractors are mostly anonymous and are using internet tools like YouTube, Facebook, and e-mail to spread images, half-truths, and lies about social life at KAUST. Whether their reasons are political, religious, or personal jealousy, this small minority is trying though any means necessary to illigitimize KAUST. Their attacks are very misleading.

KAUST-ians have come from every continent on the globe and many of us have left family, friends, and other careers to come to KAUST. We have only been guests in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques for three months, and now we are surprised, confused, and a little hurt because of the hostile messages of a few extreme voices. Is this how Islam treats foreigners? Is this how we should view Saudi Arabian hospitality? The voices of an angry minority are given too much credit right now.

When I traveled to Jeddah to buy food on Wednesday, I was asked by a stranger if there were bars at KAUST. KAUST has no bars! The king would never allow something like that at his university!

Our detractors, who are spreading lies, do not understand why we have come to Saudi Arabia. Social change is not KAUST's mission - our primary mission is to promote learning and research in the region for the benefit of the world.

God is the great creator, and science is a profession ordained by God. We, the KAUST-ians have come to KAUST from many countries to learn so that we can create new knowledge and improve on existing technologies. Improving desalination could satisfy the thirsty. Growing food in the desert could feed the hungry. Solar power could provide light in dark places. Red Sea research can lead to new medicines to heal the sick. Engineering research could help us make better use of the resources God has blessed us with. These are only a few of the reasons we have traveled to Saudi Arabia.

I did not come for entertainment (does anyone come to KSA to be entertained?) – KAUST has no bars or dance clubs or even a working movie theatre; I spend most of my time in the library or the laboratory. I did not come for money – I could have had a larger stipend at graduate school in the USA. I came because of KAUST’s potential to promote scientific research and learning in the Middle East.

Right now it is the angry voices which scream the loudest. They are trying to paint KAUST as an immoral institution which is leading righteous Saudi Arabian adults astray, but I have faith that good will and reason of the majority will prevail over slander and deception. Once the citizens of Saudi Arabia have a chance to know us better, I think they cannot help but like us. The problem is: building relationships takes time, but relationships can be damaged by only a few words, or a few pictures.

After all of that talk about our detractors, I have a story about a friend. Abdullah confided in me some weeks ago that he used to hate Americans because of what he saw on TV, and what he heard in the news, but after coming to KAUST and meeting real Americans he has changed his opinion and wishes that others would too. Abdullah's story encourages me because there are some Americans who also think the same way about Saudis. This one of the reasons I believe I am at KAUST - to build bridges and clear up misunderstandings.

Saudi Arabia is a complicated place, but I am still glad to be here. We will do great research at KAUST, and I have faith that truth will prevail. Sometimes it just takes time.

A New Home

2009-11-03T08:55:00.000-08:00

A new pet for a new home. My friend adopted this adorable little female kitten just a few days ago. He had much difficulty with his first KAUST apartment, but the new one he has recently moved into is good enough to share with a new friend!

This little ball of fuzz is evidence of a larger trend, that many students are beginning to feel more settled at KAUST. Some of us are still in temporary housing, and a few still have leaks, appliance, or mold problems to be fixed. Still, life is normalizing, and in a place as new and different as KAUST, that is a big deal.

KAUST CPR, and Other Medical Emergencies

2009-11-03T04:57:00.000-08:00

I have a story to share which made me laugh so hard I cried. I hope you will enjoy this as well.

One of my friends was feeling ill after he finished a brutal exam last week. He complained about sharp pain in his chest when breathing and was rubbing his rib cage. He went to the information desk in the classroom building and asked them to call an ambulance to take him to the clinic.

The people behind the front desk freaked out. One employee made him sit down in a chair, and then another (who was not from Saudi Arabia) made him lay down on the floor to rest. Once my friend laid down on the floor though, the gentleman began to pump his chest.

(Note: preforming CPR on a fully conscious individual whose heart is beating is actually quite dangerous. Chest pumping in this situation can mess up the rhythm of a beating heart or crack ribs.)

Fortunately, the panicked gentleman was not pumping my friends's chest very deeply at all, just very very rapidly. My friend decided it was more trouble to resist than to just lay down and take it, so the frantic CPR continued.

By this time, the employees were making quite a scene. Some of the passers - by must have thought that my poor friend was on death's door when he was really perfectly calm and conscious. After a few more minutes of CPR, a security guard rushed over to help revive my cognizant friend. That's when things got ugly...

The security guard, seeing the other gentleman doing CPR on my friend, assumed that he must need some air as well, so he immediately began mouth to mouth respiration on my perfectly cognizant, respiring friend. My friend was shocked, to say the least, and began to struggle with the two grown men who were misguidedly trying to save his life.

Fortunately, the paramedics arrived quickly. They must have thought they had a death case to deal with because of the "emergency" aid my friend was unwillingly receiving, but when they peeled the two men off of him and asked for his name and ID number, my friend responded calmly and clearly.

The doctors checked him out and said that the pain was due to muscle cramps, probably because of stress from the test. After taking some muscle relaxers, he left.

The worst part of the experience, my friend said, was the smell of cigarettes on the security guard's breath.

... ... ...

It is only fair to note that the trained medical staff has preformed very professionally in every emergency case I have heard of or witnessed. One of my friends had an acute allergic reaction to milk or egg products in some food he ate and had to stay overnight at the clinic, but he was feeling good enough to go to class the next morning. In another instance, one of my friends dislocated his knee playing sports and was rushed into the clinic less than ten minutes after the emergency call was made. The doctors straightened his leg, put it in a cast, and sent him home in less than two hours.

