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Archive for October, 2009

For the past four years I’ve successfully dodged invitations to climb Half Dome in Yosemite National Park under the stars with friends and family. A combination of fear, disinterest, and a few other good excuses (probably not that good) kept me from discovering the magic that comes with catching the sunrise from atop the world… until the past weekend, that is.

On a blitz weekend getaway from the Kingdom, a dozen students and I set out for the City of Peace: Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Located comfortably on the southern point of the Sinai Peninsula, this beachside resort town is famous for the number of international peace conferences it’s hosted, beautiful diving, and a vibrant nightlife. This being said, I will forever call Sharm “the Marbella of the Middle East” or simply “Sharm el Sheikh, USSR.”

Never in my life have I been more entertained by the Eastern European populace. I would go so far as saying that up to 90% of the tourists visiting Sharm were from somewhere in Eastern Europe (haircuts, miniskirts, and confused looks all dictated this inclination). Looking back, one of my only regrets from the trip was not getting into a political discussion with one of these visitors over a drink (possibly in the middle of one of the many foam parties) to learn exactly how Eastern Europeans came to dominate the Sinai scene. Needless to say, it’s on my to-do list the next time I’m in need of 48 hours of freedom.

As I alluded to in the opening paragraph, the real treat during our vacation to Sharm was scaling one of the most religiously significant peaks in the world; Mount Sinai (or Mount Moses). This mountain, where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God was nothing short of spectacular; although sometimes smelly.

After bargaining with local tour guides, fudging our way through six different security checkpoints (including one at the base of the mountain during which a dumbfounded security guard pulled out a Frisbee and a bottle of Havana Rum from one of my friends packs), and hiring a twenty year old to take us up the trail; we started our journey. It was close to 2:30 am.

I’m not sure if it was our delirious state or the pitch darkness, but the first ten minutes of the hike were surreal. The mountains rising up on either side of us, exploiting the brightness of the stars (the most that I’d seen since camping in Africa) and the echoes of our footsteps had us all at the mercy of nature. This peace of mind didn’t last long…

Ten minutes into the hike, we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a regular Bedouin Wall Street. Cell phones, whistles, camel grunts and snippets of Italian (don’t ask why) started whirring around us like mad investors buying and selling stocks. Following the example of our un-deterred guide; we dodged camels, men asking for food, and offers to hire a camel with big eyes and a feeling of “awesomeness” (the only word that makes sense here).

Two and a half hours later, we found ourselves huddled in a tent just below the summit packed with beaten-up blankets, heavily-coated mountain men, and the smell of tea lingering in the thin air. Only when the first signs of light pierced the sky did we make the final push for the top.Sinai Sunrise

Watching the sun rise into the sky at this holy site where Jews, Muslims, and Christians can congregate in peace was a memory that surely none of us on top of the mountain that morning will forget; just one of the few things we’ll choose not to forget on this short but memorable trip to Russia, I mean Sharm el Sheikh…

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Saudi, as I dreamt it

Yesterday I took my first (and hopefully last) ever flight from one desert to an even bigger desert… not something most people can boast having ever done.

Nestled inside the middle of the Rub ‘al Khali and a scene reminiscent of the late 1990’s, I had finally found the Saudi Arabia I was looking for:  Hummers, sand dunes, and black gold (only without the Hummers).

Watch the first few minutes of this video to see what I’m talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJztP-Zy7zc

In this sand desert (larger than France, Belgium, and the Netherlands combined) sits the Saudi Aramco oil drilling site better known as Shaybah.  Pumping nearly 800,000 bpd of extra light crude oil (you can pump this stuff straight into the gas turbine) this well is responsible for about 10% of all of Saudi’s oil exports.

However, the real beauty of Shaybah is not necessarily the project site, but the surrounding landscapes.  Here on the west coast of the Kingdom, we’ve become accustomed to a desert similar to what you’ll see on the drive from LA to Vegas (KAUST, Vegas… all one big gamble); so when we were suddenly dropped into the middle of the type of desert you see only in the postcards, a real sense of awe overcame us all.Egyptian sand angels

There’s something about lying on top of a thousand foot tall sand dune watching the sunset and listening to the call to prayer echo through the valley; knowing that a gracious reservoir a mile beneath you is pumping its gifts straight into your graduate education… and your mom’s 4Runner.

Contrary to the common belief among my peers that “I’d arrived in Saudi Arabia years too early” I was beginning to believe that maybe I’d showed up too late…

Did I mention that ALL of the sand used for the construction of Shaybah was imported from outside the Rub ‘al Khali?  It was the ‘90’s.

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It’s 10 am and my Transport Phenomena (no I have no idea what that even means) professor just broke the record for consecutive slides with at least 6 abstract, mind-blowing equations (43 slides).  Either that or he’s switched over to that Word font that’s nothing but symbols and numbers… regardless, my mind is drifting like I’m lost in a desert; a 19˚C, A/C blasted desert of course.

In the West, there is this Hollywood influenced belief that the desert heat can seriously drive a man insane.  In the East it’s not just another movie scene (although I sometimes wonder if the segregation and lack of “goods” has something to do with it) and I have two real-life stories to support this theory; the first of which includes me wandering home after a long Wednesday night (the Friday night of the rest of the world) and proceeding to spend ten minutes trying to open my neighbor’s front door with MY house key…

The second story is the direct result of a male-dominated environment, plenty of fake beer, AND the heat.  One of the most common questions I get about life in Saudi is about the social life, specifically the parties.  Considering that my last recollection of a completely sober party was my 8th birthday, dressed as Hulk Hogan and eating WWF cereal… I looked forward to the first KAUST party with mixed emotions.

To be perfectly fair, it was awesome.  The Filipino band, the near-beer flip cup, the crowd surfing, and the salsa lessons were nothing short of satisfying.  I was starting to become a believer in the near-beer revolution.Olympian in the house!

And then it happened; a product of Taiwan courtesy of Mexico… the ALUBA.While it’s nothing to be proud of, I honestly thought the “A-word” was the first such invention to come from within KAUST until reading this excerpt from a Taipei Times news article:

In aluba, a boy is lifted off the ground by a group of his peers. His legs are forcibly parted, and the crowd shouts “aluba” as they ram the struggling victim crotch-first into any nearby upright object, such as a lamp post, an open door or a coconut tree.” http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/09/09/2003377932

Have things really gotten that desperate?  Yes.  And it’s spreading faster than the Dengue fever amongst the Chinese students!

If you haven’t been following the news in the Middle East recently, a number of conservatives have been voicing their concerns about the gender mixing at KAUST.  It’s rumored (rumors single-handedly drive the middle east btw) that the noise from the conservatives was made audible after a video from KAUST leaked on YouTube showing this mixing.  A number of solutions have been considered to calm the waters, but I’m convinced only one way to help them empathize…

Coming soon to a YouTube near you:

“Aluba at KAUST”

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