My blog

Year 2

Today I was watching an intramural volleyball game and noticed that the six players on one side of the court represented 5 continents.  Things like that are so frequent here that it is easy to lose sight of how amazing something like that really is.  

KAUST is now well underway into its second year.  We are finishing up our fourth week of classes, and that has been enough time for many assignments, presentations, quizzes, and even a week long holiday in Uganda.  I will post a separate blog about that trip.  

At first it was a very strange feeling, arriving at KAUST and seeing so many new faces.  It was weird how much could change in a summer.  The student population has doubled to about 700 students.  Some of these new students I had met before at KAUST events, in Washington D.C. or in Jeddah, and one of these new students was even in my high school math class, but most were unfamiliar faces.  Part of me felt like I didn’t want to invest myself into building relationships with these new students since the relationships would be short lived, but the two classes are definitely integrating quickly and becoming one student body.  Other little things such as printing in the library, administrative personnel, fees for bowling, etc. made us returning students feel slightly out of place.  Most things seem to have settled to an equilibrium though.  

Many students who are looking to graduate soon are preparing for the GRE’s which they will take in Jeddah, so that they can apply to PhD programs after graduation.  The nonnative English speakers will quiz me on the words.  I think it helps their confidence when they realize that I have never seen some of the words.  It is amazing, though, to see people attempt to memorize thousands of words in a few weeks.  One very encouraging thing I saw was that a few native English speakers organized a couple sessions in which they taught skills for writing resumes and personal statements, both for job applications and PhD applications, and then went through and helped revise these.

Also, though the semester is young, expectancy is starting to build towards graduation.  People are inviting parents and siblings and getting their visa processes started, so though it is still a long ways off, and though there is A LOT of work to do to get there, a hope is starting to spread.   

Don’t Let us Forget

The old expression, “out of sight, out of mind” is applicable to the present situation in Haiti.  Just because it seems there is more need in this world than could ever be met, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try our best.  I received this email from one man who is doing his best.  The desperation he expresses compelled me to share:

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your interest in the fight on poverty in Haiti. This
year, Haiti suffered one of the most destructive earthquakes in
history. Over a quarter of a million people lost their lives. Hundreds
of thousands more are homeless, hungry and still months later, require
urgent medical attention.

In the aftermath of the quake, our friends around the world were very
generous with their response. But now that the media has packed up its
cameras and gone home, many Haitians are afraid they have been
forgotten. This fear is understandable as conditions in Haiti seem
incorrigible and the suffering is unending.

The earthquake has crushed an already fragile infrastructure,
preventing the flow of food and supplies throughout the country.
Because roads and bridges have been destroyed, humanitarian aid is
held up at the epicenter and capital city, Port au Prince. Ironically,
many people evacuated Port au Prince and fled to rural parts of the
country where distribution of supplies is next to impossible. One such
rural location is home to our main property, Hope Village, in Les
Cayes. At Hope Village, we provide housing to over 800 children,
education to almost 3,000 students and meals to thousands more. Les
Cayes has been flooded with refugees, seeking shelter since the
disaster. You can't imagine the chaos that we have seen in the
last few months. We face many new challenges every day.

We have come a long way since 1998, when we began our mission of
helping homeless Haitian children. The problems we've
encountered over the years were many. We have made enormous progress
in providing shelter, food, education and medical care to thousands of
impoverished Haitians. We've survived hurricanes, outbreaks of
malaria, typhoid and TB. We've seen times when food and gas
prices were so inflated that many had to go without meals, sometimes
for days. We've seen desperate mothers baking dirt cookies, so
that they could offer their children food when there was none.

Our latest cross is in the form of record-breaking homelessness and
poverty, as a result of earthquake destruction. Every day we face
enormous challenges as a consequence of the disaster. I suppose after
12 years, some might think we would be accustomed to these conditions
by now. I will never become desensitized to the cry of a frightened
child, whose family members are all missing. We must continue to do
what God has called us to do - to bring comfort where so many
suffer daily.

There are many ways that you can help us with these tremendous
challenges. In the coming months, you will receive newsletters from us
with updates on our progress, as well as ongoing challenges we face.
It is vital to our success here, that you spread the word of our
mission so that more people can get involved and help the poor and
suffering of Haiti.