It's the untrained guys one has to watch out for!

Climbing Sinai

2009-10-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

This is Mount Moses, also known as Mount Sinai. Mount Moses is the traditional site where Moses received the ten commandments from God more than 3,000 years ago. Climbing the mountain was not just a touristic experience, but also a spiritual one. Moses' story is a tale of how God gives direction to, and provides for those who believe in him. I rely on his direction and his provision every day.

We hired a driver from Sharem El-Sheikh to take us to the foot of Mount Moses, the traditional site where Moses received the ten commandments from God more than three thousand years ago. We left Sharem at 11:30 PM. The drive was 2.5 hours, and the climb up was 3 hours more. Our climb was tiring, but the experience was more than worth it. I have never seen the sunrise from a mountain top. This is the most beautiful sight I've beheld since coming to the Middle East.

I am sorry that my camera could not capture a photo of the night sky. Millions of stars lit up the night sky as we climbed. I cannot remember a time when I have seen so many - certainly not at KAUST - the night lights only allow me to see three or four stars on campus.

Our guide was good natured and overall pretty cool. He is one of the many "Bedouin" who have given up on a migratory lifestyle to extort money from travelers to Mount Moses. I think that tourists are more profitable than sheep farming in the desert. The "Bedouin" are guides on a very well-marked and smooth trail, they also offer camel rides, tea and coffee, and other services to weary hikers for a price. Using the bathroom at the top of the mountain cost me more money that all of the water I drank on the way up.
Comercialization aside, the natural landscape of Sinai was absolutely amazing. Here is a small group of successful climbers gazing at the sunrise.

Stars melted away as the sunlight flooded over the horizon. We did not have a proper view of the surrounding mountain range until the sun illuminated the world that morning.

Most of the central penensula is rock without trees or grass, but this desolate mountain range is strangely beautiful.
Shadows retreated further and further, and we blinked at bright light and a perfectly blue sky.

On our way down we passed some pack animals hauling up another day's supply of tea and snacks for the tourists.
Camels were everywhere! Climbing up and down were surreal experiences in part because our path had to be shared with these big creatures. Imagine how you would feel if a camel snuck up on you in the dark. We got used to it and even enjoyed the company of these obstinate animals and their bossy drivers.

More blue sky and more mountains.

And more camels. : )

This is the beginning of the trail up the mountain which we are climbing back down. At the very bottom is a monastery which is shared by Catholic and Eastern Orthodox monks. We didn't have a chance to visit because they were closed in the morning for prayer, and all of us were too tired from the night climb to stick around for the opening.

There are some who say that the monks have it wrong, because the historical location of Mount Moses is not really known. Some historians believe that Mount Sinai is actually in Jordan, or Israel, or even in Mount Jabal al-Lawz in Saudi Arabia. Still I would recommend the journey. For me, climbing Mount Moses was a wonder-filled and spirit-filled experience; one I will not soon forget.

Sharem El-Sheikh

2009-10-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I traveled with some friends to Sharem El-Sheikh, a resort town on the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula in Egypt. I was really excited about spending time at the beach and visiting nearby Mount Sinai, the traditional site where Muslims, Christians, and Jews believe that Moses recieved the ten commandments from God after the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt.
Sharem is also a bit of a party town, but before getting too excited you should know that it is a very Eastern European style party - lots of techno music, lots of vodka, and lots of Russians.

I am not a huge fan of Russian parties - I don't like techno or vodka, and they weren't speaking much English either. I did have some fun though. I ate good food, smoked good sheesha, enjoyed the water, and watched an amazing sunrize. Our climb up Mount Sinai alone was worth the trip (covered in its own post).

This picture was taken at the duty free liquor store in the airport before we left. See the lines? I have never seen this many people buying this much liquor before a flight home. Must be an Eastern European thing.

Organization Fail: Housing Maintenance

2009-10-30T03:54:00.000-07:00

Most of the KAUST campus houses had problems when students moved in on September 3rd. Some student problems were small: doors which did not close or phone connections which did not work. Others were more threatening: pipes bursting or sections of the ceiling collapsing.

These problems were made more frustrating by poor communication within the maintenance department. My sad story about a missing stove top is a tale of communication failure. It took two and a half months to fix.

I love to cook at home. When I moved into my apartment, I noticed my stove top (or cooking range) was missing the heating elements. I immediately called the maintenance hotline and asked for a quick repair.

About four days later, at 11:00 pm, a team of seven workers swarmed my apartment to change lighbulbs, check electrical fuses, and look for leaks. Before they left, I asked if they could install the heating elements for my stove top. They did not know where to find the elements, but they would leave a note with the supervisor in the morning.

A different team of three workers came three days later.

"We are here to fix your stove sir."

"Oh good," I thought to myself.

They barged through the door with a big bag of tools, pulled the stove out from the wall and gathered around. After a few seconds, one of them asked where I hid the heating elements.

"There are none," I replied.

They could not fix it without the elements, they said, but they would leave a note with their manager.

Weeks passed. I called the maintenance hotline, sent emails to various managers as they were fired and replaced (KAUST maintenance manager has to be one of the worst jobs in the world,) and complained to the workers themselved as they moved from house to house in the night. Almost every week I would get a visit from a different group of workers who came to "fix" my stove. Sometimes there were two, other times there were five. One of them always carried a big bag of tools, but each time the result was the same.

