Back to Reality

Well, we all made it back safely. I, personally, missed my connecting flight in Washington and did not return home until after midnight on Tuesday; but, how's this for 'miracles'--I never lost a piece of luggage on the entire trip. Now, the big task is trying to wrap my head around all of this new knowledge and decide how to best share it with all of you. I've already presented to a few classes and have more scheduled for the week after vacation. Also, I am planning a virtual 'Journey to Saudi Arabia' open-house on Thursday morning, May 3, 2007 from 9:00-12:00 at the Eldredge Library.
Please plan to pop in for a few minutes.

ma'a salama Saudi Arabia

Monday, April 9, 2007
Once again we are awed by the people, the country and the hospitality. Today, our last day in Riyadh, is a trip to the desert for a picnic-- a concept that has truly been redefined.












This desert was in Riyadh; not 100% sand. There are beautiful sculptures here that have been created by the wind and the sand and also some desert life in the form of plants and signs of animals. We were told that in the heat of the summer, the scorpions and snakes are abundant.



The RI idea of a picnic at Beavertail with a blanket, maybe a fold-up lounge chair and a basket with paper plates, sandwiches, chips and ants will no longer cut it; we now really know what it means to exceed the standard. What we don't know is how to raise the bar; after all when was the last time that you had a picnic with china and chandeliers?

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Yes, Alexan;

there are many

luxury cars here.

ash-Shoura Council

Window fashions

This was a pretty exciting day we visited ash-Shoura Council, the Consultative Council to the King. This is the same place Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, visited 2 days ago. We met with the committee on education. It was awesome.

The evening was spent at King Abd Al-Aziz Center of National Dialogue where we had a tour of the Historical Center. The Center is a large museum-like facility that provides a pictorial history of the Kingdom and the religion of Islam. We were served coffee and dates in the outer court yard by men dressed in the traditional ancient Bedouin dress complete with waist weapons.

Tomorrow morning we are scheduled to go to the desert and then some airport hopping; 5 airports before I finally make it home. It will be 2 days of traveling/waiting so this will probably be my last blog on the journey. I may add one more when I return. Thanks for traveling with me; it's been good to know you were there.

Saturday April 7, 2007 Riyadh

Riyadh is the capital city of Saudi Arabia; it is away from the coast and so has been much warmer—closer to 100 degrees. Because of the intense afternoon heat, things quiet down so our daytime pace has been a bit slower. The nights have been very long. Evening lectures and activities have been planned followed by very late night suppers.
On Saturday morning we visited a public high school for girls. They attend school daily from 7:30-12:30 and they wear uniforms. We were able to tour the school, visit some classes, and meet with faculty, administrators and some students for an explanation of the program and a Q & A time.

The tallest building in Saudi Arabia is the Four Seasons Hotel which has an unusual structure with an observation deck on top. We took an inter-galactic type elevator ride to the 77th floor. It took 25 seconds to get to that height. Because of the design of the building, we had to move to a different elevator to get to the observation deck which in on the 99th floor and is 300m above sea level.












A visit to King Abd-Al Aziz Public Library then off to dinner at the Globe which is at the top of Al Faisaliah Hotel, the hotel in which we are staying.

Friday, April 6, 2007

Friday was an early morning but not a difficult one. We traveled to the Fal Resort which is on the Red Sea also the location of Thursday’s dinner. It was scheduled as a ‘vacation’ morning with varied activities available--different pools, gym, sea activities including a boat ride.

Unfortunately, I was too tired to enjoy much of it. We had an early lunch then back to the hotel to check out and catch a flight to the capital city of Riyadh.

We checked into the Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh. Check out their website. http://www.alfaisaliahhotel.com/

We thought the Hilton was upscale but it did not compare. This is by far the most beautiful hotel any of us have ever stayed in—move over Paris.

Historical Jeddah Thursday, April 5, 2007

Shopping—a morning at the Sook in old Jeddah. This is a large open market where almost everything is sold. We tromped around for a bit—it is difficult shopping in groups but I managed to get a few items.





We then had a tour of the Nasief House. This is the house in which the first king of the United Kingdom of Saudi Arabia conducted business when he was in the city. It is most famous for the marks on the stone stairs which historians say were made when King Abdul Al Aziz Al Saud rode his horse to the top floor on nights when he was very tired.




A luncheon lecture hosted by Mohamed Abu Daowood.

The evening was spent at Fal Resort. Folkloric singers and dancers greeted us at the resort with an arched reception where we were showered by flowers and escorted to the beach area which had been converted into a Saudi living room complete with rugs, sofas, tables etc

It was an unbelievable experience.

