If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard the President of our school say “pioneers,” “adventurous,” or “The KAUST Family” in his speeches I’d probably have enough money to endow the next KAUST Project myself… “KAUST 2: Beirut.” It rings like a new season of The Real World, I like it already.
I bring this up because as the first class of a University, there is a heavier burden of responsibility that lies on the students shoulders than there is with following classes (obviously). Traditions, formation of student government, and academic standards are just a few key responsibilities that come to mind. Sure, here at KAUST we’ve been forced to take the roles of: construction supervisor, project engineer, and safety auditor to ensure the ceiling doesn’t fall, twice; but we greet the tasks with bright smiles and full stomachs.
As student unions form, students settle, and classes come into maturity, there remains one balancing act left for KAUST to master; respecting the Saudi culture while simultaneously keeping the open mind that will attract scholars from around the world for years to come. One Indian friend put it bluntly, calling it a “lose-lose” situation; suggesting that if KAUST gets too liberal the nation won’t support it, but if it is too conservative it will become just another “Saudified” university. I’m still ambivalent at this point, “near-beer” in hand.
I’d love to mandate a monthly Umrah to keep everyone happy; allowing the Muslims go to Mecca and the Mexicans to host public dance parties (true story) but don’t think we can 
afford to have KAUST looking like a federal prison to the visiting eye. I say this because Muslim men are encouraged to cut their hair when performing the Small Pilgrimage, so we now have about 50 buzzed headed students (out of 350 in total) patrolling campus. The women are also asked to cut their hair but none of them are bald, I think.
In the mean time, while us “pioneers” work on finding that middle ground, chew on this:
In America when we’re talking about someone and they show up all of a sudden we say, “Speak of the devil.” In Saudi Arabia, they say “subhan’Allah” (translated into “God is great”).
In Saudi Arabia, one of the most difficult countries to legally visit, once you obtain a multiple entry visa, if you don’t leave the Kingdom within the first three months of obtaining the visa you are fined by the government! (hint: Get out!)
Next week: Ramadan ends, Eid Holidays in Bahrain (“Saudi Bar”), and the “30-Million-SAR-for-70-Minutes” Inauguration Event we’ve all been waiting for, to watch, I mean.
[...] Martin, blogging at Sober Saudi, is an American master's student: (A)s the first class of a University, there is a heavier burden of responsibility that lies on [...]
[...] Martin, blogging at Sober Saudi, is an American master’s student: (A)s the first class of a University, there is a heavier burden of responsibility that lies on [...]
Just a little tidbit: while it sounds just about right to say “subhan allah” for a “speak of the devil” situation, what you would normally say or hear is “‘umrak(umrik) taweel” or “umru(umraha) taweel” for 3rd person. It translates to “your/his(her) life is long.”