Its All About Communication

Weather in Edmonton has been on my mind lately
Weather here has improved markedly since our flood.  I hear that there are many places getting the white stuff – even in the EU where high-speed trains are shut down.  Tonight is the first time it has rained since the flood we had before I left for Jordan.  I have the patio door open beside me and listen to the thunder as it lightly rains.  Nice!

Last week I was invited over for a ‘brunch’ at Arindam’s place with Kannan and his wife.  Arindam’s family is here now and he is definitely a happy man.  His spouse cooked a wonderful Indian dinner (not spicy at all!) and we were entertained by his 5 yr old son who is VERY excited about starting school here and now knows that his class is the best class in the whole world – at least according to his teacher and their class chant.

Before we ate and during, there was a man just outside the patio doors.  We talked about him a bit and Arindam and wife did not see that he was harming anything so had let him be.  But to me, it was an opportunity to reflect on my Canadian values.  I wondered what I would do if a person was taking his daily sleep on my patio in my back yard.  As we prepared for lunch, we watched him get up from his rest, spread his carpet out in a different direction and do his prayers.  After this, he just sort of hung out for a bit and then left.  I am not sure if he takes an extended lunch or if he actually has as much time off as he appears to have.  But… on my property, three feet from my couch? A man I do not know?  After he left we checked from outside if he could see in, and determined that he could not, unless the sheers were pulled aside or if the lights were on and the TV on.  Still…. where else could he find a safe, quiet and clean place for a rest?

Exam week has come and gone now and students are leaving as well as teaching/research faculty.  Last week I was in the library and one of the students I know came up to me and waved a plastic bound book in the air and let out a whoop!  He told me that he had finally got his text book – one day before his exam.  This is what life is like for students here.  Ordering through Amazon.com is sometimes faster than ordering from textbook printing companies.  I guess this semester was a tough one for faculty and students regarding texts.  I understand that many of the faculty were providing digital access to texts, providing detailed lecture notes online and scanning portions of texts in a stop-gap process until the teaching resources arrived.

I was asked by a colleague in Canada if I was interested in participating in some contract work that might come up as a result of a ‘call for proposals submission’.  She asked me to pass her my resume so I took the opportunity to update it with the work that I have been doing here.  So, for those who wonder what I do… here it is.

2009 -  Research and Instructional Technologist, Department of Research & Instructional Tech Management, KAUST, Saudi Arabia

Deployment, implementation and troubleshooting of an eLearning system for a brand new purpose-built Research University, from: the learning management system (Blackboard 9), policy & procedure development, interactive eLearning application deployment, building the unit’s HR capacity, to eLearning training and content development.

Garnet:

The most exciting thing this past week has been the result of a long phone call to my son Garnet.  I called him on his new phone and we talked about something that we had briefly discussed before I left.  It had been bandied about between Donna and I that Garnet might like to come to be with me.  So, my phone call to him laid out the groundwork.  I suggested that he might consider coming and that he could use Aven and his planned visit here during their Spring Break as an opportunity to scope out the place and decide if he wanted to attend next year (his grade 8) here with me.

The next day, I went and visited the high school to talk to someone.  I got a bit of time with the councilor who told me that Gr. 8 is the second year of the preparatory program for the IB (International Bachelorette Program) which is the curriculum for the school.  But the most valuable was when I ventured into the library.  Being a teacher and having a basic understanding of cultures in schools, I know that the library is the heart of the institution.  What I found was a library that was practically humming with activity!  There were three teachers (seemed like more as there were other adults there too) volunteering their time with a homework/study session for students of all grades.  These study sessions occur three times a week I was told.  The library!  What can I say but that there was not a space that was not full of books – table tops and shelves.  This library can be said to be ‘fully stocked’ and in many ways, so much better stocked than many of the school libraries that I have been in with Edmonton Public Schools. 

After talking for a short time with one of the adults (Librarian?) and after doing the obligatory expatriate introduction of ‘where are you from’, a young boy was pointed out to me.  He was sitting with a group of other boys busily working on some report or something.  He was very welcoming when I told him about Garnet and found that he is in the same grade as Garnet – that his family (two teachers at the school) came here from Dubai and that they are from Wainwright Alberta.  Sounds like a familiar path to me!  Donna says that Garnet feels like he has a friend here already.

And talking about phones!

In a surreal situation I answered my mobile phone while at work last week and it was Garnet.  He called as and must have been standing in his school’s office.  He asked me if he could go home early.  To say that I had to think fast was an understatement! He said that the school boiler had quit overnight and that the school was cold and all the other kids were going home but had to have permission from their parents.  I asked if he had his house key, just to make sure – typical parent question! He said he had tried to call Donna but she had not answered, so he called me in Saudi Arabia.  “Sure!” I said, as I thought to myself.  Like, what could the teacher do to me eh?  8-)

Continuing the phone call theme, the following are a series of texts between Garnet and I as he started to think about what life would be like here.

Garnet:  “Please Check if there is a pet store, or will be one at you compound or in the town then check if they 'house' rats J or at least mice.”

Mark:  “Yes they have pet stores in Jeddah. When u are here we can go check them out for something to do.”

Garnet:  “Yay! I hope u have nutin agenst rats,il take care of them-i need 2 get 2 cause they are best in pairs”

Mark:  “U can catch a rat outside the house! There is a pest problem here with them. None ever in my home tho. U shud wait 2 c what they have in the shops here.”

Garnet:  “Hmm no i need a store rat -they dont bite,if ther isnt rats at shop we will catch 1”

Mark:  “Maybe there is something better at the store! Who knows?”

My back yard:
I have a BBQ now, a small red one.  I have found out that I have to use quite a bit of charcoal to get it up to cooking heat as the bottom tray is quite a ways from the cooking grill.  I went and got a small ‘hibachi’ style one for $5 so that I can cook for one.  I hope to have some friends over for a bite to eat this weekend.   
I have an instant garden outside.  I swear, the gardeners who planted the grass and flowers were out there just three weeks ago and I have a fully green soft grass yard and flowering plants sprinkled sparsely around the edges.  This is like -- just wave a plant over the earth and it grows.  

Scuba Video:

And to finish this off, here is a video I have been waiting to get of my scuba training.  You will see about 12 other divers in my group of which 4 were involved in either photography of the event or the training.  The metal grid has been set up for a training platform so that we do not thrash the coral.  Note the coral wall beside us.  We are at about 45 feet below the surface at the platform.  The angel fish that you see at the end are about 10 inches top to bottom.  The platform must have been their home as they seemed to want to protect the area and came very close to us.