They swarmed into my kitchen, pulled out the stove, looked at it, and asked me where the heating elements were.

"I don't know; I don't have them; I was hoping you would bring some; who knows?" I would answer.

Each time their response was the same: "we will leave a note with our manager in the morning."

This happened eight times in two and a half months. Organization fail.

But then two weeks ago, two guys came to my front door. I recognized them - they were from the very first group of workers that visited more than two months ago. One of them had in his hand a bag of tools... and the other was carrying four heating elements! Success!!!

I can cook in my home! The fix came just in time, because we start paying for our food in the diner tomorrow.

Since the stove was fixed two weeks ago, I have recieved two more visits and three phone calls from the maintenance department. Each time they said, "we are here to fix your stove, sir."

I guess the manager finally got all of those notes.

Cultural Differences: The Jet

2009-10-30T03:06:00.000-07:00

As an American living in Saudi Arabia, I have had to adjust to many cultural differences. Overall, I have adapted very well, but my American psyche cannot get used to the idea of not having toilet paper in the bathroom.

Don't misunderstand me, Saudi Arabian culture is very clean and concerned about personal hygiene. For example, hands, and sometimes feet and head are washed before many meals.

Perhaps because of their will for frequent washing, the Saudi Arabian alternative to toilet paper is the water jet. Those water jets which I have tested are all quite powerful and difficult for a beginner like myself to control. Besides getting one's clothes all wet, there is something unsettling in my American mind about aiming such a strong jet stream at the body's most sensitive areas.

A word to wise Western travelers - if you don't think you can handle the jet, carry your own paper.

Busy Week

2009-10-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

Sadly, this week blogging took a back seat to lots of homework, though there were some bright spots in an otherwise busy week:

1. An outdoor basketball court opened up and I played twice this week. The second time, ten of the Philippine gym employees came to play with us - they were great competition!

2. The local students have begun teaching Arabic lessons this week. I have already picked up some useful phrases; Jeddah retailers beware - I am equipped to bargain!

3. The Chinese students will also begin offering language lessons next week. I may get to brush up on my Mandarin while in Saudi Arabia!

4. Tonight was Mexican food night at the cafe... hallelujah! Normally I would be very skeptical about Arabic-mexican style, but our own Mexican students teamed up with the KAUST cooking staff to whip up an authentic dinner. Well done guys! It made me think of home...

5. I am getting closer to finding a research project which I will keep for the rest of my time at KAUST. Next week I have a meeting with two different professors... I'll keep y'all posted on this one!

Shayabh: Oil Wells, Sand Dunes, and Sunset

2009-10-16T02:08:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Saudi Aramco treated the KAUST's faculty, staff, and students with a visit to Shayabh in the Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia, one of the most isolated places in the world. Shayabh has a producion capacity of 12 million barrels of oil per day and is being expanded to produce even more. Shayabh is known for the quality of oil it produces, even more than its quality. Shayabh's oil is one of the sweetest (having a low sulfur content) in the entire world.

Visiting Shayabh was a special treat for us. It is rare for people who are not Aramco employees or native Beduins travel to the empty Quarter - it is accessible only by corporate jet or by camel. There is a road connecting the oil outpost to the nearest Saudi Arabian city, but the region is so isolated that employees are not allowed to travel on that road because it is dangerous. The highway is only used to transport heavy equipment to and from Shayabh.

Mr. Nadhmi Al-Nasr, KAUST's acting vice president and one of KAUST's first founding team members, was our special sponser for this trip. Ten years before KAUST, he was one of the principal project managers of the Shayabh construction and development. Mr. Al-Nasr was a great host; he spoke intimately about Shayabh as if he were introducing us to one of his closest friends or family members.

Mr. Al-Nasr was just as proud of the natural wonders in this region of the desert as he was the accomplishments of his company at Shayabh. Though built in the middle of nothing, Aramco still made a conscientious effort to preserve the beautiful and unique landscape which surrounds the facility. "Keep Shayabh Clean" signs line the streets between the airport and the refinery. Community rules strictly prohibit littering and Aramco policy is very very careful to avoid spills and waste.

The tours were informative, and the company information interesting, but the biggest treat for us was watching the sun set over the sand dunes in the evening. After a drive around the facility, we were set free to hike through the sand before dinner.

I took the chance to venture off by myself. The desert is a very peaceful, quiet, and beautiful place. The sand in Shayabh is very red and very soft because of its high iron content. The sand's gentle beneath one's bare feet is almost as pleasing as the shifting colors of the red dunes in evening twilight. I had not imagined this kind of beauty in the desert.

There is also life in Shayabh. I came across some lizard tracks and these fox tracks while I was walking. The most amazing form of life was the persistant little bushes which grow on the dunes. They have very long roots to anchor themselves to the loose sand, and yet they don't get their water from the ground, but from the air. These plants survive by absorbing moisture in the air through there leaves. They must be very efficient, because it was not humid in Shayabh while we were there.

As the sun dipped lower and lower, the sands changed colors. I wish my camera could adequately show what my eyes saw yesterday.

The sunset alone was worth the journey. This is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. This short trip was the perfect respite from tests, homework, and business back at KAUST. One of the downsides to living in a compound - even one that is well designed and comfortable - is that I rarely get a chance to get away from people and just be still, listening to God's voice and admiring his creation.

Of course, after our trip through the desert, we were treated to a wonderful traditional meal. The lamb was prepared excellently - I cannot remember having such tender meat before!