Wednesday April 4, 2007 in Jeddah

Boats on the Red Sea

This morning began with a tour of the Oun Help Center, a school for disabled children. This beautiful facility is quite new; programs are available for young people aged 0-18.
Here are some of the cuties we saw.

From the Help Center we were taken to an art gallery to meet Safeya Binzaqr, a famous Saudi artist. We had a tour of the facility which houses her collection. In this gallery she has collections that are arranged in a manner that allows visitors to see the unfolding of Saudi Arabia—its history and its people. She gives personal tours and so is able to tell the story that goes with the art work. Art classes are provided for both adults and students as well.

A visit to the Saudi Gazette newspaper was followed by a ‘press conference’. There were many official people for a question and answer session. We were seated in a large room with humongous conference tables arranged in a circular fashion; each person had a microphone in front of them. I wish I had pictures of that but it seemed inappropriate to whip out my camera. Many questions that were discussed centered on freedom of the press in Saudi Arabia and women issues.

Saudi Arabia as a united kingdom is really quite young—only 75 years old. They still have many things to work out when it comes to the every day details of living in a country that has, in many ways, grown by leaps and bounds.

Here is a picture of old Jeddah; 1500 old buildings are scheduled to be torn down. This is not good news for many; they are being replaced with skyscrapers.

We then visited a book mobile. The country has very few public libraries and as you may be able to see, the book mobile does not have many things from which to choose.

Before going to dinner, we listened to a presentation given by Dr. Ghazi Bin Zagr. He spoke for just about an hour-- no notes, and never once said “um”. We were all awed by his presentation; truly the most eloquent speaker I have ever heard. It was almost poetical. The summary of his lecture/conversation was building bridges through human relationships.

Off to another fabulous meal--downside; it was nearly 10:00 by the time we sat down to eat.

Comments

For the people who have been regularly checking my blog, I made a mistake the last time I posted so it came up further down on the page. My last posting was called Jeddah, you can find it on the side bar or just scroll down about 3 or 4 postings. Sorry about that. Also I will be moving today and don't know if I'll have easy computer access in the next location. (P Humphrey)

Comments and questions from students.
Hi from Room 305
That was really cool seeing you with the camel--did he spit?
The camel that I was with did not spit but others did.

We noticed you are not wearing your head-covering (what was it called)?
The head covering that we will have to wear when we go to Riyadh on Friday is called a hijab. In Jeddah they are not as strict and so we only have to wear the abaya.


Jill wanted you to know that her great-uncle lived in Saudi Arabia for five years. She will find out where.
I wonder who he worked for? There are a lot of American people who work for Aramco, our sponsor company.

Did the roller coaster van ride make you queasy?
The van did not make me queasy but it did make me want to cover my eyes and scream.

What's the temperature?
The temperature has been about 90 degrees F but we are in air conditioning most of the day and at night there has been a very nice breeze so we have only felt it for short periods of time.

Is it hard to be driving around so much?The most difficult handicap here has been lack of sleep. We are all just pretty tired.

Thanks for posting your interesting and fun-to-read posts.

Who knew there would be roller coasters in the desert? April 2, 2007 part 3

Still with the promise of camels we happily travel along in the bus and before you know it we are right back where we started. No camels! The airline tickets were nearly forgotten and so we had to turn around. What? airline tickets to ride the camels.

"No, to go to Jeddah."

"What about the camels?"

"Don't worry we'll see the camels."

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

VROOM! Down the road we go. Yes, we will see those camels; but will it be in this life?

I spy camels.

Out of the bus we go into the roller coaster.

It's true; this van became a roller coaster when it was driven at 80 miles an hour over the desert sand.

"We must go that fast or we will be stuck in the sand."

Up--bump--down, up--bump--down, up--bump--down.

We drove through the desert with 20 people packed into the van.

Those camels were not going to get away now.

The gentleman in the black thobe is the camel owner.

Camels at last!

No rides but plenty of contact with the camels.

Bill, the other person in the picture is an elementary school library media specialist from Washington.

The people from Saudi Arabia arrange their living rooms with sofas and chairs around the perimeter of the room. This is modeled after their historical Bedouin lifestyle; so in typical Bedouin style, we were invited into the tent living room where we were served Arabian coffee with dates and desserts.

Run, run, run. It's time to catch the flight to Jeddah.

No time for a shower; no time for supper.
See you in Jeddah.