Once in a while, let’s say once or even twice a year, something happens that causes work to be canceled.  It is usually a rather exciting time, and people start acting very dramatic to ensure work is canceled.  This happened this week for me.  Perhaps any interest in Middle Eastern news would have led you to a tweet or an article about the “Floods of Riyadh 2010″.  I did not think the storm that blew through here was deserving of such a title, but apparently a couple people lost their lives and hundred or so were injured.

We were caught in the storm on our way back home from the University.  The drainage is so bad in Riyadh that large pools of water accumulated all over and traffic was blocked, which left some cars flooded.  (Note the BMW below.  This guy was playing it cool by taking photos while waiting for the waters to recede.)

Anyway, the “Floods of Riyadh 2010″ is the only interesting thing that has happened around here.  The Prince of the Riyadh area, whose name I am to lazy to look up, canceled school the next day, which was fine by me.  He must have heard my co-worker’s story, which had something to do with trees being blown over, cars rolling on their sides and everyone narrowly escaping with their lives.

So, this is the big news from Riyadh, which is really exciting, I know.

This would be me, strutting my stuff.  Thobes are actually quite comfortable.

After the festival we were taken quickly away to a camel farm in the desert, where an extremely nice Bedouin man entertained and fed us.  To the left was a dish called Kapsa, which is rice and meat.  No forks and no left hands!!!

These camels were very friendly, as you can see.  There were a few baby camels kickin around too.

Our host was very hospitable.  He was even nice enough to milk one of his camels so that we might try the finer beverages of the desert.

Raghbah.  A city northwest of Riyadh.  I tried to solicit, but nobody seemed to be home.  To get here, my friends and I rented a car for around 100 Riyals and drove 150 km.

I climbed to the top of what you see in the picture above.  The narrowing pathway leads to the view of Raghbah seen in the first picture (above).  I think maybe this was an old school mosque.  Below you can see the picture I took from inside.

This was just an abandoned mosque near Raghbah.  It reminded me of the film “Empire of The Sun.”

I had never seen sand that never ends.  Riding an ATV around was pretty cool too. These sand dunes were between the city of Raghbah and Shaqra.

Yes, that is trash in the shot.  There was quite a bit of it.

From sand dunes to sandstorm.  This picture was taken right outside my hotel.  The wind has been kicking this stuff up quite a bit lately.

The hallways at the University.

Campus Mosque takes my students away a few times a day.  Thanks Mosque.

A place not far from where I live called Old Dirryah.  There are some old ruins and a lot of palm trees.  Mostly, this place is just for walking around, although they seem to be rebuilding some of the old structures, as seen below.

To which he replied, “Nothing, there is nothing for you to see here.” Although this may seem like a rather negative reply, I think he was preparing me for the inevitable boredom.

Despite what the boss said, there are a few things to do.  The Kingdom Centre or Burj Al Mamlakah is one of the most prominent attractions in Riyadh.  The large 99-floor taser looking building can be seen from afar, and from the observatory at the top you can look down on the city for 25 riyals.

At the base of the Kindom Centre is one of the better shopping malls in Riyadh.  Shopping and eating are the main activities around here.

I landed on February 7, 2010.  My first impression of the company I signed with was not very good.  I waited for two hours at the airport before I was finally picked up by a driver holding a sign with my full name “Michael Jonathan Paulus” printed on it.  He pinched one corner of the sign with one hand, and with the other, he pointed  at my name and then at me and smiled.  I nodded.  “Welcome to Saudi Arabia!” he said.  Then, we were off.

The accommodation my employer arranged for me changed the  first impression I had of them.  I live in a one-bedroom hotel suite in the northern part of Riyadh.  In the lobby there is a nice coffee shop with good espresso and sandwiches.  The best part about living in a hotel is the “Please Clean My Room” card I can put on the front of my door.  The first time I had this done, I was very surprised to see my dishes had been done as part of the service.

Overall, I’d have to say I am very pleased with my living situation.  The staff has been very friendly, and the neighborhood around my hotel has several choice restaurants within walking distance.  Grocery shopping hasn’t been a problem either; A Carrefour is just up the road, and the  prices are much lower than most places I have lived.

Besides having nice accommodation, I also learned that I would have two weeks to relax before I would start teaching.  I’ll include some information about what I did during my first two weeks in the following posts.  I would finally start teaching at Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University on February 20th.  According to the dean of the Engineering Department, Imam is the oldest university in Saudi Arabia.

There are five other teachers in my department, and we all teach students who are in their preparatory year.  I teach a total of 16 hours a week.  My experience has been very pleasant at Imam; both the professors and students are very kind and helpful.  Imam has a beautiful campus, which I have frequently walked through.  Two coffee shops named “Scoler Express” are especially nice for the 7:30am classes.  There is also a magnificent mosque in the middle of campus that dominants with a large dome in the center, crowned with a crescent moon.  My favorite thing about teaching at Imam University is that all my students call me doctor.  Yes, I have tried to correct them.