After dinner, I and a few others went back to the dunes to sneak away from the lights tarry under the stars. We almost missed the bus, but a clear view of the night sky was worth a little excitement. I will probably never get to visit Shayabh again, but there will be many more once-in-a-lifetime opprotunities for us while we remain in Saudi Arabia. I am glad to be here.

Misunderstandings

2009-10-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

In Saudi Arabia, gossip spreads like the plague. This blog has recieved tens of thousands of new visitors in one week alone. I am honored, as a visitor to this country, by your interest in what I think and what I experience at KAUST. Thank you very much for the positive feedback I have recieved. I am disappointed though with the many belligerant comments - anger and name calling solves nothing. Outrage prevents meaningful discussion which can solve problems like these. Outrage isolates people from each other, especially when neither believes he is really in the wrong. Outrage focuses the discussion on people, rather than on truth.

I came to Saudi Arabia to build bridges, not to make enemies. I came to study and research at a university which is striving with all of its might to be one of the best research universities in the world, not to get money from people or organizations.

I do want accountability. What Al Yaum did was wrong, but the tone of the discussion is also wrong. Outrage does nothing to solve our problems and does everything to create even more.

Most importantly, outrage sets a very poor example of how believers in Allah, or God, should act. Since this happened, I have been reading from the Quran and from the Bible about forgiveness and grace. The words of the Quran encourage us not to be divided. Because we have been shown much grace, we should show grace to others.
Al Imran, 3:103 (Y. Ali) :And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you: That ye may be guided."

There are more important things than worrying about human faults. God's creation makes our small worries and arguments seem insignificant.

Al Hijr, 15:85 (Y. Ali) "We created not the heavens, the earth, and all between them, but for just ends. And the Hour is surely coming (when this will be manifest). So overlook (any human faults) with gracious forgiveness."

The followers of Isa, or Jesus, also encouraged each other to live at peace with their neighbors, even though they were being chased after and killed by the religious and political authorities after he was taken up to heaven.

1 Peter 3: 8-9 ⁸Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. ⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

Isa, or Jesus, teaches a more radical version of forgiveness in these verses from the Injeel, the Gospel. He said that we should even love even people who do wrong to us, because if we love only our family and friends, what credit is that to us? Even lawless men love their own family.
Matthew 5: 38-42 38"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."

If you want to borrow something from my blog, please ask first. Nobody, myself included, enjoys misunderstandings.

I Should Be Getting Paid for This!

2009-10-13T05:11:00.000-07:00

From Al Yaum

I can't believe this! Look at this article that was published recently in the major Saudi Arabian newspaper, Al Yaum. Do those pictures look familiar? How about the words? If you can't read Arabic, this was taken almost verbatim from my blog post "Elections" published October 7th, 2009. This can't be legal, not even in Saudi Arabia!

If I was in the USA I would file an intellectual property rights case against Al Yaum. If it was the New York Times that plagiarized my blog I would be rich right now. Do intellectual rights to published thoughts and photos have any value here?

Saeed, I know you are reading this blog, and I hope you can understand how I feel now that I know you are trying to make money off of my ideas and my photos. I hope you get fired Saeed. I am a better journalist than you, Saeed, at least I cite my sources!

Blue Collar Workers

2009-10-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

A group of friends got together to bake cookies that we could hand out to some of the workers here who do the jobs that no one else wants to do. They are under-appreciated, and often underpaid.
The guys in this picture are representative of the blue collar workers at KAUST. Most have come from the Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Indonesia. They are here to fill blue collar jobs that pay at a higher salary than back home (but still not very much.)

Immigrant workers in this Saudi Arabia often get mistreated. It is not KAUST's fault, but there is a widespread practice in this country that the contractors which sponsor construction workers, housekeepers, and other low-paying jobs will take the passports of their immigrant employees after they enter the country. The justification is so that these workers will have to fulfill their contracts, but sometimes these contracts change. Without their passports, employees are at the mercy of their employers and often find their working hours extended, their wages reduced, or that other benefits never materialize.

All is not all bad, but these things do happen. By baking and handing out cookies we just wanted to show these guys that we appreciate what they do for us and that we value their contributions to our community.

Texas Cookie

2009-10-11T13:28:00.000-07:00

A group of friends got together to make cookies last week and I just had to brag...

The Texas oatmeal raisin chocolate chunk cookies (right) clearly blew away the Colorado sugar cookies (left.) Cookie quality is just one more evidence that Texas is awesome. ;)

First KAUST Student Committee Meeting

2009-10-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

KAUST, this is your new Student Government!

After two and a half hours of discussion and speeches, we came away with a good, flexible model for student government and six leaders for four different committees.

The meeting was hard and long, but well done in the end. Now we can get down to some real work!

Treasures of the Red Sea

2009-10-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

Ahoy!

After a day of snorkeling in the Red Sea, I have begun to envy my friends who are majoring in Marine Science. For them, diving is also research, and the world they study is magical - full of color and life.

One of the journalists who visited KAUST during the inaugeration asked me if I had been diving or snorkeling yet. When I answered "no, but soon," his response was, "then you will soon see why you are going to own an underwater camera!" Fortunately for me, one of my friends brought his along for the trip.

The camera does not fully capture the colors of the reef and the fish as well as human eyes do. Our eyes adjust to the blue and filter more of it out - making the colors look more stunning that a camera without a filter can capture.

I'll do this again any time. We were only splashing around for two hours, but I could have done this all day. I can't wait to get my diver's certification!

