Our project is in the closing stages ... Professors, students, administration staff etc have already started settling in ... the Campus area has been handed over to the proponent ... only some residential buildings are remaining ....
For those of you who dont know, "project" refers to King Abdullah University of Sciences and Technology (KAUST), a multi million dollar project near Jeddah .. at the shore of the Red Sea ...
Its a well known fact that Saudi Arabia is the only country, where strict Shariah Laws are applied ... the shops close during prayers, women have to wear hijab when in public, they are not allowed to drive (I dont know if its according to Shariah or not), the punishment for adultery or involvement in narcotics, in any way , is ultimately .. death.
But lets focus on the women and hijab part ... these rules do not apply inside the premises of KAUST ... and did I mention that it is the first co-ed institution in the Kingdom ... women can drive ... dress as they like ... it's a funny spectacle when a girl goes out for her morning jog in her shorts ... and the workers leave their work .. all gawking at her ...
Getting back to the subject .... this royal decree of "freedom" has created unrest in the clerical faction ... one of the clerics who openly opposed against co-ed has been relieved of his duties ...
I, like many others believe that soon a time will come when Saudia will be as open as (why go far) ... say UAE and this is just the beginning ...
Friday 30 October 2009
Tuesday 27 October 2009
An Interesting Conversation
There is this driver from Eritrea in our office, I had a chat with. He speaks good English, is well mannered, dresses smartly ... a clear contrast to the other drivers who cant speak a word of English ... heres a gist of the conversation ...
I dont recall how we started but along the way he told me where he was from and that he and his family had to flee due to some political problems ... and hadn't returned to his home country for 25 years .... My curiousity led me to ask him, how he was able to speak such good English ... it was a simple answer ... "from school" ... he had passed high school and then due to financial reasons he had to quit further studies ...
Somehow he got into the field of "Hydro-Meteorology" ... I was like "What??!!" ... "It means the study of ...." .... " I know what it means (but you) " ... Then he started explaining how the water conditions of the rivers have to be considered while constructing bridges ... so eloquently .... and I was thinking about our Egyptian Construction Manager who cant pronounce "Library" :S
But when he came to saudia ... the first thing in his mind was not to chase that career but to feed his family ... after several jobs which included being a cashier, salesman, waiter etc he came here as a driver ... and still searching ...
I was really moved
I dont recall how we started but along the way he told me where he was from and that he and his family had to flee due to some political problems ... and hadn't returned to his home country for 25 years .... My curiousity led me to ask him, how he was able to speak such good English ... it was a simple answer ... "from school" ... he had passed high school and then due to financial reasons he had to quit further studies ...
Somehow he got into the field of "Hydro-Meteorology" ... I was like "What??!!" ... "It means the study of ...." .... " I know what it means (but you) " ... Then he started explaining how the water conditions of the rivers have to be considered while constructing bridges ... so eloquently .... and I was thinking about our Egyptian Construction Manager who cant pronounce "Library" :S
But when he came to saudia ... the first thing in his mind was not to chase that career but to feed his family ... after several jobs which included being a cashier, salesman, waiter etc he came here as a driver ... and still searching ...
I was really moved
Saturday 24 October 2009
5 Minutes
It seems this is my first post since June. May be this is because nothing worth posting had happened until now -
I hadn't been to Madinah for two years .. it was long over due. On the eve of our trip, I and dad went out for a vehicle safety check. The tires had to be changed. There were two types available at our trusted Shell puncture shop .. an unknown brand and the other one TOYO - Made in Japan ... We obviously went for the later .. 270 SR each
Dad had to transfer credit ... to save time and avoid traffic we parked our car across the street in front of a small hotel ... There were two Yemenites sitting beside the entrance ... as soon as we got out, one of them asked "will you be long?" ... " just 5 minutes!" , i replied
There, I met one of my colleagues who had transferred to another department and we had to do some catching on .... it went on for more than "5 Minutes" .. When we returned back ... there was a group of people beside our car .... one of those Yemenites had gone berserq ... had a pair of scissors in his hand and was trying to deflate the tires through the air nozzle ... "WTF are you doing?" I shouted and tried to drag him away from the car ... "You said 5 minutes .... no ... You said 5 minutes" ... I tried to calm him down by apologizing but that MF was persistent on deflating all 4 tires .... "No I'm sorry ... I want all 4 of them" trembling as he spoke ...
During this scene of chaos ... one of them told me to get in the car and start the engine .... Meanwhile ... the maniac was done with the front tire and moved to the rear ... dad tried to threaten him by calling the police ...but nothing was working .... I got in the car and was about to close the door when he jumped up and blocked the door ... dad on seeing this got in also ... it took 4 people to pull him away from the door ... as soon as he was out of the way ... I got out of there like I was escaping convict ... Phew!
I hadn't been to Madinah for two years .. it was long over due. On the eve of our trip, I and dad went out for a vehicle safety check. The tires had to be changed. There were two types available at our trusted Shell puncture shop .. an unknown brand and the other one TOYO - Made in Japan ... We obviously went for the later .. 270 SR each
Dad had to transfer credit ... to save time and avoid traffic we parked our car across the street in front of a small hotel ... There were two Yemenites sitting beside the entrance ... as soon as we got out, one of them asked "will you be long?" ... " just 5 minutes!" , i replied
There, I met one of my colleagues who had transferred to another department and we had to do some catching on .... it went on for more than "5 Minutes" .. When we returned back ... there was a group of people beside our car .... one of those Yemenites had gone berserq ... had a pair of scissors in his hand and was trying to deflate the tires through the air nozzle ... "WTF are you doing?" I shouted and tried to drag him away from the car ... "You said 5 minutes .... no ... You said 5 minutes" ... I tried to calm him down by apologizing but that MF was persistent on deflating all 4 tires .... "No I'm sorry ... I want all 4 of them" trembling as he spoke ...
During this scene of chaos ... one of them told me to get in the car and start the engine .... Meanwhile ... the maniac was done with the front tire and moved to the rear ... dad tried to threaten him by calling the police ...but nothing was working .... I got in the car and was about to close the door when he jumped up and blocked the door ... dad on seeing this got in also ... it took 4 people to pull him away from the door ... as soon as he was out of the way ... I got out of there like I was escaping convict ... Phew!
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