Eid in Jordan

My holiday to Jordan for the week of Eid (Nov 25 to Dec 4th) started with a soaking.  I woke up in the morning with most of my bags packed to see that it had been raining during the night.  I looked out the window and went downstairs to adjust my taxi by half an hour for an earlier pickup.  The roads outside the house were under water and in some places about 3 feet of it.  The taxi driver on the way to the airport said that the ‘land not drink the water.’ 
Got to the airport, and then panic set in.  I had been dropped at the wrong terminal!  I had been told that domestic flights went from the South but now I know that airlines owned within the Kingdom fly out of it!  I ran out onto the ring-road pulling my luggage and flagged a taxi.  I got there in time and was thankful that the flight was delayed by the rain.   Here is an image of one of the roads close to my home.

Amman has hills! 
Lots of them.  The buildings are just about all 4 floors but since they are built on the hillsides, they have six floors on the front and 4 floors at the back.  I do not think that there are many ‘private’ homes in this city as most buildings are apartments.  
I was picked up by some friends at the airport and taken to their home.  The next day I went with them as they wanted to see Petra.  I felt that a third day there, as I had planned on visiting later in the week for two days, was just great! 
The home of these folks is on the top or the roof of one of these apartment buildings.  The owner added two lean-to kind of additions to the single penthouse room on the roof.  Friday morning at this location was an interesting experience.  It was Friday of the Eid holiday and EVERY mosque (100s?) were calling prayer at sunrise.  The combined call and resultant multiplication by echoes in this stone city created a buzz like angry bees as it penetrated the stone walls of the rooms.  I opened the window to get an idea of the sound and could pick out, here and there, the original voices calling.  On the way out to our taxi ride we passed men in driveways butchering goats or sheep for this festival.  Next to the skinned and strung bodies, were more waiting in pens.  Later during the day we saw pens of sheep and goats along the roadside where people where buying and bundling into the backseats of their sedans to be taken home and killed. 
During my peregrinations through this country I was struck with how much of it was desert.  Most of the country around Amman is low rolling hills where people have pushed the surface rocks into hedgerows to expose a thin soil layer.  Since it was winter time here, the fields were bare.  Hard to imagine that much would grow on the thin soil other than the rocks that were there to begin with. 

Petra
My first day at Petra provided me with some precious time with George K to walk along the main valley bottom while the rest went up to an area called the High Point of Sacrifice (I did this on my second trip and know it is a tough walk.  Demetrious a 70+ year old gentleman with us, a bypass patient the year before, went to the top!).   My feet were sore by the end of a rich far-ranging day of discussion in an amazing historical environment.  A little bit of research provides some history of Petra and the Nabataean people who have been credited with its creation.  Petra sits on major trade routes and controlled precious water resources:

The Babylonian captivity of Hebrews that began in 586 BC opened a power vacuum in Judah, and as Edomites moved into Judaean grazing lands, Nabataean inscriptions began to be left in Edomite territory.
Petra has had religious significance since ancient times. Nearby Ain Mousa (Spring of Moses) is believed to be where Moses struck a rock with his staff to extract water; and Aaron is said to have died in the Petra area and been buried atop Jabal Haroun (Mount Aaron).  More recently (in the time of Jesus), the Nabateans built a city packed with tombs, temples, sanctuaries and altars to their gods. Finally, in its last years, Petra was the home of at least one Byzantine church.

Friday saw my small group of friends travel to the north of the country for a day-visit with others in the country.  Since they were staying on in the city of Irbid for another day, I traveled back to Amman to be able to start my travels-proper (what I had intended originally before I realized that I could meet with the group mentioned above). 
George dropped me off at the bus station in Irbid and with a little bit of negotiation I found another traveler who was going to Amman (1.5 hours South).  He only wanted to pay 2 JD and I agreed to cover the balance of the 10 JD ‘extortion’ cost of Eid travel so that I had someone who could talk English (taxi driver did not).  Mr. Amir was in Jordanian dress.  The trip seemed full of argument between the driver and Mr. Amir although each time he turned around and addressed me in English, he was very polite.  He was an unassuming internationally traveled multi-national HR personnel professional in the seafood packaging industry.  When we got to the bus station he paid for his AND my costs and forbid me to pay anything.  He then called a friend who turned up in a beat-up van and took me to my ‘two star’ hotel – at NO COST at all!  Overall, I have found that Jordanian and Oman people are the friendliest of the Middle East people.   

My second and third days at Petra were awesome.  I spent them walking around the site with the Blincows who we met in the UAE while I worked at Dubai Women’s College.  I also ran across Brian Keenan one of the Heads from DWC.  The first day with the Blincows was spent climbing to the High Point of Sacrifice and the second day to the far end of Petra and up to the Ad-Deir Monastery and to stand on the high point of the End of the World.

Wadi Rum
Monday found me on a small bus heading to Wadi Rum at 6:30 am for a two day/night back-packing kind of wilderness trip (sort of…).  On the trip down we traveled on the ancient  ‘Kings Way’ which is mentioned in the Bible (Numbers 20:17 and 21:22), the route that Moses wished to follow as he led his people north through the land of Edom after leaving Egypt.  On this road we passed a white dome crypt on top of a very high rock outcrop which I was told was the tomb of Aaron.   

Wadi Rum… what can I say?  Superlatives defy… amazing, awesome, superb....  How can I describe the vastness of this place?  Upon arrival I joined two others – an archeologist on sabbatical (holiday—personal research trip? of the main archeological sites around the Middle East), and his good friend a film producer.   We were driven in the back of a Toyota 4x4 to the base of one of the monstrous rock outcrop hills and started to climb.  Up and Up and Up!  The view was fantastic!  We were told that this area is the next hotspot for climbers as there are no rules or regulations and many of these mountains have not been climbed before.  This place is way away from anywhere.  When I stop and listen, all I get is the ringing of my ears – not much for any form of life here at all as the heat must be a killer in the summer time. 
Paul, the archeologist was an unending source of historical information as we discus evidence-based history vs historical spin of the region from Egypt to Turkey. I learned that a fair bit of what we ‘accept’ regarding major archeological sites in this region of the globe have been ‘managed’ to tell a story that conveys a politically correct message.  But then again, what history is not re-written by the victors? 
My first nigh to sleep in the Bedouin black goat-hair tent was a restless one on the provided foam mat with singe sheet and blanket.  I remember waking up a number of times and tracking the slow progress of the near-full moon through the fabric of the tent roof. 10.3 degrees Celsius in the morning, I could almost see my breath.   Our days were action packed though.  We got up around 6:30, breakfast at 7:15 and away for about 3 main hikes to be back by 4 and dinner by 6.  With nothing else to do, we went to sleep as the locals do, by 8 pm.
With Wadi Rum behind me, I was back in Amman again and staying at my 2 star hotel.  I called Donna on my mobile in a small restaurant beside the hotel and right at that time the owner shakes out his prayer rug and commences to pray beside me while I was on the phone.. I often find this openness to be a bit disconcerting, because for me, this is a very private thing, but for Moslems, it happens 'where you are at.'  I did not know if I should hang up of carry on talking…  I guess I was not too distracting for him as I was having a hard time talking very loudly as I was loosing my voice due to a cold I had just caught.