Organization Fail: The Post Office

2009-10-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

This is the first in a series of posts about dysfunctional organizations in Saudi Arabia. All of these frustrations share a common theme... service industries here are not nearly as helpful as they are in the West. If I want something done, say buying a plane ticket, getting a visa, or even picking up a package, my experience has been that you have to be very persistent. Take FedEx for example: I was expecting a package from home which I might never have received at all if I had not begged, haggled, and coerced the well-meaning, but totally clueless guys at the front desk until I finally found someone who could locate my package. Here is the story where I had to go postal with FedEx Saudi Arabia:

There are always four guys working at the counter, and there is never more than one or two customers in the FedEx store at a time. I am not sure what they do all day, but every time someone comes in, they are always eager to help.

My first time to the post office, two weeks after I had come to KAUST, I wanted to check and see if my package had arrived. The man behind the counter was very nice. "Let me show you where your mailbox is, sir... what is your mobile number sir?... if you get a package we will call you sir," was about the extent of the conversation. The package had been sent when I left and I thought two weeks was the time it would take, but I thought maybe it really has not arrived yet... I was so naive!

One week later I came back to ask about my package. I got the same spiel from the guys at the front desk, "let me show you where your mailbox is sir... oh, we already have your mobile number?... if you get a package we will call you sir." I pressed on, asking to talk with a manager because I wanted more reassurance than I was getting. The man at the desk retreated into the back room and out came a large, annoyed looking Egyptian man.

"Your package is not here, we will call your mobile when it comes," he said.

I thought to myself that he doesn't really know, he is just trying to get rid of me. Not wanting to back down because I have already quit at this point before, I tried in vain to get him to ask someone else, "Can you call a supervisor, maybe the package is somewhere else?

"No, not possible. Your package will come. Maybe it will come later insh'allah."

Insh'allah is a bad sign, in this particular context the word means he is willing to give up and leave it to God to find my package, but I am still sure that some man at FedEx must know where my package is. "Can you call the post office in Jeddah, maybe they have it still?"

It will not come to Jeddah, it will come here.

"Well can you call anyway, maybe someone has misplaced my package."

"I cannot, I don't know the telephone number."

Come on, can's he at least try to help a guy out?

"Can you look it up?" I asked.

"No."

So he either does not have a phone book or does not know what a phone book is, or the phone is not working. Any of these are possible at this point. "Can you ask someone else who does know?"I asked.

"No."

I was getting nowhere. He was clearly uninformed and either unwilling or unequipped to do his basic job - which was helping me - so I decided to let him go with a little grace, "Is there a chance it could have been held up in customs?" I asked.

He thought for a second before realizing that this was his big chance to get rid of me, and then said, "Yes, maybe. We will call you when the package comes."

"Ok, thank you, I will come back again later."

Two days later, I went back to the same office and asked a different front desk guy if my package had arrived yet. After the initial "we will call you when your package arrives," line, he brought out a manager I had not yet met from the back office to talk with me.

After a few questions, he called another mail location on campus, which I had not known about, and in thirty seconds they found my package!

It had been there for more than two weeks.

KAUST post office fail.

Elections!

2009-10-07T08:17:00.001-07:00

This week students sponsored and ran two fair and free elections for the first KAUST student council. The five of us who were involved in the planning were really, really busy!

On Saturday, eleven students were elected to the student council, one from each academic major. The speeches were good, and some races were quite close! I was impressed with the quality of every candidate I saw run.

Men and women from all different nationalities came to submit their votes.

Voter turnout was phenomenal - almost sixty percent of the students came to vote! Some of the students come from countries where they have never had an opportunity to vote, and some come from countries where the people are disillusioned with the voting process. An Italian told me that this was the first election he had participated in because he felt that it would be fair and his vote really would matter!

I've never seen so many people so happy to be voting... do we not take the privilage seriously enough in the USA anymore?

We got several compliments about how professional the job was; I am glad that everything ran so smoothly.

Opening the ballot box after elections are over.

Counting 223 votes for 36 different candidates completely accurately was no small feat.

We were really excited to finish, well done guys!

The final makeup of KAUST's first student council is as diverse as the student population itself. One is from Europe, two are from China, three are from the USA, four are from Mexico, and the other twelve come from many different countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

I think we made history yesterday.

Hack Hack... Cough Cough...

2009-10-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

KAUST has declared all-out war on the local mosquitoes, which have infected at least two students with Dengue fever this week. Every night now, three guys in a pickup truck drive down every road on campus spraying thick clouds of pesticides into the air. I don't know what it is, but it makes my eyes water and throat itch - I can even smell it indoors.

Hard Work

2009-10-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

I have had no time to post this week for three reasons: school assignments, health, and student elections.

Some of the KAUST classes have finally stepped up into high gear this week, now that most professors and students have settled into their homes and offices on the KAUST campus. Students have packed the library all week, day and night, pouring over homework, reading assignments, and studying for tests.

Here is a picture of two of my Jordanian friends at lunch break. See the guy on the left? I have felt like that many times this week! I am glad that the weekend is finally here.

Big Business

2009-10-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

Dr. Hermann Requardt (Head of Corporate Technology, Siemens Managing Board) gave a talk at KAUST today entitled "Open Innovation." I attended expecting some discussion about research, but Dr. Requardt's talk only gave a brief head-nod to technological topics. The meat of his presentation was laced with Euro amounts and statistics flaunting Siemens' business, pretty much a sales-pitch to the KAUST directors who were sitting in the room.

