July 2010
1 post
The trip blog SHALL BE FINISHED!!!
Thank you everyone for your patience. Since I’ve been back from KSA it’s been a whirlwind of activity. I promise I’ll finish tell you all about my trip and what I learned.
I’d like to thank NCUSAR and the MOHE for giving me this opportunity and I will hold up my promise to continue with this blog.
Shukraan!
Andrew
June 2010
17 posts
Grounded in Jeddah
Due to technical difficulties this post is being brought to you by the first class lounge of Saudi Arabian Airlines…
Day 4:
The group had only two meetings set up for this day. The first was a meeting with Dr. Aleisa at the MOHE (our trip’s benefactor). We learned that %80 the medical community in KSA are non-Saudis and that the King is encouraging students to pursue medical degrees....
Catching up is hard to do
Hello from AL Khobar!
I had a post that I started writing but it got lost someone on the tumblr. server so I get to start over. Before I do I wanted to post a fact that I learned about in my Natural Resources and Planning class (taught by Doc Augustine) that I don’t think many Americans really know about.
The top 5 exporters of oil to the U.S. in order: 1. Canada 2. Saudi Arabia 3. Mexico...
Life on the fly
I feel that every time I sit down to blog I have to get back up to leave again. This case is no exception. Today was the first day I have had a chance to sleep in, but now I’m going to go with my new friend Nasser Zamil (Dr. Zamil’s son) and he is going to give me a tour of Riyadh, then later after a meeting I will get to meet his friends for coffee.
Tomorrow we leave for Dammam and...
Hello NCUSAR readers
*DISCLAIMER*
All thoughts and views are my own and do not reflect the thoughts and views of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations.
Something else I forgot...
When we were riding in the car to one of the meetings we had, I was sitting in the front seat of the car with our wonderful driver Sadeek. I don’t remember if I said it or not but he is from Nigeria and barely can speak any english… On to the story. I heard him and Sa’ad (one of the MOHE guys) talking about the world cup in arabic. I then jumped in the conversation followed by...
Recap of day 1
By the middle of the first day I had already felt like I had been in Riyadh for 10 days. I will first tell you all of the places and people that we visited and then tell you different stories and thoughts I had throughout the day.
After breakfast we traveled to King Saud University (KSU) where we learned about the history of Saudi Arabia’s first University. After a warm welcome we were...
Too tired to blog ...
Good morning readers! I’d love to tell you about the days adventures but with a very long day behind me I’m going to go to bed. I did leave you a little taste of what went on today in my last photo post, and there is more where that came from. Fortunately for me, it can wait till tomorrow.
Masallama,
Andrew
Day one is coming to a close
I’m surprised I’ve made it this long being up, but I was really enthralled earlier and had to make it out in to the city. Once we settled in and took naps and showers we met downstairs to head to one of the 4 or 5 hotel restaurants to grab some dinner. It was a buffet and it was exquisite (see below).
Beef tenderloin, hummus, roasted duck, thai chicken, chocolate fountain (not...
From the live music capital, to our nation's...
I would love to fill you guys in on the little things that went on during my departure from Austin but it’s sort of a big blur. So we’ll pick up from my arrival in Baltimore, MD.
I arrived in Baltimore, MD around 4:30 pm local time. Then I met up with Matt C. another participant in this fellowship, and we both caught the shuttle to the MARC train that runs between Baltimore and...
May 2010
2 posts
A week till departure
In seven days around this time I will be in a plane headed towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to take part in a fellowship with the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR), the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), and the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission.
This past semester I participated in the Model Arab League (MAL) at Texas State University. It was not too different in...
“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses...”
– T.E. Lawrence