This is the second weekend I have been here in Saudi Arabia now. I will collect a few thoughts and a bit of information in this letter to put my experience into perspective for those of you interested enough to read this kind of thing. First off, a bit of detail about WHERE I am working and then follow up with a few accounts about what I am doing and seeing.
I work at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) which was the idea if King Abdullah of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia three or so years ago and will be opened on September 23, 2009, on the 1000th day anniversary of his idea. (Special Inauguration site http://inauguration.kaust.edu.sa/ ) The university will focus on the following. These areas will have beneficial, direct benefits for the region:
- Catalysis
- Clean Combustion
- Computational Bioscience
- Geometric Modeling and Scientific Visualization
- Membranes
- Plant Stress Genomics and Technology
- Red Sea Science and Engineering
- Solar and Alternative Energy Science and Engineering
- Water Desalination and Reuse
I mention the ‘Research labs/buildings’ a number of times on the photo site http://www.pbase.com/pinicola/saudiarabia, but do not say what kinds of things are (or will be) in these buildings. I will place this information at the end of this blog for those who are really interested. Mind you, it is pretty cool stuff – three dimensional visualization rooms that you can stand in and manipulate molecules and cut them and look inside… wow!
My job is to support researchers and teachers in their use of teaching technology and specifically in their use of the Internet to teach with, and to contain their notes, examples, teaching materials and exams. At this university I work with a program called Blackboard http://www.blackboard.com/
Going out to the malls
During Ramadan stores are generally not open during the day, although they might say that they will be, they are not, so it is best to not bother to go out at all during the day. But after the evening prayer around 9 to 9:30 the stores open for business. So, we pack up , the four of us usually: Mohamed (Egyptian – from the States who is a Researcher studying bacteria genome in the Red Sea and had studied for the past 10 years, trout DNA in the States); Kannen an Indian who has worked in Bahrain for a number of years in investment banks with their IT and sits and works closely with me; Arindam an Indian with an Australian accent who is a BRAIN in computers and programming, previously worked for CISCO and a number of other large companies …. and me! And head out to find out where the best places are to acquire what we need for our new homes and lives.
At one mall the four of us got out of our taxi and I was first to walk into the mall, Arandam followed me and then Kannen and Mohamed. Kannen and Mohamed were stopped by the security guard at the door and were told that the mall was for families only. I guess that Arandam was considered some part of my entourage but Mohmd and Kannen might have been following too far behind. Single men are seen as potential harassers of the women in malls so these two were singled out. Mohamed told the guard that he was a family man but his family was not with him yet and that he was a respected person and a ‘Dr’ to his name (PhD). The guy finally relented and let them in. I learned of this a short time later when Mohamed told me that I was let in because I was seen as an ‘old man’ with my white hair! WHAT? Me? White? Hmmmmm maybe a little bit, but come on!
So, among some of the malls we have been to are: the Mall of Arabia: http://www.mallofarabia.com.sa/ Red Sea Mall: http://www.redseamall.com/indexe.php , Star Avenue mall (no site) and a number of other smaller ones. We are looking for a large store that sells fresh vegetables and often they are connected to malls in these countries but so far we have struck out.
Taxi divers
Getting around is not too hard if you have nothing to carry. Taxi drivers for the most part know the city (more about this later). Our trips our foraging and exploring often start with the following: We gather in the foyer of the hotel in the evening when Mohamed gets back from evening prayers and walk out beyond the phalanx of taxies at the front gate who honk their horns to get our attention, and amble over to one of the main streets to flag down a ‘less expensive’ taxi. The ones outside the hotels expect to get wealthy patrons.