We are grateful that you have decided to get involved so that we can
have an even greater impact on these, the least of my brothers and
sisters.

God bless,

fr marc signature

Fr. Marc Boisvert



***************
From the desk of
Fr. Marc Boisvert

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A Mid Summer Day’s Blog

I find myself two months and 9,500 miles removed from my last blog. Far from the sand, sun, oil, thobes, abayas, dates, crescents, rugs, shisha, mosques, calls to prayer, security checkpoints, Al Baik, fish markets, and people of the east shore of the Red Sea, I find myself on a different west coast. There is still plenty of sand and sun, and I’m eating a date, but in many ways Irvine, California is a far cry from Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. I’m excited to hear the experiences that many of my friends from throughout the world are having in the US this summer. I am very grateful to have this opportunity to reconnect with my family, my beautiful girlfriend, and some amazing friends, and to reflect on my time thus far at KAUST. I’ve been blessed this summer with the privilege of working in a biology lab at UC Irvine. I am learning a lot, and am glad to have a practical application to the math I’ve been studying. I have had lots of great experiences so far this summer, including getting to go to Colorado to see one of my KAUST friends avoid one last segment of long distance by marrying the girl of his dreams. I have many more experiences to look forward to, including getting to know my girlfriend’s family this coming weekend. I recently came across this entry I had started before leaving for the summer. It is somewhat open ended, but I’m hoping you guys can add to it. “With the days counting down until I return to California for the summer, I am filled with mixed emotions- not all related to the stresses of finals week. I am overjoyed at the chance to as to see my family and girlfriend for more than a couple of weeks. There are many friends I long to see and ordinary, every day things and places that I am looking forward to, like Chipotle, Trader Joe’s, Corona Del Mar, and even Aldrich Park. At the same time, in some ways I feel as if I am leaving home. I will miss things that I am leaving behind here. More so, I will miss the people. It amazes me that in just a year I have been blessed with such friendships and relationships. I will miss the Friday night basketball, and Tuesday night ultimate frisbee. I will miss being able to walk everywhere I need to go, and expect that I’ll run into someone I know along the way. I’ll miss floating in the Red Sea with Wail, enjoying the beauty of creation, or resting by the beacon with Idris, listening to stories of Nigeria. I’ll miss Noah’s passion for marine biology, and pasta and movie nights with him. I’ll miss getting to compete with Nathan at everything, and learning so much more from him than he could know. I’ll miss Ryan and Matt taking care of me when school was overbearing. I’ll miss Fred’s ridiculous handshakes, and Ahmad’s frankness. I’ll miss Simon and Amy sharing with me there hilariously, tragic stories. I’ll miss Eric’s shenanigans, such as fountain runs and beacon swims…

jeddahfood asked: What are the restaurants like at KAUST and in King Abdullah City?

I don’t know about the economic city, but in KAUST most everything is run by Tamimi (Safeway).  There is also a Burger King, Pizza Inn, Quiznos, Shorro, Spices, Bakin Robins, as well as a few other places.  

John Sikorra

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0514-plaschke-20100514,0,1002344.column

If you have a minute to watch this clip or read the accompanying article, it is truly touching.  I met John and his family about four years ago.  At that time he was hoping to enter high school.  Though his disease left him without the cognitive capacity necessary for high school, his parents wanted him to be able to experience going to school with his peers.  They hired someone who was able to accompany him at school and got special permission from the school to make it work.  I was told he probably had about one year to live.  

Now John is about to finish high school.  As the article mentioned he was voted homecoming king.  It took me a day or so to realize why this clip affected me as much as it did.  I realized that what got me wasn’t the fact that they let John bat, but it was his dad’s enthusiasm and pride.  Watching Mr. Sikorra hold his son’s hand as he ran him around the bases, unashamedly proud to be his father, was one of the purest pictures of true, unconditional love that I have ever seen.  Realizing that this is a glimpse of how our Father loves us put me over the edge.

stay-alert-deactivated20110530 asked: 1) Why did you choose KAUST?
2) Some bloggers give the impretssion that it's boring there, is it?