Biblical Sites
The next thing I wanted to do was visit some of the sites mentioned in the Bible.  Jordan has just about half of the sites mentioned in the Bible contained within its boarders.   I went with three other people from the hotel in a private taxi to Mt. Nebo, the River Jordan and the Dead Sea.
From the height of land of Mt. Nebo, where Moses looked out across the Promised Land and where he subsequently died. Deuteronomy 34:1-6 
From this location, looking across the large valley (I am standing on the edge of this valley), Jerusalem is 46 km.  I can actually see Jericho 27 km away, and too far away is Bethlehem, 50 km.  The valley floor where the River Jordan runs, is 800 meters below me.
Next point of interest on our trip was the River Jordan and the place where Jesus was said to have been baptized.  My small group joins more people and a local tour guide and we are warned sternly that we are entering a ‘military’ zone.  We visit the ‘official baptism’ site which is currently dry and has steps built down to where a pool used to be, before the river changed its channel and the volume of water reduced by recent irrigation practices.  We walk further and are told to NOT talk to or wave at the people on the other side of the river and to not wander away from the group.  A 20 foot bit of water separates the Israeli and Jordan River Jordan baptism shelters.  We take photos of each other across the water.  Strange that the ‘enemy’ looks a lot like us!  

  I witness another group of tourists baptizing themselves in the river.   On our way out of the ‘zone’, but still down on the river-flats, we stopped at where Alijah was said to have ascended into Heaven.  
 

A military zone they said… well I guess it is!  During our short time there, we were shaken three times by HUGE explosions.  About 4 km away the Israelis were blowing off landmines and confiscated explosives.  

Dead Sea
Donna encouraged me during my phone call with her to get to the Dead Sea and I did not realize that it was one of the stops on this day-trip until I was on it.  We visited the ‘public beach’ location of the Dead Sea. Floating or ‘water-walking’ in about 8 feet of water (floating straight up and down and ‘walking’ in the water moved you forward) was fun.  It was interesting to know that it is 390 meters below sea level.  The last time I was below sea level I was learning how to scuba dive. 
It rained my last night in Amman and my adjoining bathroom got all wet ... The roof leaked.  At least my bed was dry.  I felt it was time to head home and find out if my house got any wetter than it was when I left.
When I got home I found out that something like 77 homes had to be evacuated – everything from main floors of homes being flooded, electrical appliances ruined (computers etc) and even cars crushed in their garages by ceilings falling on them – drywall, concrete and all…  All because of rain!  My home is dry.
This week I was having lunch in the gourmet coffee shop here on campus and they were playing Christmas carols.  I guess I am not so far from Western society after all.
Oh, and another bit of progress here is that we have the large grocery store open now and can get everything from flowers to BBQ’s, fresh baked bread to fresh produce and everything between.  I am going bowling tonight with Arandam.

You can see my trip in photos at this site:  http://www.pbase.com/pinicola/jordan_trip
If anyone wants a large version of any of the photos, just ask.

Just Another Week

Relaxation?

Last week I went for a massage because I have aggravated neck injuries from an old motorcycle accident (’79).  I got the ‘back and neck’ treatment.  Over my shoulders, where the pain is, felt like a bag of marbles was being moved around – bump, bump, bump… ouch!  I had been sore for 2 weeks and thought that I would try out the brand new (what isn’t around here?) men’s salon.  At first we were notified by email that there was a barber shop opening and then later word got out on the grape vine that it offered massage and when I was in there, I saw tanning beds – in Saudi Arabia no less!  I have a feeling that their market research was lacking.

Talking about marketing, the new yet-to-open book store, is a disappointment even before it opens.  I looked though the windows at the stocked shelves and saw that they are full of Arabic books.  This is OK, but as a rule, the people from this region do not have a literary tradition as their recent history is oral-based.  This means that the books that are printed serve a purpose more of decoration than reading material – having LOTS of gold on the bindings and many in hard cover.  Gazing though the window I saw shelf upon shelf of gold leaf gilt books.  8-/  The other books on display were computer programming books, university standard-exam preparation books (everyone at the university has passed these exams because they are Masters or PhD students) or table-top picture books.  BUT…. The majority of people on the university campus are readers by nature and well educated.  The manager of this bookstore did not do his homework!  Which brings me to lack of marketing research and strategy again.  I did him a favor and suggested that maybe a good thing to stock up on could be travel books for the region.  His eyes lit up and he though that this would be a good idea.  Actually, I was hoping that there might be a book on Jordan when I went there.  So disappointing! 

Normality is coming

I see they have defined the ‘target range’ at the university now.  They have painted the zebra crossings on the road between the university buildings and the community.  Many times this past week I tested the drivers, intending to see if they understand what the crossing lines mean.  They all passed with flying colors.  NOT ONE slowed down or stopped for me.  I believe that we can safely conclude that traffic habits are the same inside the campus as outside and in Jeddah.  Look both ways, stop, look again, wait a bit, and then RUN!   

Taxi drivers

Last weekend Arindam and I went into Jeddah again.  We went in on the Shopping Bus and came back in a local taxi.   I needed to get a telephoto lens for my SLR camera and some shoes.  We wanted to get around a bit so after the first mall we flagged a taxi and went to another.  During the drive, we got to know our taxi driver and mentioned that we wanted to go back to the university and he agreed to wait for us and take us on after our second mall episode.  On the way back to the university we learned that the driver (a strapping, young man from Morocco) used to be a body guard for one of the Saudi Princes and traveled around the world with him for four years.  He was in the employ of a company that provided him as a contractor to the prince. He had been to the US, China, London, Korea, Australia and many other places.  He was quite proud that he never carried a weapon but relied on his training as a martial arts expert.