The implications of Dr. Requardt's talk, and the fact that such a high level manager was visiting in the first place, is that Siemens wants to pursue a closer business relationship with KAUST. Not only will KAUST be center for innovation and research in the region, Siemens sees KAUST as a potential gateway for more business access to this region of the world.

It is exciting to see people like Dr. Requardt courting KAUST. Selfishly, I hope that visits like these translate into more job opportunities for us, the students once we graduate.

Extremists

2009-10-04T05:02:00.000-07:00

Thomas Friedman had an interesting article in the New York Times today about the motivations of terrorists in the recent failed attacks in the US and in Saudi Arabia.

I have made many good friends here in Saudi Arabia, and I know that the extremists are a very very small minority. I have also never felt unsafe in this country - if I had I would no longer be here. Still, from an American perspective the terrorist mentality is alarming. Can anything else be done to stop these people or change their minds? What do you think?

Thuwal

2009-10-02T01:50:00.000-07:00

Thuwal, the tiny little town just five minutes drive from our university, is known only for its fish. There really isn't anything else to this small community. We drove down both of the streets in Thuwal and saw only a handful of food markets, a rug store, a bank, a small gas station, two barbers, two sheesha shops, and a dozen resturaunts.

At this resturaunt, we picked our own fish from the the day's fresh catch. These guys tasted delicious. Most of the customers at this resturaunt drove for an hour from Jeddah just to eat here!

I was the only white guy at this traditional resturaunt, and my friend on the right was the only Mexican, I am sure! I enjoy these kind of local experiences so much. I wish it were easier for us to leave campus and hang out in the Saudi community more often. Local flavor is so much more fun to me than the campus compound life. KAUST feels more like a western suburb than a foriegn country, yet I came here to BE in Saudi Arabia. Those of us who want to experience the kingdom have to be intentional about leaving campus to do things like this.

I love seafood...

And of course tea for dessert. This mint tea was excellent, much better than Baskin Robbins ice cream.

NA...

2009-10-02T01:19:00.000-07:00

...means "non-alcoholic." Alcohol is illegal in Saudi Arabia and the fist time I saw Budweiser in the grocery store I could not believe my eyes. "Does anyone else know this is here?!?" I thought to myself. With a second glance, I say the "NA" symbol and understood.

I have never tasted non-alcoholic beet before. The taste is sweet and fresh - more hops, but no fermentation. "NA" beer is interesting, but I would rather drink water.

Spiritual Language

2009-10-01T02:43:00.000-07:00

Saudi Arabian society puts a huge emphasis religion in daily life. The call to prayers is easily heard over the sounds of daily life on KAUST's campus or in Jeddah city and it is quite common to see even construction workers here taking a short break to pray on a mat of cardboard during these times. Even the language of the conservative Arabs is filled with mentions of God. A typical conversation in Arabic between two friends (let's call them Achmed and Abdul) would sound something like this if translated literally to English:

Achmed: "God's peace be upon you, Abdul!"
Abdul: "And God's peace also be upon you."
Achmed: "How are you doing?"
Abdul: "Praise God, I complain only to him... when is your wife coming to KAUST?"
Abdul: "Tomorrow, if it is God's will."
Achmed: "Praise God"
Abdul: "I have a meeting soon, go in peace."
Achmed: "Go in peace."

KAUST Symposium: Sustainability in a Changing Climate

2009-09-25T04:43:00.000-07:00

We, the "KAUST-ians," were exhausted after the big inauguration event which kept us out until well after midnight, but the KAUST Inaugeration Symposium scheduled for the following day was too good to miss. The symposium was a huge deal just by itself. Twelve leading academics were invited and the discussions revolved around two broad topics: the role of science and technology in sustainablity and food and water in a changing climate. Of course the lighting and effects were immaculate and the food was good (and plenty of it) too. Nadmi Al-Nasr summed up my own thoughts well when he said in his closing remarks that it was "crazy" to host two events like the inaugeration and the symposium in two consecutive days. Though perhaps overshadowed by the festivities on the previous day, the symposium was both enlightening and enjoyable. I am glad we had the opprotunity to attend.

The big names which spoke and answered questions are:

His Excellency Ali I. Al-Naimi, Chairman of the KAUST Trustees Board and former Chief Executive of Saudi Aramco
Choon Fong Shih, KAUST President
David Keyes, Symposium Chair and a KAUST Dean
Frank Rhodes, KAUST Trustee and former Cornell University President
Samuel Bodman, former US Secretary of Energy
Lord Alec Broers, former Chairman of the House of Lords Science Committee, former President of Cambridge University
Sir Roy Anderson, Rector of the Imperial College of London
Stephen Sample, President of the University of Southern California
Chen Ning Yang, Nobel Lauriate
Elias Zerhouni, KAUST Trustee and former US NIH Director
Nina Federoff, Science and Technology Advisor to Hillary Clinton
Wolfgang Kinzelbach, Professor at ETH Zurich
Robert Grubbs, Nobel Lauriate, Professor at CalTech
Tony Haymet, Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Kazuhiko Takeuchi, Vice Rector of United Nations University in Tokyo

Dinner was an impressive affair. We had lobster tail, one of my favorites! I had to take a picture of these two swan ice sculptures at the buffet line.

The symposium was great, but I was so tired that I dozed during one or two of the talks. There was plenty worth staying awake for though! After all of this week's craziness, I am glad that all of this pomp and circumstance is almost over. After today, the important delegates and guests will leave and we can get back to some kind of "normal" here at KAUST. I look forward to being a student again. Next week, all I have planned is going class, doing homework, and just hanging out with friends.

