Student Life

I just got back from a little vacation in Kuwait but I will write about that later. I've been getting behind in my blog lately. I feel like I have only been writing about my vacations and not as much about life in Saudi and with my students, which is the main reason I'm here right? I have about 7 days left of teaching and then I'm completely finished. It will be nice to get get home, but it will also be kind of strange not to be surrounded by a bunch of Saudis and teaching them. Below is a picture of one of my two very talented classes.

This is my first class. One of the students made a metal plate and hung it outside our class. It says "Leader Class." I had no idea one of my students made it until recently. I thought it was just up from some unrelated teacher or class. I have to say, I do think they are the leader class. They have the highest grades and speaking ability. They are a talented group. Chris tells me that his students are constantly cheating in school but as far as 4 teachers who have taught these guys can tell - they don't (probably why their English is so good). Cheaters never prosper. Not only that but I really do get the feeling they love to learn which makes me happy. They are always pretty energetic even when we are doing work of a more boring nature. They love to cheer for the most mundane things.

Working hard!

The student in the back of this picture is actually the brother of a man I taught last semester. Both great students (except this one comes more often). The one in the middle is the "president" of the class. We don't really have a president, but that is what everyone calls him.

Here is the picture of our Academic Coordinator (manager). He took a dying program and turned it into something pretty good. It is because of him that we have experienced relative calm and peace this semester. Our school has been a dream, especially compared to some of the others!

Some of the teachers in my rotation were gone last week, so here is a pic of Chris teaching one of my classes, while I taught the other. Chris basically said my students are so wonderful because of me and my incredible teaching skills.....okay, not really (but he was thinking it!)

Here is my second class. I don't know why but these guys are so much smaller than my first class. They are pretty funny, especially the guy in the white shirt (center, front row). They are a lot quieter than my first class! The personalities of my two classes are competely different.

Alright, so last weekend my first class invited Chris, Jared, Dan, and myself to their estrahah. My students ask me what the English word for estrahah is but I tell them there isn't any because we don't have such a thing. Basically it is a house that a group of friends will rent together as a hangout spot. This is because you usually don't hang out at your friend's family's house because you might see the mothers or sisters. So anyway, we went. The above picture is Jared playing video game tennis with one of my students.

Here is a picture of the little estrahah. It also has another little hangout room like this, a small swimming pool, and a field for football. Many Saudi guys in their 20s have something like this.

The above pic is of my student playing the guitar. He loves the guitar. He is probably the first Saudi I have ever seen play a musical instrument because music is considered evil by some in this society. Even though many Saudis listen to music, playing music in public is still taboo. You never know if the religious police will come and stop you. He was pretty good. My student's guitar hero is Slash by the way.

Here are the guys playing football. They are pretty obsessed (as most Saudis are.....or rather most people who are not from the United States are.)

The guys made us dinner when we were there. It was pretty good. The funny thing is we didn't eat dinner until 1:00am, which is actually pretty normal in this country because Saudis are such night people.

Just relaxing and talking about life. It was pretty fun.

We met at 4:00pm and we were there until 3:00am. Also not unusual for these kinds of things. When Saudis get together it seems like it is a whole day kind of thing.

Good food. Good times. We played football, videogames, talked, ate food, basically the same things we do in the US. Below is most of the group from that night but some had to go home before we took the picture.

Time Games (One Month Left)

Time is a strange thing. I was talking to a friend on facebook the other day and I told her it felt like it was only a week ago that I was talking to her in her house. On the other hand I don't think I've ever had a slower period of my life than the first semester I spent here in Saudi Arabia. Some days are slow, some are fast. Its crazy, but one thing is for sure, my last few weeks are going to fly by (I only have 3 weeks of teaching! I just finished typing my final test today!).