The Cruise

Not sure what the water temperature was, but it was quite warm.   About 30 of us traveled out about 10 km from the university (straight West – you can zoom in on the Google Map location) on the university’s catamaran last weekend to anchor in some shallow water where the coral reef was close to the surface.  The colors were not as spectacular as my scuba diving lessons location but the fish were plentiful.  I especially enjoyed stopping during my one-hour snorkel tour, and watching a school of about 100 small 3 cm-5cm iridescent orange fish float up from the insides of a coral-head, like sparkling stars and then quickly disappear.  I thought that odd and looked around and a predatory fish (bonito) swam by.  A few moments later, the fish reemerged and floated up from their hiding place again to swirl about just above their home.  Wonderful!  I also saw a stingray, a Puffer Fish, Parrot fish and many other colorful coral dwelling fish.  I think the most beautiful colors were those seen on the lips of the large coral clams (here is an example of what I saw).  As I moved over them their ‘eyes’ along the edges of their colorful lips saw me and they retracted into their shells.  Nature is amazing for sure!

Just before we were permitted to swim, the boat crew designated the free-swimming area with floats and anchors off the back end of the boat, mainly for the children that were along.  Our snorkel trip went outside this area.  There was food and pop for all and hand-line fishing off the front of the boat.  I got lots of bites but caught nothing. 

Rain

Sunday November 22nd it rained!  I was sitting on my bed getting ready for the day and heard an odd sound outside.  Looking out the window I saw that the road was wet.  I quickly went outside and took some pictures.  One has to capitalize on these opportunities because they come seldom in these regions!  It rained for about 5 minutes and then stopped. Actually, it had stopped even before I got out of the house.  My house is the fourth back from the corner on the left hand side.

Real and Fake Days

Fake Monday

I like this!  Fake Monday is actually Saturday and Fake Wednesday is Monday and Fake Friday is  Wednesday.  Got it?  8-)  From now on, I don’t need to figure that the work-week starts on Saturday here and ‘hump-day is Monday or that the last work-day of the week is Wednesday, although I really do like the shifted work week.  You see, I think of working Saturday and Sunday like working overtime, which makes my work week actually only three days and then I get a weekend.  Isn’t that GREAT?  Hmmmm, maybe you have to be here to understand… 8-/

Meals

Went into Jeddah with a few other people in a private car and had a meal at ‘South of the Border’ a Mexican style restaurant.  They have tried to recreate the chain faithfully here but some things just do not transfer very well.  Take for example the signs for the washrooms – Hombre for the men.  Both gender’s facilities are in the basement and there is a strategically stationed staff member at the bottom of the stairs between the two unit’s doors to direct men and women to the correct washroom.  Why they do not just change the signs to say Men and Women or even add the appropriate Arabic word is beyond me.  I guess ‘chain-style’ is more important than functionality and common sense.  Oh, and on the way out of the place, every single employee is trained to automatically stop what they are doing and chime the meaningless – ‘Thank you Sir, please come again.’  I lost count after the 15^th… Not sure if the guy at the bottom of the stairs said anything as I passed him on the way up the stairs though.  I should go back and try that one again.

Eating on campus... has deteriorated markedly for me.  What used to be ANYTHING on the menu is now the value-meal or a sandwich.  You see, we have to pay now.  I must add, the cafeteria does not have much for line-ups any more, which is a plus!   On the same topic, I have become a budding gourmet cook (in my own humble opinion of myself).  I just need a little bit of help now and then.  For example, I called Donna the other day and found out how to bread some steak and then bake them on a tray in the oven!  Simple… if you like boot leather for dinner but the taste was great, it was just a little tough.  Tonight was oven baked fish and salad.  Note to self: test food before putting on plate as it still might be a ‘bit’ raw.

Oh, I never added that it is quite enjoyable to walk around and read the different names tags placed in front of the food on the counters – always interesting to try to decipher them.  Cicken Berger, Seafood Lasagn or Spagetti Cesar.  I am sure that I have missed many as I just recently learned of the entertainment value of scanning the array of foods available.

Travels

I am a mite delayed in getting my blog out this week because of some unexpected travel last weekend.  A group of 14 people from KAUST traveled to the Eastern side of Saudi Arabia, very close to Bahrain and Qatar, to Dhahran a Saudi Aramco compound in the city of Dammam.   

Dhahran is a fenced-in city, and only Saudi Aramco employees and their dependents may live inside.

Dhahran is a major centre for the oil industry. Large oil reserves were first identified in the Dhahran area in 1931, and in 1935, the Standard Oil company of the United States drilled the first commercially viable oil well. Standard Oil later established a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia called the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO), the forerunner to the modern Saudi Aramco (now fully owned by the Saudi government). Saudi Aramco still has its headquarters in Dhahran, and is considered by many measures to be the largest oil company in the world.

In the Gulf War, a significant number of United States military personnel were stationed in Dhahran. Some of these personnel remained in the city after the conclusion of the war, operating under Army Forces Central Command - Saudi Arabia (ARCENT-SA). [Sourse]

Google Maps and Dammam   (note how close the city is to Bahrain which is reached by a bridge)

There are four main compounds in the region for Saudi Aramco but I have been told that this one is the largest (30 sq miles) with a population of over 11 000 and the oldest standing building still in use is 75 years old.  This is a city within a city!

This is the second time I have flown on Aramco’s Boeing airliners in about as many weeks it seems.  Two differences I found on these flights from any other flight I have ever taken were:  All the ladies were sitting at the back of the plane, the men in the front and ‘us’ in the middle, and the second was about 10 minutes into the flight an announcement came over the PA system to broadcast a recording of the ‘travel prayer’ which was chanted by a man with a very sonorous voice overlaid by a huge-chamber echo effect.  Truly, I am in Saudi Arabia. 

We passed through two checkpoints to get into this ‘fenced city within a city’ and entered an environment much like what you would find in a city in Arizona (OK, am I really in Saudi Arabia?) – lots of bungalow homes with mature trees, green grassed fields, playgrounds and hedgerows and the sounds of mourning doves and a plethora of other bird sounds enriching the air.  How wonderful!  KAUST is so new that it has yet to attract birdlife – I miss the sounds here.   Oh, as an aside, I read in a news item this week that KAUST is so new that it is not even on Google Maps.  Now, if that is a measure of 'newness' these days, how things have changed eh?

On the bus ride from the airport to the Aramco compound, there is very little for lighting along the sides of the highway at night and I got the strange impression that I was driving along a Canadian prairie highway just after a fresh snowfall; not a tree or a blade of grass anywhere and with graders having smoothed and sculpted the verge so that there is very little variation to the ground surface, small sand drifts have built up behind any obstruction and along the curbs.  So, with little light save for distant spotlights and a little light from the moon, the landscape looked like it was not +30 degrees but rather 30 below!  It was a nice assurance when I got out of the bus that I did not need a down jacket – I left that back in Canada. (Man, I’m getting global whiplash from this!)