I guess I have also found out that white hair could be an asset, or maybe it is just my cloths and white skin? Last night I saw myself as a benefit for our small group of explorers – sort of like ‘fly paper’. We were looking for a taxi outside our last mall of the night around 2:15 am. We saw a few but they passed us by. I moved out close to the edge of the road and sure enough, one passed the other guys standing down towards the entrance of the slip road honing right in on me. Got him! I waved over the other guys and the taxi driver was motioning for me to come closer because he was being hassled by these other guys, not knowing we were all together. Arindam started talking to him, then the other guys attempted. This pattern happens all the time until we find a common language. I believe that we have among the 4 of us about 10 languages to draw upon. This time it was simple, as the driver knew Arabic. Mohamed got into the front seat and we piled all of our stuff into the trunk and got in, and away we went at high speed. This guy could DRIVE! I think they know the size of their cars down to the mm as they can get about 3 cars into one lane on the highway. This is not like Dubai where there is some respect for lanes, nor is it like India where they ignore the lanes totally but drive slowly; this is a combination of all the worst of both – fast and no respect for lanes. Funny thing about this trip though, was that Mohamed bargained the price (the normal 25 Riyal, which is about $7 for just about anywhere) and we were off before we discussed where we were going. The driver, Mohamed discovered, was newer to the city (just moved from Riyadh) than we were and did not have a clue where we wanted to go. SO, here we were, a car-full of guys with not a clue where to go. We asked directions and raced across the city at high speeds going through back alleys and around construction zones -- sort of in the right direction. As we drove along we told him that we will pay him 25 for the trip but that he should pay us 30 for being his navigators to get back to the hotel. We all had a good time! 8-) We got back to the hotel after 2:30 am. Mohamed did not go to sleep as he needed to get up at 4 for breakfast and prayer before sunrise. Up in my room, Garnet caught me shutting down my computer and chatted on Skype for a short time. Life might be strange sometimes but the distance to the familiar is pleasantly near these days.
Getting my Iqama
As many of you know, it was a bit of a hassle getting my passport stamped with my Saudi Arabia visit visa while leaving Canada. It took about a month and a half and I had to delay my flight three times and cost something close to $500 to do. The nice surprise I got here, was that I get all the money I paid to get over here, back. 8-)
Now for the Iqama or ‘residency visa.’ When we got here, we were put up in the Crowne Plaza Hotel all expenses covered but for the food in the minibar. Every work day we stagger down stairs and into a large bus for the 1.5 hour trip from Jeddah out to the University. (some suggest that one of the reasons the University is so far out of the city could be for safety reasons) We will all be doing this until our accommodation on-site is ready. Mine has a few more things to get done before I take the leap and move.
Well, after we got our University ID, we were immediately taken down for ANOTHER health check… $200+ of the cost of my visa while in Canada was a comprehensive health exam in Edmonton. We were hustled into a small office and had a chest x-ray and blood work done. We each provided a set of photos and filled in a form and were back on the bus and off to the university forthwith. Time passed and we all become anxious because EVERYTHING hangs on our getting our passports and Iqama and we were hearing nothing (1-3 days they said… said!). Since our passports are taken by immigration we have no identity but for the University ID and that is not ‘official’ so would not stand up to questions. We were not let know that we could get a letter from the uni/immigration that our passports were taken and in the hands of the government. When we found this out we all went to get ours (seems like most places in developing countries, information of a critical nature like this is passed though word-of-mouth from one traumatized person to the next on an as-needed basis). I only had one photocopy of my passport and reluctantly handed this over to get an official stamp and a letter that would explain the our circumstances to any police that might questions. (there are police stops on many of the roads as they are everywhere and getting thicker as we get closer to the Grand Opening). Each day, we would make the walk from one end of the university to the other (1.5 km?) to check on the government official to see if our Iqama had arrived. (there is no phone book yet) On one day we walked 4 times. FINALLY after about 5 days of waiting, a number of us found out that our photos were too large and Mohamed and I go out to the little town (more of a dust bowl than town) just outside the walls of the Uni and get new photos taken. We hand these in with moments to spare before the office was shut for the weekend. That was Wednesday afternoon (weekend here is Thur/Fri). Today we find out that they have lost our photos so we arrange for the government official to drop by the hotel so that we can give him a third set of photos. 8-) maybe we will get the thing on Sunday, ‘Inshalla’ (God willing).
After I get my Iqama (positive thoughts here), and my passport back, I can then apply for an Exit Visa so that I can travel out of the country. Also, the Iqama is required to set up a bank account and get a drivers license and rent a car – and a whole host of other things. So, until I get that, I am sort of stranded.