I have to say the summer isn't nearly as bad as I imagined it would be. Sure, it is hotter than what I'm used to the in US, but it's manageable. It is usually 115 degrees around here and granted, sometimes it is hard to breath the air, especially because we've been having a number of dust storms lately which are no fun to walk in, but they've gotten us a few days of shortened school. It almost makes me wish we had them more often!



Awhile back I gave my students an assignment to write about the differences and similarities between man and women in the US and Saudi Arabia. It was pretty fun reading what they had to say. Some of it would be pretty sexist compared to the US, but keep in mind, this is a very different culture with a very different mindset. I'll share a few things they wrote:



"In Saudi Arabia, the men are hospitable which means they can invite people to dinner from the first day they meet them. Unlike the Americans, they don't invite anyone over until they know them very well."



"Saudi men like to get together and go to more than one place, but American men like to stay in one place. Men in the K.S.A. like to get married at a young age, but men in the U.S.A. like to get to know the girl before they get married."



"Most similar thing between women in America and women in Saudi Arabia is about shopping. They love to shop almost everyday, including shopping online and shopping at the mall. I think both of them treat shopping like a job."



"Men help women with housekeeping (making food) in America, but in Saudi Arabia women don't do this. When women turn 21 years old they don't need their parents permission in America, but in Saudi Arabia women need their parents permission until they get married."



"Saudi Arabia women can't work or talk with men but in the US they can. In Saudi Arabia women can't travel without her father or her husband."



"Its okay in US to socialize with girlfriend but in KSA it is forbidden. And the other thing is the drink habit, its permissable in the US but in KSA it is also forbidden."



"When the boy is 18 old he can go out without his parents permission. But in the Saudi Arabia the boy can't do that."



"American women are free to wear any clothes, but women here should wear hijabs (the face veil) and abayas. Women in America can drive cars, but in Saudi they can't."



"Women are smarter than men. How? In my opinion, in the KSA women have a job, and she can take care of her children, and her husband, and she can cook. All this in one day."



Those are just a few of the things. Some were funnier and perhaps a little more offensive (but still funny). The way people understand and perceive the world here is completely different from what we in the US are used to.



So, below are a few random pics of my most recent adventures. About a month ago a new Dairy Queen opened up on the most popular street here in Riyadh. I am extremely happy about this. Its one of the only places I can get peanut butter cups in Saudi from the peanut butter cup blizzard. It was especially nice because it was some of the fastest service I've gotten in this country. It also happens to be the largest Dairy Queen in the world. We learned this when we first went there and ran into one of the head DQ guys from Toronto. He told us all about it.

Here is Chris and I in front of the largest DQ in the world. It doesn't look as big from the front, but it is. It can hold over a hundred people (I think over 200) The top floor is for families (single men are not allowed to eat with families for fear that they will hit on the women).
This is Najd Village. A traditional Saudi restaurant. It is very cool and designed like old buildings from a century ago. The inside is also designed like old Saudi homes. We went here with some of our good friends here in Saudi.

My pics didn't turn out too good on the inside but here we are all sitting on the floor eating camel and lamb kappsa (kappsa is some kind of meat with rice).

Some more shots of the other people in our group.

This was kind of like our farewell dinner. They got Chris and I a card and signed it. Its nice to have friends! The food and the company was excellent. That is all for now.

The United Arab Emirates: Abu Dhabi

I remember as a boy watching a particular episode of Garfield where he mailed a cat he hated (Nermyl) to Abu Dhabi. I remember thinking as a boy how silly a name that was. It couldn't possibly be a real city right? Well, it is. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and a pretty nice city as well. It isn't quite as impressive as Dubai, but definitely well worth a visit. The first thing we did when we arrived was go to Sheik Zayad Mosque. Zayad was one of the Shieks who unified the Arabs in this country. The Mosque they built is pretty incredible. It is hard for me to decide what mosque I like the most - Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque or this one.

Here is a picture of the mosque. It is fairly large. This mosque has many garden and flower designs which is kind of unique for a mosque, or at least the mosques I've been to. Mosques usually don't have much in the way of pictures.