I don’t find it boring.  It is very intensive, and so at times it can get boring if all I am doing is studying.  Being in Saudi Arabia it is definitely a different atmosphere than most colleges, but if I was seeking that atmosphere I wouldn’t have come to Saudi Arabia.  I chose KAUST because it was an invitation to come to a very closed off country, a huge adventure to be a part of something very new and groundbreaking, and an excellent opportunity academically.

The Other Side of KAUST

KAUST is a great place for learning.  Minus delays in labs being ready, the atmosphere and facilities, as well as the personnel do give great opportunities for pursuing academics. The multicultural, multinational community gives opportunities to learn perspectives, politics and customs from all over the globe.  KAUST even employs professionals to help you learn a variety of sports if you so desire.  However, it is also a place to learn some of the darker truths.  

In a message which many of us read before deciding to sign on with KAUST, and which is still linked to on the KAUST homepage, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud explained what his vision was in building this university.  In the message he states:

As a new “House of Wisdom,” the University shall be a beacon for peace, hope, and  reconciliation and shall serve the people of the Kingdom and benefit all the  peoples of the world in keeping with the teachings of Holy Quran, which  explains that God created mankind in order for us to come to know each other.

-King Abdullah

The problem is that the way KAUST is now run, the university is a beacon of oppression and exploitation to many.  While for those of us labeled “KAUST residents” or “community members” this university has been a great place to build relationships which bridge cultures, those acting, for all intensive purposes, as our servants are prevented from “coming to know” the rest of us.  Students have made friends with people who collect their garbage, serve their coffee, maintain their apartments, train them physically, etc.  Some of these students have invited their friends for dinner, only to find out that the people who built the apartments, and the people who maintain the apartments are not allowed to enter the apartments on invitation.  Other students played basketball with a group of their friends until it was discovered with outrage that “tea boys” were using the basketball court.  Signs prevent these servants from using certain bathrooms, elevators, and even drinking fountains.  

I’ve been to South Africa and have seen the remnants of the apartheid.  There are townships, some with millions of people, surrounding the cities.  They were built as a place for the native Africans to live so that the Afrikaners could exploit their labor while not having to live among them.  Much in the same way, KAUST has worker camps set up on the outskirts of our campus, but fenced off from the rest of our campus, so that the thousands of workers who are the backbone of our university, will not be among us when they are not serving us.  The administrative reasoning is that there will be overcrowding, and that these workers are dangerous people who will likely lie and steal if given a chance.   

I am not writing this blog with the intent of placing blame on any organization or individual.  I am writing this blog, because I cannot in good conscience reap the benefits of this university, and of my neighbors’ hard work, while my neighbors are treated without dignity and decency.  There are many students and staff who feel the same way, so God willing change will come. 

Freedom in the Spring

Today is Good Friday.  It is the day which we stop and reflect on everything that our LORD did for us.  It is the day we are reminded that everything we have is a gift, and that although we sold ourselves into slavery, our Father came and set us free, paying the ultimate sacrifice.  We are reminded of what forgiveness means.  We are shown what love, true love, looks like.

On this day, about 2000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth gave himself up, to be brutally humiliated, tortured, and killed.  To anyone who is perfect, this was a waste, but to those of us who are desperate for a savior; those of us who have sold ourselves into sin, have realized we are inadequate, and long deep in are souls for there to be more to life than what we are living, for us He came to set things right and make all things new.

He taught that if someone strikes us on one cheek, we should turn our other cheek to them.  When a band of soldiers came to arrest him, one of his followers tried to fight back, and cut off the ear of a soldier.  Jesus healed his ear. 

He taught that we should love our enemies.  He taught that we should forgive those who harm us.  As He died, nailed up on some wood as a public spectacle, He prayed for the Father to forgive the ones who killed Him. 

He taught that we should not return evil for evil, but that we should overcome evil with good.  He overcame.

LORD, I apologize for my pride. I apologize for each time I think I can do anything apart from You, each time I put my trust in anyone or anything other than You.  I realize that it was I who belonged on that cross, and not You.  I realize that each time I speak evil of my neighbor, each time I fail to forgive, each time I lie or lust, it is I who am whipping You, spitting on You, denying you, and driving the nails into Your hands.  Soften my heart LORD.  Help me to see You in each person around me.  I will not forget that whatever I do for the least of them I do for You, and whatever I fail to do for them I fail to do for You. 