KAUST Inaugerated... Finally!

2009-09-24T14:01:00.000-07:00

The beacon during inauguration practice on Tuesday. Volunteers were told not to bring cameras to the event itself, but I got some good shots of the laser show the day before.

The KAUST inauguration was everything it was advertised to be! I won't bore you with the ceremony details - if you are interested you can start skimming through the hundreds of articles online. I'll just share some of the highlights of my experience.

I got a late start and rushed to get to the volunteer pick-up point where we waited for another hour (the organizers were even later than I was) to take the ten minute bus ride to the tents (pretty typical of this crazy week.) The late start meant that everyone in charge was stressed and about to snap, but somehow the students and faculty standing volunteers made it to the exhibition tent just before the first guests began to arrive. The exhibition tent displays were really cool, but our job was less than glamorous - just stand around and talk to people.

I loved it. I chatted with several visiting professors, took pictures for some important Saudis (they brought their cameras...) and conversed with the regional UNESCO director.

Just before the King came, we learned that there was in fact room for the student volunteers to watch the ceremony and eat dinner afterward. The ceremony was cool! There were lots of long speeches, some impressive visual effects, a play, a poetry reading, some Quran quotes, and most importantly, we saw the King in Person!

The ceremony ended with a fireworks and laser show which eclipsed the night sky. Dinner afterward was good, and I had a live interview with the Saudi National News.

All in all, a good day. Was the king's party worth 100 million (or more) dollars? I don't know, but it sure was impressive, and KAUST got the recognition it deserves.

Clarification:

2009-09-24T13:43:00.001-07:00

The housing (which I vented about in the Sept 21 post) is not yet finished and cannot yet receive (and in my opinion should not receive) LEED Platinum certification. In stark contrast, the quality of design and construction of the academic campus is excellent. I am proud that the academic buildings have earned LEED Platinum certification, a high honor for sustainable design.

To date, the residential construction deserves no awards.

The King is Here!

2009-09-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud arrived at KAUST today! The more I learn about King Abdullah, the more I have grown to like his policies, his savvy politics (necessary in such an idealogicly diverse country), and his progressive vision for the country. The King deserves a Nobel prize for bringing us together here in Saudi Arabia from different countries and cultures to learn more about the world through science... and to learn more and build bridges between each other's cultures while we are here.

The media is also here in full force. I had an excellent and enlightening conversation with John, the Director of Crossroads Saudi Arabia. I will be interested to see the commentary on his blog as this week unfolds. I also had my picture taken by the media as I was studying at the library (there is proof I study!) and walking around campus. Tomorrow will be crazy, but I am excited to see and be a part of the show.

In just the past few days, dozens - if not hundreds - of articles have been generated by news outlets worldwide. If you are interested on the perspectives of the world media, a Google news search for "KAUST" yields quick results.

Eid Mubarak...

2009-09-21T04:11:00.000-07:00

This is not the notice you would want to see on your door when returning home from the holidays. My neighbor, a fellow student, left KAUST for the holiday to spend quality time with his family and especially his wife, whom he was planning to bring back to KAUST for their home in another city.

Yesterday, while he was away, a water connection burst loose on the second floor of his apartment and flooded the entire house. Another neighbor noticed water pouring out from underneath the front door, and immediately called 911.

The water is off, and maintenance cleared the sludge out of the apartment, but damage was already done. This is one of the saddest of the pathetic housing stories so far. A man spends all month cleaning and preparing his home for his bride to come live with him, to have this happen. They will be relocated to another apartment, but relocation just means more maintenance problems, more insect infestations to deal with, and more uncertainty about basic comforts and safety.

Ironically, this happened the same day that our university president announced via email that KAUST's campus had recieved LEED Platinum certification, the highest environmental sustainability award achievable for new construction projects.

"LEED provides independent validation that our buildings were designed and constructed to the highest performance levels in energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. "

Hopefully this award was not made prematurely.

So much effort has been expended on the awards, the recognition, and the public relations. Students and faculty are still waiting for our relief from unreliable and sometimes dangerous living conditions. My apartment is great - I have been lucky so far - but who knows, maybe tomorrow my pipes will burst too.

Things should get better for all of us when the inaugeration is finally finished. Maybe then we can concentrate on the basics. Maybe then students, faculty, and staff can find some kind of "normal" together at KAUST.

Eid Mubarak!

2009-09-21T03:47:00.000-07:00

Things to be thankful for this Eid:

1. My beautiful wife.
2. My functional apartment.
3. Great friends, professors, and classes.
4. Easting and drinking while the sun is up.
5. Sleeping while the sun is down. : )

Yesterday marked the beginning of Eid al Fitr, the end of Ramadan. We celebrated in typical Saudi Arabian style with friends, lots of free food, music, and give-away prizes!

In one day our topsy-turvey eating and sleeping schedule turned right-side up again! Break-fast (Iftar) was at 8:00 am instead of 6:35 pm, lunch was at 12:00 pm instead of 12:00 am, and dinner was at 7:00 pm instead of 4:00 am. I woke up before noon and got ready for bed before midnight!
One my Chinese friends kindly demonstrated how excited she was about breakfast.

A variety of food was arrayed in a variety of ways for us. The presentation was at least as good as the taste in this case.
Cake for breakfast? Eid Mubarak!

Apparently KAUST employs a melon sculptor just for special holidays. This guy carved these melons into beautiful flower and bird shapes (these were not for eating).