Another view of the mosque. We had to go in the morning during tourist hours. We also had to wear long sleeve shirts to be conservative and respectful. The women who visit much cover their hair.

Here I am in front of the mosque.

I love getting pictures of the women in the abayas. It gives you a nice picture of how people live in this part of the world. However, unlike Saudi Arabia, women are not required to wear these if they don't want to. The Emirates is an interesting mix of very modern, and what many Westerners would consider old fashioned.

Here I am in front of the Mihrab. I love the wall because it contains the many different names of God. I think there are 99. You can see the flower designs on the carpet. This picture doesn't really give you a good idea of how large the room is.

Here is Chris and I. You can see the awesome chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

For all you Mormons, there was something about the design of this mosque that reminded me a lot of the temples. It is very impressive - again, I think it is one of my favorite mosques. I'll have to go and look at the pics of the other mosques I've been to and compare.

The outside court. You can see the flower designs in the marble and an Arab family coming to pray.

After the mosque we drove around the city for awhile looking for a place to pay Chris's fine for his car wreck. We couldn't find a place so we had the car rental company pay it by taking it out of his security deposit. The above gateway leads to the Palace hotel. It is very beautiful, but I'm not sure if it really was a palace in the past or if it is just a name.

Just a random view of the city. It was a pretty hazy day so a lot of my pictures didn't turn out very well.

The above picture may seem kind of strange. It is a picture of Ferrari World. Ferrari World is an amusement park based on the cars. It is very impressive looking. The park itself is very much for little kids. Most of the rides are kiddie rides but there are many Ferraris scattered throughout the park for car lovers.

Entering Ferrari World!

I wish I could take one of these home with me.

Despite the many children's rides, Ferrari World has the fastest roller coaster in the world. I'm not kidding when I say it is pretty crazy!

Here is a picture of my hair after going on the world's fastest rollercoaster. Chris and I went on this ride twice and we were lucky enough to be in the front seats the second time (they made us wear goggles that time). The roller coaster goes from 0 to 150 miles per hour in 5 seconds (that is very very very fast!). It is a very intense feeling. When the coaster takes off you can't even make a sound. I remember trying to make some kind of noise but I wasn't able to do so. The ride is only about a minute and a half but it is a rush.

Chris and his girlfriend above. Our trip to the Emirates was pretty good although the car wreck did kind of put a dark spot on some things. We drove back to Dubai after this (only a little over an hour) and headed to the airport. Usually when Chris and I go back to Saudi we brace ourselves for the welcome back at the airport. However, this time we were very fortunate to run into some of our good friends the Hansens, who we know from Saudi. They were coming back from Ohio and happened to be on the same plane as us! Its a pretty small world. That made coming back to Saudi kind of nice.

It is hard to believe I only have three and a half weeks of teaching left! Yet we still have one more trip to go. Soon we will be going to Kuwait so stay tuned for that.

The United Arab Emirates: Dubai

A few weeks ago Chris and I were talking about how fortunate we were that all of our trips had gone exactly as planned. It would seem our luck ran out a little. We decided to go to the United Arab Emirates so that we could see Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It was a good trip, but a trip with some some bumps along the way. Below is a map of the UAE with the two cities we visited. It took an hour and a half flight to get there.
We rented our car and had it brought to us at the airport. As we drove into the city we could easily see why Dubai has the good reputation it does. I first learned about Dubai 3 or 4 years ago. I had no idea such an amazing city in the Middle East existed at that time. It is filled with some incredible modern sky scrapers.
Not only are the buildings amazing, but the city is immaculately clean. Dubai attracts people from all around the world. It is a very popular city for business.
Unlike many big cities in the US that has all the sky scrapers next to each other, Dubai has patches of sky scrapers - then small buildings - then more tall buildings. I kind of like it that way.
One lucky thing about this trip is that Chris knows a nice family from his mission now living in Dubai. This family was nice enough to take us in during our stay. What was even cooler was that our host family lives on the famous Palm Jumeira, a man made island in the ocean shaped like a palm tree. You can see a drawing of it below.
Here is the Palm Jumeira, a very nice and rich part of the city. It is filled with apartments, homes, and some incredible hotels including the Atlantis hotel. The house we stayed in was on one of the palm leaves on the right side of the island.
Above is an actual camera photo of the island. Isn't it amazing that people make islands like this?