LORD, send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.

Religious Extremism

I don’t know how many times I have heard of terrorism, wars, or many of the world’s other ills blamed on “religious extremism”, “religious fundamentalism”, or “radical Islam”.  These terms become useful in an attempt to associate problems with a religion, while not wanting to criticize the religion itself, and not wanting to stereotype everyone who adheres to that religion.  For example the term “radical Islam” is mainly used to distinguish between the millions, if not billions, or peace seeking Muslims, and those who blow themselves and others up in God’s name, and in the name of a holy war.

These terms are misleading, however, because they assume the connotation that people who pursue religion wholeheartedly are bound to be the trouble makers, while the “normal” people take religion as a quaint fancy that is useful in circumstances but should be taken with moderation.  This mindset indiscreetly couples religion with culture, and stems from the thought that anything disturbing the status quo must be problematic.  Part of why I was interested in coming to Saudi Arabia was to meet people and see things for myself apart from the inevitable spin all news comes packaged in.  In many ways Saudi Arabia could be the most religiously extreme country in the world.  Anywhere within an earshot of civilization you hear a call to prayer five times a day, and during these times all shops and businesses close down.  All food is halal.  Alcohol is forbidden.  Strict gender relations, along with the other rules are enforced by religious police.  All these rules do not govern the heart though, and so here, as it is everywhere else,  there is a broad spectrum of people and attitudes.  At one end of the spectrum, there are people who admit to only being Muslim when they are in Saudi Arabia, and at the other end there are people who will not listen to any music because they don’t want their mindsets to be altered, and who continue to read the Qoran again and again, despite knowing it by heart.  KAUST brings out this spectrum a little more by giving a some freedom, and I have friends with all sorts of mindsets.  I have to say, though, that some of my favorite people here, and some of the most peaceful are very religiously extreme.  I do not believe all of the same things they believe, but at times it can be refreshing or inspiring to see someone seeking righteousness, and longing to serve God with a pure heart.

I has been said that any kind of extremism is dangerous, but it is dangerous because it is powerful.  People sometimes do horrible things when they are convinced it is for a higher good or purpose, and understandably this has left many disillusioned and not believing in anything, but lets not forget that England’s slave trade was ended in large part due to William Wilberforce’s religious extremism.  Mother Theresa and Gandhi were religious extremists.  It will take extreme acts of compassion and justice to feed the 30,000 children who starve to death each day.  It will take extreme faith and courage to fight against the diseases that needlessly kill millions, and it will take a God of extreme love to heal and forgive all the brokenness in this world.

Just Studying in the Library

Often KAUST seems like any other university, and like any other university many students and I are studying in the library.  Every now and then, however, we get reminders that we are somewhere very unique.  One of these instances was about two minutes ago, while studying in this library, a large group came on a tour of the library.  It is not entirely unusual here, as every week or so a group of people walk by and you get to experience feeling like a fish in a tank as people watch you study while being told that the library is a place where students study.  This tour was unusual though in that it included a member of the U.S. cabinet, Steven Chu, the secretary of energy.  It included one man who looked familiar, and asked me about myself, noting from my t-shirt that I was from Orange County.  I asked him where he was from and he told me that he was from Washington, but that he was from the consulate here.  That’s when I figured out why he looked familiar, and realized he was the consulate general.  Also among the group was our school’s president, an Aramco vice president, and the Saudi oil minister.

Recent KAUST Happenings

I’ve come to the conclusion that KAUST is the most diverse small town in the world. It’s really starting to have that feel to it, which is awesome.  More and more it’s becoming a community where everyone knows everyone else, and you can usually talk to anyone about anyone else and expect them to know who you are talking about, people know that Abu’s or Ali’s little brothers are here, football games are community events, and going to the city is a big deal.  Granted this is limited mostly to the student population, but it is slowly expanding to include the professors and recreational staff and high school students.

