KAUST

While we were in Jeddah we spent some time with some friends at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology). I liked this sign, above, that we saw at the University. KAUST is a University separated from the actual city of Jeddah, its about an hour out of the city. It is a gated school, protected by security, and you can only enter if you know people there. Luckily, we did. The family below hosted us as we toured KAUST and we were very grateful for it. They even bought dinner for us! Its nice to have friends in high places. Thanks again P family if you are reading this.

Here we are entering the University. It sits along the coast of the Red Sea and it wass so amazing I'm doing a blog post just on this place. All students and faculty live at KAUST. The University is practically its own city. The University itself is fairly new. King Abdullah had this place built as an international school with the intent that someday it would be one of the greatest international Universities in the world. My impression of the place was very nice.

Here are some of the beautiful homes at the University. As far as manmade structures in Saudi go, this place was the most beautiful and the most planned out. There was absolutely no garbage anywhere and beautiful parks there as well. It was surprising to see such a place here.

More sites of the University with along the Red Sea. It was a very beautiful area. The people who live here have this nice beach to play on everyday if they wish.

Here we are on the beach by the Red Sea.

I love this shirt. One of the girls was wearing it. Its Hello Kitty wearing an abaya. Perfect for Saudi Arabia.

What really sets this University apart from everywhere in Saudi Arabia is that people aren't required to wear abayas here. Also, women can drive on campus. It was also very surprising when I saw a woman riding a bike wearing shorts - something you would never see anywhere else in the country. KAUST is also the location of 1 of 2 movie theaters in the country.

I know this might seem like a pretty boring blog post, but if you had spent time in the country you would know how incredibly different this place is compared to everywhere else here. They have the most expensive equipment for learning and its also very artistic and unusual in its set up. AND CLEAN!

Here is one of the campus mosques. Very beautiful as always.

That is basically all I have to say about this place. Again, it was pretty cool.

A little campus boat. THE END.