Confused by the above photo? Though Dubai is in the desert they have built a ski resort in the Mall of the Emirates. It was the first time I had felt winter and seen snow since I left the US.
Isn't it funny that I am from Utah, but the first time I ever went skiing was in a mall in the Arabian Peninsula? I say I went skiing, but rather, I went falling. I basically just went down and then fell, and then fell again, and fell again.
It was still fun though. I liked seeing the women in Abayas wearing huge jackets and skiing as well as the men in Thobes skiing. The UAE is not nearly as strict as Saudi Arabia. People of all different cultures and lifestyles live there.
Behind me in this picture is the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Are you surprised to know the tallest building is in the Arabian Peninsula? This country loves impressive and rich things. This building was recently featured in the new Mission Impossible movie.
This picture is taken from atop the Burj Khalifa. The elevator is amazingly fast to get to the top. We had to buy our tickets in advance. The weather was not very good while we were there. It was pretty hazy most days so it was often difficult to see very far in front of you. It was also pretty hot and humid, but that wasn't surprising.

Here I am at the top. It was very high.

Below is a picture of the pool of the Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Mall, the biggest mall in the entire world, or at least that is what they tell me. Everything is so little.

Here is the evidence of the decadence of Dubai. The above machine is a gold ATM. You stick in your credit card and you literally buy gold. You can choose the size of gold you want, but it is pricey.

Back on the ground we went to the pool. Every thirty minutes they have a dancing water show with music. The water actually does look like it is dancing when you watch it.

More of the dancing water show. The two malls we went to in Dubai were packed. It was crazy. They say Dubai isn't doing well because of the economic crisis, but you wouldn't know it by looking at all the customers at the mall and surrounded areas. It took us awhile to find a parking spot.

The beautiful fountains in front of the Burj Khalifa.

Very cool. This was still our first day, but after our time at the tower, things took a downward turn.

This is the picture of the car wreck we got in. Chris rear ended a nice family from India. This one event caused us a lot of running around town trying to pay fines and getting a new car for many hours of our trip. It was very frustrating. Nobody was hurt except for our car. It wouldn't have been too bad if not that our anti-freeze was leaking and therefore we couldn't drive because the engine would overheat.

Here is the Burj Khalifa. This is the view from our car wreck. Its not everyday you wreck in front of the tallest building in the world.

Here is our view from the back yard of the place we stayed. The water was probably the best I've ever swam in. It was perfect. The family we stayed with was very nice to allow us some time with them. They showed us around and helped us when we needed it. Thanks to the Gubbays if you are reading this!

Here is a pic of the city from the Palm Jumeira.

This ice skating rink is at the Dubai Mall.

The mall also has an incredible aquarium inside.

Here I am walking around the aquarium. This aquarium has the largest acrylic panel of glass in the world.

Here is a shark swimming around.

Here I am vomiting the fish.

Here is Chris and Lightning McQueen from Cars.

Here is a cool fountain inside the Dubai Mall.

The metro stations throughout Dubai look like alien spaceships.

And here is one last shot of the sweet buildings in the city. It is weird to think that none of this was here 50 years ago. It was just a sad looking desert back then. Oil sure does wonders for a country. We spent 4 days in this country - 3 in Dubai, and 1 in Abu Dhabi the capital. We mostly spent our time in malls. We also went to see a movie while we were there - Transformers 3. It was mostly nice just to get away from Saudi for awhile. It is like a breath of fresh air. More to come about Abu Dhabi!