The Chinese New Year became a three day festival, with lots of delicious, authentic (well, authentically made from fairly authentic ingredients) Chinese food.  Last night some of the students put on a traditional Chinese festival rich with atmosphere including traditional instruments, miniature hot air balloons, and of course lots of food. I helped one of my Chinese friends celebrate by introducing him to the recipe best known as the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  He was fascinated asking about what was inside, and was thoroughly impressed that I had made it myself.  Oh, and this was one of the students who prepared a feast for us with all sorts of dumplings made from scratch.  I told another of my friends that I would have to make some American food for him, to which he replied, “You did.  That one time we came over and had that smashed meat between two cakes.”

Another awesome event which took place about a week ago was our first soiree (pronounced swaray) dinner.  Some male students had the idea to host a formal dinner for the girls on campus, not as any sort of romantic thing, just as a way to serve them. The organization must have been incredible to pull off a formal dinner in one of the parks here, and it really went well.  It was a nice night for the ladies, with a multi-course, international meal complimented by a poetry reading and several musical performances.  I believe it was an even better night, and day, for the guys.  It was truly uplifting to see so many guys come together to pull off this project.  My friend Simon bought a go-cart style vehicle a couple of days before this dinner, and this ended up being extremely useful for transporting people, meals, dishes, cutlery, musical equipment, etc, as well as being pretty fun to ride around in.  There were plenty of left overs, and I think I ate better that night, than I have since being here, thanks in a large part to Mac and his spring rolls.  Thank you, everyone who came and everyone who helped put it on.

WEP

If you are here at KAUST you know that WEP stands for Winter Enrichment Period.  They have made this point very, very clear.  They have gone to the extent of having signs all over campus defining both enrichment, and rich.  There are many banners that must be about 20ft x 30ft all over, just to remind you that it is the Winter Enrichment Period. There is even a huge banner on the entrance to the gym, and they have painted the sides of the buses to say “WEP” accompanied by some strange multicolored outlines of people that seem to accompany all of these signs.  Even beyond the signs, they went all out to make this an enriching winter, inviting top researchers and professors from all over the world to teach one or two week long intensive courses.  My first course was taught by Nick Trefethen, a professor from Oxford who wrote the book for one of my classes last semester.  Then there was a week full of people working on nanotechnology research in a broad spectrum ranging from improving efficiency of solar cells, to designing nano-capsules which enter cells and destroy the cell if they are cancerous.  Most of these presentations were way over my head, but it was still fascinating stuff.

The recreation department also went all out for WEP and has been hosting WEP sporting events almost every night.  I have gotten to be in tournaments for golf, bowling, ping pong, pool, basketball, tennis, and a 5k, and there are many more to come.  It has been fun to get a chance to enjoy all of these things at KAUST while most people actually have time to enjoy them.  Last semester it seemed that whenever people had any free time they would go traveling, but most of the time they just never had free time, so I think this period is great for the KAUST moral.  Two of the students I’ve been hanging out with a lot are named Ahmad and Idris.  I am trying to convince them to get summer internships in California, but they had to suggest to me that in light of certain events, it might not be the easiest thing for two young adult males, one from Nigeria and the other from Yemen to get visas to go from Saudi Arabia to the United States.  I think that they are only better off than my Mexican friend who has spent his vacations in Iran and Syria.  One of my other Mexican friends was already having trouble getting to the states.  He was staying just south of Arizona and was going with his girlfriend and some other friends to the Packers vs Cardinals game.  For some reason he thought that they just needed one visitors permit per car instead of per person.  When he didn’t have the proper forms they checked his passport, and when they checked his passport they found his Saudi visa… pretty soon he was in a chair all by itself in the middle of a room with a one way window.  Fortunately after a long wait and calls to Washington D.C. he was able to make it to the second half of what turned out to be a great game.

One of the coolest days I’ve had hear was last weekend when a group of about ten of us took a trip out to the desert.  I know you’re probably wondering, “Isn’t the whole country, and for that sake the whole region a desert?”  It is, but it is still nice to get out into it- away from all the noise and lights.  We weren’t exactly in the middle of nowhere, we where still pretty close to the road and about half way between Jeddah and Mekkah.  We brought rugs and rolled them out on the sand and just kinda lounged around chatting most of the time.  Then we prepared some chicken and kabobs on a couple small grills we had brought.  After dinner we made a camp fire and stayed late into the night just sitting around talking.