Self-Directed Groups

In the morning we were pleased to find that the weekend we came on, was one of the main weekends for community activities in the compound, which leads me to WHY I was in Dammam!

Aramco as you have read, is a mature company with mature processes, refined over many years.  Aramco is also funding the first three or so years of operations of KAUST.  Quality of life is one of the main-stays that ensure that people find their tenure in the Middle East rewarding and enjoyable.  Resulting from this, over the years, many ‘Self-Directed Groups’ have been set up by community members and supported by Aramco.  We went to Dhahran to find out how to set up groups like this at KAUST.  I was included in the group of 14 because I inquired about setting up a group involved in Dragon Boating.  It appears as though I am going to need to gather a group of people with similar interests to build an organizational body and that can manage funds, events, training and equipment.

Back to the weekend!

After breakfast at the ‘commissary’ (first time I have heard this term used… guess it underscores the compound’s heritage) which was just a stones’ throw from the hotel, we were off to the races.   We had to drive a long way around the compound’s central area before we found an entrance into a main sports field – we were constantly redirected because there was a road-race taking place and we were not permitted to cross the race-route by the hundreds of volunteer security personnel.  Eventually we were able to cross the route and get into one of the large parking lots beside a sports field.  There was a crowd of fire fighters competing in their annual games, ‘Feel the Burn.’  They were doing an obstacle race at the time we were there.  During the whole time we were in the compound our conversation was drowned out by regular fly-bys of US fighter jets going out to patrol the southern Iraq no-fly zone from the near-by airbase.  We moved on to visit the craft community center building where we saw facilities for Self-Directed Groups: pottery, (they had 4 large kilns and 11 pottery wheels), lead stained glass, painting, print making, exhibit space offices and more.  From there, we went to see fitness facilities and then to some of their tennis courts where a group was taking part in a fun round-robin tournament.   Later we went to the community library that is as well provisioned as one of the larger Edmonton public library branches.  During a presentation on ‘groups’ we were told about the facilities available for woodworking.  They have a huge hanger kind of set up for their shop which seemed even larger than the cabinet factories I have worked in!

For lunch, we moved to the central event area for the weekend that seemed to be something like a miniature ‘Edmonton heritage days’ sort of set-up, but without the heritage theme.  This event was all about Self-Directed Groups and these groups were either showcasing what they do or fund-raising by selling their products. I think my favorite was the boy scout group doing fishing for candy with poles and clothes pegs dropped over a screen while other kids clipped prizes to the lines… or maybe it was woodworking stations where parents were teaching children how to build wooden periscopes.  We walked around a bit and then went into the adjacent theatre to watch a dress-rehearsal of the theatre group’s next production, Mamma Mia.  I can tell you, from my opinion having seen the ‘professional’ version of this production was everything as good -- with two caveats, it was a dress rehearsal and it was done by high schools students and Aramco employees.  I believe there might be some discussions taking place about the possibility of inviting these people to KAUST to inspire the generation of a similar group here.

Fake Sunday at the Beach

Friday was an odd day for me.  I was so close to Dubai and yet could not get there for a very special gathering of my friends – I definitely knew where I wanted to be if I had an option, but I did not, so made the best of it. 

Friday was a free-day as our flight was booked for the evening.  A few went shopping and the rest chose to go to a beach resort.  If you zoom in as much as you can on this Google Map link you will just about see me on the beach chair (well maybe not…. But I WAS there!)  You see, I can use my iPhone and open Google Maps on it and hit a button and I get the ‘pin’ that you see in the middle of the map which marks the location that I am at that time.  If you look closely at the map you will see the water slides and ‘lazy river’ where I floated around on a tube.

Real Sunday

SSunday evening last week and again last night (this week Sunday) I participated in a meeting with some friends in Edmonton, where my family is.  A few of us have purchased a Polycom phone system that can be placed in the center of a room and be used as a conference communication device.  I am here in Saudi Arabia and I dial the homes’ phone number using Skype and they pick up, test the audio and then ‘carry me’ into the room and set ‘me’ down under a table in the room -- for the duration.  This was how I heard, for the first time, my son Garnet’s thoughts.  It is wonderful to be able to listen to Donna and Aven and each as they share their thoughts for the week.  The communication goes both ways as I am able to share a little about my experiences with them, there as well.  My body might be here, but my heart is definitely there.

Starting to feel like ages

Although it is just eight weeks that I have been here, it feels like ages!  We meet people who are new and they look at us like veterans when in fact we are just as ‘wet behind the years’ as they are.  But we can’t miss the opportunity and often say with a smile that we have been here from before the opening.  Work is going by like a blur as we work from one issue to the next.  Setting up software and applications and systems is not a simple thing even in a mature organization.  Setting up the whole thing from scratch is indescribable in its complexity!  Blackboard which I work with primarily, is a relatively mature application as a whole, but when connecting to other applications and additional programs that sit between them to assist in communication between the two… the scope for error, and complications is exponential in nature.  We are beginning to tackle the grading system while students are taking exams and instructors want to upload these results in Blackboard -- while we are trying to figure out how to pass these grades to the Student Records system which ultimately generates a student’s transcript and grade point average (final marks) -- is a challenge to say the least.  In tandem, we are developing our backup processes and systems so that we can recover data if there is a system failure.  On top of this we are addressing single-user access issues on a daily and hourly basis.  All of this keeps the three of us hopping!  I say three, because I work with Vanessa (an Australian lady who has been here longer than I…), and Velavan who is an Indian contractor from a company called EduTech out of India and Dubai.  I had dealings with this company while working at Dubai Women’s College in the UAE.
‘Guy intelligence’ 

And now there are two.  This past week, Kannan’s spouse arrived from Bahrain where they had been living before Kannan got this job here.  Now there is only Arindam and I who are bachelors – from the initial ‘hotel group’ when I first arrived.  Kannan was in a panic for the last few days before his wife arrived and both Arindam and I were trying to council him in how to handle the situation.  Kannan was fixated on getting the home spotless while Arindam and I were telling him to do a ‘little’ but not ‘too much’ because we believe that the effort a man puts into cleaning just never seems to be good enough for a woman. I firmly believe that a home is not a home till tidied and cleaned by its manager.  As an aside, I was also trying to talk sense into Arindam related to his shipment that was sitting in boxes in his hallway.  I said that it might be best to leave it as-is and ‘help’ his wife when she comes in a few months, to put things where she wants them rather than guessing where they ‘should’ go.  I was trying to convince him that it might be an exercise in futility…  I lost, and he gave in and unpacked.  Time will tell what eventually happens.