Oh, one thing of interest in Jeddah is that there are no Religious Police here in this city. Mohamed suggested that, since it is an important trading center in the country that there is more of a polyglot atmosphere here and therefore less tolerance for people going around and hassling visitors. Western women ware something that covers their body but is actually often quite fetching and do not need to cover their heads – at least I have not been in an area where I women would WANT to go and would feel that she need to cover her hair. I have been to areas where there are NO women that I saw, like at 1 am in a technology district with throngs of men all hanging out looking and purchasing mobile phones in small shops along a very busy street.
KAUST Employee out in public. Some abaya are just very thin black fabric that is open down the front and is almost like a cape.
Zam Zam water
Each night for dinner, I have gone down to the Iftar buffet in the Chrystal Ballroom (breaking of the fast at night). I do this for a number of reasons, one is that it is better than sitting in my room and eating room service food, it is has the largest variety of food in the hotel and there are prizes drawn each night. 8-) The waiters know us because it has been close to two weeks now that we have been dining there. Each night they bring us a fist-full of draw tickets. For four nights running we had a winner from our table. I got a watch worth $400 Mohamed got the same, Kannen got 500 Riyal coupon for Damas Jewelers which he gave to the waiter because its value would just about pay for a visit into the store, the things in the store are so expensive, and Arindam won a woman’s ring which he showed his wife on his webcam that night. Ramadan is just about over and on the first morning of the end, is a large party taking place in the ballroom at around 7 am (just after first prayer time) and I am told that there will be LOTS of electronics as prizes. Man, I am SO going to be there! Hehehehe
The other night, I went out into the tent off the side of the ball room where the hot fresh cooked foods were being prepared and while filling up my plate I saw some people taking what looked like water from earthen jugs (the kind that need a stand and are pointed at the bottom like a tear drop and have a plug at the top). I asked Mohamed what Zam Zam was. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamzam_Well He told of a story of Abraham’s wife and one of her children needing water after Abraham left for a short time and her run out of water for herself and her infant and started to run between two mountains (one of the traditions during the Islamic Hajj). The infant became desperate and was banging his heals against the earth and water came forth – the holy spring of Zam Zam. Interesting that he said that it did not have a smell but was full of salts and it did not quench thirst very well.
For those of you who might be interested in seeing some video that I took on my digital camera (poor quality) I have two which show some of the physical teaching spaces.
1. Lecture Theatre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz6I3m1_C9c
2. Teaching Classroom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSinRyHS9Xs
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Cutting-edge laboratories will enable researchers to make major scientific breakthroughs at KAUST. Other research institutions in the Kingdom and the region will link to the University’s supercomputer and other laboratory facilities through the 10 gigabytes per second (Gbps) Saudi Arabian Advanced Research and Education Network (SAREN).
Supercomputer: Shaheen -- the Arabic word for peregrine falcon -- is the fastest supercomputer in the Middle East and one of the most powerful in the world. Developed with IBM, it is capable of 222 teraflops, or 222 trillion floating point operations per second. In non-technical language, this means Shaheen can solve 222 trillion complicated calculations per second.
Visualization: CORNEA is a fully immersive, six-sided virtual reality facility that gives students and researchers the ability to turn data into 3D structures that they can interact with and examine. It was built in partnership with the University of California, San Diego.
Nanofabrication, Imaging, and Characterization: A clean-room environment equipped with leading-edge tools to support research in advanced materials, biotechnology, electronics and photonics, and MEMS/NEMS. The Imaging and Characterization Labs include a suite of 10 advanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers and facilities for scanning, transmission, confocal, and Raman microscopy, magnetic and thermal measurements, allowing scientists to examine nanostructure devices and surfaces down to the level of individual atoms.
Coastal and Marine Resources: Located next to the Red Sea, the Coastal and Marine Resources Lab facilitates marine research. The facility builds and deploys modern oceanographic instrumentation and provides operational services to support research vessels for marine exploration, diving, and sampling. Indoor and outdoor seawater facilities allow researchers to culture marine organisms.
Analytical Core: These labs boast highly skilled staff focusing on spectroscopy, chromatography and mass spectrometry, trace metals analysis, wet chemistry, and surface analysis.
Biosciences and Bioengineering: These facilities include genomic and proteomic labs essential to the study of cellular molecules for DNA sequencing and genetic analysis, as well as the investigation of cellular processes. The genomics facility is equipped with robots and laboratory automation.
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