Beyond playing in all of the sports competitions I’ve gotten to learn a couple new ones. My friend Eric from UCSB taught me how to play squash.  It’s a lot like racket ball, except the ball doesn’t bounce as much.  Much to my excitement I also got to play cricket.  My confusion in the rules was only compounded by the fact that most of the conversation was in Urdu or Hindi, but I was told before the last bowl (pitch) that it was the last one and if we got them out we would win.  They bowled it for a strike (or whatever the appropriate equivalent is) and so we won and everyone cheered enthusiastically.  I think it would have been a little stressful if I knew what was going on, because a lot of people were getting pretty heated over some calls, but as it was it was a lot of fun.

My one unfortunate discovery was that the walls in the student center are thin sheets of plaster.  I discovered this playing ping pong.  After hitting a shot I was running towards the wall, so instead of stopping I tried jumping off the wall.  A moment later half of my leg was inside the wall.  It didn’t hurt anything other than the wall, but I quickly had about ten students surrounding me and we were all laughing pretty hard.  I got it taken care of the next day.  I went with one of the student council members to talk with some important guy and had to explain to him that nobody had gotten mad and punched a hole in the wall, but rather I was just a klutz.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

As usual, as I sit down to write a blog here, I realize that I have way to much to say for one blog.  I will do my best.  Anyways, since my last blog I have traveled across the world and back, reunited and reparted with loved ones, met knew people, tried knew things, and hopefully learned something along the way.

My flight from Saudi Arabia to the United states went smoothly, despite my idiotic attempt to carry a knife onto the plane.  I had bought a souvenir knife while I was in Jordan as a present for my brother.  It wasn’t sharp, but it was still a knife, and without thinking I accidently threw that in my carry on bag.  My friends were in stitches in the airport when the security guard looked at the knife and then back at me with an expression like “what on earth were you thinking” and my first reaction was to tell him, “It’s okay, it’s just a toy.”  Needless to say, that was one Christmas present my brother never got.  I had a quick layover in Germany, which a couple of days earlier would have been a disaster because flights were being cancelled due to a storm in Germany, but fortunately, a couple hours after getting to Germany I was leaving.  It might just be that my heart was full of expectancy and hope, but that plane ride was spectacular.  We flew well north of Iceland, going over the polar cap, and then came right down the west coast of Canada, going over the Canadian rockies.  I hope it never seises to amaze me how you can travel anywhere in the world within about a day.  Arriving at the airport was the best feeling.  My mom, sisters and girlfriend were there to pick me up and then we went and met up with my Uncle and cousin at a Chipotle right near the airport.  For the Saudi’s and other non Americans reading this, I apologize that you have never had the delight of eating a Chipotle burrito.

The rest of that day was picture perfect, getting to spend time with my family and girlfriend watching Christmas movies in front of the fireplace drinking hot chocolate.  The next day was awesome too.  Leslie surprised me by taking us to a professional photographer to get some pictures taken.  They turned out really well, and I am still very thankful for those.  After that I basically got three days of Christmas.  Christmas Eve I got to spend with family and relatives.  It was great to see them.  Christmas morning my brother had to work, so my family decided to do our usual Christmas morning celebrations on the 26th.  On the 25th Leslie’s family was kind enough to invite me over to celebrate their Christmas traditions with them.  Everyone opened presents and then we ate a big breakfast of bah-bah.  That afternoon I went out with my family and got to visit more relatives.

For a couple of days during my trip home I got to spend time in San Diego.  This was one of the highlights of my trip.  I got to spend some quality time with my best friend caching up on my time in Saudi Arabia and his time in India, and laying on his roof under the stars dreaming about the future.  Naturally we also got to beat each other up a few times and got to play basketball with some of our old high school teammates.  Also, my brother,  who is a police officer in San Diego took me on a ride along, and though nothing to extreme happened, it was a great experience.  Hopefully, if I can get all of the visa stuff worked out, he will be coming here to visit in March!