What to do?

Grocery shopping till 1am and home by 2.30.  Arggg!  Arindam and I split the cost of a taxi for the full day and ventured into Jeddah again.  Since the selection is very limited in the small grocery shop here on campus, it is almost essential that we make a grocery run at least twice a month.  My first big shop cost me $150.  We did a few other stops along the way which included IKEA again for the first stop, then to Al Balad (the old district of the city) and finally to a large grocery store. 

No one sleeps in this country!  We were driving home after 1 am and there were children all over the places – from toddlers being tossed in the air by parents to teens.  There were family groups sitting in circles where ever there was grass and most were choosing the grass in the median of the road (between the two lanes of traffic).   Can’t think that this is the safest place for children to be playing tag, but it seems to be a common occurrence.  Makes me wonder about what these children do about staying awake at school. 

IKEA, I now understand why people were killed here... A press of humanity!  We thought that it would be faster to walk backwards through the store and find the stuff we wanted in the warehouse and then get out rather than walking through the whole store and then through the warehouse.  Where our plan fell through was that all the signs are in Arabic and a lot of the things in the warehouse were not on display so we could not shop the shelves and had to move further into the store to get part numbers.  Man!  That was a mistake big-time!   I think I might have been the only Caucasian in the whole store that night.  Pushing our cart was sort of surreal, a bit like driving in Jeddah -- I was cut off and pushed aside at every opportunity -- but in this version with no cars, everything was in monochrome – B&W. 

 Making my house a home:

I have taken a number of photos that were taken in the UAE (a series of Camels on gravel road, an old man sleeping on a wooden boat and a portrait of my family, …) and enlarged them with Photoshop so that they can be printed in  sizes up to 3’ x 2.5’.  They will all be mounted on a wood backboard.  I think the total cost will be just shy of $100 which I think is a good price.  Here a week later, and I have them on the walls around the house.  They are so much better than the schlock that was here when I moved in.

There is bicycle envy on campus.  8-)

 Riding to work each day, I get many comments on my bike – Donna purchased it for me in Dubai for a birthday present 3 years ago.  It was getting a ‘bit’ dusty and I felt compelled to wash it.  Oh, the vanity of it all!  On the environmental side, I think I can recoup some of your opinion of me by telling you that it took one ‘damp’ cloth to wash it, no running water, no bucket of water and no phosphates etc...

Navigating the bureaucracy

Never a dull moment when I venture out to acquire official documents.  A group of us gathered at the administration building at 9 am expecting to leave for the dreaded drivers license again.  You might ask yourself that I have already got mine!  Yes, but I have to go through it all again because I want to get a motorcycle license.  If I want an additional vehicle added to my license I have to go though the whole process all over again and get a second card.  I forget to bring food... that was a mistake!  We finally got out of the university’s admin building by 11.  We have no idea why it took so long, but have found it is better not to ask. 

We drove away from Jeddah this time as the Government Affairs people at the university were determined to find a place less crowded than Jeddah’s police station.  We drove 60 km North and then into a small town where we promptly got lost.  Eventually we found a medical clinic.  We gave blood again and eyes were tested (myself and a German were the two that were doing this for a second time, the rest were getting their car licenses).  When we finally got to the police station we were just in time for prayer time.  The place was deserted…  We were told to sit in a waiting room and the Gov. Affairs guys left to find people.  We then were taken to a translation room and each gave their home country license (second time for us…).    Each time we said that we did not want the car license but the motorcycle, the official would stop and look at us…    Motorcycle licenses I think, are not common! 

We found it a bit odd that there was bargaining taking place when we were paying for our licenses and translation. It started at Saudi riyal 430 and ended at 300.  For some reason, the cost is greater out in the outlying towns.  Don’t ask!  8-)

After the translation we were all taken back to the medical center and given another eye exam because we all were told that we need to have had a microscope-kind-of-test rather than the chart on the wall variety which was the kind that we had in Jeddah – why?...   Don’t ask!  We found that ‘us motorcycle license guys’ were being asked for more information than the car guys.  They wanted our finger prints.  Again, no questions on our part, it seems to be just process, but wondered if they thought that our fingers would be the only thing identifiable after an accident??? Hmmmm  The police station and medical clinic closed for the day after the eye exam and we were told to come back another day for the finger printing process.  8-/   Oh, and another thing, they would not give us our license until we present a receipt from purchasing a helmet.  I said I had a helmet from Dubai and would bring it in… They did not accept that, they wanted the receipt.  So, I will be asking around from some of the other people at the university and ‘borrow’ a receipt so that I can fulfill the license obligation.  Can’t figure out why they would not accept seeing my helmet other than that they wanted to attach a copy of a receipt to all the other paper work.  Oh dear me!  I believe that if I get a bike after all this, that I will be one of a very small elite fraternity of bike riders.  In the end, there was progress -- on a positive note, we are half way there.

Flying, Haircuts, and Planning for Eid

Flying across this large country:

ARAMCO owns and operates the Shaybah oil field. The description below is from their website.


“The Shaybah oil field is located in one of the most remote, desolate and inhospitable areas in Saudi Arabia. It is situated in an isolated desert area known as the Rub' al-Khali (the Empty Quarter) among towering rust-colored sand dunes. Dune heights of more than 200 meters (660 feet) are common. Summer temperatures can reach 56 C (133 F). Not surprisingly, the area is very dry. Occasionally, sandstorms pushed by 75-mph winds scour the area, reducing visibility, grounding aircraft and blanketing access roads.”
Saudi Aramco reports to its owner, the Saudi Arabian Government, through the Supreme Council for Petroleum and Minerals Affairs, chaired by King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and is one of the largest oil corporation in the world with the largest proven crude oil reserves and production. Interestingly, Aramco is managing the budget of KAUST for the next few years as we continue to set up. Associated with this relationship, Aramco invited students and faculty to visit one of their large gas and oil production facility in the ‘Empty Quarter.’ I learned of the trips and was able to join the second.