Among the evening festivities held in Discovery Square were a magic show, some traditional music and dance, and a camel ride.

Here, my German friend is showing off his free cone-head hat...
A fad which also caught on with the Egyptians. Eid Mubarak!

KAUST Inaugeration Crunch

2009-09-21T03:18:00.000-07:00

In just two days, thousands of VIP's, heads of state, corporate leaders, and academics will come to KAUST as the king's guests. Millions of dollars have been spent for this show to make sure that the guests are impressed by the scale and vision of this university. The three stages of the inauguration will be held in three temporary structures or "tents," the exhibition tent, the ceremony tent, and the dining tent. Each of these is built to accommodate and entertain the king's thousands of guests, but none of them is completed yet. This is a picture of the front of the exhibition tent, where I will be volunteering on the 23rd.

As you can see, forklifts are still moving crates and building supplies around and the inside still has plenty of work to be done. If I was in the US, I would say that at least two more months are needed before everything could be ready - but I have learned not to underestimate the speed with which things are built here in the Middle East. On the 23rd, the structure will be complete and the show will be spectacular, but a part of me is still concerned that too many shortcuts will be taken in the rush to complete everything. When the guests arrive I pray that the AC will work, the displays will not short out, and bits of the ceiling will not fall down onto the crowd below (ala student and faculty housing).

The ceremony tents have been constructed across the bay from KAUST campus with a nice view of the beacon, the library, and the lab buildings, all seen here.

Night on the Town in Jeddah

2009-09-19T04:36:00.000-07:00

I am a winner! Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" earned me a third place trophy at the US Consulate's 2009 Karaoke Night two days ago. Karaoke was only one of many activities that night... my longest yet in Jeddah.

The consulate officer, Martin Quinn, invited US KAUST students for an informal visit. Once we arrived and cleared security, Mr. Quinn himself welcomed us and engaged us in informal discussion which ranged from cautionary advice about living in Saudi Arabia to our feelings about adjusting at KAUST. The consulate is watching us very closely - we are the largest delegation of American students ever to live and study in Saudi Arabia, and Mr. Quinn expressed that he very much wants us to adjusting well, and that KAUST's success is important for both the US and Saudi Arabia's interests.

After our conversation, we went to the Marine House for dinner and to mix with other expats who had come to participate in the First Annual Marine House Karaoke Night. Unfortunately, security did not allow my camera in, so what happened at the consulate will have to stay at the consulate.

My fellow Americans returned to the bus at midnight, but I and my friend Richard broke off from the group to go shopping with some friends in Jeddah.

After a quick meal at Fudruckers, Richard and I acted as fashion consultants for my friend Mohammed who desperately needed a suit for the inauguration that is in just three days. Unfortunately, we didn't find one that night - they either didn't fit at all or were too expensive. Mohammed almost settled for an Armani suit which fit perfect and looked sharp, but would have set him back 3300 Riyals (about $800).

After the suit stores closed at 2:30 am (Peak Ramadan business hours are generally 8 pm - 3 am) we went grocery shopping to pick up some things that are not available at the little campus market (like cheese - whoop!) Outside the store, the owner of this Lotus sports car caught me gawking and suggested I climb inside for a closer look. It made for a good photo-op.
We finished grocery shopping at 3:30, less than two hours before sunrise, which didn't give us enough time to return to KAUST before the fasting period started again, so we stopped in at a local restaurant (which was packed with people!) and gorged ourselves on chicken and rice before making the drive back to campus.

Here we are eating on the floor, Saudi style!

This is what the sky looked like right before I went into my house and collapsed from exhaustion. This was a fun night, but I will be very glad to see schedules return to "normal" after Ramadan ends (tomorrow!) I do prefer to have most of my waking hours coincide with daylight hours. This was not one of those days.

KAUST Community

2009-09-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

I heard a KAUST administrator say recently, in response to the gripes (and there have been many) about housing problems, unfinished research labs, and other things, that our greatest challenge this year is to build and nourish the new KAUST community. I can't speak for the whole campus staff and faculty, but for the students... mission accomplished!

I am living with, hanging out with, and studying with the brightest, most flexible and resilliant peers I have ever met. These guys and girls rock and if the professors and staff are half as cool as they seem to be in the classroom and in their offices, I am sure they are gelling quite well, too!

I just wanted to let everyone know that things are not all bad here. It is easy to point out the negative environmental things which are affecting all of us, but KAUST's greates achievement so far has been to gather so many stellar individuals together in this place.

The fist picture is from a social gathering where a group of friends came together as family to learn from each other and fellowship together. Even in Saudi Arabia, we have not given up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but are encouraging each other more and more.

This second picture, taken by my friend Ernesto Sandoval during one of the recent celebrations in our town square, tells our story very well. We, the KAUST students, are diverse, full of life, and excited about the opprotunities ahead. The only problem with this picture is that you cannot see the girls (they didn't want to climb all over the statue like the guys did, go figure). All is still exciting here in SA!

Camel Talk

2009-09-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

Michel de Groot for The International Herald Tribune

Those of you who know me very well know that I love fine cheese. Good cheese is rare and expensive at our campus grocery, so I have been forced to go without. I never stopped to consider the other though... there are foods here that are impossible to find in the West. For example, if I was from the Middle East trying to find good camel's milk I'd really be out of luck!

The Camel as a Cow, a Cautionary Tale

From now on I'll be on the lookout for - and I will appreciate - camel's milk. ; )