Other highlights of my time at home included horse back riding, time at the beach, time playing in Aldrich Park, and most importantly time catching up with loved ones.  I am so glad that I got the opportunity to go back, and I had a great time, but to be perfectly honest it was pretty stressful.  It was weird being at home but living out of a suit case.  It was hard being delighted to see people, but knowing in the back of my mind that its going to be another long bout before I see them again.  It have a lot of respect for all of the migrant workers here at KAUST and throughout Saudi Arabia who are here so that they can make money to send back home to their families.  There are countless workers from Bangladesh and Pakistan and the Philippines, who are in this situation.  I have met people with small children, who only get to see their wives and children for a week out of the year.  My cab driver on the way to the airport was a man from India, who really didn’t like it here in Saudi Arabia.  He complained that the people were rude to the cab drivers here and missed his family.  He was here however, so that he could make money to send back so that his sisters could get married.   It really is encouraging to see the extents some people will go to just to help their family get by.  More to come soon.

Reality Check

As the round of KAUST finals approaches, stress levels on campus are noticeably rising.  It seems that everyone has 2 assignments, 1 presentation and 4 projects to finish while trying to study for their tests.  The library remains crowded well into the night every night now.  I have to admit that I’m letting the stress get to me as much as the next person, so this is my break to try to regain a better perspective.

I just received packages in the mail from both my mom and my grandma.  I am so thankful for those.  I can’t wait to see you guys in less than two weeks.

Events like the flooding in Jeddah should remind me of what is important in life.  I do not mean that I shouldn’t work just as hard towards my classes, but I definitely should not stress about them.  I had a conversation with a Lebanese woman in Jordan (more detail of my trip to Jordan to come), who helped remind me of this.  In her lifetime in the Middle East she has seen more than her share of bloodshed and tragedy.  Her home city of Beirut was bombed just a few years ago, during the conflict between Israel and Hamas.  Her family survived an attack on a compound, where they lived in Saudi Arabia, but her husband was hospitalized with shrapnel stuck in his body.  She is going through stress of her own.  She recently left her job to take up a new position, only to find the new position no longer existing.  When asked about how she was handling this though, she calmly told us that when you come close to losing what really matters in life, you learn to appreciate it.  She said that as long as she has her health and her family, she has more than enough to be thankful for.  Thanksgiving is a couple weeks behind us, but I was inspired to make a list of what I am thankful for (though not comprehensive in any sense).

-  The opportunity to come to Saudi Arabia

-  The opportunity to get an education

-  The great friends I have made here

-  The great friends I have still have back home

-  The ability/technology to stay in contact with my friends and family back home

-  The ability/ opportunities to play sports

-  My mom

-  My dad

-  My siblings and the rest of my relatives ( if I listed everyone who deserve individual                                                                         bullet points this would become too long).

-  Leslie Malisa Mey

-  Grace, redemption, love, peace, joy, faith

-  Life

-  Our God who is the author of all these and the Creator of all

I also wanted to share a quick story which ties in a little, though most of you have probably heard it:

So anyone who knows me probably know of my allergies.  For those of you who don’t know, I’m allergic to milk, eggs, butter, cheese, and anything with any of these in it.  I try to be careful, but inevitably every now and then I end up eating something I shouldn’t have.  Fortunately, due to prompting and pleading from my parents I try to always have some benadryl, and inhaler, and an epi-pen on me.  I should add this to the list of things I am thankful for.  Anyways, about a month ago I had one of those episodes where I accidentally ate something that was poisonous to my body.  I had some spaghetti in our cafeteria.  I know that you are all probably thinking “that was stupid”, and it was, but I had had the spaghetti there before and been fine, and made it a point of asking and making sure none of it was cooked in butter or had any cheese on it.  Anyways, after a couple of bites I was a little skeptical, but I convinced myself I was fine and ate a whole plate of it.  I felt a little funny but I felt alright.  I proceeded to go to an arabic class my friend was leading, and felt alright there.  I walked 10 minutes back to my apartment, realized I left my keys in the library, walked back and got my keys, walked back to my apartment, and still felt pretty good.  I decided that I was fine and was up to playing some ultimate frisbee.  I walked down another 10-15 minute walk to the field they were playing on, and started playing.