On Thursday last week, (the first day of our weekend here) I joined about 120 other people from the university and we climbed on three fancy Mercedes buses with leather seats and everything, and traveled to the South end of Jeddah to the private Aramco airport. From there, all 120 of us boarded an Aramco jet and traveled 2.5 hours straight East to Shaybah (details below). We were too late to be given a tour of the oil/gas extraction facilities but not too late to climb to the top of some of the large dunes and take photos of the setting sun. Later, we gathered for some presentations by Aramco employees and then had a wonderful Arabic meal out under the stars and then back on the plane and then busses and home again by 12 am.
Statistics: Shaybah has 19 billion barrels of oil and a similar quantity of gas. Currently they are using horizontal drilling to reach multiple oil pockets branching holes off from the main hole. They have some 106 horizontal wells and 200 plus ‘regular’ wells. The site of Shaybah has four large gas/oil separation plants. I believe that they pump the gas back down the wells to assist in extraction of the oil once it is separated.

Click on the link below to open a map of the area:
Things to look for in this Google Map. To the North on this image you will see the UAE. Along the coast is Abu Dhabi and up along the coast to the North East is Dubai. Use the zoom tool (click on the +) on the left of the map to zoom in on the center of the map to see where I was. As you zoom, you will see the individual dunes come into view.  Closer yet, you will see some roads and closer still, you will see the oil separation plant, buildings and airstrip where we landed. If you see a ‘pin’ that I have placed on the map, it marks the location of the plane when we landed and taxied to the terminal. If you back out a bit, you will see a small road going directly to the south of the terminal. It goes up some hills and ends in a small loop at an interpretive center where we had our evening meal after climbing the dunes just south of the center. Once you are zoomed in close, you can click and hold your mouse on the map and ‘pull’ it around on the screen to control what you want to look at.
When we lived in the UAE between 2003 and 2008, during the first few weeks in Dubai, the family went on a trip down to the left bottom tip of the road that is in the shape of a W just over the border in the UAE in the Google Map image above. Little did I know that I would revisit this area 6 years later – on the other side of the border, in Saudi Arabia about 40 km to the South. In the series of photos on this website http://www.pbase.com/pinicola/first_days_here you will see the family coming down the slip-face of a 300 m. + dune in a Toyota. For those interested in trivia, the moving wave in front of the vehicle as it moved down the slope provided us proof that moving sand ‘sings.’ The moving sand produced a low moaning sound.

Friday I was up early again (this is later in the week and I am still not fully recovered from the weekend!). I was off for scuba diving and my open water exam which I passed and am now a certified Scuba Diver. 8-) I think this next weekend will be spent around the house cleaning and resting! Whew!

A bit of the Globe:
The University is really the most international place I have ever been. On the trip back from Shaybah I was sitting beside an American instructor of Applied Mathematics and noticed that the only other people who were talking English in hearing distance from me were the Nigerian and Chinese men sitting right in front of us.
This past week there was a Mexican celebration (the week before had a ‘China day’). The Mexican students wanted to have a 'catered' meal for all at the university but it eventually became a Mexican meal at the cafeteria – or became ‘as the chefs interpreted Mexico,’ at least that is how it seemed to me. The serving and catering staff were all dressed up in ponchos and a few were strumming and singing with eukalalys (sp?). You can probably guess who was doing the singing (read my previous blogs…). Later, on my way home from dinner, I stopped my bike and watched a group of Mexican students playing and chanting while blindfolded participants tried to bash away at a piñata and with a paper mache bat. 8-)

The Technology at KAUST fact for the week:
This university is loaded with technology and the examples are all over the place. The video clip here, is a demonstration of something called a Visualization Screen.
Standing outside ‘Building One’, I watch a meeting taking place between three locations. On the huge screen (about 30 ft by 10 ft), are the three locations as well as a shared document. The main screen area is a series of smaller displays forming the "wall'. Each meeting can be moved to 'any' location on the large screen irrespective of the independent displays.


Some time soon, I want to get a tour of the inside of that room and experience the different 3D visualization rooms. One is called the ‘cave.’ Stay tuned!

Considering my options for Eid
Well, I got my exit visa in my passport and now can leave the country. The visa is a 8.5x11 folded piece of paper stapled to the back page of my passport. I will have to take care that it does not get ripped out…

I have been looking around for a place to go for the 9 days of holiday. Going to Dubai is an option. I was thinking of going to a yearly gathering of our associates and friends there, but it happens the weekend before Eid and our weekend is not the same as theirs now that ‘they’ have shifted to Friday and Saturday. I am also still in my probation period and cannot use work-holidays yet – Eid is a public/religious ‘holiday.’ So, I am thinking of where to go… The closest place in Africa for me to go is Ethiopia and this seems like a good enough excuse to visit that continent again. There is lots to see and I will write about what I plan to do as things progress. Maybe some other place or opportunity will come up too! Who knows.
A Hair Cut:

The group of guys that I hang out with decided that we did not want to go on the Shopping Bus for the 3 hour round trip plus 4 hours stay at a mall…AGAIN, just to get our hair cut. We had just learned that another person had gone into the small town close beside the university the other day and paid 5 Riyal ($1.50) for his cut. We all though that this was too good to be true and we hired a taxi from the university and shared the cost between the 4 of us. We drove past three barber shops looking for one that was not too grotty looking and decided that the one with the large couch stretching around half the shop was a good indication that the owner considered that comfort was of some importance – we thought that this might transfer to the quality and cleanliness of the hair cut. On the way home, I purchased some medicated shampoo just in case I catch something.
I must add that there is a lot more white coming off my head these days! The most interesting part of the hair cut was the straight razor treatment. This guy replaces his straight razor blade (half of a safety razor blade…) each time he cuts hair. He then dips it in alcohol and uses a small blow torch to light the razorblade on fire. This is what he is doing in this photo of me taken by Arindam on his mobile (I look stunned or something!). He rotates it a bit until it goes out and then does the tidying up of hair around the neck and sideburn areas. After telling this story to some folk at breakfast, they said that I should look forward to the full treatment – the barber takes the blow torch and flashes it over the edges of your ears to singe off the short hairs on the ears. Woooo! Maybe not!

Diving, iPhones and Other Things

Got a new toy.. an iPhone.

Each of the employees in IT have been given the option to have an iPhone or a Blackberry. I chose the iPhone because of its possible use in eLearning. I have added a few free tools that can be downloaded from the Internet. I have a tool for scuba diving (more about each of these later), a tool for Blackboard and the ‘iPray’ tool …. 8-)   Also included in the free tools I have acquired, is a Bloomberg stock-chart tool that is really cool. Each of these tools is a little self-contained program that does something unique.
After my small group of friends got our new mobile phones, my boss passed by while we were standing outside one day and commented on our huddle…. We had our heads together, standing in a circle busily calling each other and then taking the missed calls and adding names and details, building our contact list in our phones. He said we looked like a group of guys planning a conspiracy. There is a lot of work to ensure that one is accessible – we each have a private mobile, a desk phone, our new work mobiles and our home numbers. I wonder what life was like when a person had to walk over to someone and ask a question. Man! That must have been like the Stone Age!