After only a couple times running up and down the field, I could tell that something was wrong.  My whole body got ichy and swollen and I suddenly needed to go to the bathroom.  Fortunately right at that time my friend suggested that the field was too crowded and we should sub out some people.  Though I knew I needed to come out, I still was hesitant to stop playing, but I readily volunteered to be the first sub.  I told my friend that I though I was having an allergic reaction, grabbed my stuff, and walked towards the bathroom.  By time I got there my hearing and vision were both going, and it was getting harder to breathe.  I sat down, took some benadryl and used my inhaler.  This helped a little, so I stood up and tried to start walking home, but had only made it a few steps when I couldn’t even stand up anymore, and collapsed to the ground.  I lay there on the rocks for about 20 minutes.  I was okay during this time, because I was able to breathe, but that was all I was able to do.

After about 20 minutes a few people walked by.  Someone asked, “why is he lying like that?”, and then one guy came and asked me if I was alright.  I realized I have a real problem with not wanting to accept help, because my initial thought was to say, “yeah, I’m okay”, but fortunately I didn’t have enough strength to even say that, so I just shook my head.  He then called an ambulance for me.  A couple minutes after he called them he called them back, and said “it’s been 5 minutes already, where are you guys?!”, and a couple minutes later “it’s been 10 minutes, where are you guys???”  It turned out the road the ambulance had been trying to take was closed, but they still got there soon enough, and I got my first ride in an ambulance.  The one thing I remember about the ride was wondering, “why is my face getting wet?” and then realizing it was because the paramedic was dripping sweat onto me.  The took me to the clinic we have on campus, and there they hooked me up to an i.v. and pumped who knows what into my body.  Whatever it was it made me sleep really well, and made me feel really good for a day or two.  The clinic was freezing, especially for me coming in sweaty shorts and a t-shirt.  The guy who had called the ambulance went and got me a dry shirt, and within a few hours my body was settled down and I was given a ride home.

I received lots of love the next few days from people asking me how I was, and telling me how worried they had been for me.  I can add that to the list of things I am thankful for too.  I bring this story up though, because I learned two valuable things from it.  First, it was a good jolt of reality, making me realize how precious and fragile life is.  Second, I tried to imagine this Saudi guy going through an airport in the U.S.  I tried to imagine the subtle looks he would get, the slightly elevated tension that would surround him.  It’s no secret that relations between the U.S. and the arab world are not perfect, and I understand that this is the result of much history, politics, acts of terrorism, etc.  I had to wonder, though, how the average American’s perspective of a young Saudi man would change, if they were lying there helpless, and the young Saudi man was calling them an ambulance and bringing them warm clothes.  Good Samaritan?

Jeddawis Join Together to Help Victims of Flood

I must admit that when we first got rain, I was among those excited for it and enjoying it.  I had no idea how much damage a few hours of steady rain could do.  At KAUST there was some water damage to houses, cars, and buildings, but we were well taken care of, and to the best of my knowledge nobody was injured as a result of the flooding.  Parts of Jeddah weren’t so fortunate.  It has been confirmed that over one hundred people were killed as a result of the rain, and some estimates are much higher.  I was shown one tunnel (really more of an underpass) where many cars got stuck and people drowned.  The older parts of Jeddah tend to be less affluent as well as less prepared with any sort of drainage system, and these areas were hit the hardest.  The forecast shows more heavy rainfall over the next few days.

A classmate of mine invited me to go with him to Jeddah today to help with a volunteer group called “Friends of Jeddah.”  The original plan was that we were going to be passing out supplies such as food, blankets, and diapers in some of the harder hit areas, but these areas were being evacuated as we got to Jeddah.  Plan B entailed us working in a warehouse, organizing and packing donated supplies.  It was truly a humbling experience to see all of the generosity.  Hundreds upon hundreds of Jedawis, majority teenagers and young adults, showed up to lend a hand.  Even with so many people, it was a struggle to package the incredible amount of the supplies that had been donated and collected in just a day.  The energy and sense of urgency in the room was contagious.  For hours on end people were working tirelessly, and even when we heard the call to prayer it was only with some encouragement and in turns that people took a few minutes off to go pray.  Undoubtedly we were all praying the same prayer, “Please be with the people of Jeddah.”