Eating in the Cafeteria

The cost of eating is going up here. Food is now not free in the restaurants in around where the houses are. But, it is still worth the bike ride to the cafeteria as it remains free there and will be we think till after the second Eid holiday (December 4). I have been staying a little late at my desk so that I can stop at the cafeteria on the way home. By around 6 or so the sun is starting to set and it is wonderful to sit at the window facing the sea, looking over a reflection pool outside the window and watching the sun set over Egypt. Some day I will follow the sun and visit that country.

Scuba Lessons
I searched on the phone’s ‘application store’ to see if there was anything for calculating how long I could stay under water while diving. I searched on PADI which is the association that my lessons are through. I found one. Too bad the phone is not waterproof!

This whole diving thing started with me coming to Saudi concerned with how I would fill my time – so I thought that I might look into the following: getting certified for diving, sailing, doing a bunch of fishing and a few other things between my work day…. Well, always keeping my eyes open for an opportunity, I was talking one day with a student and he told me about the scuba lessons he was taking. Ah ha! I jumped right in and invited myself to the lessons. I joined the class at lesson #3, but that was not a problem because they have everything on DVDs these days and I could bring that home and watch just as well as being in the classroom. Incidentally I have attempted to get fully certified two times before but each time fate conspired against me and I was not able to take the final open-water exam although I passed the written exam – I still never became certified. So, I sat in on class #3 and then two days later was in the pool at a local resort just along the coast, south of KAUST. The glass is made up of a large group of Mexican students, a sprinkling of Chinese a Brit and a tag-along Canadian who is just about old enough to be their father. We spent 6 or so hours in the pool (I got wrinkles on the wrinkles on my hands as you can see!)

The sea dive was great! We walked out about 100 ft from the stairs that we went down to get to the water and then swam parallel to the shore for another 50 feet. Where we started to swim, was the drop-off. What a surprise.  There is just a cliff underwater that drops to about 35 feet and all along its vertical surface is living coral and fish all over the place in spectacular rainbow colors. We swam out to a small buoy and dove down from there following a rope that was anchored to a wire frame platform. I understand that this first dive usually has a rope to assist in the drop down to the bottom. I went first because I was indentified as being able to control my air consumption and would be the longest down at the bottom. I held onto the wire frame and watched the fish swim around me like large colorful soap bubbles on a gentle breeze. As more and more of us came down, it was interesting to watch the bubbles floating up like curtains slowly rising at a theatre flashing colors as the sun set. I can not underestimate the pleasure experienced by all when we were traveling home. A good day!

My job:
Presently, I am working with a program that contains online courses called Blackboard. Hence the iPhone tool for Blackboard – I read that it is more of a communication tool for email and course communication than a ‘learning’ tool that you use to do assignments with.
Acting as a Blackboard application administrator, I have been dealing with student accounts and their enrolments into courses. Along with that, there have been technical problems with the way that all the computer systems interact which in most cases means that we have to deal with each issue one-by-one rather than changing something and everyone’s problem is fixed.
Assisting the teachers in their use of this program (training) is another task that I have right now. I have been enjoying getting around the campus on desk-visits to the teachers’ offices. This gives me time to help them and get to know them a bit. I am very impressed with the caliber of researchers and professors that KAUST has. I sure hope that I have opportunity to find out what they do – observe them in action as it were.
It is particularly nice to be sitting eating in the cafeteria (still eating free food!) and when I look around, there is often someone to wave to. 8-)
I have been riding my bicycle around campus for about two weeks now since my shipment came. There is a bike shop on campus now although sadly, the owner has underestimated his customers and I fear that he will not get many. All his product is of the cheapest material around! We got a bike like one of the ones in this shop when we were in Dubai and within a few days it was covered with rust and we were not too keen on riding an ‘ugly’ bike. Shortly later the tires were always flat and the thing just continued to deteriorate.  It constantly amazes me to think of the effort that is put into making objects that last such a short time!
While Arindam and I were visiting this bike shop and asking about a bike lock for Arindam, there was another person who arrived. He was greeted by the owner and then a sales person took him to the side of the shop and opened a door and pulled out a new shiny motorcycle. It was the kind that is halfway between a scooter and a motorbike. The sales-guy spent some time describing and pointing out all the buttons and things while the new owner listened and nodded his head. We went back in and purchased the lock and were standing out beside our bikes talking when the new owner having started the bike, revved the engine a few times and took off right into a concrete post! We turned around to this almighty crash and stood with our mouths open for a while -- then became self-conscious of our appearance and rode away. As we left, the owner was sitting on the bike getting his front forks straightened by the sales-guy. I should have told him to get the bike delivered and leave it in his garage for a few weeks before he takes it out. New vehicles are always jinxed! Come to think of it, maybe this guy is one of the few who did not have a Saudi drivers license? Oh! And Arandam had to return the bike lock because it did not open. 8-/

And for the final iPhone tool, the iPray.
I learned about this this morning finding that many people are using it. Apart for the intended use of assisting Moslems in their daily prayer-life, us non-Moslems have found it quite valuable in assisting us to work around prayer times. You might have read in a previous post how shopping is a challenge to us newly arrived people in Saudi Arabia. Well, this tool provides not only the time of the next prayer but with a simple touch of the finger, the user can see how much time there is left till ‘store closing time.’ For example, today the prayer times are 5 am, 6:17 am, 12:07 pm, 3:27 pm, 5:55 pm and 7:25 pm. The last two are the issue when you travel to the shopping malls on the ‘shopping bus.’ We leave around 5 pm, get there just at closing time or just before, have to hang around for about a ½ hour and then do some power-shopping for about an hour and then hang out again till stores open again around 8:10 or so. The busses leave the malls about 10:20. I think I will have to take the ‘trip’ again shortly as I need to get a hair cut and there is no facility here on campus yet. 8-/

And a final bit of information.
I heard from Mohamed that he had to sign a document at the school here (gr. 8) for his daughter to take home her MacBook Pro. Each of the school children get to use a MacBook. I am not sure if that is ALL the students or just the middle school and high school. But on top of that, they also get an iTouch which is the same as my iPhone but does not have the phone. Students would be able to connect to the internet through wireless or their computers and download all the small programs just like I have. What the schools will do with these bits of technology for the students? Who knows! It would be fun being a teacher at those schools that is for sure!

Post Script...  Today I was awoken by a call to prayer at 5am. from the bedside table.  I was so sure I had turned  the sound off!